This fall, the D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation celebrates its twentieth anniversary. For two decades, the foundation has been one of the primary sources of funding for history projects related to the descendants and antecedents of the Mennonites who migrated to Manitoba in the 1870s. From top scholars to community historians, from international conferences to local events, from documentaries to museum exhibits, the foundation has funded over two hundred projects. In addition, the foundation’s ongoing financial support of the Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg, and the Mennonite Heritage Archives in Winnipeg, has created a firm foundation for the continued study of Mennonite history.

This achievement is only possible because of the vision of one man, Delbert F. Plett. In November 2004, Delbert passed away from cancer, leaving his estate to the foundation. In his lifetime, Delbert was passionately committed to writing and publishing Mennonite history, and he made a treasure trove of memoirs, letters, diaries, and other sources widely available. He was known throughout the Mennonite diaspora for his thought-provoking (at times controversial) interpretations of history, which he circulated on the pages of Preservings.

In commemoration of 150 years of Mennonites in Manitoba, this issue of Preservings begins with a traditional story of migration out of imperial Russia to Canada. Heinrich Ratzlaff, from the Kleine Gemeinde community, describes in detail the trip from the Ukrainian steppe of Borosenko to the Canadian steppe of the East Reserve. The journey might be well-known to many of our readers, but the photographs of these newly developed transportation routes dramatize moments of discovery and tragedy as the Mennonites travelled across Europe to North America.

The other contributions to this issue focus on themes that have received less attention in the past. Histories exploring the encounters of 1870s Mennonites with Indigenous peoples, with the environment, and the experiences of women highlight alternative approaches for understanding the migration, with neighbours, nature, and families providing counterpoints to stories of delegates, Aeltesters, and other community leaders.

“The Secret Treaty,” by Dave Scott and Jonathan Dyck, presents the realities of colonization experienced by Indigenous peoples through the story of Scott’s great-grandfather Kii-chin-ika. Committed to our own telling of this history, Mennonites have often minimized what our neighbours, Indigenous or otherwise, have had to say about us. Scott’s sharing of Ojibwe oral history captures their respect for the land and their commitment, from their initial contact with Mennonites, to neighbourly relations. Mennonites, who, as Royden Loewen shows, interpreted their new Canadian homeland and neighbours through the lens of imperial Russia, appear not to have appreciated the importance of this connection. Listening to Indigenous voices and placing these sources in conversation with others will open new pathways for understanding early Indigenous-Mennonite encounters and the role of Mennonites in stabilizing the colonial system.

The overlap in geography of Scott’s narrative and Jonathan Hildebrand’s research – Dead Horse Creek, Buffalo Creek, the Pembina Escarpment – reminds us of the rich histories of these places before Mennonite ploughs changed the meaning attached to the land. The development of agriculture from subsistence to commercial, so essential to the economic system that is the basis for our present reality, had consequences. By following the environmental, social, and cultural significance of surface water, Hildebrand takes us on a journey of these outcomes in the West Reserve. In the East Reserve, Leonard Doell tells of the Crow Wing Trail, a Métis trading route that the first Mennonite delegates used to survey the land, which would eventually close in part due to Mennonite agricultural preferences. And Loewen’s environmental history of the 1870s migration highlights how gender, race, and belief shaped the ways in which people engaged with their surroundings.

Finally, this issue of Preservings features the experiences and observations of women during Mennonite settlement. Lady Dufferin’s remarks about Mennonite life in 1877 provide a snapshot of the early years of the East Reserve through the eyes of an outsider. Kerry Fast’s exploration of the lives of Helena Fast Fehr and Margaretha Fast Reimer reminds us of the struggles poorer families faced to establish themselves after the migration, relying on the labour of children, including daughters who worked as maids, to pay off travel debt. Such examples show us the importance of narratives beyond group solidarity and religious fortitude.