Reunion in the Ochocos

A Rainbow Family reunion in Crook County next week
Regional meeting to be smaller than event 10 years ago
By Erin Golden / The Bulletin
Published: September 08. 2007 4:00AM PST

Dean Guernsey / The Bulletin file photos
A Rainbow Family member flashes a peace sign during the group's 1997 national gathering at Indian Prairie, in the Ochoco National Forest near Prineville.

Dean Guernsey / The Bulletin file photos
Members of the Rainbow Family, a peace and Utopian living group, arrive for a June 1997 national gathering at Indian Prairie in the Ochoco National Forest near Prineville. Officials say the earlier event helped prepare them for this year’s visit.
What is the Rainbow Family?
• Members live throughout the United States and around the world and vary in age, occupation, religion and background.
• The group grew out of the counterculture movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s and had its first national gathering in Colorado in 1972.
• Since the 1970s, the Family’s “brothers and sisters” have met on federal land for national gatherings of as many as 30,000 people and for smaller, regional gatherings.
• Family gatherings are not directed by any leaders. There are no requirements to be a part of the Family, and participants practice communal, nonconsumerist living centered on the ideals of love, peace and freedom.
• Some members hold full-time jobs, while others commit their lives to traveling, volunteering and sharing the Family’s message.
• Family gatherings have led to legal disputes across the country, including a 1987 North Carolina court case documented by U.S. Federal Judge David Sentelle in his book “Judge Dave and the Rainbow People.”

Source: Rainbow family member Summer Breeze and www.welcomehome.org, an unofficial Rainbow Family Web site.
The Rainbows are coming again, and Crook County is prepared.
Ten years ago, more than 20,000 members of the Rainbow Family, an international Utopian living group, met to camp, recreate and pray for peace at Indian Prairie, part of the Ochoco National Forest located approximately 30 miles northeast of Prineville.
The group’s stay in Central Oregon was largely uneventful. But the influx of visitors and their back-to-nature lifestyle raised eyebrows among some Crook County residents and led to legal scuffles between Family members and the U.S. Forest Service.
Next week, the Rainbow Family will return to the area, but this gathering is regional, rather than national, and will occur on a much smaller scale. This time, officials say, the community is ready — and more relaxed — for the Tuesday arrival of an estimated 200 to 2,000 Rainbow Family visitors.
“This is a much smaller event than last time, and we’re better prepared than we were last time,” said Art Currier, district ranger for the Lookout Mountain District of the Forest Service. “We’ve put together an organization modeled after the incident command system we use on wildfires.”
Officials from the Forest Service, local law enforcement agencies, medical professionals and emergency response teams have been working together to develop a plan for the Family’s regional gathering, which is expected to last through Sunday, Sept. 23.
Community leaders also called a town meeting with local business owners and residents to discuss concerns and plan for the event. Officials expect that locals will only have minimal interaction with visiting Family members, who will spend much of their time at Indian Prairie, sharing stories and songs, camping and spending time with others in the group. Similar gatherings take place at other locations around the country on federal property.
All potential angles seem to be covered, but according to Rainbow Family member Summer Breeze, Crook County residents need not worry.
“We come together in a spirit of cooperation and unity to share what we have with one another, to get back to nature, to get closer to God,” she said. “We’re going to meet with the ranger and work out an operating plan and we believe the resource people and the local law enforcement will be very reasonable.”
She said the Ochoco location was chosen for its tribal past and spiritual importance to the Family.
But one possible area of contention could be the special-use permit the Forest Service requires all groups numbering more than 75 to sign in order to gather on federal land. Because the Rainbow Family does not have official leaders, members feel that no one person can claim to represent the entire group. As a result, the Family has no plans to sign the permit at Ochoco, should their group reach 75 campers.
“I can’t represent all the people who are coming — they want us to commit fraud and sign one name and represent all people and we can’t,” Summer Breeze, 51, said. “Where a permit cannot be signed, you must offer another form of compliance, and that’s as far as I’m willing to go.”
Currier said he’d been in frequent contact with the Rainbow Family and had been informed of their refusal to sign the permit, but had no plans to allow an alternative land use agreement. If no compromise can be reached, he said the Family members could be ticketed.
“They believe it’s their First Amendment right to be able to gather without the special-use permit, and that’s been tested in court and the Forest Service has prevailed,” he said. “They have the right to gather, but the Forest Service has the right to put restrictions on them.”
Legal issues aside, several area residents said they are optimistic about the visit and believe it will be positive for both community members and the Rainbow Family.
“Our biggest job is informing the community about the event and trying to go out on rumor patrol and fix people’s perceptions of the group. Because it’s a different culture than we’re used to here in Prineville, there’s a lot of fear and rumors,” said Brandon Smith, a commander with the Crook County Sheriff’s Office. “But just like anybody, these folks want to come out and enjoy our beautiful woods.”
Erin Golden can be reached at 633-2162 or at egolden@bendbulletin.com.

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