the [ Rainbow ] experience . Various agencies were on the site , either walking or on horseback and they had dogs sniffing around for weed . Some people had their car searched on the road into the site .
The Forest Service allocated $ 400,000 for law enforcement at the Rainbow Gathering . It charged the Rainbows $ 7,500 for road maintenance after the last gathering at the Big Hole in 2000 . That bill was never paid because “ the Rainbow Family has no leaders , no structure , no official spokespersons , no official documents , and no membership ”, according to Wikipedia .
Beaverhead County passed an emergency two-mill levy tax totaling $ 26,789 and budgeted $ 123,000 to manage the Rainbow gathering , but it expected the actual costs to exceed that . The Montana Standard said , “ Montana Governor Steve Bullock signed a state of emergency executive order for the county , allowing Beaverhead access to state emergency money and services to cover the cost of the Rainbow gathering . The county will have to spend the levy amount and an extra $ 3,100 in reserves before it taps into the state money .” In 2000 , then Governor Marc Racicot declared a state of emergency in case he needed to deploy the National Guard .
As of July 16 , the Barrett Hospital and Health Care in the county seat of Dillon , reported 102 people admitted for injuries . Hospital director of Human Services , Geoff Roach , attributed the high number to a lack of preparation for wilderness living exacerbated by a drug-fueled environment . The hospital rendered $ 199,199 in unpaid services treating patients from the gathering , The Missoula Independent reported . “ Golly , we ' ve had some assaults , dog bites , sunburns , broken bones , lacerations ," Roach said . The hospital will have access to state emergency money to help cover those costs . The Rainbows set up a medic tent manned by Rainbow volunteers , including an ER doctor and a midwife . The county jail saw its population double during the gathering , causing some part-time employees to work full-time .
The first Rainbow Gathering of the Tribes , a four-day event in Colorado in July 1972 , was organized by youth counterculture " tribes " based in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest . Twenty thousand people faced police roadblocks , threatened civil disobedience , and were allowed onto National Forest land . This was intended to be a onetime event ; however , a second gathering in Wyoming the following year materialized , at which point an annual event was declared . The length of the gatherings has since expanded beyond the original four-day span , as have the number and frequency of the gatherings . The Rainbow Family has no leaders , no structure , no official spokespersons , no official documents , and no membership . Documents are produced as needed and maintained by various groups . Using money to buy or sell anything at Rainbow Gatherings is taboo . There are no paid organizers , although there are volunteers (" focalizers ") who are crucial to setting up the gathering site . Participants are expected to contribute money , labor , and / or material . All labor is voluntary and never formally compensated . One of the central features of the annual United States gathering is silent meditation the morning of the Fourth of July , with attendees gathering in a circle in the Main Meadow . At approximately noon the entire assembly begins a collective " Om " which is ended with whooping and a celebration . A parade of children comes from the Kiddie Village , singing and dancing into the middle of the circle . Many spiritual traditions are represented , often with their own kitchen , from Hare Krishnas to Orthodox Jews to several varieties of Christianity and many others . Spiritually , there is a very strong influence from Native American Shamanism , Neo-Paganism , and Eastern traditions , often aligned with free-thought . Shamanism and New Age aspects are apparent in a large portion of the culture , tradition , and every day life for the participants . Sanitation has historically been a major concern at Rainbow Gatherings . Human waste is deposited in latrine trenches ( typically referred to as ' shitters ') and treated with lime and ash from campfires . New latrines are dug and filled in daily . The 1987 gathering in North Carolina experienced an outbreak of highly contagious shigellosis ( a . k . a . dysentery ) ( known at the gathering as Beaver Fever ) causing diarrhea attributed to filth and squalor in the camp . In 2011 , three unrelated fatalities occurred at Rainbow Gatherings , including two fatalities at the 2011 Washington State national Rainbow Gathering . The Washington State deaths were those of Amber Kellar , a 28-year-old Californian who died of a preexisting medical condition , and Steve Pierce , a 50-year-old Californian who died of a fatal heart attack . In February 2011 , a man drowned in a Farles Prairie pond during a regional Rainbow Gathering in Ocala National Forest , Florida . In July 2011 , a woman named Marie Hanson , from South Lake Tahoe , California went missing in Skookum Meadow , Washington State while attending the 2011 Rainbow Gathering at Gifford Pinchot National Forest . In October 2011 , human remains and jewelry were found near the woman ' s campsite . It was later confirmed that the remains were those of Marie Hanson .
The photograph to the left shows police and medics near " trading circle " at the annual U . S . national Rainbow Gathering in West Virginia , 2005 .
To the right a photograph shows a Rainbow ' brother ' waiting in line to fill his water containers at the 2002 Family Gathering in Michigan
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