About 6,000 Russian Mennonites, who came originally from Northern Germany and the Netherlands, migrated from Canada to northern Mexico in the 1920s. Today, there are about 115,000 practicing descendants of Mennonites in Mexico, who have preserved the Plautdietsch dialect and maintained their self sustaining agricultural and religious practices on their properties. By their community's rules, German Mexican Mennonites are allowed to speak Spanish primarily for the purposes of business, culture, and, on occasion, finding spouses. Several mennonite colonies have historically been victim to religious fervor, notably during the Christian Civil War. Cult like criticisms persist into the modern day with complaints of “luring and brainwashing the youth,” though these claims remain unsubstantiated with most colonies being mildly isolated and viewed favorably by the Mexican government. The most prosperous Mennonite colonies in Mexico lie in the states of Chihuahua (Cuauhtémoc, Swift Current, Manitoba), Durango (Patos (Nuevo Ideal), Nuevo Hamburgo), Zacatecas (La Honda), Sinaloa, Aguascalientes and Campeche.