Mitchell, Manitoba

The area that is now known as Mitchell were originally lands of the nomadic Ojibway-speaking Anishinabe people. On 3 August 1871 the Anishinabe people signed Treaty 1 and moved onto reserves such as the Brokenhead Indian Reserve and Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation Reserve.[3] The area was then settled by Russian Mennonite settlers in the 1870s. At that time there were dozens of villages in the East Reserve. Two of them, Vollwerk and Reichenbach, were eventually absorbed into the new community of Mitchell, which was named after the surrounding school district. The Canadian government deliberately chose English names, such as Mitchell, New Bothwell, Randolph and others in an attempt to assimilate the Mennonites into Canadian culture.[4]

The Mitchell School District was established in 1919. A one-room schoolhouse served the community until the 1950s, when another room has added to handle increasing student enrollment. In 1968, the school district was dissolved and became part of the newly formed Hanover School Division, after which students from Mitchell were required to attend school in Steinbach.[5] The school division has since constructed new elementary and middle schools in Mitchell and only high school students from the Mitchell area are presently required to attend school in Steinbach.

Mitchell has a full range of community-run recreational facilities, including an indoor arena, baseball fields, soccer pitches, and tennis courts.[6]

The Mitchell Arena was built in 1979 and is home to community's ice hockey teams, nicknamed the Mitchell Mustangs, which play in various Eastman Minor Hockey leagues. The Mitchell Mohawks have been members of the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League since 1987 and previously played in the Manitoba Junior 'B' Hockey League. The Mohawks has also fielded senior teams in the past that played in the Hanover-Tache and Carillon Senior Hockey Leagues.[7]

Mitchell's close proximity to the city of Steinbach means residents mostly shop and conduct business at the latter. However, Mitchell does have several of its own businesses and services, such as a Co-op gas bar and convenience store, a second convenience store, a number of churches, an auto repair business, and an assortment of home-based business.

Mitchell is designated as a local urban district (LUD) within the Rural Municipality of Hanover whose administrative offices are located 1.5 kilometers east of the community. An elected LUD committee, consisting of three members plus the Ward 2 Councillor for Hanover, reports to the municipal council. The community and surrounding area is part of the Steinbach (provincial) and Provencher (federal) electoral districts.