Getting to Know the Sikh Next Door & Across the Border

Getting to Know the Sikh Next Door & Across the Border

Learn about the people who practice the world’s 5th largest religion by visiting Sikh Heritage Museum in British Columbia.

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News Story By Julia Duin | FāVS News

The sight of two turbaned soldiers on black stallions posed next to a wood-framed Canadian frontier-style building is a clear hint that Sikhs have a history in the Pacific Northwest.

These soldier statues are outside the Sikh Heritage Museum on South Fraser Way in Abbotsford, an eastern Vancouver suburb. They represent the first Sikhs — from the British regiment in Hong Kong who traveled across the country in 1902 for the coronation of Edward VII — to visit western Canada.

The presence of roughly 250,000 Sikhs in British Columbia — making it the province’s second-largest religious group after Christians — has led to the establishment of several gurdwaras (prayer halls).

Sikh Heritage Month

April is Sikh Heritage Month in Canada and a great opportunity to get to know this unique religious group only a short drive across the border. The Sikh faith dates back to the early 16th century and is strongest in India’s Punjab region (in the northwestern part of the country). The religion — fifth largest in the world — is about 500 years old with some 26 million followers. There are 800,000 of them in Canada.

Contrast that to the U.S., which has about 500,000 Sikhs, mostly on the West Coast, where Sikhs emigrated a century ago looking for jobs. They quickly moved into farming, mining and lumber industries in both countries. In Washington state, Manka Dhingra, an attorney based in Redmond, became the first Sikh woman in the country elected to a state legislature. Sikh men stand out because of their turbans, which they consider as an article of faith that must be worn to cover their unshorn hair.

Learning More about Sikhs’ History

Anyone wanting to know about this religion might want to drop by the museum that tells of the ordeals Sikhs have suffered through the centuries.

On its west side is a large bronze sculpture showing Punjabi Sikhs battling Mughals, a Muslim dynasty that ruled northern India between the 16th and 19th centuries.

On the east side is a paved courtyard with benches and a series of panels titled “Racism Meets Reliance.” It chronicles a three-month-long stand-off in mid-1914 when the Komagatu Maru, a steamship with the majority of its passengers as Sikhs, was stranded in the Burrard Inlet (location of present-day Vancouver).

Its 376 Indian passengers, who were looking for work, were not allowed to disembark due to racist attitudes on the part of the Canadians. Despite many of the passengers having served in the British armed forces, the ship was forced to sail to India. Some 200 of the surviving passengers ended up in prison.

Canada’s Apology Comes Decades Later

Word of this incident spread but little was done for decades. An apology letter dated May 23, 2008, from the British Columbia provincial legislative assembly, hangs in the museum. After the letter was signed, Stephen Harper, then prime minister of Canada, apologized to a gathering of Sikhs, but it wasn’t until 2016 that a prime minister — in this case Justin Trudeau — formally apologized in Parliament.

By that time, Sikhs were thoroughly integrated into Canadian life.

Oldest Sikh Prayer Hall in North America

The museum itself was opened on Dec. 17, 2011, on the ground floor of a gurdwara. One can also visit the top floor, which is known as the Gur Sikh Temple, by first removing your shoes and covering your head. It functions as a prayer room; is totally carpeted and has a raised platform containing Sikh holy writings near the front.

The temple is the oldest Sikh house of worship in North America, started by families who had moved to the area from India.

“It was a farming community,” said Alysha Mahil, coordinator of the South Asian Studies Institute for the University of the Fraser Valley. “Back in India, land holdings were shrinking, and there was opportunity here.”

The Sikhs were similar to Swedish immigrants who saw no future in an increasingly crowded Europe and headed for American Midwest for cheaper land and jobs in the mid-1800s. Word of a good life in the New World drew the rural poor from around the globe.

A Light to Safety

Near the front museum entrance is what looks like a giant flagpole, called a “nishan sahib,” atop which flies the Sikh flag. In its early days, a light was mounted on it to alert Sikh immigrants in the U.S. (whose border is quite close to downtown Abbotsford) that it was safe to come visit their Canadian brethren.

All plaques at the museum are in Punjabi as well as English, and the bottom floor area always has some kind of exhibit on local Sikh history. The current one is on a Sikh temple in the nearby suburb of New Westminster. In June, a new exhibit on transnational marriages — a way that Sikh immigrants have assimilated into Canadian life — will begin.

Across the street is a much larger gurdwara, the Khalsa Diwan Society, which is open all day and serves free vegetarian meals on the ground floor. Upstairs, there are screens with Sikh texts in Punjabi with English translations. The vast room is all in blue carpet with a blue-and-gold domed ceiling and a platform up front with Sikh scriptures under ornate fabric.

Experiencing a Service

On Sunday morning, we visited one of the largest of the prayer halls: Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. We slipped off our shoes in the women’s section on the ground floor, then ascended carpeted steps to the vast main hall, where a trio of turbaned men were playing and drumming Sikh hymns. We sat in the women’s section (to the left) while a procession of Sikhs lined up to process to the front of the room, where they bowed before the platform holding the Sikh religious texts. Most of the women were in salwar kameez outfits, showing an amazing variety of silks, colors, veils and jewelry, like so many bright birds.

Across the way, the men were dressed in similar outfits but all in white. This being Canada, most people were sporting sweaters and coats. Afterward, we made our way downstairs to the dining hall where we grabbed a tray, filled it with traditional Indian dishes, then sat on the floor to eat like everyone else. No one welcomed us — although we were obviously visitors — but it was easy to get around and share in the meal.

“Vancouver’s Religious Tapestry”

Then, we engaged in what any visitor wishing to see Vancouver’s religious tapestry should do: Head for the Number 5 road in Richmond, the suburb closest to the Vancouver airport. In the space of about one mile — from Steveston Highway north to Blundell Road — are about 20 houses of worship, on what’s informally known as the “highway to heaven.” We saw Buddhist temples, one small Hindu worship space, a large Shia mosque, numerous Chinese-language churches, a Jewish school and a Christian school, and yet another gurdwara.

The most picturesque of the bunch is the Lingyen Mountain Buddhist Temple, which has its main dharma service on Sunday mornings from 8 to 11 (which we missed) and a free meal following (which we also missed). It includes a monastery and a book shop. A friendly member of the temple gave us a tour of the main Buddha hall, advising us on what we could and could not touch, and explaining the Buddha statues and decorated altars.

If You Go

Sikh Heritage Month Celebrations

Where to Stay

Most of the hotel chains are represented in the area, but we stayed at the Brookside Inn, 239 Chardonnay Lane. The inn, a boutique establishment, resides in a quiet Abbotsford neighborhood near the airport. The luxurious rooms have themes connected to French movies and books and one can lounge on balconies if weather permits.

Where to Eat

We had a pleasing repast at Restaurant62, 33559 Marshall Road in Abbotsford. It is known as a farm-to-table establishment because of the plentiful farms in the area. The restaurant was gracious, classy and quiet, which was helpful for my daughter who has auditory sensory issues.   

Field House Brewing at 2281 W. Railway St., in east Abbotsford, is a more budget option, also with good food. I was especially partial to their beer. It’s within two miles of the U.S. border at Sumas.