Asian Heritage Month
May is Asian Heritage Month, a time to acknowledge and celebrate the rich history of Asian-Canadians and their contributions to our country.
The history of Asian immigration in Canada can be traced back to more than one hundred and fifty years ago when Chinese workers arrived in the west coast and joined the workers to build the Pacific Railway in the mid-nineteenth century. Asian Canadians not only physically helped to build Canada, but also culturally enriched its diversity, which has become an important characteristic of Canada.
Where are Asian Canadians from?
Asian countries include China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam.
If you don’t have an actual globe at home, go online! With Google Maps, your child can take a 3D “walk” through different places. Use Google Earth to “visit” historic locations.
Keep in mind that the term “Asian-Pacific” encompasses a wide array of cultures and geographies.
All of the Asian continent: This includes about 50 countries – from China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines to (in South Asia) India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.
Melanesia: New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands
Micronesia: Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia
Polynesia: New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Easter Island
Asian Art Museum
The Asian Art Museum is located in San Francisco and the museum is home to one of the world’s finest collections of Asian art, where there are more than 18,000 awe-inspiring artworks ranging from ancient jades and ceramics to contemporary video installations
