Hoover Mennonites in Belize
Photo courtesy of Thomas Alboth
This is the first article I am writing that deals with the history of one of the Mennonite groups in Belize. It briefly outlines the history of the Hoover Mennonites, a branch of the larger Old Order group.
Often mistaken for Amish, this group is the most conservative of all the Mennonites in Belize. Their conservative lifestyle is applied to everything, from horse-powered machinery to wood-burning stoves and simple clapboard houses.
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These Old Order Mennonites from Barton Creek and daughter communities are intentionalists: they live an ultra conservative life because they want to remain that way, not because the deeply-rooted beliefs of the church requires it. There is also more spiritual teachings in their group than in the Old Colony ones from Little Belize and Shipyard. However as time goes their lifestyle is beginning to lean more on tradition and rules rather than on spiritual conviction.
In 1966, some amendments were made to Belizean immigration policies which required "colony" Mennonites to allow non-Mennonite locals to purchase land and live within their communities. After a visit to Belize by Albert Stoll and John W. Martin, a mixed group of Amish and various types of Mennonites, e.g. Stauffer Mennonites, Hoover Mennonites, and Old Order Mennonites settled in Pilgrimage Valley in 1967. However, out of concern for the fact that it was a little too close to the town of San Ignacio and disunity in a group that was made up of a large variety of Mennonites and Amish, they began leaving the valley and resettling in a new tract of land, called Upper Barton Creek. A small number of traditional and conservative minded members of the Kleine Gemeinde from Spanish Lookout had already joined the group prior to this move.
Photo courtesy and credit of Thomas Alboth
It was during this time, between the 1970's and 1980's, that some of these Mennonites left for Tennessee. Also during these time the community of Upper Barton Creek united with settlers of the Noah Hoover church from the US, another sect of horse-and-buggy Mennonites. This officially renamed their group as Hoover Mennonites but are still referred to by the general term of Old Order Mennonites.
Lower Barton Creek was founded by the more rigidly conservative members of the Old Order Mennonites with some settlers from the Old Colony group from Shipyard. They dressed and lived similar to the Old Order from Upper Barton Creek (with a stricter code of dressing) but held far more traditional and non-spiritual views. Early 1990's saw the formation of another Old Order community, named Springfield. Upper Barton Creek was becoming too crowded, more and more young families were starting out and not enough land was available within the borders of Upper Barton Creek especially since families from Lower Barton Creek were moving in. About 20 years later, after 2009, new communities were created yet again, Birdwalk, Roseville among others. Upper Barton Creek will possibly soon be empty of its original inhabitants as the popular Barton Creek Caves nearby bring more and more visitors every year. I understand a small group of not-so-conservative Old Order Mennonites from Ontario, Canada are settling in the area.
So these Old Order Mennonites in Belize are actually made up of Keine Gemeindes and Old Colonists from Belize, Old Order Mennonites, Old Order Amish, Hoover Mennonites and Stauffer Mennonites from the US, which explains why Pennsylvania German is spoken by a sprinkling of them. (It also explains why there is less inter-family marrying than the Old Colony Mennonites of Shipyard.) Plautdietsch is the main language for the majority, however, you would be surprised at how well they speak English. Creole is picked up from their neighbors.
They have probably undergone through more upheavals and resettlement than other conservative Mennonites in Belize due to schisms, frictions and other traditional and spiritual matters. For example the ones from Lower Barton Creek are much more conservative and have more "German" names such as Friesen, Penner, Harder, etc. while those from Upper Barton Creek and Springfield have more "Amish" names such as Beiler, Troyer, Martin, and so on. Even now, there are contentions going on within this Old Order Mennonite group.
Like other "colony" Mennonites, they have their own schools taught by members of the church; due to the 1966 amendment though, they could not exclude the native Mayas from enrolling their children in the Mennonite schools. Despite some friction, things worked out better than for the other Mennonites of Shipyard and Blue Creek, with some of the Maya families and other locals actually going so far as to become full-fledged members of the Old Order Mennonites and accepting their beliefs and moral values.
An interesting notation is that their villages are less than 40 families per community and about a day's buggy ride apart from each other except for those in the southern district. Their colonies would resemble a Maya village if viewed from the air. Instead of blocks and parcels laid out in order and flat farmland, you would see the roof of a house peeking out from a cluster of trees, small cleared patches of land surrounded by forest and hills and valleys separating the farmhouses. Most of the buildings are made out of wood cut from the trees around them, all done by hand, horse and water power. Farming is small-scale, along with sawmills, carpentry and metalsmiths. When large and heavy loads need hauling on public paved roads, they charter trucks or pickups from neighbors or transport companies. They do not own the vehicles nor do they keep a hired driver on hand at all times. I do not have the exact count of their members, I only know the total population is considerably less than Spanish Lookout or Shipyard.
Presently, you can see these Mennonites at different places throughout central and southern Belize, driving down the highway in their buggies, selling vegetables at local marketplaces, sitting beside the road selling their famous watermelons. They are easily recognizable due to their bushy beards, black pants, black suspenders, black shoes and dark solid color shirts on the men, the most popular shades being dark green and dark blue. The ladies wear the same shades of dresses with black aprons, black bonnets and black shoes. Sometimes they wear a black kerchief.
A. Mendoza
