I found this story disheartening. Turns out that a high school in New Westminster is built on a old Chinese Cemetery. Actually the high school sits on several cemeteries: http://www.theprovince.com/Cemeteries+under+high+school/1403962/story.html
"The school, which dates to 1948, is to be replaced. But when the school board began planning to add a middle school to the site and build a new high school, it discovered that part of the site had served as New Westminster’s public cemetery from 1861 to 1907.
Another portion, known as Douglas Cemetery, was used from 1907 to 1920. That meant part of the school property came under protection of the provincial Cemeteries Act. But other sections, used for two Chinese cemeteries, have no such protection."
This is something I find very hard to comprehend. The high school sits on four cemeteries. Two fall under the protection of the Cemeteries Act but the two Chinese cemeteries for some strange reason do not.
This is the part that I cannot comprehend. If two of the cemeteries fall under the Cemeteries Act, all four do. Ignoring that fact is a violation of the Charter of Rights.
Do you know what tomb sweeping day is? It is a day set aside within the Chinese community to visit the graves of their ancestors to honour the sacrifices they have made and to clean the grave site. This is an honourable tradition. We would do well to embrace it and follow it. Chinese cemeteries are magnificent pieces of architecture.
My bewilderment is left to struggle trying to understand why this injustice exists in our own back yard. The Chinese people have a magnificent culture. They are organized and very hard working. They contribute greatly to our society. In Victoria one can visit the historical origins of China town during this time period. They were very organized and very industrious. A credit to the country.
Historically, the Chinese people have overcome oppression and hardship here. Chinese immigrants were used as slave labour to build the railway and many died. I have a friend in Vancouver who is a descendant of one of these railway workers. He doesn’t speak Cantonese or Mandarin, he speaks a different older dialect. He is a wonderful humble and good hearted man. A credit to the nation.
Racism is hard to comprehend at the best of times and shocking to find in our own country. Historically we had the Head tax and an Anti Asian League form:
http://www.theprovince.com/Chinese+Westminster/1403964/story.htmlThis would be the Canadian equivalent to the KKK. It is a shocking embarrassment to find in our closet.
Recognizing the injustices of the past, one small act that is within our power to repair is to recognize that all four Cemeteries under the New Westminster High School are protected under the Cemeteries Act. That would be one small step forward: http://www.fullofnews.ca/
1 comment:
Finian, all of this is one huge cemetery called the New Westminster Public Cemetery. It was/is 27 acres in size. Different sections were used from 1859 to 1920. Desecration/development started happening from 1892 in the southeast corner...this paved the way for the Crown to subdivide and give the city the entire east side. When the southwest (including the older Chinese burial section)filled up (by 1908) they opened the northwest corner for burials. The southwest corner was then 'ploughed and cleared' as well and the new city works yard was built here. The northwest section (aka Douglas Road cemetery) closed in 1920 and then barracks housing 1000 soldiers at a time were built during WWII smack dab on top of 4 acres used for the institutionalized/incarcerated/poor plus the 2 acre new Chinese burial section. Altogether, an estimated three to six thousand men, women, and children were buried within the whole cemetery. The high school sits on the west half of the cemetery, the school district, city and private parties now own chunks of the east half. No one wants to takes responsibility for anything, including answering what happened to the remains because of the fear of liability. Officially, only one coffin was unearthed and no other remains were moved. However, old-timer locals know this isn't true. The funeral director and his son sat on the school board from 1908 to 1956. Work crews would pile bones up and old Sam Bowell would cart some off, others were piled into trucks and dumped somewhere. This story is sicker than anyone can imagine and the cover-up extends from local, provincial and federal governments. The northwest corner (Douglas), 6.5 acres, has recently been designated the symbolic cemetery, to be a passive park, which means that when the school comes down, grass seed will be tossed and perhaps a plaque will get slapped on a rock. Big deal. The story, the entire truth, needs to be heard. It wasn't just Chinese graves which were desecrated...think every past and present marginialized group imaginable.
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