Teacher Information Sheet #1: Sample Global Names Chart Teacher Information Sheet #2: Multicultural Canada Teacher Information Sheet #3: Canada - A Nation of Immigrants Teacher Information Sheet #4: The Sikh Experience

PDF file for all of Grade 8 Unit 3 Student Information

Teacher Information Sheet #1: Sample Global Names Chart

The following is an example that may be shared with students to help them understand the activity.

Global Names Chart
Country: China		Culture: Cantonese		Language: Cantonese
Name	Meaning		Background (history and origin)		Classification (reason for name)
Mei Wah	Live for China		Immigrant parents hope that child will stay connected to China.		Emotion
Sui Ying	Little Swallow		Named after mother, Gum Ying, which means golden swallow.		Family
Pak Lung	Refers to a dragon		Parent's wish that a son will be strong.		Emotion
Oy Wai	Friendly net		First born daughter to an immigrant mother who missed best friend.		Emotion and Family Friend
Bo Jur	Precious Pearl		Baby born when mother is late in life.		Emotion
Oy Wing	Unknown		Named as a character from a family poem.		Family tradition
Wing Kwong	High award or recognition		First son after four daughters.		Emotion
Baw Ling	Precious; flower		Valued first daughter of parents who have lived in China and USA.		Emotion
Ay Hai	Bring brothers to our family		Lots of daughters, but want sons.		Family
Mon Hong	Full house		Last child of nine.		Family

Sample Generalization:

In China, for the Cantonese culture, names are tied to emotions and hopes for children and family traditions.

Teacher Information Sheet #2: Multicultural Canada

Multiculturalism is a policy in Canada in which immigrants to Canada are encouraged to retain their cultural or ethnic heritage, while becoming part of the larger shared Canadian culture.

"Multiculturalism means that all ethnic groups within Canada have equal status and that each ethnic group has the right to maintain and advance its cultural heritage while sustaining the national identity of Canadian society." (D. MacDougall in Multicultural Education: The Challenges and the Future, K.A. McLeod (ed.), 1996, p. 51)

Cultural identification is crucial to self-understanding and identity. People derive their identity from the cultures to which they belong-specific ethnic heritage and national Canadian culture.

Teacher Information Sheet #3: Canada - A Nation of Immigrants

The First Nations

Prior to 1000 A.D., the land we now call Canada was populated by many Aboriginal cultures (e.g., Cree, Iroquois, Haida, Inuit, Huron, Blackfoot, Dene). So, with the exception of the First Nations, everyone in Canada is either an immigrant or is the descendant of an immigrant.

Immigration Timeline

1000 A.D.	The Norse settled on the Coast of Newfoundland.
1600s	European Métis peoples resulted from Aboriginal and French mixing.
1760	British immigrants arrived in large numbers following the British conquest of New France.
1783-1791	More British immigrants and about 40,000 United Empire Loyalists arrived at the end of the American Revolution in 1783. They settled in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, as well as in Upper and Lower Canada.
1815-1850	About 800,000 immigrants arrived from Britain-the Irish and Scots were fleeing poverty and famine; English, Welsh and Scots wanted a better life. They were farmers and factory workers who wanted cheap land and a new start.
1840-1860	30,000 Black immigrants came to Canada secretly to escape slavery-the Underground Railway.
1858-1885	Chinese immigrants arrived to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway.
1896-1910	Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier and Clifford Sifton set out to populate the West of Canada. Most who came were English-speaking Europeans. About 60,000 "Home Children" (orphaned British children) were sent to be cheap labour on Canadian farms. Immigrants were from Germany, Austria, Hungary, Scandinavia, Russia, Poland and the Ukraine.
1910-1918	(W.W.I.) Drop in immigration-too dangerous to travel. Restrictions were placed on Asians, Blacks and Jews who wanted to immigrate to Canada.
1930-1949	(W.W.II.) Soldiers returning from the war brought back brides. 100,000 refugees from war-torn Europe arrived between 1945-1949 from Holland, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Greece and Italy. The British children were sent to Canadian homes for safety during the war-many stayed and some returned with their families.
1957	36,000 Hungarian refugees came to Canada when the Soviets invaded Hungary.
1968	10,000 Czech refugees came to Canada when the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia.
1971	240 Tibetan refugees fled the Chinese army to Canada.
1972	4,700 Asians expelled from Uganda by the dictator, Idi Amin, came to Canada.
1984	Vietnamese immigrants fleeing the war in Vietnam.
1992	Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong, others from the Philippines and India.

Teacher Information Sheet #4: The Sikh Experience

"Prior to W.W.I., Canada was receiving a flood of immigrants from around the world. In 1913 alone, 400,000 people arrived, most of them from Europe. British Columbia faced across the Pacific, and drew its immigrants mainly from Asia. The newcomers met restrictive laws and a hostile Anglo-Canadian population. Racial prejudice was fed by intense competition in the workplace where employers hired Asian workers at lower wages than others. In the summer of 1914 the situation flared into tense confrontation, the Komagata Maru incident. " (Buchignani, N. "Do Not Enter." Horizon Canada, Vol. 5, No. 15, pp.1214-1219).

Timeline

1904	The first immigrants from India came to Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.
1907	By this time 5,000 were in British Columbia: · they were mostly single men considered to be cheap labour · 95-98% Sikhs from Northern India · they were denied the right to vote · they were banned from professions, jury sessions and school boards, and were denied the right to hold Crown timber contracts · British Columbia wanted to ban all Asian immigration · Canadian government did not want to impose a ban because India was also part of the British Empire · Canadian government made a policy that made it difficult, if not impossible, for Sikhs to come · Hatal Act in Canada classified "Hindews" (Sikhs included) with Japanese and Chinese as "undesirables" and turned ships of would-be immigrants back
1908	The immigration policy required would-be immigrants to travel to Canada from their homeland by "continuous passage." Because no shipping line provided a direct connection with India this amounted to a total ban.
1908-1913	About 30 Sikhs were able to find "loopholes" and enter Canada.
1913	Canada revised the regulation to a temporary ban on the immigration of Artisans and labourers into British Columbia. Thus began the difficult ethnic relations situation that still exists toward Sikhs in British Columbia and Canada.
1914	Significant incident-Surdit Singh Sarhal, Sikh entrepreneur, challenged the law by chartering ships to bring Sikhs to Canada. Komagata Maru was a ship used to bring immigrants from India. Sikhs had dwindled to 2,000 in British Columbia. Because this policy made no exceptions for wives and families of those Sikhs already in Canada, many returned to India or moved to the United States.
1915	Mewa Singh hanged for murdering a government spy-became a martyr.
1920s	Sikh political pressure finally convinced Canadian government to permit wives and children to come but it proved difficult because "continuous passage" policy was still in effect. · the British Columbia government kept all restrictions on Sikhs · Sikhs could not be complete, fully-participating citizens in their new home · Sikhs could not vote, etc.
1967	South Asians received equal access to immigration and the population grew rapidly to 320,000 by 1985 (of which 100,000 were Sikhs). · they were allowed in under a point system · jobs-labourers, usually in the timber industry in British Columbia

Some Central Beliefs and Teachings of Sikhism

Sikhs-the word means disciples or followers; follow the teachings of ten Gurus or spiritual mentors or teachers, beginning with Guru Nanak (b. 1469) and ending with Guru Gobind Singh (d. 1708).

"Like Bahàis, Muslims, Jews and Christians, Sikhs believe that there is just one God. Nanak taught that each person, as a disciple of the one True God, must establish a direct personal link with God. He also taught that all men and women are equal in God's sight and that God is present in all people and all living things. Sikhism teaches that right conduct and truth are closely associated; there can be no understanding of truth separate from righteous behaviour. In Sikhism, the purpose of life is to escape our self-will or self-interest-egoism and become one with the True God. Devotion and obedience to the Gurus' teachings about the one God and the worship of God are the path to union. Sikhs believe that our souls may be reborn many times before we achieve this union."

The Five Ks of Shalsa Sikhism

· Kes-"uncut hair". In order to look as God meant them to look, Sikhs do not cut their hair.

· Kangha-"wooden comb". Sikhs follow the instructions in the Sikh ethical code Rahit-Nama to keep their hair well-groomed by using special combs that males wear in their hair under their turbans and females wear under their head coverings. The Kangha symbolizes cleanliness of body and spirit.

· Kara-"steel bracelet." Sikhs wear a steel wristlet on their right forearm. The bracelet reminds Sikhs that God is all powerful and has no beginning and no end.

· Kach-"short pants". Sikhs wear special short trousers or underpants for modesty and chastity.

· Kirpan-"sword." Sikhs carry at their side a small, ornate dagger as a reminder that they are "God's soldier(s)...to stand against oppression and to protect the weak and oppressed", and that they are to protect the Sikh faith and innocents.

Attitudes and Problems Encountered by Sikh Immigrants

"These Hindus are all old soldiers. They know little outside of their regular drill...I would have White labourers of course if I can get them...but I would rather give employment to these old soldiers who have helped to give for the British empire than to entire aliens." (The Daily Province, October 1906)

"It is not desirable that any considerable increase in the Hindu population of Canada would be permitted, but as a certain number have been allowed to come in, it is grossly unjust not to allow their wives and families to join them. There is no other part of the world where such inhumanity would be possible. Small wonder is it that the Sikhs are throwing away medals, which they once wore with honour but which now represent to them a useless sacrifice. Since going to press we learn that the Ottawa government have ordered the Sikh lady and her child to stay as a matter of grace. The order-in-council debarring Hindu women from entering the country still remains in force." (The Colonist, July 30, 1911)

"There are today a number of women and children who are living lonely, wretched lives in Calcutta, whose husbands and fathers are waiting their arrival here. The steamship companies dare not bring them here, as the federal authorities will not allow them to land. In Hong Kong there are a number of relatives of men already here, and they are not allowed to come forward." (Victoria Daily Times, July 16, 1911)

"The Temple cost nearly $10,000 and is a monument to religious zeal and faith of people far from home, in a strange land which has not treated them justly and among a people to whom they are united by but two bonds. The first of these is their attachment to the throne and empire of the British people who delivered India and the second is their unconquerable conviction that `God hath made of one flesh all the nations of the Earth.' It is that last rather than the first which makes the Sikh tolerant of the abuse and misrepresentation to which he has been subjected by the people who send missionaries to show him the way to salvation." (Walter W. Baer, Canadian Courier)

A Sense of Identity

A sense of identity was the core inner strength that Sikh immigrants drew upon to face the daily challenges of language and participating in Canadian society, as well as to maintain their unique cultural heritage and religious identity, the following quotes demonstrate:

· "It is a great joy to me to find that here in this distant land you still keep up your own religious faith and do not neglect your Sikh religion. This is the right thing to do if you want to remain in a distant country with moral character and good social and family traditions such as those, which still remain in India itself. I am so glad to find that the Khalsa Diwan Society is the centre of your own life in British Columbia. That is quite right and proper and good. For without that binding link you are found to fall to pieces. But if you keep this binding force of your own pure religious faith intact, then you will preserve your character also and your family life will be good and pure. You must cling together and help one another. Do not let any member of your community come to grief and ruin through your neglect. Secondly, you must remember that you are guests in a new country and you have to observe the first law of hospitality, which is to accommodate yourselves as far as possible and pay every consideration to the manners and customs of this new country where your children are being born and where you yourselves have elected to live. This is a necessity in every country where people emigrate if good will and friendly feelings are to be observed. This does not mean that you are to alter all your own good customs and manners of living, but rather that you are to seek at every point to find a common meeting place where your own life and the Canadian life coincide. To put what I wish to say in words, you should do your best to prove yourselves `Good Canadians'." (Katar Singh, Indian and Canada: A Journal of Interpretations and Information, 1929)

· "We were invited there. They knew weeks in advance that we were Sikhs and that we have turbans. If they had no intention of letting us in, I don't understand why we were invited to participate...to ask a Sikh to remove his turban is an insult, not only to him, but to the Sikh religion. You will have to remove my neck before I remove my turban." (Harbhajan Singh Minahs)

If there is one word that can be used to sum up the Sikh immigrant experience in Canada, that word is "persistence." Here was an unwelcome people facing the greatest challenges, a people who could have easily been demoralized enough to give up. Instead, the pioneers persisted and succeeded in the social, cultural, economic and political fields in which they ventured, allowing today's Sikhs to enjoy the fruits of their success.

Distribution of Skihs in Canada

Sources and Suggested Resources

· Video: Passage from India - A Scattering of Seeds (video series)

· Novel: Shabash! by Ann Walsh

· Non-fiction: Becoming Canadians: Pioneer Sikhs in Their Own Words by Sarjeet Singh Jagpal

· Internet Site: http://www.sikhs.org