Episode 2: Detained and Deported

Harnam Kaur. Kartar Kaur. Bishan Kaur.

From 1905 to 1920, there were only 14 South Asian women in Vancouver.

A family portrait of Bhag Singh, Harnam Kaur and their child. Source: Canadian Sikhs and the Komagata Maru Massacre Part 1 by Kesar Singh, 1989.

This episode includes an exploration of the lives of the few South Asian women allowed into Vancouver prior to 1920. It also includes a bonfire of British military service medals, and Bhag Singh & Balwant Singh’s role in bringing South Asian women to Canada.

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Photographs Referenced in This Episode:

California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893-1953.

California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893-1953.

Kartar Kaur and her family. “Singh Sahib Di Shahadit = Martyrdom of Singh Sahib.” Source: Kesar Singh via SFU komagatamarujourney.ca.

Cremating remains of Harnam Kaur. Source: SFU Library komagatamarujourney.ca

Harnam Kaur’s funeral procession. Photography by Yucho Chow. Source: Kesar Singh via SFU komagatamarujourney.ca.

Harnam Kaur’s obituary in The Hindustanee, 1914. Source: Canadian Sikhs (Part One) and Komagata Maru Massacre, via komagatamarujourney.ca.

Episode 2 References:

Basran, G. S. (1993). Indo-Canadian families historical constraints and contemporary contradictions. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 339-352.

Dua, E. (2007). Exclusion through inclusion: Female Asian migration in the making of Canada as a white settler nation. Gender, Place & Culture, 14(4), 445-466.

Johnston, H. J. (2011). Jewels of the Qila: The Remarkable Story of an Indo-Canadian Family. UBC Press.

Singh, Kesar. (1989). Canadian Sikhs and the Komagata Maru Massacre Part 1. Self published.

California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893-1953. Harnam Korh, 1911. San Francisco, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1410 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).