Grunthal (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Grünthal'', 'Green Valley') is a

local urban district A local urban district is a type of unincorporated community within the Canadian province of Manitoba. According to ''The Municipal Act'', a local urban district is a locality wholly within a rural municipality that "has at least 250 residents and ...

in the

Rural Municipality of Hanover The Rural Municipality of Hanover is a rural municipality (RM) in southeastern Manitoba, Canada, located southeast of Winnipeg in Division No. 2. It is Manitoba's most populous rural municipality and fourth-most populous municipality overall (b ...

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, located 15 miles southwest of Steinbach, and about 50 minutes south of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

. It had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 1,680 in 2016. Tourist attractions include Grunthal's Annual Fairdays held on the third weekend in August; it features a parade and a rodeo, among other activities. Schools include the K to Grade 4 South Oaks School and the Grades 5 to 12 Green Valley School, all part of the Hanover School Division. Grunthal includes a variety of

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 Radi ...

churches, and businesses. Its economy is primarily agrarian-based. Grunthal is also host to one of the best motocross tracks in Manitoba, in past years the track hosted numerous Canadian Motocross National events with the country's top riders coming to race. Grunthal is home to the Grunthal Red Wings, hockey teams ranging from squirts to senior.

History

The area that is now known as Grunthal was originally lands of the nomadic

Ojibway The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

-speaking

Anishinabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi ...

people. On 3 August 1871 the Anishinabe people signed

Treaty 1 ''Treaty 1'' (also known as the "Stone Fort Treaty") is an agreement established on August 3, 1871, between the Imperial Crown of Great Britain and Ireland and the Anishinabe and Swampy Cree nations. The first of a series of treaties called the ...

and moved onto reserves such as the Brokenhead Indian Reserve and

Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation (Ojibwe: ''Okwewanashko-ziibiing'', meaning: "Rag Weed River")Ross, Jordan. “Aug 2021: Roseau River First Nation Organizes Honour Walk.” The Carillon, August 7, 2021https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/the-car ...

Reserve. The community of Grunthal was settled in 1876 by Plautdietsch-speaking

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 ...

immigrants, from Imperial Russia, specifically the Bergthal Colony. Grunthal was one of dozens of village of what was known as the

East Reserve The East Reserve was a block settlement in Manitoba set aside by the Government of Canada exclusively for settlement by Russian Mennonite settlers in 1873 (although settlement did not occur until 1874). Most of the East Reserve's earliest settlers ...

, an area set aside by the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

for

settlement, and it is now populated with their descendants, as well as people of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

and

descent and other ethnicities. The name ''Grünthal'' means 'Green Valley' in

, and is called ''Grientol'', (/ˈ jrintol/), in Plautdietsch, with the same meaning.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Grunthal had a population of 1,782 living in 618 of its 636 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,680. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Notable people

* Jack Thiessen, linguist and writer

References

{{MBDivision2 Designated places in Manitoba Local urban districts in Manitoba Unincorporated communities in Eastman Region, Manitoba