The Reach P11786  Thandi family portrait, 1953.  

Left to right; Sucha Thandi, Ossie Thandi, Harnam Kaur Thandi holding Gurdale Thandi, Gopal Singh Thandi, Sundar Singh Thandi, Jeeto Harbajan Kaur Thandi, Gurbachan Singh Thandi.  Sundar Thandi was known locally as Sunder Singh or “Joe”.  He emmigrated from India in 1907 and worked at the Abbotsford Lumber Company until he purchased his farm on Sumas Prairie in 1927.  A well-respected and progressive farmer, known for his belief in the economy of modern methods and up-to-date machinery, Sunder operated a large dairy herd, produced forage crops, potatoes, raspberries and strawberries as well as hiring out his crew and equipment to other farmers.  Sunder married late in life, to Harnam Kaur, a widow with two foster daughters.  He was among the founding members of the original Sikh Temple.

The first Indo-Canadians, mostly Sikh men, who settled in Abbotsford, came from rural areas of northern India.  They first learned about Canada from Indian soldiers who had traveled across Canada to and from Queen Victoria’s jubilee in London.  The landscape and vegetation in parts of British Columbia were inviting to men from the Punjab who were used to golden wheat fields and pine forests at home. 

In order to migrate to Canada, travelers had to go by train from their villages to larger coastal cities in India; from there they traveled by boat to Hong Kong where they worked and waited to pass medical tests and acquire enough money for passage to Canada.  They were usually young men who had to temporarily leave their wives and children to earn money and overcome language and cultural obstacles.   Although Indian men were ruled as British subjects, they weren’t acknowledged as such under Canadian law.  Discrimination against Indians was blatant in Canada’s immigration policy throughout the early 1900’s.  Nevertheless, more than 5000 men arrived between 1904 and 1908. 

The 1911 Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) on South Fraser Way in Abbotsford is North America’s oldest extant Sikh Temple and was designated a National Heritage Site on July 31, 2002. It was built with materials donated by the Abbotsford Lumber Company and carried on the backs of Sikh men from Mill Lake to the site where the temple was built.