” More than just an isolated “incident”, The Komagata Maru story reflects a deliberate, exclusionary policy of the Canadian government to keep out ethnicities with whom it deemed unfit to enter. These justifications were couched in racist and ethnocentric views of “progress”, “civilization”, and “suitability” which all buttressed the view that Canada should remain a “White Man’s Country”.
On May 23, 1914, a crowded ship from Hong Kong carrying 376 passengers, most being immigrants from Punjab, British India, arrived in Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet on the west coast of the Dominion of Canada.” — http://komagatamarujourney.ca/incident — read more about the incident
This event has left a noticeable scar on the Sikh communities living throughout the Pacific Northwest; from British Columbia to Central California.
For others this might seem an obscure and unknown piece of Pacific Northwest History. Students can still be challenged to research the story, analyze the motivations of the Sikhs entering Canada, the Canadian government and other residents, and analyze the news reports of the day. Here are a handful of questions that might help students explore:
- How exactly did Prime Minister Trudeau come to this decision?
- What role did Sikh Canadians play in rectifying the legacy created by this racially charged event?
- Why does it take a nation 102 years to formally apologize for such an action?
- How has Canada changed since 1914 that would allow for such reconciliation?