Interview with Maninder Arora
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19351
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1974-2022] (interview content), interviewed 7 Dec. 2022
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 2 sound recordings (wav) (67 min., 25 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (66 min., 45 sec.)
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Maninder Arora conducted by Anushay Malik with assistance from Museum Registrar James Binks. 0:00 – 07:33 Interview opens with introductions. Maninder Arora shares her immigration story and how she came to emigrate from India to Canada…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Series
- Museum Oral Histories series
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 2 sound recordings (wav) (67 min., 25 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (66 min., 45 sec.)
- Material Details
- Interviewers: Anushay Malik Co interviewer: James Binks Interviewee: Maninder Arora Location of Interview: In Burnaby at the home of Maninder Arora Interview Date: December 7, 2022 Total Number of tracks: 2 Total Length of all Tracks: (01:07:25) Digital master recordings (wav) were edited into one recording and converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Maninder Arora conducted by Anushay Malik with assistance from Museum Registrar James Binks. 0:00 – 07:33 Interview opens with introductions. Maninder Arora shares her immigration story and how she came to emigrate from India to Canada at 16 years of age with her mother, her older sister (18 yrs) and her younger brother (11 yrs) in 1974. Maninder explains how her sister immigrated first after marrying a South Asian Canadian and subsequently was able to sponsor members of her family to immigrate about one year later. Arora describes what life was like for her and her family in the northern part of Punjab in India prior to immigration to Canada. Arora describes her family composition with her being the second youngest of eight children and how at the time of immigrating, four of her elder siblings (three sisters and one brother) stayed behind. 07:34 – 16:23 As a new immigrant to Canada at the age of 16 years of age, Maninder Arora recalls the many challenges that she faced. Maninder describes how she attended Vancouver Technical School and then worked at a restaurant on Friday nights and weekends. She recollects how she got her first job through the Sikh community from the Akali Singh Sikh Gurdwara on Fraser Street. Maninder recalls that during the first five months in Canada, Maninder, her mother, sister and brother lived with her elder sister, her husband and child before finding a place of their own. Arora recalls where her family shopped for traditional Indian spices and foods. 16:24 – 25:50 Maninder Arora describes the next home that her family moved to and how she and her brother attended David Thompson Secondary School. Maninder explains that she dropped out of school in Grade 12 to go to work full time to help her family repay the debt that they owed for their immigration expenses. Around 1981, her mother was able to purchase a house at Marine Drive and Ross Street and her mother got work at the same restaurant that Maninder was working. Maninder shares and reflects on a disturbing encounter of racism that she and her older sister faced while taking local transit. 25:51 – 34:17 Maninder Arora talks about her past work experience. Maninder describes how with the help of her sister, she began working as a nurses' aide at care homes and private hospitals. Maninder reflects on how she intended to get a job in a unionized care home where she can make a better living wage. Maninder describes some of the places that she worked before obtaining certification as a nurse’s aide from Kwantlen College. 34;18 – 51:15 Maninder Arora describes the events that led to her marrying her future husband in 1986 and how it wasn’t an easy decision for her. Maninder describes where she and her family lived after her marriage and how her hard work led her to obtaining full time employment as a nurses' aide in Richmond. 51:16 - 56:16 Maninder Arora tells of how she decided to move to Burnaby where her sister and extended family were living. Maninder recalls what lead to her decision to move from Surrey to Burnaby in 1992. 56:17 - 1:04:23 Maninder Arora shares some experiences of her life in Burnaby. Maninder further reflects on her decisions for moving to Burnaby including providing what she thought would be a safer environment and education for her children. Maninder conveys how racism is still very much prevalent in society and recounts a personal encounter that she experienced while shopping for shoes at Metrotown. 1:04:24 – 1:06:45 The interviewer asks Maninder Arora what she would like to see conveyed as a message for younger people in an upcoming exhibit at Burnaby Village Museum on South Asian history. Maninder conveys that she would like all Canadian citizens living in Burnaby to make the environment better by not littering, living peacefully together and not causing people grief or struggle for nothing, “Be kind to each other”. In closing Arora shares the transportation route she took when emigrating from India to Canada.
- History
- Interviewee biography: Maninder Arora was born in the northern part of Punjab, India. Her sister immigrated to Canada in 1974 after marrying a South Asian Canadian. In 1975, after her father died, her sister was able to bring her mother, her 11 year old brother and Maninder at 16 years of age. After arriving in British Columbia, they first lived with her sister and family before finding a place of their own. Maninder attended Vancouver Technical School and later David Thompson Secondary School and worked in a restaurant on weekends to help her family out. Maninder and her family were members of the Sikh community and attended Akali Singh Sikh Gurdwara on Fraser Street. Maninder left school in Grade 12 to work full time to help her family repay the debt that they owed for their immigration expenses. In the early 1980’s Maninder’s family moved to a house near Marine Drive and Ross Street that her mother was able to purchase. With the help of her sister, Maninder got work as a nurses’ aide at care homes and private hospitals which eventually led her to obtaining certification from Kwantlen College. Maninder married in 1986 and had two children while living in Richmond. Around 1992, she moved from Surrey to Burnaby to be closer to her sister and to provide as safer environment for her children. Interviewers' biographies: Anushay Malik is labor historian with a geographical focus on South Asia. Anushay studied at the University of London and was a research fellow at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In 2014, Anushay moved back to her native Pakistan and joined Lahore University of Management Services as an Assistant Professor. In 2023, Anushay is a visiting scholar at Simon Fraser University and lives in Burnaby with her family. Anushay was a co-curator of the Burnaby Village Museum exhibit “Truths Not Often Told: Being South Asian in Burnaby”. James Binks has lived in the Lower Mainland since 2009 after relocating from Ontario. James holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia, where he conducted researched on heritage, environment, and globalization in India, Nepal, and Italy. At Burnaby Village Museum, James contributed to the exhibit “Truths Not Often Told: Being South Asian in Burnaby”.
- Creator
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Subjects
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Social Issues
- Social Issues - Racism
- Occupations
- Occupations - Nurses
- Migration
- Names
- Arora, Maninder
- Responsibility
- Malik, Anushay
- Binks, James
- Accession Code
- BV022.29.6
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1974-2022] (interview content), interviewed 7 Dec. 2022
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Notes
- Title based on contents of item
- Transcription available on Heritage Burnaby
Documents
Audio Tracks
Interview with Maninder Arora, [1974-2022] (interview content), interviewed 7 Dec. 2022
Interview with Maninder Arora, [1974-2022] (interview content), interviewed 7 Dec. 2022
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2022_0029_0006_003.mp3William Holmes fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription10416
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1841]-1994
- Collection/Fonds
- William Holmes fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs (calotype) + 1 photograph : b&w + 6 photographs : col. + 5 p. textual records + 1 newspaper clipping
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of photographs pertaining to the William Holmes family, family grave markers in cemetery in Ireland along with original correspondence, land title certificates and a newspaper clipping. Fonds is arranged in series: 1) William Holmes family photographs series 2) William Holmes family…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- William Holmes fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs (calotype) + 1 photograph : b&w + 6 photographs : col. + 5 p. textual records + 1 newspaper clipping
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of photographs pertaining to the William Holmes family, family grave markers in cemetery in Ireland along with original correspondence, land title certificates and a newspaper clipping. Fonds is arranged in series: 1) William Holmes family photographs series 2) William Holmes family records series 3) Holmes family cemetery photographs series
- History
- William Holmes was the first non-Indigenous resident of Burnaby and was born in Kilkenny Ireland January 4, 1812. In 1833, at the age of 20 yrs, William Holmes immigrated to Canada from Ireland in with his parents, Joseph and Jane (McCullough) Holmes and ten other family members including two of his married brothers and their wives, two sisters with their husbands and two unmarried brothers. This was the first group of thirteen to leave Ireland and set up homesteads in Canada near the shores of Lake Huron. The family settled on land concessions in Huron County, Ontario about 14 km southeast of Goderich. The area in Huron County was first founded in 1832 by John and Samuel Holmes and the community was known as Holmes Hill before becoming Holmesville [ca. 1850]. In 1837, William Holmes is noted as owning Lot 23, Concession IX, Goderich Twp. Much of the village of Holmesville grew up around the five road concession near the border of his brother’s farm so William decided to open a store. The Holmesville post office opened on March 1, 1855 and William was appointed the first post master which he operated until May 1857. William met and married Mary Richardson in 1841 and the couple had three daughters: Jane (1844-1926) (married Charles Studdert Finlaison in New Westminster in 1863); Anne Maria (Annie) (1846-192?) (married John Gunther Jennings in New Westminster in 1865 and married Robert Johnson in New Westminster in 1877) and Elizabeth (1848-1934) (married Thomas Carrington of Lakes District in 1867). William’s wife, Mary (Richardson) Holmes died in Holmesville sometime between 1848 and 1853. Following the death of his first wife, Mary, William married Charlotte McCullough (McCulloch). The couple had four daughters; Arabella Charlotte Amelia (1854-1943) (married Arthur Robert Green in 1887); Laura (1855-1867); Arabella Henrietta (1857-1929) (married Clark Wesley Gillanders in 1880) and Mary (1863-1864). During the late 1850s, William became aware of the gold rush and opportunities opening up in British Columbia so left for the west coast in 1858 at the age of 46 yrs. In preparation for his move to the west coast of Canada, William obtained a letter of introduction from top government officials of Canada. William Holmes arrived in British Columbia in 1859. Upon arriving, he first worked running pack trains from Harrison Mills to Lillooet. After earning some money, he decided to re-invest it in land. His first pre-emption of land occurred on January 21, 1860 for 160 acres situated on North Road from the Military Camp to Burrard Inlet and distancing 25 chains south of the Brunette River and 20 chains south of the river with the land extending in a westerly direction. On March 17, 1860, Holmes received a Crown Grant for this and other land in the immediate area totalling 415 acres of which was known as Lot No. 1, Group 1, Rural Land, New Westminster District. The balance of land was situated on the east side of the Brunette River – Lot 13, with 344 2/3 acres of which he made an application to purchase on June 26, 1860, and a Crown Grant dated March 16, 1861 covering 86 acres. Holmes also pre-empted land in Port Moody and Pitt Meadows in 1860 and 1861. The name of “Brunette River” is officially attributed to William Holmes who referred to the river as “Brunette” due to it’s dark colour originating from the peat lands above the lake. Following his purchase of property, he sent for his wife Charlotte, their three daughters and her three step daughters (from William’s first marriage). Charlotte and the six children made the long trip to B.C. by ship and rail, crossing the Isthmus of Darien at Panama. They arrived in B.C. in October 1861 and moved into a one room log cabin built by William. The cabin stood on the North Road at the foot of Sapperton, on a bluff overlooking the Brunette River. Eventually the family moved to a larger dwelling but the original cabin remained on the site until the 1890s when it was burned after being used as a sick house. Mr. Holmes was instrumental in organizing the first Orange Lodge in British Columbia. He was a prominent Orangeman who joined the order in 1840 and was the first master in the order of the City of New Westminster when the Lodge No. 1150 was established there. Charlotte Holmes died in New Westminster in 1893 at the age of 70 years and William Holmes died in New Westminster September 11, 1907 at the age of 95 years.
- Responsibility
- Holmes, William
- Accession Code
- HV971.46
- BV997.50
- Date
- [1841]-1994
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Textual Record
- Related Material
- See also: Reference file: Persons - Holmes, William
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds