PURPLE PEOPLE:
THE NAZIR ORDER OF THE PURPLE VEIL
Written By: Yarden

With the heavy thump of bass in the distance, people flood in and out of the main stage area as random glow sticks and dome tents litter the campground. It was Friday night at the Byrd's Fest music and art festival, and just as the sun was beginning to set, I noticed a short purple school bus in the distance. 

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"Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison,

and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."

-Hebrews 13:3

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Nearing the purple bus and the purple pavilion next to it, I see that the vendors were closing their shop and they were all dressed in purple. Typically vendors at music festivals stay open 24 hours a day if they can, weather permitting. However, seeing them close down their shop on a Friday night left me wondering if they kept the Sabbath. 

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Being a painter and silversmith myself, I had ventured to many music festivals around the state, and had already seen the purple people at various Rainbow Gathering's and Wakarusa's but I had yet to approach them and step inside their camp.  

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Entering the purple pavilion, I saw that they had a vast array of incense and various aromatic resins from exotic places. Copper jewelry and some woven bracelets covered a small table near a picture of a dark haired man with a serious gaze. After buying some resins and sticks of incense, I ask the lady tending the booth if they keep the Sabbath. 

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"Yes, Yes!" She replied, immediately referencing the picture of the man. 

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"You should talk to him." She said with a quick smile.

The framed picture, looking ominously back our direction, gave me the impression of an average garden variety, cult leader. Being familiar with the forest and its secluded valleys and back roads, I knew from a young age that lots of secrets were held far from the public eye. 

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Back in the 80's there was a cult near the same area that worshiped a man called Fou. A local by the name of Emory Lamb, was the center of the cult, then in 1982 cult member "Baby Fou" Keith and his wife Kate Haigler, hijacked a bus in Jasper Arkansas and were shot by police before ending their own lives on the Jasper bridge. Read more about the two cultists hijacking the bus HERE. 

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Always known for their purple clothes, the purple people have a very secluded 100 acre compound near Yellville Arkansas. Also known as the Nahziryah Monastic Community or Nazir Order of the Purple Veil, it was founded in the early 1970's and was re-located to the Ozarks near the year 2000.

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The Arkansas Times reported in 2019 that their leader Kedem was "...Black Hebrew Israelite, a name given to various small African-American religious groups who believe themselves to be the descendants of a lost tribe of Israel. Black Hebrew Israelite beliefs and practices vary widely, but some adopt Hebrew names, practice polygamy, reject birth control and keep strict vegan diets. Kedem, however, forged his own spiritual path. He preached an asceticism derived from the Essenes, an ancient Jewish sect. Later, he mixed in an amalgam of Eastern contemplative mysticism."

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Mentioning the purple people in the Ozarks tends to raise some eyebrows, because many people have escaped their compound and told harrowing tales of mental and physical abuse. Speaking directly to a person who escaped this slavery, they described it to me simply as a prison with a farm. 

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Mostly you can see the purple people at local music and art shows selling incense and copper jewelry. Read more about The Purple People on their website HERE. 

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