Exposing historic sites left exposed, neglected
I have been trying to write this for a while and finally I got some time and clarity of mind to do it today.
Between last August and November, I’ve been to the interior three times to look for potential relics left by Chinese
pioneers and their burial sites, all are believed to be unprotected and neglected.
The great work of such discovery was started by Bill Chu, a long time advocate in bringing “reconciliation” for Chinese Canadians and the aboriginal peoples. Chu initiated the search himself by talking to local aboriginals and some scholars who are doing field research.
To protect the integrity of these sites until the government takes the steps to do so (as promised by Gordon Campbell to us earlier), I will not publicize their locations. I can only say that these sites are clustered along the Fraser River in Yale-Lytton-Lillooet areas, where Chinese gold diggers worked in the 1800s.
After all these trips, our team of “observers” led by Bill Chu and his friends have come to a consensus that the contribution of Chinese pioneers in the creation of this province has been completely overlooked. Of course, history is written by victors, and in this case, by the white colonists. Nowadays, when people talk about Chinese pioneers they are basically referring to the Chinese railroad workers of the early 1900s, who were cheap labourers treated very much like slaves. However, the “success stories” of Chinese pioneers – people who digged out gold or did business and got rich AND paid taxes – are less well-known. Why?
We think, it’s time that WE take back OUR history to OUR own hands.
Geographer Michael Kennedy took us to visit old gold mining sites believed to be left by the Chinese goldminers. There are plentiful of them along the Fraser River, as the method of mining, called “placer mining”, is highly dependent on the use of water.
Ditches created by rock piles to divert water direction and/or increase power of falling river.
On one of the trips, we were taken to see one of the biggest surviving Chinese mining operations. The area is secluded and hidden deep inside a reserve. The site is huge, my guess is might be at least two times the BC Place. The locals believe that there might be 100-200 Chinese workers working at one time. We were so amazed by how thorough these workers were — how they broke down boulders into small rocks, rubbed and washed each rock for hints of gold.
The mining method was specifically Chinese and was called “Chinese Rock Piles“:
“Chinese Rock Piles” are found all over the Lillooet district… These rock piles (or pits) are the remains of Chinese reworkings of previous placer operations – the Chinese miners would take the discarded tailings and wash the rocks by hand, scrubbing them clean and then panning the residue of sand and silt – often earning more this way than non-Chinese miners had earned in the original workings than produced the tailings. Chinese mining operations were extremely thorough – along Cayoosh Creek, which Chinese miners worked near-exclusively from 1884 to the mid 1890s, silt and gravel was dug and upturned to the bedrock, often over 30 feet from the surface, and all rocks dug up were thoroughly scrubbed to get all traces of gold dust and gold-rich black sand off them – and to inspect them to see if they were jade or another semi-precious stone such as agate.
Gold dust??
One of our team members – Thekla Lit – and another reporter were able to each find a rock that contains shiny minerals easily seen under the sun. We were joking that we got some “third-hand gold”. Whether if these shiny minerals are gold, we’re not sure. As with all the sites that we visited, we do not have the expertise to authenticate their identities (and that’s why it’s so important that the
government and the academic to come together). We could only rely on oral history.
Big Chinese gold mining site.
More photos from the mining site:
Kennedy took us to another secluded area where he’s found an abandoned wooden hut, neighboured by what seems to be the foundation of a rock hut typically Chinese. In another rock foundation nearby, we found some pottery artefacts, which might be a strong indicator of the place being inhabited by the Chinese workers.
Possible foundation of a stone hut built by Chinese pioneers.
Bill Chu and Thekla Lit found some artefacts on scene (left: pottery; right: axe)
A wooden hut and a possible stone hut.
Wooden hut.
Rusty container outside hut.
Lots of tin cans. They may tell us great stories.
As there’s no standing Chinese rock hut in BC, readers can check a photo of a similar hut built by Chinese pioneers to New Zealand during the same time span. New Zealand has done an excellent job in reviving an entire village of Chinese pioneers. The hut was a restored model.
Hut built by CPR to house Chinese rail workers (BC Archives)
Restored Chinese pioneers' huts in New Zealand
These could be habitats for the Chinese railroad workers. The wooden hut could be something built by the CPR to hut the Chinese workers, though Kennedy guessed it might be built by dislocated people during the Great Depression.
There is a lot of history along the river.
What are the implication for all these? The governments have to act fast to protect these sites from vendalism or being weathered away. I cannot believe a great country like Canada would deglect its history this way.
Good news is that Campbell now realizes the potential political risk for not protecting these sites. In a press conference in December put together by Thekla and Bill, Richard Lee was sent to represent Campbell together with Jenny Kwan of the NDP. They have agreed that the issue should be done in a non-partisan way. I’m glad to hear that.
However, when Lee tells the “community should come up with a written proposal as to what to do” etc, I know it’s another tactic to delay progress. Demanding a proposal sounds rational. But Campbell must know that the Chinese community is never united on issues like this and it’s hard for them to agree with each other and come up with a written proposal (this really is a problem with our community that only ourselves to be blamed for). But as Thekla said on the press conference, when she pushed the government to include the history of “comfort women” and Nanjing Massacre in BC’s history textbooks many years back, it was the staff who wrote the proposal because they have the best expertise on what should be done. Community folks like us can only ask our politicians to act to protect. But how in details it’s hard for us to say.
I would hope that Jenny Kwan would table a motion to put a moratorium or a blanket protection of these historic sites. It’s the easiest way and almost costless. Then the next step will be have some philantrophists who are willing to invest in scholarship/fellowship dedicated on the subject. At the end, it’s the academics who could do the authentication and write history from the facts before their eyes.
To view the pictorial beauty of BC’s interior, I’ve put more photos of the trips here:
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Happy Lunar New Year !
Hello, I am a professional archaeologist of Chinese descent with a strong interest in Chinese-Canadian heritage. I work in Alberta and I am aware (though unconfirmed) of a couple “Chinese” sites in the Crowsnest Pass. My question is, have those sites pictured been officially register with the government as heritage sites?
hi tommy, i’m soooooo glad to meet you here on civ. the sites i mentioned in this article have not been registered with any governments. they are left out there, facing erosion everyday. a group of us are pushing the bc gov to immediately order a blanket moratorium while promoting the academics (like yourself!) to authenticate them. we’d love to talk with you more on this. professional archeologists like yourself are highly needed in order to have our dream come true.
Tommy – When I was a kid, my family used to bring me to Lethbridge to visit friends. There was a Chinese grocery store and I used to play with a kid named Albert in there. Apparently his family’s been in Southern Alberta for ages. I think Albert can shed some light on the Chinese settlements near Crowsnest Pass and area. Becareful, Albert is one freaky fella. When I first met him, I was eight and he was about 10 or 12. About 10 years later, we went back to Lethbridge and invariably always go to the Chinese grocery store to buy something. I saw Albert and he hadn’t changed a bit since I met him last. I was shooting out of my teens but he still looked like a kid. I thought he was Albert’s son or something, scared the daylights out of me. And the grocery store hadn’t changed either, I was quite sure that the candies they were selling were exactly the same ones they were selling 10 years ago.
We used go down to the coolees to look for old Indian arrows heads. And we found bones that looked more like human bones than animal. Of course, we had imagination then. Of course, I will leave the proper assessments to professionals like you.
I have a lot of anecdotal recounts from my friends and families but I try to refrain from talking too much about them because invariably some are just stories and that could distort the truth.
It is good to have professionals like you to ensure the Chinese’s history and contribution to Canada are not eroded.
Hi SN and Chinktalk,
I would love to come out and authenticate these sites. I have worked in BC, so I’m more or less familiar with the heritage regulations. However, the most I can do is come out and visit the site and register them with the government (this is the easy part). The first step in hopefully preserving the site is to officially register them as government recognized sites and determine their historical value. From there on, there are additional steps if we want to go further in regards to preserving them.
Tommy
ChinkTalk,
Thanks for the heads-up. I have been aware of the site (though unconfirmed) via a colleague of mine and its approximate location. It is an old coolie site along a CP rail line through the Crowsnest Pass. I haven’t manage to head down there and confirm it but it was found by another colleague of mine and I guess it is just a matter for me to check with the government to determine whether it was recorded and registered with them. Once again is making time.
Tommy
Hey, I’m an archaeologist and currently working in BC. I grew up in China and learned the history of Chinese in BC when I studied archaeology at UBC. It’s such a rich history!
FYI, the Archaeology Branch of BC manages a web based application RAAD that enables authorized users to use info about archaeology sites and historic places in BC. It’s a searchable database. So, if knowing whereabouts is the site, we should be able to tell whether or not it’s recorded.
thank you! meng!
this is extremely helpful! perhaps i should talk to you when we do the detailed story about that part of history. :)) if you have an email. would you please email me? my email link can be found at the contact page.
thank you very much :)
Hi Meng,
Nice to meet another Chinese-Canadian archaeologist. I’m curious, who do you work for? I’m a senior project archaeologist with Bison Historical Services Ltd. based in Calgary, and we do projects all over western Canada, including some in BC.
Tommy