Mennonite Resources
Religion & History
Canadian Mennonite Encyclopedia: Look under Old Colony, Kanadier, &Chortitza
Mennonite Central Committee
Handbook of Texas: Look under Mennonites
Language(Low German or Plautdietsch)
Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia
Ethnlogue
Kjenn Jie Noch Plautdietsch? A Mennonite Low German Dictionary by Herman Rempel
Books &Articles
Items that do not have TTUHSC Library or TTU Library location information are available through Interlibrary Loan
Articles
Nursing, Allied Health, & Miscellaneous
Boldt, E. D. (1976). Acquiescence and conventionality in a communal society. JournalofCross-Cultural Psychology, 7(1), 21-36.
ABSTRACT: An attempt is made to test the hypothesis that the conventional behavior of individuals reared in “folk” societies is attributable to their tendency to acquiesce willingly to the expectations of the group. Utilizing a modified Crutchfield-type group pressure technique, children reared in the conventional, and structurally “tight,” Hutterite communities are compared to a group of children from the host society. A sample of Old Colony Mennonite subjects, representing a conventional but “looser” society is also tested to assess the effect of social tightness/looseness on conformity. The findings indicate that Hutterites are only marginally more acquiescent than “worldly” subjects, whereas Mennonites score significantly higher. An alternative explanation of Hutterite conventionality is therefore suggested which reduced lack of deviance to lack of individual autonomy and the opportunity to be different.
Devor, E. J. & Crawford, M. H. (1984). Family resemblance for neuromuscular performance in a Kansas Mennonite community. American Journal of PhysicalAnthropology, 64(3), 289-296.
ABSTRACT: Familial phenotypic resemblance for six quantitative neuromuscular performance traits is analyzed by path analysis using data from the Mennonite community of Goessel, Kansas. Of the six traits only one, dominant hand strength, shows no evidence of parent-offspring transmission (t2 = 0.000) and only one, trunk flexibility, shows evidence of a high degree of transmissibility (t2 – 0.662). The four remaining traits display low to moderate levels of transmissibility (t2 = 0.073 to t2 = 0.245). A substantial residual sibling resemblance due to shared environmental effects is seen for all six traits. It is suggested that the high heritabilities found for many of these traits by other methods result from the inability of these methods to account for the shared nongenetic effects.
PubMed ID: 6476102
Devor, E.J. & Crawrord, M. H. (1984). A Commingling analysis of quantitative neuromuscular performance in a Kansas Mennonite community. American Journal ofPhysical Anthropology, 63:29-37.
ABSTRACT: The method of commingling analysis is applied to distributions of six quantitative neuromuscular traits. Results show that only two of these traits may be described by the single normal distribution commonly associated with quantitative variables. The remaining four traits show significant skewness which is best accounted for by a mixture of three component distributions. The pattern of commingling found suggests the presence of a major (megaphenic) effect operating in these traits. Further, evidence is found which links the major effect in three of the four commingled traits to a single process which may be related to neurological control. The etiology of the major effect (i.e., whether genetic or environmental) cannot be determined from commingling analysis, but some suggestions are offered based upon the nature of the traits themselves and the major effects.
PubMed ID 6703033
Hall, B. L. & Kulig, J. D. (2004). Kanadier Mennonites: a case study examining research challenges among religious groups. Qualitative Health Research, 14(3), 359-368.
ABSTRACT: In this article, the authors address the research issues experienced in carrying out a study with the Kanadier Mennonites, members of the Anabaptist religious group who support a lifestyle that demonstrated separation from mainstream society. The authors provide a brief description of the Kanadiers along with the purpose of the research and a synopsis of the sample. They focus primarily on discussing the methodological challenges in approaching this group. In addition, they place emphasis on addressing the research questions in ways that are respectful and nonintrusive. They discuss the lessons learned from the study within the context of qualitative cross-cultural research.
PubMed ID: 15011903 TTUHSC online journal
Kulig, J. C. & Hall, Barry L. (2004). Health and illness beliefs among the southern Alberta Kanadier Mennonite immigrants. Journal of Mennonite Studies, 22, 185-204.
Kulig, J. C. & McCaslin, C. (1998). Health care for the Mexican Mennonites in Canada. Canadian Nurse, 94(6), 34-39. TTUHSC Library Lubbock print journal
Medicine
Allen, G. (1988). Random genetic drift inferred from surnames in Old Colony Mennonites. Human Biology, 64(4), 639-653.
ABSTRACT: A population of German-speaking Mennonites in Mexico has accumulated a random inbreeding coefficient estimated as 0.0021 in four centuries despite numbers in thousands even at times of migration. The availability of two parental surnames per index adult permitted a more precise analysis than is usually possible except in Iberoamerican populations. Maternal names were more diverse than paternal names. This and some other phenomena were described and quantified by chi-square and the sign test than by the inbreeding coefficient. In particular, the analysis by chi-square showed the importance of extended families recruited for migration. Use of both maternal and paternal surnames to estimate random inbreeding corrects an upward bias that results from using paternal names only, especially when female names are more diverse.
PubMed ID: 3417284
TTUHSC Lubbock print journal
Allen, G., & Redekop, C. (1967). Individual differences in survival and reproduction among Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico: progress to 1966. Eugenics Quarterly, 14(2), 103-111.
No abstract available.
PubMed ID: 6063158
Allen, A. & Redekop, C. (1987). Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico: migration and inbreeding. Social Biology, 34(3-4), 166-179.
ABSTRACT: Among Canadian Mennonites whose ancestors left Flanders in the sixteenth century, one group separated as the Old Colony and part migrated in the 1920's from Canada to Mexico, where they constitute a large inbred isolate. In 1967, survey data including migration histories were collected on one-third of the households in one subdivision, the “M Colony.” Church records were copied that gave vital statistics and surnames of almost all families in the Colony since the migration. Recent migration patterns show marriage restricted by distance and 37 per cent of resident men remaining in their village of birth; but male migration history for those who migrate within the M Colony shows almost no effect of distance. Analysis of surnames gives an estimate of cumulative inbreeding of F = 0.0096, which is consistent with the individually estimated components, namely, founder effect, historical population constrictions, and slow genetic drift.
PubMed ID: 3451363
Devor, E. J., Crawford, M. H., & Osness, W. (1985). Neuromuscular performance in a Kansas Mennonite community: age and sex effects in performance. Human Biology, 57(2), 197-211.
ABSTRACT: The effects of age and sex on six neuromuscular performance traits are studied in a cross-sectional sample of 559 members of the Goessel, Kansas Mennonite community. Age and sex effects are assessed by stepwise polynomial regression which includes non-linear age terms up to the fourth power. Of the six traits studied only one, Hand Steadiness, fails to show a significant sex difference and only one, Trunk Flexibility, fails to show a significant non-linear trend with age. A general pattern, seen in these traits of accelerating performance decline after age 45 of up to 60%, is found to be consistent with that reported in other studies of the same traits. The consistency of this non-linear aging pattern suggests the presence of a general neuromuscular aging process. Moreover, this process appears likely to be related to a two-stage mechanism inferred from both animal and human studies involving a decline in protein synthesis and a loss of cell mass in nerve and muscle tissue.
PubMed ID: 3997127 TTUHSC Lubbock print journal
Felt, J. C., Ridley, J. C., Allen, G., & Redekop, C. (1990). High fertility of Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico. Human Biology, 62(5), 689-700.
ABSTRACT: Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico appear to demonstrate natural fertility, using no form of artificial birth control and apparently not attempting to limit family size. The resulting fertility is nearly as high as that of the Hutterites, although the Mennonites lack the communal economic system of the latter. Most Mennonites in Mexico migrated from Canada in the 1920s, and the largest single settlement, called the Manitoba Colony, is one of four in the state of Chihuahua. A 1967 partial census obtained data from 38% of the Mennonite households. Family size in the sample was close to that in a local survey taken in the same year. Available church records matched with census forms permitted verification of and corrections to 560 female reproductive histories. The median number of live births to women over age 45 years was 9.5, compared with 10.4 in the Hutterites. Age-specific marital fertility rates and birth intervals closely resembled those of the Hutterites.
PubMed ID: 2227913 TTUHSC Lubbock print journal
Jaworski, M. A., Severini, A., Mansour, G., Henning, K., Slater, J.D., Jeske, R., et al. (1989). Inherited diseases in North American Mennonites: focus on Old Colony (Chortitza) Mennonites. American Journal of Medical Genetics, (32), 158-168.
ABSTRACT: The patterns of migration and the genetic disorders occurring among North American Mennonites are reviewed, and inherited conditions recently recognized in a religious and genetic isolate, the Old Colony (Chortitza) Mennonites, are described. Old Colony Mennonites are of Dutch/German origin and descend from approximately 400 founding families who settled in the Old Colony, Chortitza (the Ukraine, USSR) in the late 1700s, and then migrated to Canada and Central and South America in the past century. We investigated over 6 generations of a Canadian Old Colony kindred in which there was extensive intermarriage, and in whom 28 individuals developed diabetes mellitus. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) occurred in 14 affected individuals in 10 closely related sibships; the 11 living IDDM patients were all concordant for the immunogenetic marker HLA-DR4. Fourteen close relatives had other disorders of carbohydrate metabolism, including gestational diabetes and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Other close relatives had autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, hyper- and hypothyroidism, multiple sclerosis, and red cell aplasia. Other inherited diseases, including Alport syndrome, congenital defects, and inborn errors of metabolism were also found in the kindred. In the almost exclusively (99%) Old Colony Mennonite public health district in which the kindred was ascertained, there were multiple cases of Tourette syndrome, of malformations (including congenital heart defects and cleft lip + palate), and familial clusters of inborn errors of metabolism. We report this Old Colony (Chortitza) Mennonite isolate because 1) there are large familial aggregations of tissue-specific autoimmune diseases, malformations, inborn errors of metabolism, and of some other conditions whose genetic basis is still unknown; 2) there are multiple cases of rare genetic conditions, 3) we have established a computerized genealogic data base on over 1,000 kindred members as well as a cryopreseved lymphocyte/DNA bank on over 100 closely related individuals with various genetic conditions; and 4) this religious isolate, which extends across North, Central, and South American, offers and excellent opportunity for studying the epidemiology and molecular genetics of both common and rare inherited diseases.
PubMed ID: 2784628 TTUHSC Libraries Lubbock & Amarillo print journal
Jaworski, M. A., Severini, A., Mansour, G., Konrad, H. M., Slater, J., Hennig, K., et al. (1989). Genetic conditions among Canadian Mennonites: evidence for a founder effect among the Old Colony (Chortitza) Mennonites. Clinical and Investigative Medicine, 12(2), 127-141.
ABSTRACT: distinctive patterns exist among Canadian Old Colony (Chortitza) Mennonites. This religions and genetic isolate is of 16th century Dutch/German ancestry. The group originated in the Netherlands, then settled in the Vistula delta area of western Prussia for 200 years. A small number of founding families later migrated to Chortitza, the “Old Colony”, in the Ukraine in the late 18th/early 19th century, where they remained a distinct genetic isolate. This group has come to Canada over the past 100 years. The more conservative Canadian Mennonites of Chortitza descent practice strict endogamy, have a large family size and live predominantly in rural public health subdistricts in the four western provinces and in southern Ontario. The world’s largest familial aggregations of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, of autoimmune diseases and of Tourette syndrome were initially ascertained in a small northern Alberta public health subdistrict. Clusterings of malformations, inborn errors of metabolism, and other conditions were also found in the subdistrict, and in group descendents living in other provinces. A founder effect, or genetic drift, accounts for the familial aggregations of autosomal recessive and dominant conditions, some diseases of multifactorial determination, and other inherited conditions in Canadian kinships descending from this ancestral group. The medical literature on genetic conditions among Canadian Mennonites is reviewed and re-evaluated in the light of this information. There is biochemical, serologic, and molecular biologic evidence in favour of genetic homogeneity amongst patients with certain inherited conditions in this special population group. This genetic isolate offers potential for the study of the genetic epidemiology and molecular biology of inherited diseases. A computerized genealogic data base on about 1400 group members, as well as a cryopreserved lymphocyte/DNA bank on over 100 individuals with genetic conditions has been established in this special population group.
PubMed ID: 2706837 TTUHSH Library Lubbock print journal
Jaworski, M. A., Slater, J. D., Severini, Al, Hennig, K. R., Mansour, G., Mehta, J. G., et al. (1988). Unusual clustering of diseases in a Canadian Old Colony (Chortitza) Mennonite kindred and community. CMAJ:Canadian Medical Association Journal, 138, 1017-1025.
ABSTRACT: We investigated large Old Colony (Chortitza) Mennonite kindred with branches across Canada. Six generations of the kindred were traced. There was intermarriage among numerous family members. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) was identified in 10 members; all 7 living patients were found to carry the immunogenetic marker HLA-DR4. Nine other close relatives had disorders of carbohydrate metabolism, including gestational diabetes mellitus and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus progressing to insulin use. Ten other relatives had autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism and multiple sclerosis. Cases of Alport’s syndrome, congenital malformations, inborn errors of metabolism and unusual malignant diseases were also found in the kindred. In the small Alberta community in which the kindred was ascertained there were people of Old Colony Mennonite descent with genetic conditions such Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome and congenital malformations, including congenital heart disease. This kindred represents the largest reported aggregation of IDDM. This disease and other disorders of carbohydrate metabolism occur in the context of a strong familial predisposition to autoimmune disease. Study of this family may permit empiric testing of proposed models of inheritance of diseases of complex origin such IDDM. We report this Old Colony (Chortitza) Mennonite community because it is one of the settlements populated by this religious and genetic isolate, which extends across Canada and Central and South America and affords opportunities for the study of both common and rare inherited diseases.
PubMed ID: 337-569 TTUHSC Library AmarilloOdessa print journal
Books
DeLuca, S. C. & Krahn, M. A. (1998). Old Colony Mexican-Canadian Mennonites. In R. E. Davidhizar & J. N. Giger (Eds.), Canadian transcultural nursing (343-358). St. Louis: Mosby.
Edmunds, K. (1993). Transcultural nursing care with Old Colony Mennonites in a school context. In M. M. Leininger (Ed.), Culture care diversity and universality: a theory ofnursing (122-141).New York: National League for Nursing. TTUHSC Library Lubbock & Odessa WY 87 C899 1991
Redekop, C. A. (1969). The Old Colony Mennonite: Dilemmas of ethnic minoritylife. Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins Press. TTU Library BX 8129 04 R4
Sawatzky, H. L. (1971). They sought a country: Mennonite colonization in Mexico. Berkeley, University of California Press. TTU Library BX 8128 C6 S29
Consumer Health Information in Low German
Suppliers
Kent-Chatham Health Unit
PO Box 1136, 435 Grand Avenue West
Chatham, ONN7M 5L8
(519) 352-7270
(519) 352-2166 FAX
Mennonite Central Committee Aylmer Resource Centre
16 Talbot St. E.
AylmerONN5H 1H4
Canada
(519) 765-3020
(519) 765-3023 FAX
Mennonite Central Committee Canada
134 Plaza Drive
WinnipegMBR3T 5K9
Canada
(204) 269-987
Norfolk Community Help Centre
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Canada
(519) 875-4601
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Low German unless otherwise indicated
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Reine Taenen sendt Gesunde Taenen
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