The Twelve Tribes is a notorious racist and anti-Semitic “cult” that has been fined for child labor violations and accused repeatedly of gross abuse.
The group often raises money by selling products made by its members. Once such goods were sold through Robert Redford’s Sundance Catalog.
However, public exposure of such connections put an end to all that.
But it seems you just can’t keep a bad “cult” down.
In an effort to make the cash flow once again, Twelve Tribes has taken its products to the Internet and is hawking its manufactured goods through eBay.
It lists items for sale under an assortment of names such as “Common Blacksmith,” “The Mate Factor Yerba Mate,” “Common wealth Wood Works,” “The Common Thread, Common Sense Natural Bodycare,” “elad” (baby clothing) and the “Common Ground Café.”
Listings have been up on eBay under the user ID “beesinahive.”
The “beekeeper” of these worker drones is Twelve Tribes leader Elbert Eugene Spriggs, a former carnival barker who now calls himself “Yoneq.”
And “Yoneq” seems to have harvested quite a bit of honey.
Spriggs lives a relative life of luxury, while his workers buzz around within group housing, largely in quaint upstate New York towns like Coxsackie.
And though former corporate friends have snubbed the “cult” the Twelve Tribes still brags about them.
“We used to manufacture very nice Pilgrim Primitive furniture…, which appeared in Robert Redford’s Sundance, Faith Mountain, and Spiegel Catalogs,” states their website.
The same site offers somewhat cryptically, “Our business ended suddenly and left us with extra inventory which we are offering for auction.”
That auction venue now often seems to be eBay.
Just think, you too can help Mr. Spriggs with the upkeep of his homes in France, New England and South America.
Of course this may require not thinking about the working conditions and hardships endured by his followers.
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