When I was little, we celebrated statehood day on July 24th. Our small town hosts games in the center park and sports a small parade. We all dressed as 1847’s style pioneers. Men attired in long sleeved cotton shirts and women in long flowing neck to ankle dresses. Years later as a teen visiting St George, I was surprised to see a battered Chevy suburban pull up in front of Wal-Mart & 20 dusty “Pioneers” pile out & quietly march into the store. I pointed out this spectacle to my mom. She lowered her voice & whispered “ther'e not in costume, that’s the way they always dress...They’re polygamists from the border towns.
Now 40 years later, I still see these odd pioneers –but they are now a too common sight.
Now 40 years later, I still see these odd pioneers –but they are now a too common sight.
Working in a busy southern Utah ER, these “Pioneers” are difficult patients and cause me & my co- workers to sigh in resigned irritation.
.
These “Pioneers” have multiplied like only a polygamist group can. Tour busses now slow so clients can view this local phenomenon. When the guide points out a cluster of women with long braided hair and billowing pastel dresses, yesterdays viewing of the Grand Canyon is quickly forgotten.
Note: These “Pioneers” tend to congregate most at Wal-Mart, Costco & the Fabric stores but can also be seen occasionally at Shoney’s restaurant...
.
These “Pioneers” have multiplied like only a polygamist group can. Tour busses now slow so clients can view this local phenomenon. When the guide points out a cluster of women with long braided hair and billowing pastel dresses, yesterdays viewing of the Grand Canyon is quickly forgotten.
Note: These “Pioneers” tend to congregate most at Wal-Mart, Costco & the Fabric stores but can also be seen occasionally at Shoney’s restaurant...
I recently had a European tourist ask me about these odd people. He said “they are like the Amish...yes?”
I nearly choked on my tongue & said emphatically no! They are not!
And here are a few reasons why:
I nearly choked on my tongue & said emphatically no! They are not!
And here are a few reasons why:
1-The Amish nurture & watch over their children. Their children are clean & well nourished. While they don’t send a lot of children outside the community for higher education they generally make certain the children receive a good primary education.
Our local “Pioneers” on the other hand are extremely neglectful of their children. Although they are numerically a small part of our community—nearly all our pediatric trauma comes from their small towns. It’s often a case of a 10 year old child who has been put in charge of minding twenty 2-6 year old children. ATV’s Horses, & open fires abound in their communities and with no adult supervision this is a recipe for disaster. Routinely an ambulance call from this community’s goes: “we are in transport with a 3 year old male who fell out of a moving truck, obvious head injury…”
Once the patient is in our emergency department it is often difficult to identify the child’s mother from among the many “sister wives” that fill the trauma room (Hint: it’s often NOT to most concerned appearing woman)
CPS (child protective services) has given up on adressing these very frequent accidents as they get completely stonewalled when they go out to investigate.
Finally... through no fault of their own, these poor children have a dramatically high incidence of birth defects, and metabolic diseases. Consequently, many children from these communities suffer from profound mental retardation & seizures disorders. These rare diseases can frequently be attributed directly to the fact that the child’s parents are often 1st, or second cousins. Women marring an uncle is not unusual in this culture. There are very practical reasons most US States forbid these types of marriages!
Adding insult to injury, the “Pioneers” current leader has virtually shut down the local public schools. He decreed secular education "wicked".— thus making it nearly impossible for the undamaged children to get an education..
Once the patient is in our emergency department it is often difficult to identify the child’s mother from among the many “sister wives” that fill the trauma room (Hint: it’s often NOT to most concerned appearing woman)
CPS (child protective services) has given up on adressing these very frequent accidents as they get completely stonewalled when they go out to investigate.
Finally... through no fault of their own, these poor children have a dramatically high incidence of birth defects, and metabolic diseases. Consequently, many children from these communities suffer from profound mental retardation & seizures disorders. These rare diseases can frequently be attributed directly to the fact that the child’s parents are often 1st, or second cousins. Women marring an uncle is not unusual in this culture. There are very practical reasons most US States forbid these types of marriages!
Adding insult to injury, the “Pioneers” current leader has virtually shut down the local public schools. He decreed secular education "wicked".— thus making it nearly impossible for the undamaged children to get an education..
2-The Amish are independent & strive to make their communities self sufficient. Our local “Pioneers” practice nearly the polar opposite. From their Federal Government funded million dollar airport to their shiny new $50,000.00 ambulances—these people survive on Government Grant programs and subsidies. They have also cleverly figured out how to feed & cloth their large families without using their own finances. For example: Only the 1st wife is civilly married to the “pioneer” husband. All the subsequent “sister wives”, are married "spiritually" to the family patriarch. These women then collect food stamps & receive State Medicaid funds. Legally this group of women is regarded as impoverished single mothers of very large families. (Note: the State of Utah is currently trying to crack down on this abuse)
You would logically think that these would be very patriotic communities. However, like ungrateful children, these “Pioneers” are resentful & suspicious of the very government that supplies their life blood.
You would logically think that these would be very patriotic communities. However, like ungrateful children, these “Pioneers” are resentful & suspicious of the very government that supplies their life blood.
In summary: Since their founding in the 1950’s, the leaders of our local ‘Pioneers" have successfully indoctrinated its members, repressed its women, neglected its children. It teaches all its followers that the outside world is sinful and evil. (Can anyone say whabbieism!)
In conclusion dear european visitor, our local so called "pioneers" are nothing like the Pennsylvania Amish!
Dr Who?
It is quite entertaining to see where Lauren gets her wittiness from... I enjoyed the rants on our local "pioneers." I am from St. George also and I worked at Coral Desert Surgery Center with a bunch of Drs I believe you know (from what Lauren has said)... It was a daily occurrence that our fellow "pioneers" would show up with babies for the ENT and you would have to guess which one was the mother then to my surprise every time it was always the quiet 14 year old in the corner who wouldn't at first admit that it was her child because she wasn't old enough to be a guarantor and then one of the older more experienced women would whip out the pink medicaid piece of paper. Now I have nothing wrong with medicaid at all, it was the abuse of medicaid that bothered me so much... it was quite entertaining to hear that someone else has experienced somewhat of the same thing I have (you have experienced it on a much grander scale than I)
ReplyDelete