Plett Foundation News Today

A new year is upon us and with that, we look ahead at whats happening at Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV). In the curatorial department, 2023 is shaping up to be a very busy year indeed, with several exhibit projects on the horizon.

A question I commonly hear is, "So now that the summer season is done, I guess the off-season is pretty slow for you at the museum, isnt it?" The question always makes me chuckle because it assumes there is an "off-season" at Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV).

The continuing legacy of traditional Mennonites is one of migration and diaspora.

In the 1920s, nearly 8,000 Mennonites left Canada for Mexico and Paraguay in search of a new home th...

In the 1920s, nearly 8,000 Mennonites left Canada for Mexico and Paraguay in search of a new home that would give them the freedom, which they felt Canada no longer could.

This week I had a fascinating discussion with my parents (who were born in the early 1930s) about their experiences with neighbours. At the Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV), we love recreating the village experience of old when neighbours were helpers.

What is the price you would pay for your freedom of belief? Throughout Mennonite history, this question was answered hundreds of thousands of times by individuals who faced it - in very real ways.

In the 1920s, nearly 8,000 Mennonites left Canada for Latin America in search of a new home that would give them what Canada no longer would, including control of their own schools.

Exactly one hundred years and two days ago, the first train load of Mennonites gathered in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to leave Canada for new homes in northern Mexico.

On March 8, 1922, the first train carrying Mennonites arrived in San Antonio de las Arenales (later Cuauhtémoc), Chihuahua from Canada, a country these immigrants felt had betrayed them.