Sikh history in Squamish
Since moving to Squamish I have been most interested in the large Punjabi population that has settled in Squamish. Punjabis, mostly Sikhs I believe, make up 18% of the Squamish population (I am referring to my memory of Squamish demographics so don’t quote me).
While I was aware of the Chinese and Japanese immigrant populations in the late 1800s and early 1900s to Canada (and the discrimination these groups experienced ie. "head" tax, how Canada’s early drug policy was based on discrimination vis a vis opium use, the internment of Japanese-Canadians during WWII, how these populations who contributed much of the labour of building the cross-Canada railroad are missing in historical representations, etc.), I have little knowledge of the East Indian immigration history in Canada. So my interest in Squamish history has been in part trying to locate references to when the East Indian population took root. I found the following paragraph in the historical reference of Squamish (www.squamishhistory.ca) which to me is most interesting as it seems to imply that there was an East Indian population living in Squamish in around 1892:
"The first recorded date of a person of European origin settling in the Squamish Valley was in 1874. Over the course of the two decades that followed, the flow of people coming and going increased, and by 1892 it is said that about 35 families lived in what is now Brackendale. Others in the valley would have included the Chinese labourers who built the dykes, prospectors, itinerant loggers and trappers, of whom there must have been many scattered around the hills and the upper Valley. A small community of Sikhs lived downtown and worked in the waterfront sawmills. For everyone of them, survival was foremost in their minds."
I generally walk Ella after work in the grounds of the local elementary school - a walk that starts off in the school grounds but then we head down to the dyke and follow it back to the school grounds. Most days I notice that there are a group of Sikh men who have walked to the school grounds to meet up and play cards at the picnic tables in the shade. I am most intrigued as I wonder what card game they are playing! It seems to be a male ritual as there aren’t any women present. No doubt as time goes on I will learn more about this history and culture.
There is also a Squamish Nation reserve close by but it is situated in an area that would take some effort to dog walk in. From my newbie perspective it seems that there are at least 3 cultures all living within close proximity but maintaining their distance to some degree from each other. I am just trying to understand the cultural dynamics here in Squamish.
As I have said before on this blog Squamish is a community in transition as is Vancouver (and much of BC) due to the current economic boom. The transition in Squamish appears to be rapid having started about 5 years ago with the announcement of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler. Due to the improvements in the Sea to Sky Highway (99), Squamish is becoming a more appealling "suburb" of Vancouver with housing prices to match. I find many of the real estate options available in Squamish even more expensive than what is available in Whistler and Vancouver! I just don’t know where people get the money to buy "starter" homes at 300+K.
What is happening here (and in Vancouver) is that lower income folk are being squeezed out of the housing market. The lower Eastside in Vancouver is slowly being gentrified but where are people on low incomes going to go. It is the same in Squamish but on a smaller population scale. Lots of questions … no answers.
