South Asian Canadian Digital Archive

Langar is a practice of equality. No questions asked about who you are, where you are from and what you believe. Just shared food, shared space and shared humanity. Explore the history and significance of langar through the Langar Digital Collection on our website Sacda.ca presented in partnership with the UFV Library

We also invite you to join us on February 19 for Langar- Eating Together, an interfaith lecture and heritage experience featuring a talk by Dr. Asma Qadri, followed by a guided heritage tour led by Dr. Satwinder Bains. All are welcome for free to learn, reflect and experience Langar beyond the plate.

🗓 Thursday, February 19, 2026, | 2:00 - 4:00 pm
📍 Sikh Heritage Museum, Gur Sikh Temple, Abbotsford

Register now through the link: https://forms.gle/Q72vtBb39YNHWNww9 or email [email protected]

UFV Research Office University of the Fraser Valley - UFV Khalsa Diwan Society Abbotsford BC Heritage Week

November is Hindu Heritage Month in Canada. The South Asian Canadian Digital Archive (SACDA) continues to grow each day with inclusive histories and heritages of South Asians in Canada.

Incorporating important and significant contributions of South Asian Hindu history and heritage is part of our collections. We also invite anyone interested in contributing their materials to get in touch and email us at [email protected].

The SASI is thrilled and proud to announce that it has been awarded by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) for the project Histories of South Asians in Canada: A Visual Ethnographic Documentation of renowned South Asian Canadian photojournalist, Chandra Bodalia remarkable collection.

The Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices Awards are generously funded by the Mellon Foundation which focuses on thematic digitization efforts, prioritizing materials that deepen public understanding of historically marginalized communities and unrecognized perspectives.

The project is a collaboration with several key institutions, including the Royal BC Museum, Sikh Heritage Museum, Poetic Justice Foundation and the University of the Fraser Valley’s Library and Department of Information Studies.

This initiative aims to bring South Asian Canadian histories to the forefront, fostering greater public awareness, promoting education, and encouraging cross-institutional collaboration and community engagement.

Our Project Partners:
Poetic Justice Foundation
Royal BC Museum
Sikh Heritage Museum
University of the Fraser Valley, Department of Information Studies
University of the Fraser Valley, Library

Read more on the CLIR 2024 awards: https://www.clir.org/hiddencollections/funded-projects/ #2024

The SASI received over 3 million photographs taken by the legendary BC photojournalist, the late Mr. Chandra Bodalia. These extraordinary images have been entrusted to SASI for stewardship and preservation.

As part of its key initiative, the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive, at the South Asian Studies Institute, plans to digitize, preserve, and provide open access to these invaluable photographs. This important project is a collaboration with the Royal BC Museum (RBCM) and BC Archives, ensuring that the rich visual history captured by Bodalia is safeguarded and made accessible for future generations.

Read more about our plans to preserve and share this impressive legacy. https://blogs.ufv.ca/sasi/2024/11/14/bodalia/

UFV Research Office
University of the Fraser Valley

✨ Happy Diwali from SACDA!
The South Asian Canadian Digital Archive wishes you a bright and joyful Festival of Lights filled with love, peace, and harmony! 🌟

October marks Islamic History Month, a time to honor the profound contributions of Muslim scholars, artists, and leaders that have shaped Canada.

The South Asian Studies Institute’s (SASI) and the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive’s (SACDA) goal is to be inclusive and representative of all South Asians diasporas in BC. We therefore hope to gather materials incorporating South Asian Muslim heritage to our archival collections. We invite anyone interested in contributing materials to get in touch and email us at [email protected]

We are in the process of developing a website for our project, South Asian Muslims in BC. This initiative highlights historic and contemporary presence of Muslim communities, whose contributions to Canadian society deserve recognition.

In the summer of 2023, South Asian Canadian Digital Archive collaborated with the City of Coquitlam Archives to digitize the Fraser Mills accident logbook. A significant number of workers listed in this accident logbook were of South Asian origin and predominantly from the Sikh and Punjabi communities.

The logbook consists of records from 1909 to 1955. The digitized records range from 1909 to 1923 due to privacy legislation.

The names of the sawmill workers are listed below:
1909/10 - Ganda Singh, Ala Singh, Hardial Singh, and Kala Singh
1911 - Jagat Singh, Attar Singh, and Kishan Singh
1912 - Narian Singh
1913 - Giva Singh
1914 - Indar Singh, Mitt Singh, Labh Singh, Dalip Singh, Bakhtawa Singh, Kahn Singh, Omr Singh, and Bishan Singh
1915 - Bhagwan Singh, Ojagar Singh, and Bishan Singh
1916 - Bugga Singh, Ram Singh, Dona Ram, Nahal Singh, Dohla Singh, and Eser Singh
1917 - Bhagwan Singh, Argin Singh, Najaram Singh, Rajah Singh, Bishan Singh, Dulcie Ram, and Moichi Baba, Jamel Singh and Santa Singh
1918 - Indar Singh, Jawala Singh, Sunda Singh, Jene Singh, and Nawab Khan. Bugga Singh, Bhagwan Singh, Indar Singh, and Tarka Singh
1919 - Rajah Singh, Esor Singh
1920 - Nand Singh, Bram Singh, Sher Khan, Dilip Singh, Partab Singh, Ram Singh.
1921 - Labh Singh, Chanda Singh, Tara Singh, Bhag Ram, Hamir Singh, Rud Singh, Harnam Singh.
1922 - Argent Singh, Gokel Singh, Narun Singh, and Laru Singh. Bugga Singh, Laru Singh, and Nand Singh.
1923 - Santa Singh, Eser Singh, M. Baba, Gokel Singh, Eser Singh

Please reach out to us through dm or [email protected] if you recognize any of the names from this list or if any of your family members worked at Fraser Mills. While these names are a significant archival resource, we also hope to humanize them by preserving their life stories as well.

To read more about the Fraser Mill accident log, visit the City of Coquitlam Archives website.

To see the digitized copy of the accident log, visit SACDA website.

A Living Archive: SACDA, 75 collections and more...
The South Asian Canadian Digital Archive (SACDA) was created in 2022 to document the 120+ years of history and heritage of the South Asian Canadian diaspora in Canada. Over the past years, the SACDA team has worked on developing 75 unique multilingual archival collections...
We are very grateful to all the community members, institutional partners, team members, funders, and donors, who have supported us during this journey.
Read more by clicking on our blog link in bio
Happy International Archives Week!

"Amplifying Asian Canadian Legacy: Chinese Canadian Sawmill Workers of Paldi"
In the spirit of Asian Heritage Month and its 2024 theme, “Preserving the Past, Embracing the Future: Amplifying Asian Canadian Legacy,” the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive (SACDA) team would like to share our archival journey of documenting the Chinese Canadian sawmill workers of Paldi.
https://blogs.ufv.ca/sasi/2024/05/31/amplifying-asian-canadian-legacy-chinese-canadian-sawmill-workers-of-paldi_final/

Puthandu marks the Tamil New Year and it is the first day of the Tamil calendar. May this year be filled with an abundance of joy and prosperity for all. Happy Tamil New Year!