# The Doukhobor religious sect **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2001, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doukhobor-religious-sect/78899 "2001-08-30T07:01:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doukhobor-religious-sect/78899/1 "2001-08-30T07:01:19Z")
I read this today at [http://news.excite.com/news/r/010829/07/odd-religion-dc](http://news.excite.com/news/r/010829/07/odd-religion-dc) > [@](#): > > The Sons of Freedom sect waged a campaign for Doukhobor “purity” in the 1950s that included burning their own homes, destroying government and private property and parading naked down public streets in Nelson and other towns in southern British Columbia. The link also states that in the 1950’s the Canadian government set up an internment camp for Doukhobor children to force them to attend public school. Anyone ever heard of this group? Are they primarily in Canada (as the link indicates)? ---
**Author:** ![straykat23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@straykat23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straykat23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doukhobor-religious-sect/78899/2 "2001-08-30T07:24:23Z")
I started a thread on this months and months ago. They had always intrigued me - my Dad (from British Columbia) talked about them as people who were religious protesters in the '30s, 40s and '50s that protested (while nude) for religious freedom. A Doper found a few sites for me - go to [google.com](http://google.com) and type ‘Doukhobor’ in the Search field. While in a hotel lobby in England last year, I thumbed through a book of eccentric photographs and found a photo of four nude Doukhobor protesters. I removed the page from the book and if I can find it, I’ll scan it and email it to you. One look at this picture and you’ll see why the movement didn’t go anywhere. BTW, I was also admonished by a fellow Doper about ‘removing’ the page from the book! ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doukhobor-religious-sect/78899/3 "2001-08-30T09:10:42Z")
Some of them are still around. > [@](#): > > NELSON, BC – One of the last active members of the Sons of Freedom Doukhobour sect sat naked again in court today as her lawyer conceded she set a fire that destroyed a college building earlier this month. > > Mary Braun was covered only in a court-provided blanket as lawyer Ken Wylie explained his client didn’t believe the blaze would get out of hand. > > The 81-year old was charged with arson following an August 5th fire at the Selkirk College satellite school in Crescent Valley. > > B-C Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan, who heard the case alone, plans to deliver his verdict tomorrow (Thursday) morning. > > Braun’s breakaway sect from mainstream Doukhobours believe disrobing and burning possessions is a spiritual cleansing meant to renounce material values. > > Freedomites broke with mainstream Doukhobours in 1902 and sometimes use arson and public nudity to demonstrate their religious beliefs. > > The fire caused approximately 150-thousand dollars worth of damage. (CP) ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doukhobor-religious-sect/78899/4 "2001-08-30T13:59:33Z")
They make occasional forays down here to the states for shopping. They remind me of the Hudderite colonys in Eastern Montana when I was a kid. The women dress in colorful long dresses and bonnets, the men in black with black hats. The only outward difference is that they speak Russian instead of German. ---
**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2001, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doukhobor-religious-sect/78899/5 "2001-08-30T14:31:27Z")
My dad grew up in Trail, not too far from Nelson. IIRC, there was some kind of Doukhobor village near Castlegar, and it had been turned into a museum which I went to when I was about 8 years old. Several of my dad’s friends have Doukhobor spoons on their walls - great big wooden ladels with hooks on their handles. [Article on Doukhobor history](http://www.dlcwest.com/~r.androsoff/doukwho.htm) I believe this is the Castlegar Doukhobor museum: [museum](http://www.doukhobor-homepage.com/castmuse.gif) This article has pictures of the spoons I mention: [Who are the Doukhobors?](http://www.castlegar.com/tourism/doukhobor/who.html) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doukhobor-religious-sect/78899/6 "2001-08-31T13:56:42Z")
here’s the earlier thread: [Canadian Protest Group from 30s and 40s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=59522). The lady in question was convicted yesterday - there’s an article in today’s [Globe & Mail](http://globeandmail.com). Here’s a few snippets: > [@](#): > > Radical Doukhobors’ flame dying out > > Woman, 81, convicted of arson is one of few adherents practising the old ways > > VANCOUVER – At 81, Mary Braun has lost none of her zeal. > > One of the last of a dwindling sect of radical Sons of Freedom Doukhobors who once terrorized surrounding communities with waves of arson and bombings and scandalized them with public nudity, Ms. Braun was on familiar ground yesterday – naked, in a courtroom, convicted of arson. > … > > Several times after being granted parole, Ms. Braun has responded by burning another building. > > Ms. Braun remains in custody. Sentencing was set for Nov. 19. > > “Mary’s a really nice grannyish old lady,” said Mr. Mealing, who has met her several times. > > “She’s the kind of person you would like to have as a neighbour. Except you wouldn’t want to leave home when she was there alone.”