Aryan Nation Headquarters

Aryan Nations is a white supremacist, paramilitary, self-described White Christian Separatist, religious organization that was based in Hayden Lake, Idaho.

Founded in the 1970s, Aryan Nations claimed to be a model of self-reliance,rugged individualism, and personal survival . From the Storm Front white supremacist web site <https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t123653/> Aryan Nations described itself: “Above all, (Aryan Nations) appeals to self-starters, natural leaders, not robots... We are here for you and you are the future of your Race.”

Hayden Lake, Idaho, however, is not a wilderness for training survivalists. The Aryan Nations Headquarters could have been more accurately described as an encampment adjacent to a comfortable tourist town. Since the early 1900s Hayden Lake’s natural beauty attracted wealthy vacationers and in 1907, the Hayden Lake Country Club became a gathering place for many area socialites, such as Bing Crosby. The F. Lewis Clark Mansion built in 1910, was the most expensive home in Idaho at the time. A railway expansion made travel easy from nearby Spokane. HLCC opened the first 18-hole golf course in the state of Idaho in 1912.

Epilogue: In September 2000, the Southern Poverty Law Center won a $6.3 million judgment against the Aryan Nations and punitive damages were awarded to Victoria Keenan and her son, Jason, who were attacked by Aryan Nations guards in 1999. Bullets struck the Keenans' car several times, then the car crashed and an Aryan member held the Keenans at gunpoint. As a result of the judgment, the compound was turned over to the Keenans, who then sold the property to a philanthropist who subsequently donated it to North Idaho College, which designated the land as a "peace park".

42” x 36” x 8”; Center image (Aryan Nation Headquarter Compound; 2001) courtesy of Southern Poverty Law Center; Epson HDR archival ink prints; 3-d prints of homes, suburbanites, pets; bronze, wood; 2016