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British Columbia History 57.4 Winter 2024 (Digital)

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17 Articles

Solidarity inspires belonging

Perhaps the British Columbia History magazine audience is familiar with some of the past events involving BC’s Chinese Canadian community, including racist legislation put forth by the provincial government. Though it is important to continue the conversation about already known stories, less well-known injustices faced by smaller Chinese communities across British Columbia are often overlooked. This issue highlights the diverse backgrounds and rich history and stories of Chinese Canadians outside the Lower Mainland where Chinese Canadian identities were erased. Talking about the forgotten Chinese communities across BC, finding clarity and significance in their history, will aid in healing the Chinese Canadian community. The concept of belonging is often associated with the idea of place. Where we come from can help to inform who we are, though identity is not exclusive…

Solidarity inspires belonging

Happy birthday! Dear Editor, I have just received my copy of the new edition, and it made me feel that I may have a bit of BC history that you may be interested in. This year is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Nakusp Hot Springs. The village held a celebration of this event on October 19, 2024, and the Arrow Lakes Archives is working on documentation of the project. Allen Crockett Genelle, BC We missed the mark In our Fall 2024 issue, we spelled Timothy Fitzthum’s name incorrectly in our Table of Contents. We apologize to Tim for this oversight. Artists interpret history The Chinese Canadian Museum opened its new exhibit, Reshaping Collections: Where History Meets Art, in September 2024. This exhibit features unique art creations by…

Terpeniye: The mountain, the mill, and the willows

http://www.thegraphicsmonarch.blogspot.com On my last day in the Kars region of Turkey, in the fall of 2024, I visited the village of Karahan (going forward, Karakhan, in its proper English transliteration). The village was previously known as Terpeniye when my Doukhobor ancestors inhabited the area in the late nineteenth century. The 50-minute drive from Kars to Karakhan featured sites of other villages previously inhabited by Doukhobors along the way. As my guide turned off of the main highway onto a dusty dirt road, fertile farmland began to eclipse the drier transcaucasian flats. In a recorded interview, my great-great-grandfather, Fred Bonderoff spoke of some of the landmarks in this village, where he had lived until the age of seven. He remembered a formative hill that functioned as a landmark to the area,…

Terpeniye: The mountain, the mill, and the willows

1 To Be Seen, To Be Heard The summer reopening of the Museum of Anthropology couldn’t come soon enough for eager patrons. The Arthur Erickson–designed building that graces the UBC campus was closed for 18 months to undergo major seismic upgrades because the concrete pillars underpinning the Great Hall were at risk of tumbling in an earthquake. The closure was also an opportunity to consult with Indigenous communities and reinvigorate interpretation. To Be Seen, To Be Heard: First Nations in Public Spaces 1900–1965 is a new multimedia exhibition that explores how Indigenous people represented themselves in urban public spaces during the dark period of potlatch bans, cultural erasure, and restricted rights. Archival images of Indigenous people attending community parades, protests, tourist venues, and royal visits are projected on large screens while…

BEYOND CHINATOWN

When someone says the word “Chinatown,” a certain image comes to mind. In British Columbia, it is of Vancouver or Victoria’s streetscapes of narrow laneways or buildings of two- or three-storeys in height, recessed balconies, “Chinese” businesses and associations, as well as a gateway to signal to the visitor that they have arrived. Each of these Chinatowns holds a distinction in the Canadian context: Victoria as the oldest, Vancouver as the largest. Both are in populous urban centres. Historically, they were a hub for migration (or destination) and dispersal, as well as commerce. But many early immigrants to Canada sought opportunity and fortune outside Vancouver and Victoria (the reason that those early Chinese referred to their destination as Gold Mountain, Gum Saan).1 Their existence is represented in the historical record…

BEYOND CHINATOWN

A Match Not Made in Heaven

As the dark storm clouds of the Chinese Exclusion Act1 descended upon the Chinese community in 1923, they ignited an incredible drama: a story of love, loss, conflict and two sensational, headline-grabbing courtroom dramas. At the centre of this storm was a middle-aged Chinese logger, a diminutive, 26-year-old Chinese woman, and three Canadian-born children. The logger, Wong Boo Chow, had arrived in Canada in 1912 and laboured in the boom-and-bust forest industry on Vancouver Island. He left behind in China a wife and child, whom he continued to support. On July 1, 1923, Canada’s Chinese Exclusion Act went into effect and barred all new immigration from China. Now, with no hope of ever bringing his family to Canada, Wong Boo Chow dedicated himself to securing his future in his adopted…

A Match Not Made in Heaven

Good Neighbours and Ordinary Stories

Ramona Mar and Susanna Ng in conversation with Aimee Greenaway Aimee Greenaway was excited to have a conversation with Ramona Mar and Susanna Ng from the Chinatown Storytelling Centre (CSC) in Vancouver Chinatown. They talked about the work of the CSC, revitalization efforts in Chinatown, and the importance of connecting the stories of people with Chinatown’s past, present, and future. Here is part of their conversation. Aimee Greenaway (AG) What is the role of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre in the community? Ramona Mar (RM) The Chinatown Storytelling Centre opened in November 2021 as an initiative of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, and the Foundation’s goal is to revitalize Chinatown. The community has gone through tough times economically because of issues in the Downtown Eastside and challenges due to the impacts of Covid-19.…

Good Neighbours and Ordinary Stories

A Sense of Belonging: Chinese Societies

Many visitors go to Chinatowns in search of Chinese cuisine and specialty shops. But beyond the building facades at street level, a visible yet commonly overlooked fabric lines the streets of most Chinatowns and their surrounding neighbourhoods across North America— voluntary associations that I will refer to hereafter as Chinese Societies. Chinese Societies played such an important role throughout the lives of new immigrants that the Societies’ names are often written on the tombstones of deceased Chinese buried in Canada. This article provides insights on their purpose and relevance, using my volunteer experience in Vancouver’s Chinatown as an entry point and invitation to others to begin their own learning journey. In early 2023, a century after the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, I began methodically walking the streets to find…

A Sense of Belonging: Chinese Societies

Canned Salmon and China Lily

The traditional name for my hometown of Prince Rupert means “water from clouds.” 1 In fact, it receives the most rainfall out of any city in Canada. Remote and not easy to reach by road or plane, Prince Rupert is located two hours by plane north of Vancouver on Kaien Island in Chatham Sound. Prince Rupert is nestled between stunning mountains. Anywhere you set foot into town, you can experience nature; a mountain stands literally behind my family home, and the beautiful Skeena River flows just minutes away from my former high school. This small town is located on the unceded territories of the Sm’algya̱x-speaking Ts’msyen (Tsimshian) peoples and is near dozens of Indigenous villages up and down the coast and on the Skeena River. A long history of trade…

Canned Salmon and China Lily

The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey, by Chad Soon and George Chiang, illustrated by Amy Qi (Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2024). $24.95

When his skates hit the ice in the third period of the March 13, 1948, hockey game between the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens, Larry Kwong became the first player of Asian descent to play in the National Hockey League. A Chinese Canadian born in Vernon, Kwong’s time in hockey both before and after that historic moment was filled with racism and discrimination. Despite obstacles and unfairness, “for Larry there was no career path except for hockey” (p. 26). A story of determination and perseverance written for middle-grade readers, The Longest Shot, by Chad Soon and George Chiang, profiles Larry Kwong’s life and hockey career while also addressing the history of exclusion in Canadian sport. Kwong was an exceptional player; he was speedy, handled the puck well, and…

The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey, by Chad Soon and George Chiang, illustrated by Amy Qi (Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2024). $24.95

Remembering Smithers' Chinatown

In 2015, we came across something surprising in the archive of our local newspaper, the Interior News: a reference to a local Chinatown. For context, the Bulkley Valley Museum is located on the territory of the Witsuwit’en (Wet’suwet’en) Nation1 in north-central British Columbia—a nearly 700-kilometre direct flight from Vancouver, or a 1,152-kilometre journey along the Cariboo Highway. The museum’s collection centres on the history of the town of Smithers and the surrounding area, known colonially as the Bulkley Valley. Smithers is a small town that was founded in 1913 as a divisional headquarters for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway being built from Winnipeg to the coastal town of Prince Rupert. Today Smithers has a population of roughly 5,500 people. While non-European culture—especially the Witsuwit’en, on whose territory the community sits—is…

Remembering Smithers' Chinatown

Not So Uncommon an Oath: The "Chicken Oath" in BC Chinese Canadians' Testimonies

In 1939, a reporter for the Province newspaper wrote a small piece on the special role of different language interpreters in Vancouver courts. He interviewed court translator Gordon Cumyow, the son of the legendary Won Alexander Cumyow.1 A serious topic arose, that of oaths sworn by Chinese witnesses. Cumyow, reflecting on his long career, recalled a case in Nelson a few years earlier, where Chinese litigants belonging to the Dart Coon Club of Chinese Freemasons “denuded the town and nearby country of roosters” to swear the so-called “chicken oath,” paying the hefty price of $2 a chicken.2 In Canada, the legal right of Chinese people to swear oaths and to testify was because of certain common-law precedents that held that anyone, not just White Christians, could swear an oath to…

Not So Uncommon an Oath: The "Chicken Oath" in BC Chinese Canadians' Testimonies

SHARING STORIES of My Chinese Community

Given the population and multi-generational presence of the Chinese Canadian community in BC, I’ve felt since the 1970s that BC was ready for a museum about the Chinese experience in Vancouver. Now we have two: The Chinatown Storytelling Centre and the Chinese Canadian Museum (CCM). These are places not only for my Chinese community to give voice to our long-silenced stories but also places for visitors and students of all ages to learn of our rich, multi-layered history. As someone who grew up on the edge of Chinatown in that racial stereotype known as a Chinese laundry, I have always been acutely aware of my surreal ascription. If you are a child of the 1960s or older, you will no doubt be familiar with that cringeworthy phrase, “No tickee, no…

SHARING STORIES of My Chinese Community

FROM THE ASHES OF WILDFIRE

Lorna Fandrich in conversation with Aimee Greenaway BC History’s Aimee Greenaway was delighted to have a virtual sit-down with Lorna Fandrich during the summer for an update on the rebuilding of the Lytton Chinese History Museum. The museum was lost in the devastating Lytton wildfire in June 2021 that claimed two lives, destroyed over 520 buildings, and caused the evacuation of 32,000 people.1 Aimee Greenaway (AG) Lorna, how is the rebuild of the Lytton Chinese History Museum progressing? Lorna Fandrich (LF) It is coming along fine! I have been avoiding putting pictures of the exterior on Facebook or elsewhere on the internet because I want to wait until it looks more finished. And we have changed the interior a bit, so I want to keep the new space a surprise. Before…

FROM THE ASHES OF WILDFIRE

A Time of Innocence

[T]hroughout the tribe, people learned to live with one another; learned to serve one another; learned to respect the rights of one another. And children shared the thoughts of the adult world and found themselves surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins who loved them and did not threaten them. Chief Dan George1 For those lucky enough, the summer of 1964 represented a time of innocence for us youth. But while we were dancing to “Dancing in the Street” by Martha and the Vandellas, it was a time of fervent social and political change for our leaders.2 Barely in our teens, we were oblivious to the changes going on outside of our time of innocence. A few years before that, during the late 1950s, twenty or so of us regularly…

A Time of Innocence

Extension Chinatown

Chinatowns and Coal Mines Nanaimo Chinatown, established in the 1860s, served as a hub for smaller nearby Chinese communities. The coal industry was a significant employer in Nanaimo and the surrounding region, and coal mining communities with Chinatowns sprung up in nearby Wellington, South Wellington, and Extension. In Extension, Chinese workers were integral members of the coal industry’s labour force, and they also worked in logging and sawmilling and operated essential businesses like stores, restaurants, boarding houses, laundries, and barber shops. Extension Chinatown had a significant population that demonstrated resilience and resistance to racism, as well as adaptability to major changes in the labour market when the local economy shifted from mining to the forest industry. Extension Chinatown The Extension mines were established in 1897, and the population grew from…

Extension Chinatown

Evaluating Books and Media

Recently on social media I encountered an image that was AI-generated but posing as a vintage photograph. It wasn’t an obvious fake, but it was created to fool people into thinking it was authentic. While multiple people commented on elements of the picture that seemed suspect, there were likely others who took it at face value. Similar to how one needs to assess the integrity of photographs, readers also need to use their judgment about books and online resources. In Canada, this seems to be especially true when it comes to topics related to the experience of Indigenous Peoples, and the controversy surrounding Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull and a book of essays that questions and minimizes the harm of residential schools comes to mind. Authors are free to express their…

Evaluating Books and Media

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