Mennonites in Paraguay

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Mennonites in Paraguay
San Ignacio.jpg
Mennonite children in San Juan Bautista
Total population
38,731 (2022) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Boquerón Department (Menno Colony, Neuland Colony, Filadelfia, etc.)
Religions
Anabaptist
Scriptures
Bible
Languages
Plautdietsch, Standard German, Spanish, English

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

Contents

History

In the 1780s, Catherine the Great of Russia invited Mennonites from Prussia to settle north of the Black Sea in exchange for religious freedom and exemption from military service, a precondition founded in their commitment to non-violence. After Russia introduced the general conscription in 1874, many Mennonites migrated to the US and Canada. The members of the Menno Colony moved to Paraguay from Canada when universal, secular compulsory education was implemented in 1917 that required the use of the English language. More conservative Mennonites saw this as a threat to the religious basis of their community. In 1927, 1743 pioneers came from Canada to Paraguay and turned the arid Chaco into fertile farmland over the years. It was the first Mennonite colony in the region.

In the beginning, the pioneers in the Chaco had to overcome many adversities. Many became sick due to the lack of medical care, of whom 121 died and some 60 families returned to Canada.

In 1930, another wave of Russian Mennonite immigrants arrived in the Chaco area from Russia (mostly via a temporary stop in Germany) and founded the Fernheim Colony. They were fleeing the persecution by the Communists and a bad economic situation that was caused by the collectivization in the Soviet Union and eventually led to the Holodomor. More Russian Mennonites fled to the west with the receding German Army at the end of WW2 fearing persecution, Russian forced labor camps and deportation. Some 3,500 of these Mennonites arrived in Paraguay and founded Neuland and Volendam colonies in 1947. [2]

Origin and languages

A mennonite farmer unrolls hay to feed the cows at his farm located near Lolita, Chaco. Inmmen py1.jpg
A mennonite farmer unrolls hay to feed the cows at his farm located near Lolita, Chaco.

The vast majority of Mennonites in Paraguay, spread out over nineteen colonies across Paraguay, are of the Russian Mennonite variety, meaning they are originally of Dutch ancestry and can trace their history to the Mennonite settlement in the Vistula Delta, from where they migrated to the Russian Empire and later to the Americas. The percentage of the Mennonites of Paraguay who came directly from Russia is 25 percent. 51 percent came from Russia via Canada, where they lived for several decades and a further 22% from Russia via Canada via Mexico (some from Mexico via Belize).

Smaller groups of Swiss German or Old Order Amish also exist in Paraguay, making up about two percent, and are descendants of Amish immigrants from the United States, who came originally from Switzerland and Southern Germany. [3]

The Russian Mennonite majority share a common ancestry, Plautdietsch language, and many other traditions, which are quite distinct from the small group of Amish Mennonite in Paraguay, who speak Pennsylvania German along with English.

Demography

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1927 1,743    
1940 4,354+149.8%
1950 12,001+175.6%
1956 13,040+8.7%
1987 22,710+74.2%
2000 29,045+27.9%
2008 30,000+3.3%
2022 38,731+29.1%
Sources: [4] [5] [6] [7] [1]

There were 22,710 ethnic Mennonites living in Paraguay in 1987 [4] and 29,045 in 2000. [5] Plautdietsch speakers were estimated 40,000 in 2007 according to Ethnologue. [6] [8]

Major colonies

A 2020 survey found that there are more than 200 Mennonite colonies in nine Latin American countries, with 25 in Paraguay. [9]

Mennonite colonies are located in two quite different parts of Paraguay with quite different clime and natural resources: in the hot and dry Gran Chaco region (West), and the milder and more humid in Eastern Paraguay. [10] When giving the numbers of Mennonites sometimes only adult baptized members are counted but here all souls that is both baptized members and baptized young people and children who live in the colonies are included.

NameLocationFoundedOriginSouls 1987Souls 2022
Menno West1927Canada6,65010,700
Fernheim West1930 USSR/Canada3,2404,984
FrieslandEast1937USSR/Canada720672
Neuland West1947USSR/Canada1,3302,347
VolendamEast1947USSR/Canada690710
AsuncionEast1947Diverse7501,550
BergthalEast1948Canada1,4903,823
SommerfeldEast1948Canada1,8604,963
ReinfeldEast1966Canada120365
Luz y Esperanza*East1967USA110158
Agua Azul*East1969USA170ca. 60
Rio VerdeEast1969Mexico2,4903,600
Tres PalmasEast1970Canada/USSR220186
Santa ClaraEast1972Mexico130302
Río Corrientes*East1975USA167Ended ca. 1995
Florida*East1976USA100116
Nueva DurangoEast1978Mexico2,0502,410
Campo Alto*East1980 Belize 55Ended ca. 1995
La Montaña*East1982USA70325
ManitobaEast1983Mexico2901,269
MadelónWest2013Durango, PY 0373
Monte ClaroWest2017Rio Verde, PY0373
Paraguay22,71038,731

[1] [11] [12] * Colonies of English-speaking Mennonites of South German origin and Spanish-speaking Mennonites of divers origin like Beachy Amish and Conservative Mennonites [13] [14] [15]

Mennonites of the Central Chaco

The Central Chaco region probably has the highest concentration of ethnic Mennonites anywhere in Latin America. German speaking people (almost all of them Mennonites) formed 32% of the total population of the Central Chaco as of 2005. Only Paraguayan Indians (52%) were more numerous compared to them. Latin Paraguayans, the majority ethnic group in Paraguay, constituted just 11% and Braziguayans and Argentines another 5%. [16] [17]

Mennonites have received some criticism from human rights organizations for their relations with a number of indigenous tribes, including the Ayoreo people in Paraguay. [18]

See also

Bibliography

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 Radical Reformation. The name Mennonites is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of 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 Philip Melanchthon (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", nonresistance, and in general, more emphasis on "true Christianity" involving "being Christian and obeying Christ" as they interpret it from the Holy Bible.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filadelfia</span> Town in Boquerón, Paraguay

Filadelfia is the capital of Boquerón Department in the Gran Chaco of western Paraguay. It is the centre of the Fernheim Colony. The city lies about 450 kilometres (280 mi) northwest of the capital Asunción. With a population of about 20,000, it is the largest town in the 400 kilometer radius, and accounts for almost a third of the departmental population.

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'.

Neuland Colony is a Mennonite settlement in Paraguay. After thousands of Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites fled the Soviet Union during the Great Trek of World War II, many were left displaced by the war. In response to this need, land in the Boquerón Department was purchased by the Mennonite Central Committee in 1947 and settled by these same Mennonite refugees from Europe. As of 2008, the colony had about 3,400 residents.

Loma Plata is a city in the district (distrito) of the Department of Boquerón, Paraguay. It is located 407km from Asunción by a paved detour of 22km from the Ruta Transchaco. It is the main town of the Menno Colony, one of the Mennonite colonies of the Paraguayan Chaco.

<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.

Kleine Gemeinde is a Mennonite denomination founded in 1812 by Klaas Reimer in the Russian Empire. The current group primarily consists of Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites in Belize, Mexico and Bolivia, as well as a small presence in Canada and the United States. In 2015 it had some 5,400 baptized members. Most of its Canadian congregations diverged from the others over the latter half of the 20th century and are now called the Evangelical Mennonite Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mennonites in Bolivia</span> Religious denomination in South America

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

Peter P. Klassen was a Russian Mennonite author who wrote in the German language. He fled with his parents from Soviet Russia to Paraguay, arriving there in 1931. He has had a distinguished career as the premier historian of Mennonites in South America. Klassen has also worked as a teacher and was a long-time editor of the Paraguayan Mennonite newspaper Mennoblatt.

Old Colony Mennonites are a part of the Russian Mennonite movement that descends 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.

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

Mennonites in Uruguay have been present since 1948. The Mennonites of Uruguay are made up of ethnic Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites, who are descendants of Friesian, Flemish and Prussian people, as well as Spanish-speaking Uruguayans of all ethnic backgrounds, that converted responding to the missionary efforts of the immigrants.

<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.

The term ethnic Mennonite refers to Mennonites of Central European ancestry and culture who are considered to be members of a Mennonite ethnic or ethnoreligious group. The term is also used for aspects of their culture, such as language, dress, and Mennonite food.

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.

Anabaptists and Jews have had interactions for several centuries, since the origins of Anabaptism in the Radical Reformation in early modern Europe. Due to the insularity of many Anabaptist and Jewish communities, Anabaptist–Jewish relations have historically been limited but there are notable examples of interactions between Anabaptists and Jews. Due to some similarities in dress, culture, and language, Amish and Mennonite communities in particular have often been compared and contrasted to Haredi and Hasidic Jewish communities.

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 Neue Zahlen: In Paraguay leben 38.731 Mennoniten at menno-welt.net.
  2. "Paraguay". Gameo.org. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  3. [ dead link ]
  4. 1 2 Redekop, Calvin Wall; Krahn, Victor A.; Steiner, Samuel J. (1994). Anabaptist/Mennonite Faith and Economics - Google Books. University Press of America. ISBN   9780819193506 . Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  5. 1 2 Rendi D. Klassen. ""Statistik der Mennonitenkolonien in Paraguay" in Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kultur der Mennoniten in Paraguay 2000". Menonitica.org. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Plautdietsch". Ethnologue. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  7. Paraguay at GAMEO.org
  8. "Paraguay". Ethnologue. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  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. Redekop, Calvin Wall; Krahn, Victor A.; Steiner, Samuel J. (1994). Anabaptist/Mennonite Faith and Economics - Google Books. University Press of America. ISBN   9780819193506 . Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  11. Calvin Redekop: Paraguayan Utopia and Reality: The Case of the Indígenas in Mennonite Life – summer 2010, vol. 64 at Bethel College.
  12. Some dates are from the GAMEO articles of the respective colonies.
  13. Luz y Esperanza Colony (Paraguay) at GAMEO.org.
  14. Campo Alto Colony (Canindeyú Department, Paraguay) at GAMEO.org.
  15. Florida Colony (Florida, Paraguay) at GAMEO.org.
  16. "ASCIM - Data". Ascim.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  17. Archived 29 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  18. John Vidal in Filadelfia (5 October 2010). "Chaco deforestation by Christian sect puts Paraguayan land under threat | Environment". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2014.