South Asian Heritage Month
Encyclopedia
South Asian Heritage Month is the name given to the month long celebration in Canada
, each May, of the presence and heritage of people with roots in the South Asia
n countries of India
, Pakistan
, Bangladesh
, Sri Lanka
, Nepal
, Bhutan
and Afghanistan
.
In Canada, 'South Asian' refers to those who have come directly from these countries to Canada (and their descendants) as well as those who have made second and even third migrations from more than 15 other countries, such as Guyana
, Trinidad
, Suriname
, Jamaica
, Guadeloupe
, Martinique
and others from the Caribbean
from Uganda
, Kenya
, Tanzania
and South Africa
from Africa
, from Europe
, the Middle East
, South America
and Oceania
.
passed through the country on their way back home from London, England after attending the Diamond Jubilee
of the reign of Queen Victoria. Some of these Indian soldiers later returned to live in Canada permanently. The first known Caribbean based South Asian was Dr Kenneth Mahabir, a Trinidadian medical student who came to Halifax
in 1908 and stayed on.
It was not until the 1980s that events marking the coming of South Asians to Canada appeared. They were pioneered by Indo-Caribbean
s, descendants of the Indians who had first arrived in the West in Guyana in 1838 and in Trinidad in 1845, and who had made a second migration to Canada in large numbers since the 1960s.
In 1986 a Toronto based group Ontario Society for Services to Indo-Caribbean Canadians (OSSICC) was formed primarily to celebrate the upcoming 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians to Guyana in 1988. OSSICC continued to celebrate Indo-Caribbean Heritage Day until the year 2000, with interest coming mainly from Indo-Caribbeans.
In April, 1997 the Indo Trinidad Canadian Association (ITCA) was formed and immediately started Indian Arrival Day celebrations that year. In that year too community activist Asha Maharaj organized a display of Indian artifacts, the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Ottawa
held its first celebration, and the Caribbean East Indian Cultural Organization headed by radio host Richard Aziz organized an Indian Arrival celebration in Toronto.
By 1998 ITCA had decided to celebrate the event as Indian Arrival and Heritage Day, and held a huge show/display/dance at the Etobicoke Olympium. It was never an Indo-Caribbean for ITCA but always Indian, meaning all people with roots in the Indian subcontinent.
, and if they confined Indian Arrival to Indo Caribbeans it would remain forever a marginal event.
By 1999 ITCA had moved to celebrate the month of May as Indian Arrival and Heritage Month. At this stage only ITCA and OSSICC were organizing events.
By the year 2000 a Council for Indian Arrival and Heritage Month was in place, composed of people from ITCA, OSSICC, the Guyanese group GEAC, the Hamilton group CICA and several individuals.
The group was marking the arrival of Indians in the West as 1838 when the first landed in Guyana, and 1897 as the year the first Indians (Punjabi
Sikh
actually) arrived in Canada.
The catch line from the letterhead for the Council in 2000 was "Commemorating the 162nd anniversary of the arrival in the Americas of the people and heritage of the Indian subcontinent". This included all the groups who are now satisfied to be called South Asians, such as Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans etc.
Even though the Council tried to attract the support of the other groups, it was a hard sell and they did not usually get a positive response. In the Caribbean the word Indian includes everybody who came from what was then united, colonial India
. In Canada it was different. When the word Indian was used, the assumption was that it referred to people who had come from India, if it wasn't confused with native Indians. Many of the Punjabi
Sikh
s did not relate well to India because of their political problems with that country, and did not want to see themselves as Indians. The Pakistanis did not respond to the word Indian Arrival and Heritage Month or to Indian Arrival events. The Sri Lankans also said they were not Indians and ignored Indian Arrival and Heritage Month. There were similar problems with people from Bangladesh and Nepal. The Indian Arrival celebration was going nowhere.
, at the time the South Asian Member of the Ontario Parliament
. Gill said he would introduce a bill in the legislature to legitimize the event, and he did so later that same year. Gill obtained multi-party support for the bill, but was told the legislature would not accept Indian Arrival and Heritage Month because it would cause confusion with the Indian Act and other laws relating to native Indians. The name was changed to South Asian Heritage Month, and the bill received unanimous support and was signed into law in December 2001.
Since then, South Asian Heritage Month has grown dramatically. Dozens of celebrations take place each year, including events at the Ontario Parliament, the Gerard Street bazaar, numerous religious and community groups and the media. It has been embraced enthusiastically by the Sri Lankans, Pakistan
is, and most of the 20 plus sub groups in the South Asian community. Efforts are being made to extend the celebration throughout Ontario and to other provinces and territories in Canada.
South Asian immigrants began arriving in Ontario at the start of the 20th century. Working primarily in the sawmill
industry, South Asian immigrants settled in various parts of the province. For South Asians, the month of May has been a time of celebration and commemoration of their arrival from the Indian subcontinent to the Americas beginning on May 5, 1838.
While most South Asians came to our country from India, many others came to Ontario from such places as Pakistan
, Sri Lanka
, Bangladesh
, Uganda
, Kenya
, South Africa
, Mauritius
, Fiji
, the United Kingdom
, Trinidad and Tobago
and Guyana
. Today, South Asians make up a significant proportion of Ontario's population and are proud to draw upon their heritage and traditions, contributing to many aspects of culture, commerce and public service across this province.
It is appropriate to recognize and pay tribute to the contributions South Asian immigrants have made, and continue to make, to the development and general welfare of Ontario.
Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. May 5 in each year is proclaimed as South Asian Arrival Day.
2. The month of May in each year is proclaimed as South Asian Heritage Month.
3. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
4. The short title of this Act is the South Asian Heritage Act, 2001.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, each May, of the presence and heritage of people with roots in the South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n countries of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
In Canada, 'South Asian' refers to those who have come directly from these countries to Canada (and their descendants) as well as those who have made second and even third migrations from more than 15 other countries, such as Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
, Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
and others from the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
from Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
.
Origins
The first South Asians first arrived in Canada in the year 1897, when soldiers from the Indian armyIndian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
passed through the country on their way back home from London, England after attending the Diamond Jubilee
Diamond Jubilee
A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...
of the reign of Queen Victoria. Some of these Indian soldiers later returned to live in Canada permanently. The first known Caribbean based South Asian was Dr Kenneth Mahabir, a Trinidadian medical student who came to Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
in 1908 and stayed on.
It was not until the 1980s that events marking the coming of South Asians to Canada appeared. They were pioneered by Indo-Caribbean
Indo-Caribbean
Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times...
s, descendants of the Indians who had first arrived in the West in Guyana in 1838 and in Trinidad in 1845, and who had made a second migration to Canada in large numbers since the 1960s.
In 1986 a Toronto based group Ontario Society for Services to Indo-Caribbean Canadians (OSSICC) was formed primarily to celebrate the upcoming 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians to Guyana in 1988. OSSICC continued to celebrate Indo-Caribbean Heritage Day until the year 2000, with interest coming mainly from Indo-Caribbeans.
In April, 1997 the Indo Trinidad Canadian Association (ITCA) was formed and immediately started Indian Arrival Day celebrations that year. In that year too community activist Asha Maharaj organized a display of Indian artifacts, the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
held its first celebration, and the Caribbean East Indian Cultural Organization headed by radio host Richard Aziz organized an Indian Arrival celebration in Toronto.
By 1998 ITCA had decided to celebrate the event as Indian Arrival and Heritage Day, and held a huge show/display/dance at the Etobicoke Olympium. It was never an Indo-Caribbean for ITCA but always Indian, meaning all people with roots in the Indian subcontinent.
Indian Arrival and Heritage Month
Since 1997 ITCA and later the Council for Indian Arrival and Heritage Month had decided not to make this an Indo Caribbean event. They realized that Indo Caribbeans were only about 10 per cent of the "Indian" group in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, and if they confined Indian Arrival to Indo Caribbeans it would remain forever a marginal event.
By 1999 ITCA had moved to celebrate the month of May as Indian Arrival and Heritage Month. At this stage only ITCA and OSSICC were organizing events.
By the year 2000 a Council for Indian Arrival and Heritage Month was in place, composed of people from ITCA, OSSICC, the Guyanese group GEAC, the Hamilton group CICA and several individuals.
The group was marking the arrival of Indians in the West as 1838 when the first landed in Guyana, and 1897 as the year the first Indians (Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
actually) arrived in Canada.
The catch line from the letterhead for the Council in 2000 was "Commemorating the 162nd anniversary of the arrival in the Americas of the people and heritage of the Indian subcontinent". This included all the groups who are now satisfied to be called South Asians, such as Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans etc.
Even though the Council tried to attract the support of the other groups, it was a hard sell and they did not usually get a positive response. In the Caribbean the word Indian includes everybody who came from what was then united, colonial India
Colonial India
Colonial India refers to areas of the Indian Subcontinent under the control of European colonial powers, through trade and conquest. The first European power to arrive in India was the army of Alexander the Great in 327–326 BC. The satraps he established in the north west of the subcontinent...
. In Canada it was different. When the word Indian was used, the assumption was that it referred to people who had come from India, if it wasn't confused with native Indians. Many of the Punjabi
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
s did not relate well to India because of their political problems with that country, and did not want to see themselves as Indians. The Pakistanis did not respond to the word Indian Arrival and Heritage Month or to Indian Arrival events. The Sri Lankans also said they were not Indians and ignored Indian Arrival and Heritage Month. There were similar problems with people from Bangladesh and Nepal. The Indian Arrival celebration was going nowhere.
Becoming South Asian Heritage Month
When Indian Arrival and Heritage Month was launched at the Scarborough Civic Centre in 2001, the keynote speaker was Raminder GillRaminder Gill
Raminder Singh Gill is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2003, and has unsuccessfully sought election to the Canadian House of Commons on three separate occasions. He currently serves as a citizenship judge. Gill was born...
, at the time the South Asian Member of the Ontario Parliament
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
. Gill said he would introduce a bill in the legislature to legitimize the event, and he did so later that same year. Gill obtained multi-party support for the bill, but was told the legislature would not accept Indian Arrival and Heritage Month because it would cause confusion with the Indian Act and other laws relating to native Indians. The name was changed to South Asian Heritage Month, and the bill received unanimous support and was signed into law in December 2001.
Since then, South Asian Heritage Month has grown dramatically. Dozens of celebrations take place each year, including events at the Ontario Parliament, the Gerard Street bazaar, numerous religious and community groups and the media. It has been embraced enthusiastically by the Sri Lankans, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
is, and most of the 20 plus sub groups in the South Asian community. Efforts are being made to extend the celebration throughout Ontario and to other provinces and territories in Canada.
Declaration of South Asian Heritage Month
AN ACT TO PROCLAIM MAY AS SOUTH ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH AND MAY 5 AS SOUTH ASIAN ARRIVAL DAYSouth Asian immigrants began arriving in Ontario at the start of the 20th century. Working primarily in the sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
industry, South Asian immigrants settled in various parts of the province. For South Asians, the month of May has been a time of celebration and commemoration of their arrival from the Indian subcontinent to the Americas beginning on May 5, 1838.
While most South Asians came to our country from India, many others came to Ontario from such places as Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
and Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
. Today, South Asians make up a significant proportion of Ontario's population and are proud to draw upon their heritage and traditions, contributing to many aspects of culture, commerce and public service across this province.
It is appropriate to recognize and pay tribute to the contributions South Asian immigrants have made, and continue to make, to the development and general welfare of Ontario.
Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. May 5 in each year is proclaimed as South Asian Arrival Day.
2. The month of May in each year is proclaimed as South Asian Heritage Month.
3. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
4. The short title of this Act is the South Asian Heritage Act, 2001.
External links
- South Asian Heritage Act, 2001
- Website dedicated to Indo-Caribbean heritage
- http://www.historica.com