When thinking about history, it is crucial not only to learn about past events but to learn from them. You’ve probably heard that phrase or something like it countless times already, but have you ever thought why it is so important? Maybe your teacher has said: “if you don’t learn from history you’ll repeat it!” Or maybe it was just something you read in a textbook, but what most people don’t realize, is how much learning about the past, truly impacts the present.
Our newest project connects why the past is important to today as well as what we can do today to make up for the past. Pretty cool huh. Just joking, you probably still don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. It’s all good though, because you still have an entire post to read, and if you still don’t understand what this kid is blabbering about, you have many more posts to understand the Ology of Apology project.
Although Canada is known today as being cultural melting pot, we weren’t always that way, and in fact, we were pretty much the opposite. Although our history is rich from coast to coast, British Columbia has gone through some of the hardest times in the country. This is also the case study of this project and happened to be an interest of mine, ever since I moved here.
When thinking about BC today and how culturally diverse it is, it makes you wonder how it’s history is as dark as it is, but there are answers to that question. In the next few weeks, we will be looking at some of our province’s worst events, and how we recovered from them to make our future better.
The Komagata Maru incident took place more than a century ago but it’s legacy is still deeply ingrained in our city and nation. As tragic as the event was, it was definitely one of the most important events in our history, and influenced the progression that makes our province the way it is today.
Since the incident took place the summer of the Great War, it had been merely ingnored for quite a while after it occurred. It wasn’t until more recently that event was acknowledged, and not until 2016 when true action was taken. For most of Canada, the event was only known by members of the Sikh community, which made up most of the passengers. It wasn’t until the apology in the House of Commons where the true significance of this event was made prevalent, and the tension began to ease.
Although most Canadians just see this as an average apology, the PM offers now and again, to the people that this incident represented, the apology impacted then much more than just a “Canadian sorry”.
The speech was significant to South Asian Canadians because it was a representation of how much the nation has changed in the past century. Although there was no material offering, the apology symbolized change and acknowledgment of the importance of South Asian immigrants to BC. Having the apology in the House of Commons showed the importance of the incident, unlike Harper’s apology in the small park. Having a thorough plan with resolution and accountability also taught other Canadians the importance of this event and what they can do to make sure something like this never happens again. This was important to the South Asian community because for the past century their importance in BC’s was not represented or acknowledged by the government that historically had treated them so poorly in earlier history.
Although the Komagata Maru ship never actually boarded land, the legacy reached much farther than just the docks of the Burrard Inlet. Life for South Asian Immigrants would never be the same after the incident, but nothing stops time, and as years went by, the legacy of the ship began clearer and clearer. By today the influences of the event are seen throughout the province and are stained in the minds of the Canadians, in judgments or in fears.
The challenges the people of the Komagata Maru incident faced, influenced independence in India and strongly impacted the freedom movement in India as well. The incident also was when Indians realized the untruth of the British government in their country which caused protests in India. In Canada at the time, the incident led to a strong community of South Asian immigrants in Vancouver due to the fundraising of money to feed the passengers. Living in Vancouver there is a larger population of South Asian people. After the Komagata Maru, organizations like the Khalsa Diwan Society allowed a place for immigrants to have community and influenced larger immigration specifically to Vancouver. It’s important to acknowledge what these people have gone through to get to Canada, and why the Komagata Maru incident is a crucial learning piece to help people understand that fact. Un-educated beliefs still fill the minds of some Canadians today. Learning why the incident occurred will allow people to challenge those thoughts and avoid future occurrences like the Komagata Maru event in the future.
When thinking about how to resolve past conflicts or events, you have to decide on what needs to be done to resolve the issue and more specifically, what needs to be remembered. Sometimes when we are faced with our crooked past, the best way to resolve assumptions or un-right thoughts, is to know the full story. Although, with all that has happened in our world it’s nearly impossible to learn everything about every event. You end up having to choose what is worth remembering and what is not. You can see how one might do this in one of my past projects. Mostly we are taught the important dates, or the pivotal figures, but the true knowledge, that is crucial, is the lessons we learn or the past to present connection that the events influence. As I state in a note:
It is Important for people to remember how Canadian ideals influenced the incident as well as to acknowledge our current views as well. In most memorials or museums, I find the story of the event is told, as well as why the event was important, but it is the individual story’s that strike the emotion in the viewer and are what connects them to what they are learning.
In life there is always going to be wrong actions. Whether you only realize it in the moment, or not, they’re gonna happen. But it’s not the past that determines the outcome of the event, it’s what you do to heal the future. As seen in the apology, it doesn’t always have to be a direct action, sometimes honest and meaningful words can heal much more than empty, meaningless materialistic gifts. As I look at what I learned from this incident and how it resolves, I feel ever closer to answering the question that will guide me to better understanding the world as well as what makes history, tell the story of the present.
As I leave this incident, and unravel the antique tangled, dusty string of British Columbia’s hidden past, I can feel exited to make my way through constant discovery… and hopefully you are too.