Editing Twelve Tribes communities (section)

=== Move to Vermont ===
[[File:Common Sense Café 28 Cross Street Island Pond VT May 2013.jpg|upright|thumbnail|Common Sense Café and Yellow Deli in Island Pond, Vermont; owned and operated by Twelve Tribes. Permanently closed,{{Disputed inline|date=March 2026}} as of 2019]]

The move to Vermont, combined with an initial period of economic hardship, caused some members to leave.<ref name="palmerraising"/> The Citizen's Freedom Foundation conducted several meetings in [[Barton, Vermont|Barton]] to draw attention to the group. The Citizen's Freedom Foundation had made allegations of mind control in Chattanooga, but now it made accusations of [[child abuse]].<ref name="amc"/> In 1983, charges were brought against Charles "Eddie" Wiseman (an elder in the group) for [[misdemeanor]] [[assault|simple assault]]; this, combined with multiple child custody cases, formed the basis for a search warrant. On June 22, 1984, [[Vermont State Police]] and Vermont Social Rehabilitation Services<ref name='mediacovraid'>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/3512176|title=Media Coverage of Unconventional Religion: Any "Good News" for Minority Faiths? |journal=[[Review of Religious Research]]|date=December 1997|first=Stuart A.|last=Wright|author-link=Stuart A. Wright|volume=39|issue=2|pages=101–115|jstor=3512176 }}</ref> seized 112 children.<ref name="palmerraising"/> Forty cases were dismissed as the parents refused to give the names of their children.<ref name="religionnews">{{cite news | title=Children of Sect Seized in Vermont | date=June 24, 1984 | url =https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/23/us/children-of-sect-seized-in-vermont.html | work =The New York Times | access-date = November 12, 2009}}</ref> Due to what the group perceived were a massive misunderstanding of the events and concerns leading up to and surrounding the raid, its members began formal relationships with their neighbors.<!-- repcite:"Palmer1998" --> Two months after the raid, the case against Wiseman fell apart after the main witness recanted, saying he was under duress from the [[anticult movement]].<ref name="Palmer1998"/> The case was later dropped in 1985 after a judge ruled that Wiseman had been denied his right to a [[speedy trial]]. Eddie Wiseman's public defender, Jean Swantko, who had been present during the raid, later joined the Twelve Tribes and married Wiseman.<ref name='Married'>{{cite news | first=Scott | last=Wheeler | title=The Raid on Island Pond 25 Years Later – A Personal Look | year=2009 | publisher=Scott Wheeler | url=http://www.thekingdomhistorical.com/index.php/latest-news/210-the-raid-on-island-pond-25-years-later.html | work=Northland Journal | access-date=February 26, 2010 | archive-date=July 17, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717005334/http://www.thekingdomhistorical.com/index.php/latest-news/210-the-raid-on-island-pond-25-years-later.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The group had become more isolationist<!--  this term might be better off replaced here, isolationist generally has immigration or nationalistic connotations. --> after the group's departure from Chattanooga. Now realizing that this had caused outsiders to view the group with suspicion, the group changed tactics and became more open, establishing more cordial relationships with neighbors and authorities.<ref name='Palmer2010'/>

In about 1985, Gene Spriggs said he had received revelation about the [[Book of Daniel]]. Spriggs believed that his community would bring about the [[Second Coming|return of Jesus]]. The group started to believe that it was the spiritual Israel. About this time the community began referring to Jesus by his likely name in Hebrew, [[Yahshua]], and members of the community started being given Hebrew names—Spriggs took the name "Yoneq". The group also started to incorporate Israeli dancing and folk music into their traditions. In the summer of 1987 the entire community in Island Pond was baptized in a ritual that, one scholar wrote, "[washed] themselves from the perceived flaws of contemporary Christianity."<ref name='Palmer2010'/>

During the 1980s, Twelve Tribes members followed [[Grateful Dead]] tours by bus, recruiting members from their concerts.<ref>{{cite web |title=At Concerts {{!}} Twelve Tribes |url=https://www.twelvetribes.org/concerts |website=www.twelvetribes.org |publisher=Twelve Tribes |access-date=September 6, 2024}}</ref>