The ancestors of these Mennonites originated in the Netherlands and Belgium and lived in West Prussia until the end of the 18th century, in the Black Sea region of Ukraine until 1874 and in Manitoba, Canada, until 1926, before settling in Paraguay.

The emigration from Canada to Paraguay was a reaction to the introduction of universal, secular compulsory education in 1917 requiring the use of the English language, which the more conservative Mennonites saw as a threat to the religious basis of their community.

The Paraguayan state was interested in opening the vast undeveloped Chaco to industrious settlers and made a considerable number of concessions to the delegation.

For a long time, the life of Mennonites in the Chaco was marked by extreme deprivation as a result of the new arrivals' complete lack of agricultural experience under tropical conditions.

The introduction of the drought- and heat-resistant buffalo grass from North America in 1955, which created the foundation of an extensive cattle industry, and the construction of the Trans-Chaco Highway to Asunción in 1965 were significant predecessors to economic growth.

Because of improved living conditions and exceptionally good relations between the original inhabitants and the Mennonite settlers, Menno and the neighbouring settlements attracted other native groups.

Although Mennonites and indigenous people have worked closely together for a long time and some of the latter learnt to speak the Plautdietsch language of the settlers, further mixing of the two cultures has not occurred.