West Reserve

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Russian Mennonite settlers in 1876.[1]

After signing

Anishinabe and Swampy Cree First Nations, the Canadian government sent William Hespeler to recruit Mennonite farmers to the region. In 1873 Mennonite delegates from the Russian Empire, (David Klassen, Jacob Peters, Heinrich Wiebe, and Cornelius Toews), visited the area and agreed to a Privilegium outlining religious freedom, military exemption, and land.[2] This land became known as the East Reserve, because it was east of the Red River.[3]

Fort Dufferin, where Mennonites of the West Reserve first stayed

After two years, however, it was determined that the land of East Reserve was limited and unsuitable for farming, so a second larger reserve on the west side of the Red River was established in 1876.

Reinland
, Sommerfeld and many others.

Each village was governed by a Schulz, or mayor, and the entire West Reserve was governed by an Oberschulz. This system of governance ended with the establishment of Rural Municipalities. Rather than using open field farming, Mennonites lived in street villages called Strassendorfs, and built housebarns, many of which remain today in villages such as Sommerfeld, Neubergthal, Reinland and many others.[6]

In 1897, the area was visited by Russian prince and anarchist Peter Kropotkin who praised the local Mennonites for their industriousness and communal lifestyle.[7]

References

  1. ^ Francis, E.K. (1955). In Search of Utopia. D.W. Friesens and Sons.
  2. ^ "These records are unique". The Canadian Mennonite. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  3. ^ Braun, Ernest N. and Glen R. Klassen (2015). Historical Atlas of the East Reserve. Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society.
  4. ^ Schroeder, William and Helmut T. Huebert (1996). Mennonite Historical Atlas. Springfield Publishers.
  5. ^ Erin Koop Unger. "Fort Dufferin: The Other Mennonite Landing". Mennotoba. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  6. ^ "Mennonite Settlement East Reserve". Government of Manitoba. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Sean Patterson (2020). Makhno and Memory. University of Manitoba Press.
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