Finally, a Definitive Word on Tatarstan and Mexico's Mennonites

Time to add a new decal?  Russian Mennonite - Tatarstan

The American press has finally discovered the story about Mexican Mennonites possibly returning to Tatarstan, Russia.

Please follow this link to Tim Johnson's excellent coverage of this story in the Kansas City Star:

Johnson, Tim, "To Some Mennonites in Mexico, Russia Looks Like Promised Land," 11 Nov 2012

Neu Bruderthaler's comments:

An excellent article.  Thank you Tim for taking the time to research this story properly.  It is very informative.

I do have some unease with Dr. Koth's remark which might indicate a clearer connection and gross oversimplification between the Russian Revolution and the immigration of the Mennonites out of Russia and Ukraine than is the case.   The primary immigration to North America, as most Kansans recall from their state history courses, immigrated in the 1870s when Alexander II's policies towards minorities became increasingly irrational and ambivalent and Mennonites were faced with the threat of losing their freedoms of religion, individual conscience and from mandatory military service.  Many Mennonites chose to immigrate to North America while many chose to stay during this time and negotiate further regarding these freedoms with the Czar.  The farms of those leaving were sold to either Mennonites who remained in Russia-Ukraine or to Russians and Ukrainians desiring new farmland.

Arguably, it was the unrest created by the Revolution and contact with invading German armies who promised stability and protection during WWI and WWII that caused the greatest impetus for further immigration amongst those who stayed.   But land appropriation was only one concern -- much more important was the general level of social and political violence encouraged by the early Soviet regime and Stalin's administration, natural and man-made famines, the imposed atheism of the Soviet state and the horrors of the Holodomar -- one of the darkest periods of Ukraine's history.

an update in response to HadW...

kjirtslijch ... 

An Update on the Drought-related Tensions of Mennonites in Chihuahua:

   

    The Mexican consulate of Minnesota has confirmed that there are increasing tensions in the Chihuahua region between Mennonites, non-Mennonites and others over land and water resources.  The Consulate also confirms that rumours have been circulating in the national press of Mexico that the Mennonites are going to immigrate elsewhere.  BUT there has been no confirmation from authorities in the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), Mexico or Tatarstan, Russia, that any of the smaller Mexican Mennonite groups have or are planning to immigrate back to Russia.  You will recall that it is from Russia that these Mennonites’ fore-parents fled as refugees from legal and religious persecution by Tsarist officials and later, economic, political and physical persecution from the Soviets.

    It seems clear that there have been some sort of contacts regarding immigration potential by Mennonites from Chihuahua elsewhere due to the drought and rising tensions with non-Mennonite neighbours.  BUT this is also a very normal thing for Mennonites.  As Mennonites communities, congregations and kolonies increase in size, small groups often leave to establish new communities and farms elsewhere.  In fact, Amish and Hutterite groups within the United States and Canada are constantly making news with their plans to move to new areas to buy inexpensive land for establishing new farms, communities and families.  So the entire immigration angle might be true but have nothing to do with any potential conflict or even the drought.  The Russia and Kazakh angles are interesting only in that they would indicate a return to the Mennonite diaspora’s ancestral “homeland.”

Are Mexico's Mennonites Leaving for Russia?

ne Trigjfoat

Bottom (c) El Universal.com.mx

    Honestly, this story is difficult to navigate – it is full of contradictions and surprising vitriol, but if true, it could indicate a hundred-year reversal of Mennonite immigration out of Russia back to the steppes and arid lands of their forefathers – well, a few of the fore-parents anyway…  but Mexico’s Mennonites, or at least some of them, might be heading back to Russia and Kazakhstan by 2014.  The ink might already be drying on the new deeds.

    The reason this story is difficult to follow is that it takes place in at least three very different languages – none of which are English – and I am not certain of either the electronic translations or search results for further information.  [Note:  I have contacted various groups to obtain more reliable “official” information, and will share this via the blog as I receive responses.]

    According to GAMEO.org, several thousand Mennonites chose to leave Canada for Mexico in 1922-1927, representing the entire Alt Kolonie subculture and many Sommerfelder (later to be also joined by numerous conservative Kleine Gemeinde who would settle near and in Belize).  According to GAMEO.org, the settlers migrating to Mexico represented the most conservative of the earlier Russian Mennonite immigrants into Canada and their move to Mexico was in reaction to early 20^th Century governmental efforts to Canadianize the Mennonite immigrants – especially in the area of education and language rights, felt to have been guaranteed under the original agreements with Crown authorities extended to encourage Mennonite immigration to Manitoba.  While GAMEO.org focuses on language rights, one must assume that struggles by Canadian Mennonites to maintain their exemptions from military service during World War 1 – and American imprisonment of conscientious objectors during the same war, probably played a similar role in the decision to immigrate, as well as the perennial need for additional farmland and cultural seclusion.

Have the Mennonites Outgrown Their Toleration? (2 of 2)

Je’dult met aundre

Part 2:  Potential Property Tax Aggression in Mexico

    Recent news items have given ethnic Anabapatists cause to reconsider the definitions and boundaries of thire ethnic-religious cultures and how these cultures are seen by those looking in from the outside.

    A tax dispute between Mexico’s Manitoba Colony of Mennonites and local authorities are leaving ethnic Russländer Mennonites wondering if they are being targeted for exploitation.  Is Mexico really taking a page from Europe’s Medieval past to pass off its financial excesses onto the backs of “ethnic minority enclaves” or ghettos?

    Asked differently, is the Mexican majority losing its ability to tolerate minority cultures (external cultural toleration)? 

Mennonite Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention

be’sope

Courtesy thehealthage.com

    Addiction, drugs and alcohol in the Anabaptist community have become much more visible since the documentary Devil’s Playground came out in 2002.  There should be no surprise.  Long known for presenting a public profile of simplicity and sobriety, the tight Mennonite (and Amish) communities have long sheltered a growing, if hidden, confrontation with drugs and alcohol.

    The old Mennonite joke (which has also been applied to other cultures) goes something like this:

    Q:   “Why don’t you ever invite a single Mennonite to go fishing?”

    A:   “Because he will drink all of my beer.”

    Q:  “Why do you always invite two Mennonites when you go fishing?”

    A:  “That way neither of them will drink any of my beer.”

    The joke goes to the heart of the matter – Mennonite culture is just like any other – we like our beer (or wine) and we like to experiment and explore.  However, in the 20^th Century, alcohol, tobacco and drugs have become increasingly taboo and unacceptable for church members.  At the same time, the assimilation of Mennonites into non-Mennonite culture had dramatically increased the amount of alcohol consumption and drug use.  Somewhat problematically, much of this use is hidden or does not begin until Mennonite youth leave their hometowns.  Even within towns, it is difficult to understand if there is a different impact in the ethnic Mennonite community contrasted to the larger society.  We just blend in too well when we want to.