Indo Canadian Culture History Indo Canadian 18 th 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 ID: 342619
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Indian Culture" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Indian Culture
Indo – Canadian CultureSlide2
History – Indo Canadian
18
th
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. Slide3
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. Slide4
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."Slide5
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 1919Slide6
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
. Slide7
Komagata
Maru
IncidentSlide8
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
TorontoSlide9
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)Slide10
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
140,2653.7% Quebec53,400
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
2550.2% Northwest Territories1650.4% Nunavut800.3%Canada1,260,0003.8%Slide11
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)Slide12
Places of Worship (Sikh /
Gurdwara
)Slide13
Places of Worship (Hindu Temple)