Carolyn PodruchnyElizabeth Ann Jansen2024-11-072024-11-072024-07-292024-11-07https://hdl.handle.net/10315/42480Beginning in 1925, thirty-six families, part of a mass migration of German-speaking Russian Mennonites (Russlaender), were settled on Namaka Farm, a large ranch in southern Alberta. With their arrival, the area became home to three disparate cultures and languages: Siksika Blackfoot, British colonial settlers, and Mennonite settlers. This thesis proposes that the experiences of these Mennonites prior to arriving in Canada influenced their adaptation. It shows how they were both marginalized and privileged within the existing colonial structure. Values they held tightly created unforeseen and inadvertent repercussions, including the perpetuation of systemic injustices and racism. Extensive oral interviews and primary document research illustrate how these immigrants formed relationships among themselves, with those in authority, and with their Siksika and “English” neighbours. The integration of Russlaender, Indigenous, and English voices has produced a coherent narrative conveying wisdom that can create thriving and sustainable intracultural, intercultural, and ecological relationships today.  Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.Canadian historyElectronic Thesis or Dissertation2024-11-07MennoniitesRusslaenderSiksikaBlackfootimmigrant adaptationNamaka FarmMennonite-Siksika relationshipsMennonite-Indigenous interactionsMennonite assimilationimmigrant assimilationsettler-colonialism1920s Mennonite settlersGerman-speaking Russian Mennonites 1920sAlberta settlers 1920sCanadian Colonization AssociationMennonite Land Settlement Boardracismsystemic injusticeshegemony