Indian CultureIndo – Canadian Culture

History – Indo Canadian

18th Century• first definitive encounters between the First Nations and other

aboriginal peoples of present day Canada and South Asia began when British traders engaged in the Fur trade arrived along the Pacific coast of Northwest America

• These encounters involved the arrival of Lascars on ships from Bombay, Calcutta and Macau.

• Lascars – sailors, militiaman or soldiers.

History (Reasons for moving)

1897• a contingent of Sikh soldiers participated in the parade to celebrate Queen

Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in London, England. On their subsequent journey home, they visited the western coast of Canada, primarily British Columbia which at the time was very sparsely populated and the Canadian government wanted to settle in order to prevent a takeover of the territory by the United States.

1903• Indo-Canadian community started; pioneers were men, mostly Sikhs from the

Punjab farming background; many were veteran soldiers of the British Army.• Upon retiring from the army, some of these men found their pensions to be

inadequate, their lands were in the clutches of money-lenders. They decided to try their fortunes in the countries they had visited.

History

• They were able to get work in the police force and some were employed as night-watchmen by British firms; Others started small businesses of their own.

• The Sikhs, who had seen Canada, recommended the New World to fellow Sikh people who were in a position to venture out and seek new fortunes. They were guaranteed jobs by agents of big Canadian companies like the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Hudson's Bay Company.

• Overcoming their initial reluctance to go to these countries due to the treatment of Asians by the white population, many young men chose to go, having been assured that they would not meet the same fate. They were British subjects ; Canada was a part of the British Empire; and the British Empire owed much to the Sikhs.

• In 1858, Queen Victoria had proclaimed that throughout the empire the people of India that they would enjoy "equal privileges with white people without discrimination of colour, creed or race."

History (Initial Settlement)

• upon arrival to British Columbia, the first Sikh immigrants faced widespread racism by the local white Canadians.

• Most of the white Canadians feared workers who would work for less pay, and that an influx of more immigrants would threaten their jobs. As a result there were a series of race riots that targeted the Sikh immigrants, who were beat up by mobs of angry white Canadians. These mobs not only targeted Indians, but also other Asian group such as the Chinese immigrants working on the railroad at the time and Black Canadians. From the social pressure most decided to return to India, while a few stayed behind.

• 1907 restrictions by the Canadian government increased on Indians, and policies were put in place to prevent Indians who had the right to vote from voting in future general elections.

• the Canadian government prevented Indian men from bringing their wives and children until 1919

• government quotas were established to cap the number of Indians allowed to immigrate to Canada. (100 per year)

• Komagata Maru Incident (1914)• steam liner carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, India arrived in Vancouver.

Most of the passengers were not allowed to land in Canada and were returned to India. When the Komagata Maru returned to Calcutta (now Kolkata), they were fired upon by the British, many died.

• Indians were not treated as equals under the British Empire, they staged a peaceful protest upon returning to India. British forces saw this as a threat to their authority, and opened fire on the protestors, killing many. This was one of the most notorious "incidents" in the history of exclusion laws in Canada designed to keep out immigrants of Asian origin.

Komagata Maru Incident

History

• 1947 - The Canadian government re-enfranchised the Indo-Canadian community with the right to vote.

• 1967 - all immigration quotas based on specific ethnic groups were scrapped. social view in Canada towards people of other ethnic backgrounds was more open.

• Canada introduced an immigration policy that was based on a point system, with each applicant being assessed on their trade skills and the need for these skills in Canada. This allowed many more Indians to immigrate in large numbers.

• 1970s - thousands of immigrants came yearly and mainly settled in Vancouver and Toronto

Indo Canadian Population

• 3.8% total population of Canada or 1,260,000. (2014 Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada – Data Base)

• Toronto has the largest Indian Community in Canada.

• 51% of the entire Indo-Canadian community resides in the Greater Toronto Area (Brampton, Rexdale,Scarborough,Gerrard Street and Mississauga)

Population Settlement The Indo-Canadian population according to the National Household Survey in the 2011 in the 10 Canadian Provinces and 3 territories

Province Indian %

Ontario 722,153 5.3%

British Columbia 302,153 6.5%

Alberta 140,265 3.7%

Quebec 53,400 0.6%

Manitoba 25,400 2.0%

Saskatchewan 10,200 0.9%

Nova Scotia 4,400 0.4%

New Brunswick 2,605 0.3%

Newfoundland and Labrador 1,395 0.3%

Yukon 310 0.9%

Prince Edward Island 255 0.2%

Northwest Territories 165 0.4%

Nunavut 80 0.3%

Canada 1,260,000 3.8%

Indo Canadian

Language

• 14 official Language

• Hindu – National Language

• mostly of Punjabi, Malayalee, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil and Goan.

Religion

• Sikhs 35%,

• Hindus 28%,

• Muslims 17%

• Christians 16%

• (7% Protestant/Evangelical, 9% Catholic)

Places of Worship (Sikh / Gurdwara)

Places of Worship (Hindu Temple)