Menno Colony - Indigenous People

Indigenous People

Lengua Indians lived in the area where the Mennonites settled. There were originally about 600 Lengua and the number has grown considerably since the founding of Menno Colony. Because of improved living conditions and exceptionally good relations between the original inhabitants and the Mennonite settlers, Menno and the neighbouring settlements attracted other native groups. For the social and economic advancement of the indigenous population the Mennonites established a service co-operative, Asociación de Servicios de Cooperación Indígena Mennonita (ASCIM) in 1961.

ASCIM has 300 members, of which half are Mennonites and half indigenous. The governing board of the non-profit association consists of 30 indigenous and 32 non-indigenous representatives. The number of indigenous residents is now about 25,000 and growing, numbering more than the Mennonite population. Although Mennonites and indigenous people have worked closely together for a long time and some of the latter learnt to speak the Plautdietsch language of the settlers, further mixing of the two cultures has not occurred. Christian mission work among the indigenous groups often becomes a competition between the missionary effort of the Mennonites and the Paraguayan Roman Catholic missionaries.