Paldi is a multi-ethnic settlement and former

mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more List of types of mill#Manufacturing facilities, mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe ...

near Duncan, on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. It is significant as a town founded by Sikh Canadians, and its early exemplification of

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

.Ames, and Inglis, �
Conflict and Change in British Columbia Sikh Family Life
” p. 22.

History

The town was founded in 1916 by Mayo Singh Manhas, his brother Ganea Singh Manhas and their cousin Doman Singh - three

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

businessmen from

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

.Nayar, '' The Punjabis in British Columbia'', p
292
The town was originally named Mayo, but was required to change its name in 1936 due to confusion caused at the post office with

Mayo, Yukon Mayo is a village in Yukon, Canada, along the Silver Trail and the Stewart River (Yukon), Stewart River. It had a population of 200 in 2016. The Yukon Bureau of Statistics estimated a population of 496 in 2019. It is also the home of the First N ...

. The name was changed to Paldi, which was the name of the town in

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

, Punjab that Doman, Ganea and Mayo had migrated from. The town's most well-known founder, Mayo, was born Mayan Singh Manhas in 1888. He believed that having a name that would be easier for Anglo Canadians to pronounce would benefit his business prospects, so he began going by "Mayo". By 1919, a

Gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

was established in the community, and shortly after a school was constructed. The Gurdwara was later re-built, and has undergone subsequent renovations and updates in the decades since. The Japanese community of Paldi built a hall which was used as a Buddhist temple and a meeting place. The wooden building was constructed next to the Gurdwara in 1923. Several forms of Buddhism were practiced by the Japanese families that used the hall. Meetings, celebrations, and occasionally United Church services also took place within its walls. Paldi BC Class

The Paldi post office first opened on June 1, 1936. It was closed in 1954, only to be opened again in 1959. Finally on June 30, 1969, the post office closed permanently due to a dwindling population. The school also closed in 1969, and the remaining children were bussed to nearby Lake Cowichan. At its peak, Paldi had a population of over 1,500 people. The settlement was a mixing pot where East Indian, Japanese, Chinese, and European cultures were celebrated. India's first Prime Minister,

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

visited Paldi on a trip to British Columbia in November 1949. He was accompanied by his daughter, Indira Gandhi, who also later became prime minister. The visit was in part due to Mayo Singh gaining a far reaching reputation of making large charitable donations to both Canadian and Indian organizations. Herb, Ted, and Gordon Singh, sons of Doman Singh, went on to found the Doman Lumber Company, which became Doman Industries. The company, based in nearby Duncan, continued to grow and operated for decades on Vancouver Island.

Present day

Most of the original families left for better job prospects in the surrounding

Cowichan Valley The Cowichan Valley is a region around the Cowichan River, Cowichan Bay and Cowichan Lake on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. There is some debate as to the origin of the name Cowichan, which many believe to be an anglicized for ...

, as well as the

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

area. By 1975, the Japanese, European and Chinese families had all left the area. The last few East Indian families remained in Paldi until about 1980, leaving behind the Gurdwara and about 15 houses. The remainder of the homes were razed in 2005, leaving just the Gurdwara standing. Gurdwaras were built in neighbouring communities of Lake Cowichan in 1969, and Duncan in 1985 - decreasing attendance at the Paldi temple. Two books have been written on the history of the former community. Joan Mayo, daughter-in-law of Mayo Singh, wrote ''Paldi Remembered'' in 1997. The book is a collection of stories and pictures that gives tribute to the once bustling lumber mill town. In 2002, Archana B. Verma wrote ''The Making of Little Punjab in Canada'', a study of the Sikhs living in Paldi. The Paldi Gurdwara was brought to national attention in 2012, after it was under a court-ordered sale order for developers to build over the former Paldi town site. The construction plans were opposed by the Sikh community who advocated for the temple to be given protected status. In order to protect the site from development, the Paldi Gurdwara was designated a Historic Site by the Cowichan Valley Regional District in 2014. In 2016, the government of British Columbia also designated the temple as a site of cultural importance due to the advocacy efforts of former Attorney General, Wally Oppal. The Cowichan Valley Trail, part of the

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific to the Arctic Ocean, Arctic oceans. The trail extends over ; it is now the longe ...

was completed in 2017. The trail goes through Paldi on the route of a former railway.

References

* Some content originates from Indo-Canadians in British Columbia

History

Present day

See also

References

Further reading