Mennonite Reflections: Arriving in Manitoba 150 Years Ago

August 2, 2024 – April 30, 2025

For generations, Low-German Mennonites have moved to different countries to keep living according to their faith. Governments have offered Mennonites special privileges to settle in contested borderlands throughout the centuries.

In the 1860s, Russia began to enact reforms that demanded more assimilation by Mennonites, and fearing the potential loss of military exemption and control over education, traditionalist groups of Mennonites began to look for a new homeland.

In 1873, a Mennonite delegation came to Manitoba to explore settlement options, and between 1874-1880, around 7000 Mennonites from various groups relocated to the province.

The lands settled in by the Mennonites (granted to them by the province as the East and West Reserves) were the ancestral lands of the First Nations peoples. The signing of Treaty 1 in August of 1871 paved the way for the creation of settlement agreements with many settler groups, including the Mennonites. Many of the treaty obligations remain unfulfilled, and others were broken. 

The role of the Red River Métis was also integral in the creation of the Manitoba Act of 1870 and the founding of the province. The Métis provided support and assistance to the Mennonites on arrival in Manitoba. The Red River Métis rights were never fully realized, and discrimination led to rifts between communities of Mennonites and their Métis neighbours. 

This exhibit explores these stories and much more as it examines the 150-year history that Mennonites have lived in Manitoba. Come explore the artefacts that exemplify the impact Mennonites have had on shaping this province into what it is today.

This exhibit explores these stories and much more as it examines the 150-year history that Mennonites have lived in Manitoba. Come explore the artefacts that exemplify the impact Mennonites have had on shaping this province into what it is today.