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Three Abbotsford Lumber Co. workers - 1915   MSA Museum P11927

 

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS

After arriving in Vancouver, most Indo-Canadians found jobs but encountered racial prejudice – they were often considered less efficient labourers than other Asian workers such as Chinese and Japanese.  The Hastings Mill in Vancouver continuously reported that their Indian employees were inferior, which led a great number of Indian labourers into menial jobs with the company.  The Indians were paid only $1.50 a day while white labourers and skilled Chinese were paid $2.50 a day.  It is interesting to note that this wage inequity by lumber companies in Vancouver did not exist in Abbotsford.  The Indo-Canadians here recall that they were equally paid according to their positions at work.  Indo-Canadian pioneers contributed to their Canadian community through a variety of occupations. Their contribution was greatly appreciated by the owner of the Hillcrest Lumber Company on Vancouver Island, as he  built a Sikh Temple in 1935 for his workers. 

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All of the following pictures are copyrighted. If you would like access to any of the images please contact msaarchives@shaw.ca
PhotoI.D.

Location

 Photo   Caption Year Image
Abbotsford Sumas Matsqui-News, Sept.27,1967 Internal Clayburn Village B.C. Canada Hartnell’s Mill crew at Clayburn,  1908 Hartnell mill crew with logs NEWS 27-09-67 taken 1908.JPG (219058 bytes)
P11919 Sumas Prairie B.C. Sunder Singh with his new tractor. 1938
P11910 Sumas Prairie B.C. Five man crew unloading the tractor on "Joe" Sunder Singh's farm. 1939
P11907 Main Street, Vancouver B.C. Sunder Singh on the left and Jassa Singh on the right. Sunder Singh "Joe", purchased a new threshing machine. Thresher is on the back of the truck 1939
P11908 Main Street, Vancouver B.C. Three men, left to right: Mr. Anderson the "agent", Jassa Singh & Sunder Singh, "Joe". Joe purchased a new threshing machine. 1939
P11842 Paldi B.C. Mill crew at Paldi, BC 1935
P11909 Sumas Prairie B.C. Nine man crew ready to bale straw on Sunder Singh's farm. Sunder Singh,"Joe", standing on the cab of the truck. 1940
P11911 Sumas Prairie B.C. Ben Ratzlaff, left, & his brother, Art, on the right, bagging grain from the threshing machine on "Joe" Sunder Singh's farm. 1945
P11913 Sumas Prairie B.C. Load of hay ready for delivery. Two boys, Lawrence & Elmer Ratzlaff, standing in front of the truck. Sunder Singh's truck & farm 1940
P11914 Sumas Prairie B.C. Threshing oats on Sunder Singh's farm. 1940
P11917 Sumas Prairie B.C. Four-man crew of Sunder Singh's men standing in front of a truck loaded with telephone poles. Left to right: Ben Ratzlaff, Joe Thiessen, Carl Olson, unidentified. 1940
P11918 Sumas Prairie B.C. Sunder Singh, on the left, with his back turned to the camera, with his crew of men baling hay. The man at the top right is Labb Singh. 1940
P11731 Mt. Lehman Logging near Dennison Store. Two men, one of which is Indo - Canadian, working on a donkey engine. On reverse, "Douglas G. Taylor General Insurance Agent Mt. Lehman, BC 856 - 2818" 1914
P11788 N/A Class photo of the Vocational Training School. Sucha Thandi is 9th from the left in the back row. 1955
P11842 Vancouver Island B.C. Mill crew at Paldi, BC on Vancouver Island. Standing/sitting on railcar, top row: Balwant, Jimmy __. Sitting: Jack Singh, Harinder Singh, Monn Singh, Jangeer Mann, Jant Singh, "Baba" Singh, Paul Singh Dhaliwal ( donor's father) Santan Singh Gill & Kerha 1935
P11843 Vancouver Island B.C. A group of Indo - Canadian men sitting in front & on the steps of a house. Top row, L - R: Balwant (hat), Attma (cap), Moonie (hat), Sabies (lt. turban), Beer Singh, (dark turban), Singh (face faded). 2nd row, L - R: __ Singh, Ject Grewal, Bachan Gorum, Bachan 1935
P11844 Vancouver Island B.C. Group of Indo Canadian men posed in front of volleyball net at Hillcrest Mill 4 mi. from Duncan.  Back row, L - R: Bukhtor Singh Manjit, Lal Singh, Nama Singh, Paul Singh Dhaliwal, Naranjin Singh Ghandi, Jangeer Singh Mann, Bachin Singh Gorum, 1933
P11845 Vancouver Island B.C. Group of Indo - Canadian men, employees of Hillcrest Mill, 4 mi. from Duncan, BC. Top, L - R: Bukhtar S. Manjit, ?, Ajara Singh, ?, ?, ?, Pakkar Singh. 2nd row, L - R: Bahal Singh, ? - man in hat, Grewal, Bishon Singh, Roor Singh, ?, Kishan Singh, ?, Bo 1933
P11849 Mission B.C. Baljit Singh, centre foreground with his back to the camera. Gurdev Dahliwal, also back to camera, beside pickup truck. Beehive burner in background. Mission flats. 1956
P11881 Vancouver Island B.C. Group of 8 men who were among 40 people sharing a mill bunkhouse. Left to right: Hans Raj Bala (DOA 1928/30's), unidentified, Sadhu Singh Bains (DOA 1928/30's), unidentified, Bhagat Singh Bains, Beant Singh Sall, Mangle Singh Gill (DOA 1906) & Swarn Sing 1932
P11906 Sumas Prairie B.C. Two Sikh men kneeling in a potato field. Jassa Singh on the left & Moonsha Singh on the right. Jassa Singh's field of potatoes grown on Sunder Singh's farm. 1942
P11915 Sumas Prairie B.C. Ben Ratzlaff and his children standing on and beside a truck with a tractor and mower attachment. Going out to do custom work. 1940
P11916 Sumas Prairie B.C. Crew of workers stopped for an afternoon snack 1939
P11920 Sumas Prairie B.C. Winter snowdrift up to & over the roof of Sunder Singh's cow barn. 1940
P11927 Mill Lake in Abbotsford B.C.  Abbotsford Lumber Co. employees. Standing at left is Lob Singh, beside him is an unidentified Japanese worker. Seated on the wagon is the donor's father, G.M. Zeigler. Hauling lumber at the A.L.C was his first job. 1915
P7617 Clayburn, B.C. Six Sikh men haying off Bateman Road; the caption on the photo reads "Hindoo Harvesters Clayburn, B.C." 1915
P7620 Clayburn, B.C. Two Sikh men; one wearing a suit. The caption on the photo reads "Hindoo."  
P11881 Centre Lake, B.C. Taken at Centre Lake, Vancouver Island, 1932.  Mangle Singh Gill is standing in the back row, far right.  These men lived in the same bunkhouse that housed around 40 people.  Segregated bunkhouses were typical of accommodation provided to mill workers 1932 P11881.jpg (21283 bytes)