Mennonites in Bolivia

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Mennonites in Bolivia
Mennonit in Bolivien.jpg
Mennonite in Colonia del Norte
Total population
~150,000 (2023) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Santa Cruz
Religions
Anabaptism
Languages
Plautdietsch, Spanish

The Mennonites in Bolivia are among the most traditional and conservative of all Mennonite denominations in Spaniard America. They are mostly Russian Mennonites of Frisian, Flemish, and Prussian descent. As of 2013, there were about 70,000 Mennonites living in Bolivia; [2] that population has grown to around 150,000 as of 2023. [1]

Contents

History

Origins

In the early-to-mid 16th century, Mennonites began to move from the Low Countries to the Vistula delta region, seeking religious freedom and exemption from military service. There they gradually replaced their Dutch and Frisian languages with the Plautdietsch dialect spoken in the area, blending into it elements of their native tongues. The Mennonites of Dutch origin were joined by Mennonites from other parts of northern Europe.

In 1772, most of Poland Mennonites' land in the Vistula area became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in the first of the Partitions of Poland. Frederick William II of Prussia ascended the throne in 1786 and imposed heavy fees on the Mennonites in exchange for continued military exemption.

Earlier Migrations

In the 1760s Catherine the Great of Russia invited Mennonites from Prussia to settle on land and farm north of the Black Sea in what is modern Ukraine, near Zaporizhia, in exchange for religious freedom and exemption from military service, a precondition founded in their commitment to non-violence. The ancestors of the Bolivian Mennonites settled in the Ukrainian section of the Russian Empire in two main waves in the years 1789 and 1804, leaving Danzig and the Polish Vistula delta because they were being annexed by Prussia. After Russia introduced the general conscription in 1874, many Mennonites migrated to the US and Canada.

In the years after 1873 some 11,000 left the Russian Empire and settled in Manitoba, Canada, and an equal number went to Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota territory. The Russian Mennonites settled in Canada until a universal, secular compulsory education was implemented in 1917 that required the use of the English language, which the more conservative Mennonites saw as a threat to the religious basis of their community.

The more conservative Mennonites from Russia, some 6,000 people, left Canada between 1922 and 1925 and settled in Mexico. Another 1,800 more conservative Mennonites migrated to the Chaco region in Paraguay in 1927. In 1930 and in 1947 the Paraguayian Mennonites were joined by Mennonites coming directly from Russia. In the years after 1958 some 1,700 Mennonites from the Mexican settlements moved to what was then British Honduras and today is Belize.

Bolivia

The Bolivian government granted a privilege to future Mennonite immigrants including freedom of religion, private schools and exemption from military service in the 1930s, but that was not deployed until the 1950s.

Between 1954 and 1957, a first group of 37 families from various Mennonite colonies in Paraguay established Tres Palmas colony, 25 km northeast of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Soon, a second colony was established five km away from Tres Palmas by a group of 25 conservative families from Menno Colony in Paraguay. The settlers from Paraguay were experienced and well prepared to practice agriculture in a subtropical climate. In 1959, the total Mennonite population in Bolivia was 189. [3]

In 1963, new settlements were founded where Mennonites from Paraguay and Canada lived together. In 1967, Mennonites from Mexico and from their daughter colonies in Belize began to settle in the Santa Cruz Department. Las Piedras colony, founded 1968, was the first colony founded exclusively by Mennonites from Canada. Most settlers in Bolivia were traditional Mennonites who wanted to separate themselves more from "the world". Altogether there were about 17,500 Mennonites living in 16 colonies in Bolivia by 1986, of whom nearly 15,000 were Old Colony Mennonites and 2,500 Bergthal or Sommerfeld Mennonites. [3]

Colonies and population

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1959 189    
1986 17,500+18.26%
1995 28,567+5.60%
1997 33,089+7.62%
2007 49,813+4.18%
2010 60,000+6.40%
2013 70,000+5.27%
2023 150,000+7.92%
Estimates: [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [2] [1]

In 1995, there were a total of 25 Mennonite colonies in Bolivia with a total population of 28,567. The most populous ones were Riva Palacios (5,488), Swift Current (2,602), Nueva Esperanza (2,455), Valle Esperanza (2,214) and Santa Rita (1,748). [6] In 2002 there were 40 Mennonite colonies with a population of about 38,000 people. An outreach of Conservative Mennonites can be found at La Estrella, with others in progress.

The total population was estimated at 60,000 by Lisa Wiltse in 2010. [7] [8]

In 2012 there were 23,818 church members in congregations of Russian Mennonites, indicating a total population of about 70,000. Another 1,170 Mennonites were in Spanish-speaking congregations. [3] The number of colonies was 57 in 2011.

Martyna Wojciechowska, a Polish journalist, created a TV documentary about the colony in Santa Rita, as a part of her TV programme Kobieta na krańcu świata , that aired on Polish TV on 1 October 2017. A 2020 survey found that there are more than 200 Mennonite colonies in nine Iberian American countries, with 99 in Bolivia. [9]

NameEstab­lishedOriginPopulation
in 1997
Population
in 2007
Tres Palmas1954Paraguay--
Canadiense 11957Paraguay402207
Altbergthal1963Canada, Paraguay--
Las Pavas1963Paraguay1710
Schönthal1967Paraguay--
Riva Palacios1967Mexico5,7285,560
Las Piedras 11967Canada--
Swift Current1968Mexico2,6142,925
Sommerfeld1968Mexico669920
Santa Rita1968Mexico1,5792,010
Nueva Esperanza1975Mexico2,6873,748
Canadiense 21975Canadiense 1777980
Valle Esperanza1975/6Mexico2,3182,305
Cupesi1976Canada, Las Pavas753530
Del Norte1980Mexico1,0161,323
Belice1981Mexico2,1392,620
Las Piedras 21984Las Piedras 11,150848
Nueva Holanda1984Las Pavas698824
Neu Bergthal1986Belice, Canada,
Altbergthal
499640
Pinondi1988Riva Palacios1,5332,429
Chihuahua1989Bolivia332607
Campo León1991Bolivia7340
Yanahigua1991/2Valle Esperanza7231,116
Las Palmas1992Paraguay, Las Plamas254322
Valle Nuevo1993Swift Current1,1851,699
Manitoba1993Riva Palacios1,8251,669
Leoncito1994Bolivia1110
Santa Clara1994Sommerfeld248456
Durango 11994Paraguay1,8132,846
Oriente1995/6Santa Rita6511,063
Alberta1996Canada167-
Casas Grandes1996Mexico280883
El Cerro1996Las Piedras 2-506
El Dorado1996Riva Palacios2981,848
El Este1996Cupesi--
Fresnillo1996Mexico164271
Hohenau1996Paraguay336634
Centro Shalom1997Valle Espeeanza2037
Del Sur1997Mexico-1,063
El Tinto1997Paraguay66823
Florida1997Del Norte8343
La Luna1997Mexico, Bolivia15-
Milagrosa1997Belize14266
Monte Cristo1997Canada9-
Waldheim1998Paraguay-243
Villa Cariño1998Las Piedras 1-227
Buena Vista1999Bolivia-33
Durango 22001Mexico--
La Sierra2002Argentina-228
El Palmar2002Paraguay-292
La Estrella2002Canada, Bolivia-220
Berlin2003N. Esperanza-513
Nueva Asención2004Valle Nuevo-448
IBNIAS (Pailòn)2004Bolivia-66
Monte Rico2004Swift Current-384
Neuland2004Paraguay-384
Nordenheim2005S. Rita-65
La Honda2005Durango 1-249
Barrio N. Estrella2005Bolivia-60
Nueva México2005Riva Palacios-507
Villa Hermosa2005Valle Esperanza-270
Villa Nueva (Pailon)2005Bolivia-207
Schöntal (S. Pablo)2005Fresnillo (Chihuahua)-105
Rio Nego2006Swift Current-120
California2006Manitoba-22
Las Piedras2006Belize-30
Bajio Verde2007Paraguay-16
Total33,08949,813

[10]

AffiliationMembership
in 2009
Membership
in 2012
Altkolonier Mennonitengemeinde 14,42419,096
Canadian Old Colony Mennonites344524
Sommerfelder Mennonitengemeinde 2,0652,157
Bergthaler Mennonitengemeinde 199557
Reinländer Mennonitengemeinde147203
Kleingemeinde 394682
Conservative (Plain) Mennonites70105
La Iglesia Evangélica Anabautista en Bolivia630630
Iglesia Evangélica Menonita Boliviana450450
Iglesia Misionera Anabaptista90
Independent colonies125494
Total18,84824,988

[3]

Rape and sexual assaults

In 2011, eight men belonging to the Manitoba Mennonite Colony were convicted of a series of sexual assaults committed from 2005 to 2009. Prior to the discovery, the rapes had been attributed to a ghost or demon. The victims were reported to be between the ages of 3 and 65. The offenders used a type of gas used by veterinarians to sedate animals during medical procedures. Despite long custodial sentences for the convicted men, an investigation in 2013 reported continuing cases of similar assaults and other sexual abuses. Canadian author Miriam Toews has made these crimes the center of her 2018 novel Women Talking . [11] [12] [13]

Literature

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mennonites</span> Anabaptist groups originating in Western Europe

Mennonites are a group of Anabaptist Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Reformation. The name Mennonites is derived from the excommunicated Roman-Catholic chaplain Menno Simons (1496–1561) from Friesland, part of the Holy Roman Empire, present day Netherlands. Menno Simons became a prominent leader within the wider Anabaptist movement and was a contemporary of Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Philipp Melanchton (1497-1560). Through his writings about the Reformation Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss Anabaptist founders as well as early teachings of the Mennonites founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus. Formal Mennonite beliefs were codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1632), which affirmed "the baptism of believers only, the washing of the feet as a symbol of servanthood, church discipline, the shunning of the excommunicated, the non-swearing of oaths, marriage within the same church", strict pacifistic physical nonresistance, anti-Catholicism and in general, more emphasis on "true Christianity" involving "being Christian and obeying Christ" as they interpret it from the Holy Bible.

Plautdietsch or Mennonite Low German is a Low Prussian dialect of East Low German with Dutch influence that developed in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Vistula delta area of Royal Prussia. The word Plautdietsch translates to "flat German". In other Low German dialects, the word for Low German is usually realised as Plattdütsch/Plattdüütsch or Plattdüütsk, but the spelling Plautdietsch is used to refer specifically to the Vistula variant of the language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian Mennonites</span> Ethnic group

The Russian Mennonites are a group of Mennonites who are the descendants of Dutch and North German Anabaptists who settled in the Vistula delta in West Prussia for about 250 years and established colonies in the Russian Empire beginning in 1789. Since the late 19th century, many of them have emigrated to countries which are located throughout the Western Hemisphere. The rest of them were forcibly relocated, so very few of their descendants currently live in the locations of the original colonies. Russian Mennonites are traditionally multilingual but Plautdietsch is their first language as well as their lingua franca. In 2014, there were several hundred thousand Russian Mennonites: about 200,000 live in Germany, 74,122 live in Mexico, 150,000 in Bolivia, 40,000 live in Paraguay, 10,000 live in Belize, tens of thousands of them live in Canada and the US, and a few thousand live in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.

The German minority in Paraguay came into existence with immigration during the industrial age. The "Nueva Germania" colony was founded in Paraguay in 1888; though regarded as a failure, it still exists despite being abandoned by many of its founders in the 1890s. Paraguay was a popular place for German leaders accused of war crimes to retreat after the second World War. There are large communities of German descendants living in the department of Guairá, in a town called, the department of Itapúa, mainly in the Departmental Capital, Encarnación and the German towns of Obligado, Bella Vista and Hohenau. Some recent Brazilian immigrants to Paraguay also have German ancestry (Brasiguayos). Notable Paraguayans of German descent include the former president of Paraguay Alfredo Stroessner.

Menno Colony is a Mennonite settlement located in the central part of the Chaco region, in northwest Paraguay, occupying an area of 7500 km² (2900 mi²). It was founded in 1926 by Plautdietsch-speaking descendants of Russian Mennonites who emigrated from Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Neighbouring Mennonite settlements are Fernheim Colony and Neuland Colony. The main settlement of the colony is Loma Plata. Menno is the largest of the Mennonite colonies in Paraguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernheim Colony</span>

The Fernheim Colony is a Plautdietsch-speaking settlement of Mennonites originally from Russia of about 5000 in the Chaco of Paraguay. Mennonites from the Soviet Union founded it between 1930 and 1932. Filadelfia is the administrative center of the colony, seat of Boquerón department and is considered the 'Capital of the Chaco'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua</span> City in the Mexican state of Chihuahua

Cuauhtémoc is a city located in the west-central part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It serves as the seat of the municipality of Cuauhtémoc. The city lies 103 km (64 mi) west of the state capital of Chihuahua. As of 2015, the city of Cuauhtémoc had a population of 168,482. 3 languages are recognized as official in the city: Spanish, English, and Plautdietsch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mennonites in Mexico</span> Ethnic group in Mexico

According to a 2022 census, there were 74,122 Mennonites living in Mexico, the vast majority of which are established in the state of Chihuahua, followed by Campeche at around 15,000, with the rest living in smaller colonies in the states of Durango, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Quintana Roo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mennonites in Belize</span>

Mennonites in Belize form different religious bodies and come from different ethnic backgrounds. There are groups of Mennonites living in Belize who are quite traditional and conservative, while others have modernized to various degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mennonites in Paraguay</span>

Mennonites in Paraguay are either Plautdietsch-speakers of mostly Flemish, Frisian and Prussian ancestry or, like the majority of Paraguayans, of mixed or Amerindian ancestry. Ethnic Mennonites contribute heavily to the agricultural and dairy output of Paraguay.

German Bolivians are Bolivians of full, partial, or predominantly German descent, or German-born people residing in Bolivia.

Vistula delta Mennonites were a historic Mennonite community, established in the mid-16th century in the Vistula river delta in Poland. It originated from the Netherlands and present-day northern Germany. The Mennonite community played an important role in the drainage and cultivation of the Vistula delta and the trade relations with the Netherlands. In the late 18th century a significant number of Mennonites emigrated further and formed the nucleus of the Mennonite settlements in Russia, while many remained in the region after the annexation of the region by Prussia in the Partitions of Poland. With the end of World War II and the flight and expulsion of Germans the Mennonite settlements in the Vistula delta ceased to exist.

The name Old Colony Mennonites is used to describe that part of the Russian Mennonite movement that is descended from colonists who migrated from the Chortitza Colony in modern Ukraine near Zaporizhia to settlements in Canada. Theologically, Old Colony Mennonites are largely Conservative Mennonites.

White Bolivians or European Bolivians are Bolivian people whose ancestry lies within the continent of Europe, most notably Spain and Germany, and to a lesser extent, Italy and Croatia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mennonites in Argentina</span>

Mennonites in Argentina belong to two quite different groups: conservative and very conservative Plautdietsch-speaking group of Russian Mennonites who are descendants of Frisian, Flemish and Prussian people, and converts to the Mennonite faith from the general Argentinian population. The Russian Mennonites are the third largest community of Mennonites in South America, with six colonies in Argentina. While Russian Mennonites have their own language and customs and live in colonies, converts to the Mennonite faith normally live in cities and speak Spanish and do not differ much from other Protestants in Argentina. Conservative ethnic Mennonites normally do not engage in missionary activities but look for a quiet and remote place where they can live according to their tradition. More liberal Mennonites are engaged in worldwide missionary work like other North American Protestant denominations. About one third of Mennonites in Argentina are conservative ethnic Mennonites who belong to the Altkolonier branch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barton Creek (Belize)</span> River in Cayo District, Belize

Barton Creek is the name of a small river and the area it flows through in Cayo District, Belize. The river is a right tributary of Belize River. In the area with this name there are two Mennonite settlements: Lower and Upper Barton Creek. Both are settlements of very conservative Mennonites in Belize. Barton Creek Cave can also be found here.

The Sommerfelders, also called Sommerfeld Mennonites or Sommerfeld Mennonite Church, are a Christian group.

Mennonites in Colombia were until 2016 almost only converts from the general and indigenous Colombian population to the Mennonite faith. Since then conservative Plautdietsch-speaking ethnic Mennonites, who belong to the so-called Russian Mennonites, started to immigrate to Colombia.

Nehrungisch is a subdialect of Low Prussian, belonging to the Low German language variety. It was spoken in East Prussia and West Prussia, in the region around the Vistula Spit near Danzig. The easternmost locality where this variety was spoken was Narmeln, and it was spoken from Narmeln to Krakau (Krakowiec). Its Eastern border was to Mundart der Elbinger Höhe,a Low Prussian variety. The dialect survives in Chortitza- Plautdietsch, a dialect of Plautdietsch brought to Ukraine by migrants from the Vistula region. The distinguishing Chortitza features were present in the Northeast of the Vistula delta.

Werdersch is a subdialect of Low Prussian, which itself is a subdialect of Low German. This dialect is spoken in Poland and was spoken in the former province of West Prussia. Werdersch is closely related to Nehrungisch and Plautdietsch.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Iván Paredes Tamayo, Matthew Rose (2023). "Expansion of Mennonite farmland in Bolivia encroaches on Indigenous land" . Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 Bender, Harold S., Martin W. Friesen, Menno Ediger, Isbrand Hiebert and Gerald Mumaw. "Bolivia." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2013. Web. 23 Sep 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bolivia". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  4. Adalberto Kopp (2015). Las colonias menonitas en Bolivia. Fundación Tierra. p. 57. ISBN   978-99974-821-6-7.
  5. Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, & Charles D. Fennig (2019). "Plautdietsch". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2 April 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. 1 2 Schroeder, William; Huebert, Helmut (1996). Mennonite historical atlas. Kindred Productions. pp. 144–145. ISBN   978-0-920643-05-1 . Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  7. 1 2 Wiltse, Lisa (2010). "The Mennonites of Manitoba, Bolivia". Burn. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  8. "Plautdietsch". Ethnologue. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  9. Le Polain de Waroux, Yann; Neumann, Janice; O'Driscoll, Anna; Schreiber, Kerstin (2020). Journal of Land Use Science. Vol. 16. Taylor & Francis. pp. 1–17. doi:10.1080/1747423X.2020.1855266. S2CID   230589810.
  10. Schartner, Sieghard and Schartner, Sylvia: Bolivien: Zufluchtsort der konservativen Mennoniten, Asunción 2009, pp.48–49.
  11. Schwartz, Alexandra (28 March 2019). A Beloved Canadian Novelist Reckons with Her Mennonite Past, The New Yorker . Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  12. Friedman-Rudovsky, Jean (28 December 2013). "The Ghost Rapes of Bolivia". Vice. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  13. Pressly, Linda (16 May 2019). "The rapes haunting a community that shuns 21st Century". BBC News . Retrieved 16 May 2019.

Accessed August 29, 2020.