Shipyard, also called Shipyard Colony, is a
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
settlement that is also an administrative village in the
Orange Walk District
Orange Walk District is a district in the northwest of the nation of Belize, with its district capital in Orange Walk Town.
Main settlements
The Orange Walk District, with an area of 1,829 square miles (4,636 square km), is located north-northw ...
of
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
.
Shipyard was founded in 1958 by
Old Colony Mennonites
The name Old Colony Mennonites (German: ''Altkolonier-Mennoniten'') is used to describe that part of the Russian Mennonite movement that is descended from colonists who migrated from the Chortitza Colony in Russia (itself originally of Prussian o ...
from
Chihuahua and
Durango states in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. It consists of more than 20 camps (German: "dörfer"), which have German names like "Blumenort" or "Hochfeld", but outside the Mennonite community they are referred to only by numbers, e. g. "Camp 5" instead of "Reinfeld".
Most of the population of Shipyard are
Plautdietsch-speaking ethnic
Mennonites
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
, living in a very integrated community where most of them work as carpenters, farmers and mechanics. Most Mennonites of Shipyard are quite traditional in lifestyle, still using horse and buggy for transportation and tractors with steel wheels for fieldwork. Compared with other Mennonites in Belize, Shipyard is more conservative than
Spanish Lookout and
Blue Creek, but more modern concerning the use of technology than
Upper Barton Creek
Upper Barton Creek is a mixed Mennonite settlement and expats in Cayo District in Belize in the area of the Barton Creek. The Mennonites in Upper Barton Creek are ethnic Mennonites of the Noah Hoover group.
Upper Barton Creek use to be a unique ...
,
Springfield and daughter colonies.
Population
Around 1960 the total population of Shipyard was 728. In 1987 it had grown to 1,966.
[Friesen, David K. and John B. Loewen. "Shipyard Colony (Belize)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1989. Web. 23 February 2015]
/ref> In the 2014 census it had a total population of 3,497 people. In 2017 it has grown to 3,805 people. It is thus the largest Mennonite settlement in Belize.
See also
Mennonites in Belize
Mennonites in Belize form different religious bodies and come from different ethnic backgrounds. There are groups of Mennonites living in Belize who are quite traditional and conservative (e. g. in Shipyard and Upper Barton Creek), while other ...
External links
Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online: ''Shipyard Colony (Belize)''
References
Mennonitism in Belize
Mexican Belizean
Old Colony Mennonites
Populated places in Orange Walk District
Ukrainian diaspora in North America
Russian Mennonite diaspora in Belize
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