page_title: Indo-Canadians in British Columbia
section_title: Sawmill industry
hierarchical_section_title: Indo-Canadians in British Columbia / Commerce / Sawmill industry
caption_attribution_description: English: PH Coll 1373.27 Arthur B. Pracna was an architect who specialized in lumber and shingle mills in the Pacific Northwest during the early twentieth century. He was born in Minnesota in 1878 and began his buisness in Everett, Washington in 1902. He continued to work and live in the Seattle area until his death in 1948. He also designed and patented a swivel band-saw guide for use in these mills. Subjects (LCSH): Sikhs; Sawmills--Equipment and supplies
context_page_description: The South Asian community in British Columbia was first established in 1897. The first immigrants originated from Punjab, British India, a northern region and state in modern-day India and Pakistan. Punjabis originally settled in rural British Columbia at the turn of the twentieth century, working in the forestry and agricultural industries.
  As their numbers grew, anti-"Hindu" sentiment increased among the Europeans living in the province thus preventing them from voting in 1908. Originally, Indian settlement was predominately male; large numbers of women and children began arriving in the mid 20th century. In 1947, South Asians were given the right to vote, therefore permitting their entry into British Columbian political life.
  In the late 20th Century many South Asians transitioned from living in rural areas of the province into living in urban areas as the economic vitality of the forestry industry declined.
context_section_description: In British Columbia the agricultural and forestry sectors have significant numbers of Indo-Canadians. Since the beginning of immigration from South Asia, Indo-Canadians in British Columbia, have been involved in the wood-related sectors. Punjabis were the majority ethnic group ethnic group within the sawmill workforce by 1907, as many Anglo Canadians had disinterest in being sawmill workers. Nayar wrote that "In effect, the Punjabi male immigrant living in British Columbia became equated with manual sawmill labour." The Punjabis were associated with sawmill work even though there were also East Asians in the sawmills. Some Punjabi sawmills and farms were leased by collective shares. Punjabi-owned sawmills became a places where Punjabis could get skilled labour, or alternatively, find employment. By 1923 Indo-Canadian-owned sawmills included the Bharat Lumber Company in Vancouver, the Virginia Lumber Company in Coombs, the Mayo Lumber Company and Tansor Lumber Company in Duncan, and the Eastern Lumber Company in Ladysmith. By that year Indo-Canadians also worked in sawmills in Vancouver, Fraser Mills, New Westminster, and Victoria that were owned by non-Indo-Canadians.
caption: Punjabi Sikh at a lumber mill, circa 1914
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