1 00:00:12,219 --> 00:00:14,059 Welcome to Romancing Reads. 2 00:00:14,059 --> 00:00:24,720 In this episode, Jacqueline Louie reads her article, The Paper Trail Project: A glimpse into the shadows of Canadian history at the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver. 3 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:34,680 Once in the shadows of Canadian history, the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver, BC shares the stories of Chinese Canadians. 4 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:46,719 Beginning with the museum's inaugural exhibition, the Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act, where writer Jacqueline Louie discovers some of her own family's history. 5 00:00:46,719 --> 00:00:51,919 The history of people of Chinese ancestry in Canada reaches back to before confederation. 6 00:00:51,919 --> 00:00:56,459 Yet the stories of Chinese Canadians seldom take center stage. 7 00:00:56,459 --> 00:01:03,379 The Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver aims to change this by spotlighting the stories of Chinese Canadians. 8 00:01:03,379 --> 00:01:16,279 Located in the historic Wing Sang building on Vancouver's Pender Street, the Chinese Canadian museum is dedicated to sharing Chinese Canadian history since opening its doors on July 1st, 2023. 9 00:01:16,279 --> 00:01:22,699 The centenary of the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act, also known as the Chinese Exclusion Act. 10 00:01:22,699 --> 00:01:39,459 The museum's inaugural exhibition, the Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act is a national archive, and first of its kind exhibition in Canada displaying immigration certificates crowdsourced from Chinese Canadian families from across Canada. 11 00:01:39,459 --> 00:01:48,139 The Chinese Immigration Act virtually suspended immigration from China to Canada from 1923 to 1947. 12 00:01:48,139 --> 00:01:55,400 People of Chinese ancestry were the only group who faced this type of legislation based solely on their ethnicity. 13 00:01:55,400 --> 00:02:03,759 The act required all people of Chinese ancestry, including children born in Canada, to register with the Canadian government. 14 00:02:03,759 --> 00:02:08,538 If someone didn't register, they faced a huge fine or could be thrown in jail. 15 00:02:08,538 --> 00:02:22,479 "The Chinese Exclusion Act is a monumental chapter in this country's history, yet it is forgotten," says community historian, Catherine Clement, Paper Trail exhibition, and project creator and curator. 16 00:02:22,479 --> 00:02:31,179 "No other immigrant community to Canada was subject to the same amount of documentation as the Chinese," Naomi Louie says. 17 00:02:31,179 --> 00:02:41,599 At the same time, she adds, "There was also a broad intersection in the way that documentation was used by the government to surveil and control different groups of people." 18 00:02:41,599 --> 00:02:52,519 During World War II, for example, approximately 22,000 Japanese Canadians, the majority of whom were born in Canada and were British subjects, were interned. 19 00:02:52,519 --> 00:03:11,559 And indigenous people were subjected to a pass system, requiring documentation to move between reservation and non-reservation land beginning in 1885, shortly after the end of the Northwest Rebellion, and the same year the government enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act. 20 00:03:11,559 --> 00:03:20,479 The Paper Trail Project tells the story of the Chinese Exclusion Act through Chinese immigration certificates, a paper trail back through time. 21 00:03:20,479 --> 00:03:36,199 "This is one of the best places to get that story and see the individual stories of people who lived through it," says Naomi Louie, who is a museum assistant at the Chinese Canadian Museum, and a curatorial assistant on the Paper Trail Project. 22 00:03:36,199 --> 00:03:41,639 This is the first time the national story of the Exclusion Act has been told in a museum. 23 00:03:41,639 --> 00:03:49,419 Every story, with a small handful of exceptions, comes from documents submitted by Chinese Canadian families. 24 00:03:49,419 --> 00:03:53,199 This exhibit is like nothing I've ever seen before. 25 00:03:53,199 --> 00:04:06,779 Documents with photos, face after face of men, as well as some women and children, looking out from Dominion of Canada immigration certificates noting their entry to Canada or birth in Canada. 26 00:04:06,779 --> 00:04:12,739 One of the certificates on display is my grandmother's, whose picture shows her as a young girl. 27 00:04:12,739 --> 00:04:18,499 Even though she was born in Canada, she had to have a Chinese immigration certificate. 28 00:04:18,499 --> 00:04:33,159 Each man, woman, or child of Chinese ancestry who held one of these certificates was required to show their certificate to exit or re-enter the country, or if immigration officials demanded to see their papers. 29 00:04:33,159 --> 00:04:37,139 The Paper Trail Project is not just a museum exhibit. 30 00:04:37,139 --> 00:04:53,899 Its major legacy will be its archives, created in partnership with the University of British Columbia to archive, collect, and make publicly available scans of Chinese immigration and head tax certificates to future generations of researchers. 31 00:04:53,899 --> 00:05:01,139 I sit down at an old-fashioned wooden desk, part of the exhibit, which includes more stories to peruse. 32 00:05:01,139 --> 00:05:07,059 I flip open a binder that lists the names of Chinese immigrants to Canada and their dates of arrival. 33 00:05:07,059 --> 00:05:16,799 A shiver runs down my spine when I find the name of my grandfather, who arrived in Calgary from southern China in the spring of 1899. 34 00:05:16,799 --> 00:05:29,859 In addition to the main exhibit areas, there's a smaller room where visitors can sit down to watch 2 short films, Remembering Chinese Bachelors and Stories of Repeal and Reunion. 35 00:05:29,859 --> 00:05:40,299 There are also photos and stories of Chinese bachelors in Canada, and how the Chinese head tax and Chinese Exclusion Act impacted their lives. 36 00:05:40,299 --> 00:05:49,599 Many men were separated for decades from their families in China because of Canadian legislation, which caused an extreme gender imbalance. 37 00:05:49,599 --> 00:05:57,059 In 1923, the ratio of Chinese men to Chinese women in Canada was 35 to 1. 38 00:05:57,059 --> 00:06:22,224 As I walk through a narrow hallway in the exhibit, look at these men's images and read about their lives, I end up weeping at the injustice of it all, and the tragic turn that some of their lives took when the Chinese Immigration Act was enacted."This exhibit is for all Canadians, not just those of Chinese ancestry," says Naomi, who is mixed race of British and Chinese heritage. 39 00:06:22,224 --> 00:06:27,883 "This is a story that most people can, in some ways, see themselves in. 40 00:06:27,883 --> 00:06:33,483 For most of us, unless you're Indigenous, then your family immigrated to Canada." 41 00:06:33,483 --> 00:06:43,463 In addition to the Paper Trail project, which occupies the second floor main gallery, the Chinese Canadian Museum also includes a variety of other exhibits. 42 00:06:43,463 --> 00:06:51,083 During my visit, Reshaping Collections: Where History Meets Art had recently opened on the first floor. 43 00:06:51,083 --> 00:07:12,543 And on the third floor, you'll find the Wing Sang building's recreated school room where Yip Sang, a Chinese Canadian merchant and the building's owner in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, opened a school to provide education for his many, many kids and for the other kids who lived in the neighborhood," Naomi says. 44 00:07:12,543 --> 00:07:18,004 The Paper Trail exhibition was open through the end of December 2024. 45 00:07:18,004 --> 00:07:24,624 And you can discover other future and current exhibits by visiting the Chinese Canadian Museum website. 46 00:07:25,163 --> 00:07:27,663 Exploring more of Vancouver's Chinatown. 47 00:07:27,663 --> 00:07:30,063 "Chinatown gets a bad rap. 48 00:07:30,063 --> 00:07:34,864 If you go in the daytime, there's so much beauty here, so much vibrancy. 49 00:07:34,864 --> 00:07:39,843 There have been so many efforts to revitalize the area," says Naomi Louie. 50 00:07:39,843 --> 00:07:49,923 In addition to the Chinese Canadian Museum, located in the Wing Sang building, the oldest building in Vancouver's Chinatown at 51 East Pender Street. 51 00:07:49,923 --> 00:08:01,183 There's also the Chinatown Storytelling Centre at 168 East Pender Street, which tells stories of the Chinese Canadian journey and Vancouver's Chinese community. 52 00:08:01,183 --> 00:08:06,964 "New bakeries and eateries are all part of this beautiful cultural landscape. 53 00:08:06,964 --> 00:08:12,443 We have everything from Hong Kong-style cafes to classic dim sum places. 54 00:08:12,443 --> 00:08:16,862 It's a great historic place to spend some time in," Naomi says.