View source for Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922

From 1919-1922 various groups of [[Kanadier|Kanadier Russian Mennonites]] living in central [[Canada]] sent out a number of delegations to search for a new homeland. These Mennonites were reacting to the [[Old Colony Mennonites#The School Question|loss of autonomy over the education of their children]] as a result of a series of assimilationist reforms, restrictions, and penalties introduced by the governments of [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] and [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]] during and after [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]]. In all cases, the delegations sought from governing bodies [[Privileges (Privilegia)|exemption]] from [[Military Participation|military service]] and from [[Oath|swearing oaths]], the right to administer their own [[Inheritance|inheritance]], [[Property|property]], and [[Mutual Aid|mutual aid]] laws, and the right to control without restriction the [[Education, Mennonite#Canada|education]] of their children, including the continuing use and nurture of the [[German Language|German language]]. They also looked for land that would be suitable for agriculture and available for purchase in [[Villages (Holländerdörfer)|large plots]]. These delegations ultimately negotiated conditions satisfactory to them in [[Mexico]] and [[Paraguay]], which led to the [[Migrations#Dutch-North German Mennonite Migrations|emigration]] of nearly 8000 Canadian Mennonites from Canada during the 1920s.
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=Reinländer Delegations=
[[Old Colony Mennonites|Reinländer]] leaders began seriously considering and threatening emigration with the passage of mandatory school attendance laws in 1916 in Manitoba and in 1917 in Saskatchewan. In early 1919, as negotiations between the church and the provincial governments broke down, [[Peters, Klaas (1855-1932)|Klaas Peters]], a businessman and land agent from Waldeck, Saskatchewan, led a semi-official delegation to [[South America|Latin America]] to look for immigration options, negotiating without success with officials from [[Brazil]], [[Uruguay]], and [[Argentina]], and also making an initial contact with the Paraguayan government.

In meetings held in July 1919, all three Reinländer groups – [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|western Manitoba]], [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler]], SK, and [[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Swift Current]], SK – determined on a course of emigration. On 6 August, they dispatched a delegation of six men with the aim of finding a single tract of land suitable for the entire Reinländer body.

This delegation went first to Ottawa to attain proper travel documentation and to again attempt, unsuccessfully, to gain concessions from Canadian officials. They then travelled to Brazil and Argentina. They knew Argentina was looking for settlers and had a substantial German population. Meanwhile, a Brazilian railway agent had instigated interest in his country with a visit to the Swift Current settlement. However, neither government was interested in granting special concessions to settlers and the delegation returned unsuccessful at the end of November. Delegate Johann J. Wall from Hague died and was buried in Brazil after a week long illness.<ref> See Braun.</ref>

In early 1920 a land agent from [[Mississippi (USA)|Mississippi]] approached the Reinländer with an offer of 200 000 acres of land. A delegation immediately set out to investigate; they met with the governor who promised satisfactory concessions. Subsequent delegations confirmed these concessions and entered into an arrangement to purchase 125 000 acres of land, which the Reinländer membership ratified in a 1 June meeting. The church prepared a down-payment and in early June sent it with a delegation of four to complete the purchase. In a surprising turn of events this delegation was turned back at the Canada-U.S. border for reasons that remain mysterious; after examination of the available evidence, Adolf Ens concludes that it was most likely the arbitrary decision of an individual Immigration official.<ref>''Subjects or Citizens?'', 205.</ref> The Reinländer considered this an act of God's will and it ended their attempts to move to Mississippi.

By this point Reinländer leaders were under pressure and the unity and resolve of the Reinländer community was fracturing. The Manitoba and Swift Current groups sent a series of delegations to [[Quebec (Canada)|Quebec]] after learning that that province was looking for settlers in the Abitibi region of the Great Clay Belt. However, despite an initially promising meeting with Quebec officials on 19 August, concessions were not forthcoming and the delegates judged the land unsuitable for farming.

Meanwhile, the Hague-Osler settlement independently decided to follow up a lead they had in Mexico,<ref>There are conflicting accounts of the source and nature of this lead. Cf. Ens, ''Subjects or Citizens?'', 208 and 226n46; Dyck, 43; and Sawatzky, 36.</ref> where stakeholders had their own set of interests<ref>See esp. Wall, 32:00-38:00.</ref> in attracting white farmers and land-owners. Another delegation from Hague-Osler investigated Paraguay, following up on the initial contact made by the very first delegation, but their report of the environment was not encouraging. The Mexican delegation returned on 9 October with an optimistic report, which immediately caught the attention of other Mennonite groups, including the two other Reinländer settlements. 

Representatives from Manitoba were unable to join the next delegation to Mexico because their passports were not in order, but all three groups sent delegates to Mexico in January 1921. They received a warm welcome into Mexico and had a series of productive negotiations with [[Obregón, Álvaro (1880-1928)|President Obregón]] and his Minister of Agriculture in mid-February. Mexican officials were initially unwilling to allow the Mennonites to run their schools in German, but the delegation eventually achieved the desired concessions and received a Privilegium dated to 25 February 1921. After touring land in the state of [[Durango (Mexico)|Durango]], they returned to Canada in March.

A delegation returned to Mexico in April with the intention of completing a land purchase. They initially worked out a contract to purchase land in the Valle de Guatimape in Canatlan, Durango. The delegation had to cancel this deal when the Hague-Osler representatives withdrew following a rupture between [[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]] of [[Hague (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague]] and the delegates from the other two groups. Wall’s strong personality had reputedly clashed with the equally forceful [[Heide, Klaas (1859-1926)|Klaas Heide]] of Manitoba, and a conflict between the two erupted when Wall was offended by the suggestion that the Hague-Osler group might be unable to meet their financial obligations for the purchase.

The delegates from Swift Current and Manitoba immediately turned their attention to the Hacienda Bustillos in [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]] and became enthusiastic about agricultural prospects there. Another delegation representing the two settlements purchased 225 000 acres in Chihuahua in Sept. 2021 and quickly negotiated government approval of the purchase. In the meantime, the Hague-Osler group saw its emigration plans disrupted and delayed. It was only in 1924 that the Hague-Osler Reinländer purchased 35 000 acres in the [[Durango (Nuevo Ideál) Colony (Durango, Mexico)|Valle de Guatimape]] (where the original deal had fallen through), by which time enthusiasm for migration had substantially soured. Three-quarters of the Hague-Osler Reinländer [[Old Colony Mennonites#Canada|remained in Canada]], including one of their chief delegates, and later their [[bishop|Ältester]], [[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)|Johann Loeppky]].

=Other Canadian Mennonite Delegations=
[[File:Four Members of the 1921 Delegation to Paraguay.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Four members of the [[Chaco (South America)|Chaco]] expedition on 1 June 1921 in [[Puerto Casado (Departamento de Alto Paraguay, Paraguay)|Puerto Casado]]. Left-right: [[Toews, Bernhard (1863-1927)|Bernhard Toews]], Johann Friesen, Jakob Neufeld, and I. Funk. The Canadian wheat they seeded in April is in the background. Photo via ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada'' 2nd edition, ed. Delbert Plett (D.F. Plett Historical Research Foundation, 2011), p. 113. ]]
The [[Sommerfeld Mennonites|Sommerfelder]] and [[Christian Mennonite Conference|Chortitzer]] churches, with [[Bergthal Mennonites|common origins]] in the [[Bergthal Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Bergthal Colony]] in imperial [[Russia]], cooperated in their approach to the schools crisis in Manitoba. They reached a decision to emigrate in late 1920, only after repeated attempts at a compromise position with the Manitoba Government. These groups, along with their [[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|Bergthaler kin in Saskatchewan]], assembled a six man delegation to Latin America that left on 11 February 1921. It would be gone for more than six months.

Their first destination was Paraguay. Reinländer delegations had made the acquaintance of [[McRoberts, Samuel (1868-1947)|General Samuel McRoberts]], a [[New York (USA)|New York]] banker with business and political connections in Latin America who played a critical role in encouraging and facilitating Mennonite immigration to Paraguay. Commissioned by the Reinländer, McRoberts had determined that the Paraguayan [[Chaco (South America)|Chaco]] was the best option for Mennonite resettlement, and when the coalition of emigrating Bergthal Mennonites contacted him, he pointed them to that country. The delegation conducted productive negotiations with Paraguayan President [[Gondra, Manuel (1871-1927)|Manuel Gondra]], receiving a satisfactory Privilegium on April 4 and permission to settle in the Chaco. McRoberts's associate, [[Engen, Fred (1863-1929)|Fred Engen]], took the delegates on a tour of the Chaco in late April, precisely when conditions there (widely considered utterly inhospitable at the time) are at their best. They were impressed with what they saw. Even before the delegation visited Mexico, [[Pries, Johann (1874-1945)|Johann Pries]], the spokesman for the delegation, wrote that Mexico was "very unattractive" in comparison with what they had seen in Paraguay.<ref>Ens, ''Subjects'', 211.</ref>

Before the delegation had left Manitoba, positive news from the Reinländer delegation to Mexico reached Sommerfelder Ältester [[Doerksen, Abraham (1852-1929)|Abraham Doerksen]] and he instructed his delegates to investigate that country as well. A Chihuahua banker and member of a landholding family also visited Doerksen in Manitoba, hoping to find buyers for his family’s land and directing the Sommerfelder’s attention to the Hacienda [[Santa Clara Sommerfeld Mennonite Settlement (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Santa Clara]]. After the delegation's visit to Paraguay, the Saskatchewan delegates returned home while the Manitobans continued to Mexico. The delegation gave a glowing report on the prospects of settlement in Paraguay and a discouraging one on Mexico.

This report on Mexico was discordant with the reports of both the Reinländer delegations and that of private individuals. Doerksen was suspicious and rallied the Sommerfelder and Chortitzer to send a second delegation to Mexico with specific instructions to seek a Privilegium. This delegation conducted successful negotiations with President Obregón who explained that the earlier delegation had not asked for concessions but for changes to Mexico’s laws. He granted them a Privilegium dated 30 October 1921. 

After this Abraham Doerksen was persuaded to the Mexico option. The Sommerfelder thus sent a delegation to Santa Clara to purchase land in the summer of 1922. In what Harry Sawatzky describes as a "baffling" move, this delegation selected land with an inadequate water supply, much of which was, in addition, extremely stony; whether and how this delegation may have been deceived remains a matter of speculation.<ref>Sawatzky, 71.</ref> Regardless, they successfully made a contract to purchase 12 000 acres with an option on an additional 50 000. The Chortitzer, Saskatchewan Bergthaler, and a few Sommerfelder chose immigration to Paraguay instead.

In 1999, [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert Plett]] identified the existence of a 1922 delegation to Mexico, representing the [[Kleine Gemeinde]] communities in Manitoba and Kansas.<ref>Plett, 104-105.</ref> Three Kleine Gemeinde families from [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]], including some of these delegates, ended up immigrating to Mexico from 1924 to 1926, but no Kleine Gemeinde from Canada emigrated at that time.

=Table: Reinländer Delegations=
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Reinländler Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1921<ref>Adapted from Ens, ''Subjects or Citizens?'', pp. 203-204. See also Sawatzky, 31-45.</ref>
|-
! Date !! Destination !! Groups Represented !! Delegates<ref>The names provided for the offical 1919 delegation to Latin America and the Jan. 1921 delegation to Mexico are comprehensive of all the official delegates; in other cases, the lists may be, and in some cases certainly are, incomplete. Cf. Sawatzky, pp. 31 and 37 and Ens, ''Subjects or Citizens?'', p. 204.</ref>
|-
| Feb. 1919 || [[Brazil]]<br/>[[Uruguay]]<br/>[[Argentina]] || unofficial || [[Peters, Klaas (1855-1932)|Klaas Peters]]<br/>Johann Hamm<br/>Johann Heinrichs
|-
| Aug. 4-Nov. 24, 1919 || Ottawa<br/>Argentina<br/>Brazil || [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague]]<br/><br/>[[Reinlander Mennoniten Gemeinde (Manitoba)|Manitoba]]<br/><br/>[[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Swift Current]]<br/><br/> || Johann J. Wall<br/>[[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]]<br/>[[Heide, Klaas (1859-1926)|Klaas Heide]]<br/>Cornelius Rempel<br/>Julius Wiebe<br/>[[Rempel, David (1869-1949)|David Rempel]]
|-
| Jan. 15-29, 1920 || [[Mississippi (USA)|Mississippi]] || Hague<br/>Manitoba<br/><br/>Swift Current<br/><br/> || Jacob E. Peters<br/>Franz F. Froese<br/>Peter P. Harms<br/>Julius Wiebe<br/>[[Wiebe, Abraham (1871-1925)|Abraham Wiebe]]
|-
| April 12-29, 1920 || Mississippi || Hague<br/><br/><br/>Manitoba<br/><br/><br/> || Johann P. Wall<br/>[[Goertzen, Benjamin (1873-1929)|Benjamin Goertzen]]<br/>Franz Peters<br/>[[Friesen, Johann J. (1869-1935)|Johann J. Friesen]]<br/>Cornelius Rempel<br/>Johann W. Rempel
|-
| May 14-25, 1920 || Mississippi || unkown || unknown
|-
| Early June || Turned back at the<br/>Canada-U.S. border || unkown || four members, unknown
|-
| Aug. 13-end Aug. 1920 || [[Quebec (Canada)|Quebec]] || Manitoba<br/>Swift Current<br/><br/><br/> || Johann J. Friesen<br/>Abraham Wiebe<br/>Jacob Friesen<br/>David Rempel
|-
| Sept. 8-Oct. 9, 1920 || [[Mexico]] || Hague || Johann P. Wall<br/>Benjamin Goertzen<br/>? Klassen
|-
| Fall 1920 || Quebec<br/>(multiple delegations) || Manitoba<br/>Swift Current || unknown
|-
| Oct. 9-Dec. 1920 || [[Paraguay]] || Hague || Abram Klassen<br/>Jacob Friesen<br/>Franz Dyck<br/>? Wiens
|-
| Nov. 11-end Dec. 1920 || Mexico || Hague<br/>Swift Current || unknown
|-
| Jan. 24-Mar. 12, 1921 || Mexico || unaffiliated<br/>Hague<br/><br/>Manitoba<br/><br/><br/>Swift Current || [[Wiebe, John F. D. (1872-1941)|John F. D. Wiebe]]<ref>See Loeppky.</ref><br/>[[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)|Johann Loeppky]]<br/>Benjamin Goertzen<br/>Julius Loewen<br/>Klaas Heide<br/>Cornelius Rempel<br/>David Rempel
|-
| April 5-May 9, 1921 || Mexico || Hague<br/>Manitoba<br/>Swift Current || Johann P. Wall<br/>Klaas Heide<br/><br/>
|-
| July 1921 || Mexico || Manitoba<br/><br/><br/><br/>Swift Current<br/><br/> || Abram Giesbrecht<br/>? Peters<br/>? Baumann<br/>? Klassen<br/>Julius Wiebe<br/>David Rempel
|-
| Aug. 12-Sept. 10, 1921 || Mexico || Manitoba<br/>Swift Current || unknown
|}

=Table: Other Canadian Mennonite Delegations=
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Other Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922<ref>Adapted from Ens, ''Subjects or Citizens?'', p. 210. See also Plett, 104-105.</ref>
|-
! Date !! Destination !! Groups Represented !! Delegates<ref>Lists of delegates may be incomplete.</ref>
|-
| Feb. 11-Sept. 2, 1921 || [[Paraguay]]<br/>[[Mexico]] || [[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|SK-Bergthaler]]<br/><br/>[[Christian Mennonite Conference|Chortitzer]]<br/>[[Sommerfeld Mennonites|Sommerfelder]]<br/><br/>unaffiliated<br/> || Jacob W. Neufeld<br/>Johann J. Friesen<br/>Jacob Doerksen<br/>[[Toews, Bernhard (1863-1927)|Bernhard Toews]]<br/>Isaak Funk<br/>[[Pries, Johann (1874-1945)|Johann Pries]]
|-
| Feb. 1921 || Mexico || SK-Bergthaler || Heinrich A. Neufeld<br/>Johann C. Schellenberg<br/>Peter Epp<br/>Peter H. Goertzen<br/>Cornelius F. Andres<br/>Heinrich H. Reimer<br/>Benjamin E. Redekop
|-
| Oct.-Nov. 1921 || Mexico || Chortitzer<br/>Sommerfelder<br/><br/> || A. Doerksen<ref>This delegate was not Abraham Doerksen, Ältester of the West Reserve Sommerfelder.</ref><br/>Dietrich Doerksen<br/>Abram Hiebert
|-
| Early summer 1922 || Mexico || Chortitzer<br/>Sommerfelder<br/><br/> || D. Doerksen<br/>Julius Harder<br/>Franz Voth
|-
| Aug. 1922 || Mexico || Kleine Gemeinde, MB<br/><br/>Kleine Gemeinde, KS<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/> || [[Reimer, Heinrich R. (1876-1959)|Heinrich R. Reimer]]<br/>Heinrich R. Dueck<br/>Cornelius L. Plett<br/>Heinrich K. Friesen<br/>Jakob J. Reimer<br/>Cornelius J. Classen<br/>[[Isaac, Jacob F. (1883-1970)|Jakob F. Isaac]]<br/>Peter F. Isaac
|}

=See Also=
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Migrations]]

=Notes=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Braun, Dick. "Remembering Johann Wall in Brazil." ''Preservings'' 41 (2020): 47-50.

Dyck, Isaak M. “The Mennonite Emigration from Canada to Mexico: A Memoir by Isaak M. Dyck,” translated by Robyn Sneath. ''Preservings'' 44 (Spring 2022): 3-71. Translation of first part of ''Auswanderung der Reinländer Mennoniten Gemeinde von Canada nach Mexico''. Cuauhtemoc: Zweite Ausgabe, 1971.

Ens, Adolf. “Sommerfeld Mennonites at Santa Clara, Mexico.” In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001. Pp. 181-188.

Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 201-230.

[[Epp, Frank H. (1929-1986)|Epp, Frank H]]. ''Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940: A People’s Struggle for Survival''. Toronto: Macmillan, 1982. Pp. 94-138.

[[Fretz, Joseph Winfield (1910-2005)|Fretz, Joseph W]]. ''Pilgrims in Paraguay: The Story of Mennonite Colonization in South America''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 1953. Pp. 12-16.

[[Friesen, Martin W. (1912-2000)|Friesen, M.W.]] ''Canadian Mennonites Conquer a Wilderness: The Beginning and Development of the Menno Colony, First Mennonite Settlement in South America''. Translated by Christel Wiebe. Historical Committee of the Menno Colony, 2009.

Guenter, Jacob G. “Mennonite Migration to Mexico.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn:  Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 372-377.

Harder, David. “Schools and Community: Remembrances of School Teacher David Harder (1894-1968),” translated by Delbert Plett et al. ''Preservings'' 23 (December 2003): 9-23.

Harms, Sally. “Klaas Heide (1859-1926), Delegate.” In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. Pp. 117.

[[Krahn, Cornelius (1902-1990)|Krahn, Cornelius]]. “Johann P. Wall, 1875-1961.” ''Mennonite Life'' 16 (October, 1961): 185-192.

[[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)|Loeppky, Johann]]. “Journal on a Trip to Mexico, 1921.” ''Preservings'' 26 (2006): 37-44.

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 14-39.

Peters, Jacob E. “Ältester Abraham Doerksen (1852-1929).” In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', ed. Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001. Pp. 109-124.

[[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Plett, Delbert F]]. “1922 Delegation to Mexico.” ''Preservings'' 14 (June 1999): 104-105.

[[Quiring, Walter (1893-1983)|Quiring, Walter]]. “The Canadian Mennonite Immigration into the Paraguayan Chaco, 1926-27.” ''The [[Mennonite Quarterly Review]]'' 8, no. 1 (January 1934): 32-42.

[[Rempel, David (1869-1949)|Rempel, David]]. “Diary of his Trip to South America and Mexico in 1919-1921,” translated by Jake K. Wiens. Volume 5015, Small Archives. [http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/index.htm  Mennonite Heritage Archives], 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Rempel, David, various writings. Walter Schmiedehaus fonds, vol. 4395 no. 3 & 5. Mennonite Heritage Archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Sawatzky, Harry Leonard. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 31-52 and 71-75.

Stoesz, Edgar. ''Like a Mustard Seed: Mennonites in Paraguay''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 2008. Pp. 21-32.

Stoesz, Edgar and Muriel T. Stackley. ''Garden in the Wilderness: Mennonite Communities in the Paraguayan Chaco, 1927-1997''. Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1999. Pp. 1-4, 17-22.

Toews, Bernhard. "Life and Travel Remembrances of Bernhard Toews," translated by Delbert Plett. ''Preservings'' 16 (June 2000): 33-37. 

Wall, Andrew, dir. ''Conform: The Mennonite Migration to Mexico of the 1920s''. Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies, 2022: 31:30-40:00.

Wall, Johann J. "Diary of the Trip to South America," translated by Hans Claassen and Anne Falk. Volume 4041, Small Archives. Mennonite Heritage Archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Werner, Hans. "Restoring the Commons: Land Deals and the Migration of Manitoba Mennonites to Mexico in the 1920s." ''Agricultural History'' 87, no. 4 (Fall 2013): 452-472.
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