GlobeNewswire: Chinatown Storytelling Centre launches Digital Archives to preserve Chinese Canadian history (PRESS RELEASE). “The Chinatown Storytelling Centre has launched the initial phase of its Digital Archives through the CSC Archives, the first archives in Canada dedicated to collecting from a Chinatown, featuring a digital collection of publications, artifacts, documents, and photos that […]

Victoria's Forbidden City

https://christian.freediverse.com/w/gPnxEY63t9Lj3kN1TfPVK8

🧵#DocumentaryFilms I've enjoyed this month - in no particular order.

A rich and little-known part of Canadian history unfolds through the stories of the first Chinese women to come to Canada and of subsequent generations of Chinese Canadian women. It is an amazing tale of courageous women who left behind their families, knowing they would never see them again and of girls who were shipped off to the New World to marry men they had never met. These are the women who fought against the many forms of racism they faced in Canada while, at the same time, challenging sexism within their own communities. By passing on language, culture, and values to their children, these women defined what it means to be Chinese Canadian. Beautiful old photographs from family albums, the recollections of seven women who grew up in Canada in the first half of the 20th century, and the memories of narrator and director, Dora Nipp, whose grandfather came to Canada in 1881 to build the railway, create a remarkable story of stunning impact.

https://www.nfb.ca/film/under-the-willow-tree-pioneer-chinese-women/

#AsianMastodon #ChineseWomen #CanadianHistory #ChineseCanadian #ChineseDiaspora #ChinesePioneers #ChineseCanadianHistory #WomensHistory #History #Canada #Immigrants #CulturalHistory #CulturalDiversity #FilmsFriday

"Chinese and Indigenous communities have shared histories. We faced hardships together while mining for gold in the British Columbia gold rush and experiencing the rugged Canadian weather and terrain.

There are many graves on First Nations territories when Chinese people died from the flu and from the building of the railway, crushed by landslides, collapsing tunnels and premature blastings (Mittelstedt, 2014). The First Nations communities took in the Chinese railroad workers and care for their grave sites to this day (Mittelstedt, 2014). We enjoyed economic success and partnerships that were respectful and mutually beneficial (Ma, 2012). Chinese people leased lands (on First Nations) to farm and then hired Indigenous people to help farm the land (Mathur et al., 2011, p. 74). The Chinese built elaborate gold-mining operations among First Nations communities and perhaps most importantly our communities intermingled and there were many marriages between Chinese men and Indigenous women. In 1891, 98% of Chinese people in Canada lived in British Columbia (Barman, 2013, p. 1), which explains why there are such intimate ties between Chinese people and our First Nations communities in British Columbia. Unsurprisingly, one in six Chinese men created a family with a local Indigenous woman (Barman, 2013, p. 1)."

https://fccrwc.com/chinese-and-indigenous-history-relationships-canada/

#BCHistory #CanadianHistory #ChineseCanadians #Intercultural #POC #Chinese #Indigenous #Coexistence #MutualSupport #RaceRelations #DecolonizationReading #Educational #FirstNations #ChineseCanadianHistory #MixedMarriages #HistoryOfCanada #AntiRacismEducation #AsianMastodon #LearnHistory

Contrary to common belief the #CPR did not import #ChineseLabor to build the Railway. The Chinese were imported by contractor Andrew Onderdonk, building through #BritishColumbia under contract to the #CanadianGovernment. The C.P.R. took over the line later.

Chinese Detention Shed in #Vancouver, 1890.
From #VancouverArchives.

#AsianMastodon #ChineseCanadianHistory #BCHistory #CanadianHistory #AsianCanadianHistory