Hutterites are an
ethno-religious group that is a communal branch of
Anabaptists who, like the
Amish and
Mennonites, trace their roots to the
Radical Reformation of the 16th century. Since the death of their namesake
Jakob Hutter in 1536, the beliefs of the Hutterites, especially living in a
community of goods and absolute
pacifism, have resulted in hundreds of years of diaspora in many countries. Nearly extinct by the 18th and 19th centuries, the Hutterites found a new home in North America. Over 125 years their population grew from 400 to around 42,000. Today, most Hutterites live in Western Canada and the upper Great Plains of the U.S.