Tara Singh Kot
In: icohc:11; local: Interview_13.mp3; uuid: b538a0c0-89f6-4eef-b0d2-3c6636f4bd49;; (1984)
Audio
Zugriff:
Tara Singh Kot came to Victoria in 1930 at the age of 16. His father came in 1906. They had land in Punjab. He had completed 8th grade and had little knowledge of English. He came with his father and many people joined them in Hong Kong, including some women. They stayed two week in Hong Kong in the Gurdwara [temple] while waiting to come to Canada. People lived in mills in cookhouses [group living arrangements]. There were some cookhouses outside of the mills too. Sometimes people living in cookhouses brought in prostitutes. The mills were all over Vancouver Island. His father sold fuel wood from a horse cart. Kot started doing work for 25¢ an hour and was not sent to school. They bought a truck in 1933. By working day and night they were able to earn enough money to purchase more trucks and sell more fuel wood. The Indian community was very hard working and made their place in Canada but nobody planned to settle permanently in Canada. In his time, people in Canada treated them well, but his elders faced many difficulties. Very few Indian people lived in Victoria. Around 1918 permission was given to bring wives and unmarried children under the age of 18. In 1930 with the beginning of the Depression the mills shut down. Many people were unemployed. Wages were reduced to 5-10¢. Many people went back to India. People helped each other. The union was formed by Anderson after World War I. Indian people liked the union. In all the mills workers joined the union. Indian people got right to vote in 1947. The welfare association was set up in 1947. The Babbar movement [a pro-independence group] emerged in America and Canada for the struggle of India. People sent money to help the freedom fighters in India. Gurdwara Khalsa Diwan Society was the centre point. There were Gurdwaras in Fraser Mills, Victoria, Vancouver, and Abottsford but all the Gurdwaras were under 2nd Avenue Gurdwara. The 2nd Avenue Gurdwara was contructed in 1909 by the elders; it was later sold for $96,000. People wanted to make a new Gurdwara on Marine ...
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Tara Singh Kot
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Hari Sharma (interviewer) |
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Quelle: | icohc:11; local: Interview_13.mp3; uuid: b538a0c0-89f6-4eef-b0d2-3c6636f4bd49;; (1984) |
Veröffentlichung: | 1984 |
Medientyp: | Audio |
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