Aryan Nations
white supremacist group
Aryan Nations was a North American neo-Nazi organization that was originally based in Kootenai County, Idaho, about 2+3⁄4 miles (4.4 km) north of the city of Hayden Lake. Richard Girnt Butler founded Aryan Nations in the 1970s. It adhered to Christian Identity doctrine, a white supremacist interpretation of Christianity. The group had several state chapters, but was very decentralized.
Starting in 1981, Butler organized yearly gatherings of white supremacists at his compound in Idaho which he termed the "Aryan Nations World Congress." In 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) classified Aryan Nations as a "terrorist threat." In a review of terrorist organizations, the RAND Corporation called it the "first truly nationwide terrorist network" in the United States and Canada.
Due to a decline in Butler's health, his abilities to lead the group faltered in the late 1990s, and the group experienced some schisms, including one led by August Kreis III, who Butler expelled. After his death in 2004, Aryan Nations schismed further into several different organizations, some of which continue to use the name Aryan Nations.
History
Background and founding
Aryan Nations beliefs are based on the teachings of Wesley A. Swift, a leading figure in the early Christian Identity movement. Swift was originally exposed to British Israelism while at the Angelus Temple through the teachings of visiting minister Gerald Burton Winrod. Swift was also exposed to Charles Parham's British Israel teachings at the Angelus Temple.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Aryan Nations” is white supremacist group. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Aryan, Nations and white, not as a finished interpretation.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q717920. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981, 2001 and 2004.
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This entry incorporates text from “Aryan Nations” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.