Mennonite community in Mexico

[LadyBBR]

I saw a small blurb in Time about a Mennonite community in Mexico and had to find more. Here is a link to some pictures. I guess a photographer spent time gaining trust in the community and has come out with a book. Interesting fact: they don't speak Spanish or English, just German.

 

http://lightbox.time.com/2012/01/24/the ... -mexico/#1

[Witsec7]

There's a bunch in Brazil that speak only German.I think I read about them in 'Lost Tribes and Promised Lands".

[Kishiria]

I lived for a couple of months in Mexico, and I've seen some of those Mennonites. I was in the Puebla bus station (called CAPU; it is the size of a railway station in London) and saw this very European-looking couple. She was in traditional Mennonite garb with the see-through cap, he was in overalls I think with a long beard and black hat.

Mexico has had a good amount of immigration in its 600 years of existence as a country and it is a far more multicultural place than people think.

[holierthanyou]

There are actually a lot of Mexican Mennonites. They are all (or at least all that I know) light blond haired, and only speak a low-German dialect.

[ophelia]

I wonder if I understood their accent..

BTW those pictures literally scream 'incest' to me.

[latraviata]

I wonder if I understood their accent..

BTW those pictures literally scream 'incest' to me.

To me too....

[Maude]

We have a rather large Mexican Mennonite community here (Ontario). I grew up going to school with some of the children. Many of them come here in the warmer months looking for jobs (usually picking produce), and then go back to Mexico for the Winter, or part of it. To my knowledge, most, if not all Amish and Mennonites today can be traced back to their eighteenth century forefathers. So the speculation of incest isn't that far off the mark. It's unfortunate, but many communities have high instances of hereditary diseases and other anomalies.

[Wolfie]

There's a bunch in Brazil that speak only German.I think I read about them in 'Lost Tribes and Promised Lands".

An ex boyfriend's mom was from the Brazil community. Her family moved to a conservative settlement in Canada, and then she married a Mennonite who was not as conservative.

I think one thing to remember is that Mennonites aren't as closed off as the Amish, and it's not uncommon for people to leave the communities, and that there also are many levels of how conservative a Mennonite is. In terms of social issues, many Mennonites are on the more liberal side. (Except that only the most liberal Mennonites are pro-choice.) Also, in terms of inbreeding, they do move around from group to group and country to country to marry. It's not as bad as in the Amish there either.

[0KidsAndHappy]

I recently did a family tree and traced my family back to 1500s Germany. I think they may have been Mennonites, but am having a hard time figuring out if they were or not.

I've always loved reading/watching things about Mennonites and Amish communities, so seeing that I could be connected to it piqued my interest even more. I wish I knew how to find out more, and if that is part of my ancestry, find out why they broke off to become the non-caring Ohioans they became.

[Witsec7]

An ex boyfriend's mom was from the Brazil community. Her family moved to a conservative settlement in Canada, and then she married a Mennonite who was not as conservative.

I think one thing to remember is that Mennonites aren't as closed off as the Amish, and it's not uncommon for people to leave the communities, and that there also are many levels of how conservative a Mennonite is. In terms of social issues, many Mennonites are on the more liberal side. (Except that only the most liberal Mennonites are pro-choice.) Also, in terms of inbreeding, they do move around from group to group and country to country to marry. It's not as bad as in the Amish there either.

There are lots of Mennonites where I live, some very liberal and involved in social justice issues, and some Old Order, with lots in between. When I worked at the Uni. I met a young head covering plain dressing Mennonite woman who was going to college for an advanced professional degree. She now practices within her community and outside of it. I still stay in touch with her and her family.