Mackin House Museum recently hosted 50 visiting Japanese students who are in Canada developing their English language skills. They took the Coquitlam museum's popular guided walk through historic Maillardville, which was once the largest francophone community west of the Rockies.
The students were amazed to learn that in 1910, there were 66 Japanese people employed by the Canadian Western Lumber Company, which later became Fraser Mills. These Japanese labourers formed part of the local workforce, which was enumerated in the 1910 census.
Also among the 877 counted in the census were 24 Chinese, 15 Greek, five Norwegian, and 172 "Hindus" (sic). The remainder were francophones from Quebec and workers of various European backgrounds.
Labour drawn from around the world was clearly the makeup of the workforce at the Canadian Western Lumber Company over a hundred years ago. It was not the mingling of cultures we have come to appreciate in our community today.
It is well known that before 1909, when the first train cars of mill workers arrived from Quebec, many of the local labourers were Asians. But there was, at that time, a strong anti-Asian sentiment, which motivated the local lumber mill to seek employees from Canada.
The Quebec mill workers were recruited to replace the Asian workforce. Quebec workers were skilled and they were enticed to come to B.C. with offers of homes, good jobs and a kinder climate than that in la belle province. The racially prejudiced aspect of the recruitment effort has not always been acknowledged in the rosy telling of the history but with the passage of time, the insensitivities of the past sometimes come into clearer focus.
Over the past century, Canada has come a long way in terms of integration, tolerance and respect for diversity. Looking back now, we can appreciate and celebrate the contributions made by each group highlighted in that 1910 census.
Maillardville's unique francophone heritage is undoubtedly significant and Mackin House Museum is proud to celebrate it. We will be doing this at the 102nd anniversary of the museum on Sept. 17. But this year, we also want to broaden that focus to be more inclusive and reflect some of the cultural diversity that was an important aspect of the community's early history. To this end, we will be featuring offerings from the many cultures that were part of the robust and vibrant mill town of 1909.
On Sept. 17, we will sample Norwegian waffles, offer a lesson in Chinese dumpling making, practise some Japanese-inspired origami and create some unique bookmarks. Music, dance and calligraphy will also be featured. And, of course, the celebration would not be complete without a smoking barbecue in the parking lot, tasty maple sugar tarts to sample and an old-fashioned birthday cake.
We invite you to join Mackin House as we celebrate our multi-faceted, multicultural heritage. Activities and samplings will be ongoing from noon to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 17 at the museum.
For those of you who have not visited our heritage house, it is a treat in itself. The Edwardian house is carefully staged to replicate life as it was in 1909, when the first residents, Henry J. Mackin and his family, lived here. Mackin immigrated to this area from Portland, Ore. but, interestingly, he was of Irish descent, born in New York. Perhaps we should be serving some soda bread?
Full details of all things museum-related can be found at www.coquitlamheritage.ca.
Your History is a column in which, once a month, representatives of the Tri-Cities' three heritage groups writes about local history. Jill Cook is executive director of the Coquitlam Heritage Society.
