The former Manitoban is in the heart of helping to explain the biggest measles outbreak in Texas in 30 years.
CNN, NPR, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press are all called Tina Siemens of Seminole, Texas.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, called her twice.
Signs will be visible outside the Seminole Hospital district, which offers measles testing in February. (Julio Cortez/AP communication file)
“He wanted a Mennonite background in the Seminoles,” said Siemens, who lived in Arborg in 1988 and 1989 with her husband and son.
In a conversation with Kennedy, she explained the history, culture and religion of the conservative Mennonites, descendants of the family who left Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Mexico in the 1920s.
About 6,000 traditionalist Mennonites, often referred to as old colony mennonites, left two states in 1922 for a new home in the Quautemoc region of northern Mexico. They left because they felt that the Canadian government had betrayed them by breaking their promise to allow them to run their schools.
Facing Mexico’s land shortage and harsh economic conditions, some began to move north in the 1970s and settled in the Seminole area. The community has a population of approximately 35,000 people.
Siemens is a descendant of a group that left Manitoba, and her family was among those who moved to Texas about 50 years ago. She was eight years old.
She said she regularly speaks to reporters because the conservative Mennonites at the heart of the outbreak are reluctant to talk to the media.
“I’m their voice, the bridge.” – Tina Siemens
“I’m their voice and the bridge,” Siemens said. She added that she is supporting local health officials by translating information about the free vaccine, the language spoken by the community’s Mennonites, into low German.
She frequently finds herself correcting incorrect information. Many reporters believe that the Seminole Mennonite is like a horse and a difficult Amish.
“They are technologically advanced and have received awards for modern agricultural methods,” she said of the local Mennonites, saying they are recognized for their work in water and soil conservation.
Many also own business in Seminoles, selling agricultural machinery, timber yards, health food stores, car garages and more.
“It’s like Steinbach or Winkler,” Siemens said.
About half of Mennonites are US citizens, she said, adding that others are seeking legal status. She holds dual Canadian and US citizenship due to her family origins in Manitoba more than a century ago.
The Seminole, Texas, is approximately 2,242 kilometers south of Winnipeg.
She said.
“They can’t all be painted with the same brush,” she said.
Many are reluctant to vaccinate their children from measles, but they are not alone. Approximately 17% of children in public schools in the Seminole area are not vaccinated.
Many older Mennonites had to be vaccinated when they became American citizens, Siemens added that she was just as vaccinated as her son.
Some parts of the area believe they should be able to make decisions about the health of their own families.
“That’s not religious reasons,” she said. He said there is nothing to vaccinate in the Mennonite faith. “The pastor hasn’t told not to get vaccinated.”
“They want the right to choose their own path.” – Tina Siemens
As with other Americans, it’s about personal choices, she said. Texas is one of 16 states in the United States that allow people to opt out of vaccines for purely personal beliefs, not for religious or medical reasons. The pandemic has broken the trust with the government for many, she said.
People in the community have not refused to be rebellious with the vaccine, she said.
“They just want the right to choose their own way,” she says, and many are also worried about the negative side effects of injections. Some believe in the scientifically unreliable claim that vaccinations cause autism.
Mennonites in this area also tend to become independent. Many people avoid doctors and prefer home treatments to address health issues, Siemens explained, saying they use cod liver oil and vitamin A as a treatment for people who have contracted measles.
“They like to have kids get it and develop antibodies to measles,” she said.
General views of Seminole, Texas. (Eli Hartman/AP communication file)
But others – although they suspect she is a minority, they choose to vaccinate their children.
“It’s their choice to make that too,” she said. “I admire any choice people make.”
Seminole Mennonites tend to travel frequently between Mexico and southern Manitoba, so Siemens recognizes this can be a problem when carrying the virus.
“But now, since the outbreak has been going on for four weeks, it shouldn’t be contagious if someone comes to Manitoba from Seminoles,” she said. Easter will fall on April 20th.
“I think we’re at the end of its tail,” she said.
In an emailed statement, the provincial government said there has been no secondary spread of measles infection in Manitoba since the recent cases were identified.
File – Healthcare workers will manage measles tests at Julio Cortez / The Apsociant Press Files in Fernando Tallinn, Seagraves, Texas, on Friday, February 21, 2025, on a mobile testing site outside the Seminole Hospital District.
If the virus is discovered in the state, public health officials are working to identify contacts and locations of exposures and provide vaccines to high-risk contacts.
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John Longhurst
Faith reporter
John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg’s Faith Page since 2003. He also writes for the Religious News Service in the United States and blogs about the media, marketing and communications that create news.
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