Continuous Journey: A Social History of South Asians in Canada

Barry J. Martin taught in the Anthropology Department at the University of Toronto.

South Asian Canadians constitute one of our country’s largest and least understood ethnic cultures. Continuous Journey fully documents the history of South Asian immigration to Canada. The first Sikh pioneers in British Columbia, 1902-1947, were an encapsulated community due to public and governmental racism. After World War II, when the immigration ban was lifted, a more successful economic adaptation to Canadian life ensued. Family and kin networks continue to be the focus of South Asian culture, and much intergenerational accommodation and change is taking place here. They find their place in the larger society as more and more Canadians are becoming interested in and exposed to South Asian food, music, dance, and art.

This book is a moving document of South Asian history, from stigmatization and social isolation to integration into our multicultural society. The comprehensive and balanced insider/outsider view that it presents is a novel account of South Asian ethnic identity, religion, values, politics, art, and history. Social scientists will use it as an important source book to carry out further investigative research.