by Alison Marshall
Department of Religion, Brandon University
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The Wow! Mabuhay gift shop in Riding Mountain National Park caught my eye during the Canada Day weekend in 2013. As I entered, I saw an array of global giftware: shell jewellery, bamboo chimes, wooden salad bowls. I noticed a figurine of the Buddha and an item marked with the Chinese character for auspiciousness (fu). Then I heard a girl explaining to her mother that this was a Chinese store. Having just returned two months earlier from a research trip to the Philippines, though, I knew that “Mabuhay” is a Filipino, not Chinese, word meaning “Cheers!” As I left the shop, I suddenly became aware of many Filipino faces on the main street of the park’s resort town of Wasagaming. Beyond the picturesque streets and shops, I noticed scores of Filipinos quietly cleaning the tourists’ sheets, towels, and toilets.
These small moments of observation reminded me that Asian communities in Canada and institutionalized racism are ever-evolving. As an Asian studies specialist, former resident of Brandon and current Winnipegger, I was well aware of Manitoba’s urban Filipino communities and issues. Yet I still felt a twinge of surprise at encountering a Filipino-owned business, Filipino Canadian vacationers, and temporary foreign workers in this lakeside resort town. The girl’s misinterpretation of the shop as Chinese also brought home to me that Filipino Canadians’ cultural distinctiveness is often overlooked and misunderstood.
My initial interest in Manitoba’s Filipino history and leadership had been sparked in 2011 through an encounter with a distinguished Filipina Manitoban, the Honourable Flor Marcelino, then provincial Minister of Culture and Tourism. She spoke at a ceremony at which I received a Manitoba Day Award for my first book on Chinese prairie history. [2] I remember saying how proud I was to live in a province with an Asian woman as minister of culture. In the days that followed, I began to reflect further on the many ways that Filipinos might be changing Manitoba’s cultural fabric. These reflections developed into research questions and a study into the structure and processes that led to Filipino migration, settlement, belonging and leadership in Canada. This article presents a collage of community organizer biographies in two parts, based on their own stories of adaptation and success.
The Filipino population of Manitoba has grown ten-fold in the span of 14 years.
Source: Wilf Falk, Manitoba Bureau of Statistics, 22 May 2013
As I completed my second book on Chinese Prairie Canada (Cultivating Connections, UBC Press, 2014), I expanded my investigation of local prairie histories and other archival research to include not only Chinese, but Filipino Canadians. [3] I reviewed census and immigration projections, as well as secondary sources that focused on Filipino women’s migration experiences and employment as nurses, caregivers, pen pals, domestic and garment workers. [4] Drawing on nearly fifteen years of ethno-historical research on prairie cultural diversity, I tried to understand Filipino culture within an increasingly Asian Manitoba.
I knew that I had to do fieldwork in the Philippines to understand migration patterns and cultures here in Canada. In April 2013, I conducted exploratory research. Since then I have worked with research assistants to interview and conduct surveys on migration, food, religion and culture with almost 150 research participants in the northern Philippines. In addition, I have used snowball sampling to gather a range of rural and urban, left-wing and more centrist stories from male and female Filipinos in Manitoba. After I completed the interviewing, I did not have the space to tell all or more stories. I plan to expand the number of stories told in future projects. [5]
Although surveys used in the Philippines highlighted religion as a theme, research instruments used in Manitoba did not focus on religion. Based on years of interviewing Chinese research participants, I assumed Filipinos would want to keep religious involvement private. But Filipinos did not see the efficacy of downplaying ties to Christianity. Almost everyone spoke with enthusiasm about faith, church life and the impact of religion on their community involvements. Migrante was the only local branch of an organization I encountered where meetings did not begin with a prayer.
I asked everyone to submit photographs and shared interview transcripts with research participants. I encouraged them to delete or add what they wanted. I was not interested in exposing community disunity or forcing stories to suit my thesis. My goal was to document community history and highlight common themes and patterns in research-participant accounts of their own life stories and accomplishments. I also wanted to include narratives that were important to both original narrators and to me as the academic listener. [6] Research participants thus edited and approved the oral history transcripts used in this article. While many research participants chose to use their real names in published research, others opted for pseudonyms or confidentiality.
My use of the first person pronoun “I” here and in other published works is deliberate. I acknowledge my powerful position as a researcher and academic writer, and attempt to avoid creating the illusion of objectivism or authority that pervades so much of historical writing. [7] I edit my work to achieve a tone that has been variously perceived by reviewers as approachable, informal, conversational or folksy. This tone reminds the reader of my role, my outsider position as a “white” identified academic, and my bias in writing and shaping the stories presented in this article. [8]
I did not intend to take a celebratory stance that included certain stories of successful newcomers and occluded more complicated narratives of racism, vulnerability, or exclusion. Willing research participants were usually those migrants with positive stories to tell. Temporary foreign workers by contrast were less available and unable to spare even an hour to speak with me. Moreover, as I discuss later in this paper, institutionalized racism in the form of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program meant that they lived with the uncertainty of future work or residency in Canada. They had no reason to be part of this study. Manitoba has more than 100 organizations and tens of thousands of Filipinos. It made sense to begin my study with community male and female leaders and activists, who for the most part had stories that had not yet been told. I did not intend to omit certain individuals or groups, some of whom did not respond to e-mail and voice-mail messages inviting them to participate in the research program.
In accounts of emigrating and forming new connections in Manitoba, I heard common themes. Based on comments in the testimonials, the article highlights the positive socio-cultural values of (1) “matibay at sumusunod katulad ng kawayan” (being resilient and pliant like a bamboo), (2) “bahala na” (“whatever happens” or “leave it up to God”), and (3) “bayanihan” spirit (communal unity).
1. “Resilient” in the context of a bamboo tree means (with Tagalog translation) strong (matibay) or flexible and being pliant. “Like bamboo” translates “katulad ng kawayan.” This socio-cultural value likens Filipinos’ strength and flexibility in the midst of adversity and setbacks to that of bamboo, which is able to recover far more quickly after a strong blast of wind than one would expect.
2. “Bahala na,” an expression used almost universally by Filipinos, translates literally as “leave it up to God (Bathala),” and roughly as “whatever happens.” It can also mean to “let the circumstance take care of itself.” While the first two translations reflect positive cultural values of courage and confidence anchored by religious faith, the third connotes a negative and defeatist attitude that was introduced to the Philippines through the colonial influences of Spain and the United States. One may only appreciate the meaning that is being conveyed from the tone and inflection of the speaker, in the context of the conversation. My choice of it as a socio-cultural value is in its positive aspect, whereby it becomes a flexible strategy employed to adapt to challenging situations.
3. Bayanihan spirit expresses Filipinos’ strong belief in helping one another without expecting anything in return, especially in times of need, such as following a natural calamity. Its application usually transcends immediate familial boundaries. [9]
Resilience, Bahala na, and the Bayanihan spirit are central to narratives describing how Filipinos work together to form affective ties [10] and a sense of belonging in Manitoba.[11]
Dr. Rey Pagtakhan signed as a newly elected Member of Parliament with then-Clerk of the House of Commons, Robert Marleau, 1988.
Source: Rey Pagtakhan
It makes sense that people would mistake a Filipino gift shop for a Chinese one, since Chinese are well established in Manitoba, having first arrived in 1877. [12] Canada’s earliest pair of Filipinos arrived in 1921. [13] They were noted under the heading “various” and resided in British Columbia. It is nearly impossible to document migration prior to 1921 because Canadian census and immigration records lacked a specific category for Filipinos. However, it seems plausible that Filipino migration would have followed established North American patterns of Asian settlement. Elsewhere I have identified strong prairie borderland populations of Chinese migrants. [14] Hundreds of Filipinos who came to Minnesota and North Dakota as colonial subjects after 1898 [15] might have ventured northward into Canada periodically—for pleasure, business or simply to extend a visa. [16]
The first wave of Filipino migration to Manitoba began in the 1950s, when a number of Filipino female nurses arrived in Winnipeg from Minneapolis to work at the Misericordia General Hospital. [17] Gradually, more came either via the United States or directly from the Philippines and included teachers, nurses, doctors and domestic workers.
A sudden influx of predominantly unmarried women occurred at the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s when several Manitoba garment companies, with support from the federal and provincial governments, actively recruited skilled workers from the Philippines. [18] Filipino garment workers in the Netherlands whose work contracts were prematurely terminated readily found placement in Winnipeg. As newcomers became established, they paved the way for others in their network back home to follow them to Canada—a process known as chain migration. Many family members—spouses, children, parents and siblings—came to join the original Filipino Manitobans throughout the ensuing years.
Since 1967, a point system has made it easier for Filipinos and others to migrate to Canada based on economics, not race. [19] While Canadian permanent immigration guidelines were no longer shaped by ethnic selection, new temporary foreign worker programs became popular ways for Canadian companies to initially recruit low-skilled, low-waged seasonal farm and live-in care workers from select and often non-white racialized backgrounds. [20] In the 1970s, President Marcos in the Philippines additionally encouraged Filipinos to seek work outside the country to stimulate the national economy.
Filipinos relied on agencies in the Philippines to whom they paid thousands of dollars to connect them with employers looking for temporary workers in Canada and elsewhere. Most of the early migrant labourers were females recruited to work for families in their homes. By law, the Filipino women were consigned to precarious work and living conditions. They arrived in Canada with permits that enabled them to work for only one employer, and to live only in the homes of the families who employed them. Temporary foreign workers bought houses, cars and contributed to the economy. They were required to pay unemployment insurance premiums and contribute to the Canada Pension Plan but, as temporary employees and not permanent residents, most didn’t have a right to citizenship, and most were ineligible to collect pensions, or qualify for assistance in the event they lost their jobs.
In 2014, Manitoba’s thousands of male and female Filipino temporary foreign workers continue to be well-educated, underemployed and vulnerable migrants who must wait two years before they may apply to be permanent citizens. [21] They are employed in meat processing plants such as Hylife Foods, Maple Leaf Foods and Granny’s, franchise restaurants, resorts, inns, construction, gas stations, and as health care, and domestic workers in every corner of the province. Most of them are unionized and have benefitted from programming and assistance provided by unions such as the UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers). Manitoba’s branch of Migrante also offers counselling to migrants who are sometimes unaware of their rights to holiday or overtime pay, and breaks, or who may be too fearful to complain about abuse or harassment. Diwa Marcelino, who will be profiled in Part 2 of this article is Migrante’s branch Programme Co-ordinator.
None of the individuals profiled in this article has been untouched by the temporary foreign worker program. Guided by a bayanihan spirit and Christian faith, they have used their organization or volunteer involvements to help the Filipino community’s weakest members.
In addition to Filipinos who arrive in Manitoba through the temporary foreign worker program, select skilled Filipinos are recruited to come to Canada as permanent residents through the Provincial Nominee Program. They also come as pen pal brides and through chain migration to join family. Based on the 2011 census and provincial Filipino immigration projections, 75,000 Filipinos are estimated to be living in Manitoba in 2014. [22] Winnipeg is home to Canada’s largest per capita Filipino-Canadian community. More immigrants come here from the Philippines than from any other country. Moreover, ethnohistorical research reveals sizable and growing populations in Neepawa (1,200), Steinbach (1,000), Portage la Prairie (500), Brandon (325), Dauphin (125) and Russell (60), [23] and a handful of Filipinos in most small towns beyond these centres. [24] Today there are more than 500,000 Filipinos throughout Canada and Tagalog is the country’s fifth most common language. [25]
From the 1910s to 1940s, Prairie Canadians knew about the Philippines through popular singers, [26] dancers and cock fighters, [27] Freemason international meetings, [28] boxing [29] and as the place where Canadian grain companies and executives did business. [30] Filipinos were recognized as Asian Christians exempted from exclusion south of the border. Some knew them as colonialized inhabitants of islands discovered by Magellan in 1521 that were now under American occupation. [31]
The reasons for Filipino migration to Canada have been many and varied. First-wave migrants of the 1950s and 1960s were predominantly female. Most came from south of the border. They arrived to resolve expiring visas in the United States, to pursue graduate medical training, or to seek employment while waiting to determine final career paths. Those who came directly from the Philippines, like most Asian migrants, were attracted by the possibility of better and well paid employment. [32] Second-wave migrants of the 1960s and early 1970s were a mix of mostly educators and garment and health-care workers, as demonstrated in the chart documenting chain migration to Brandon in the story of Tom Colina—told in Part 2 of this article.
Throughout the years, migrants have left the Philippines due to uncertainties created by martial law (1972–1986), as fiancées or pen pal brides, for status or in search of adventure. They also leave the Philippines due to poverty and the lack of job opportunities. As of 2014, nearly 23 million people in the Philippines, or 20 percent, are homeless. [33]
Tom Colina speaks at the unveiling of a commemorative monument at Dr. José Rizal Park in Winnpeg, 21 June 2014.
Source: Alison Marshall
Despite the cold climate, Filipinos remained in the province because their families depended on the remittances (regular payments) they sent home each month, because life was easier than in the Philippines, and due to relationships, and a bayanihan spirit. Filipinos may not have experienced the kind of institutionalized racism that excluded Chinese from Canada until 1947, or caused Japanese Canadians to be interned during the Second World War. Filipinos arrived in Canada speaking English, so they did not face a daunting language barrier. Nevertheless, they experienced discrimination based on the colour of their skin and other physical traits, which varied depending on the time and place of settlement and the degree to which they were perceived to take away dominant-society jobs. There are strong parallels between the historical discrimination against Chinese-Canadian railway and contract labourers and contemporary Filipino temporary foreign workers. Chinese and Filipinos were and are sought-after exemplary employees, needed to do contract work few people wanted.
As the numbers of migrant workers increased, so too did the racism and claims that they were taking away dominant-society jobs. As far back as 1885, the government responded with the Chinese Immigration Act and a head tax of $50 to stem the tide of migrant workers. In April 2014, the government responded with the banning of the hiring of temporary foreign workers by restaurants. In both instances, the important contributions of the contract workers were obscured. In April the ban was temporary and by June the government had announced that it was phasing out low-waged workers. [34] The ban did not specifically target Filipinos. However, the timing of the ban coincided with media reports of Canadian citizens complaining that temporary workers were taking away Canadian jobs. Usually these media reports were accompanied by photographs of Filipino temporary foreign workers. [35] The swift government response to media and public outcry over complaints about temporary foreign workers seemed to suggest government endorsement of discriminatory views. Filipinos are not the only group of temporary foreign workers employed by McDonald’s and other businesses. As mentioned, most of the individuals who will be profiled in Part 2 of this article have spent careers helping vulnerable migrants, students, care givers, and domestic and temporary foreign workers.
Several of the individuals interviewed for this article were affiliated with the Knights of Rizal. The Knights of Rizal is an organization that promotes the values of resilience, bayanihan and bahala na and that is also associated with José Rizal (1861–1898), the national hero of the Philippines. Some research participants hastened to add that Rizal was a much more complex figure and not the hero of those associated with today’s liberation movement in the Philippines. [36] Levy Abad, a former Social Sciences teacher, poet and songwriter, noted that Rizal’s reformism was tainted with colonialism: “Historically, we fought and gained independence from colonial rule of the Spaniards and had Independence declared in 12 June 1898 but this was not acceptable for the US and Spain. The US granted us independence (US colonial Rule) on 4 July 1946 through the Treaty of Manila but the granting of independence was just the beginning of the struggle against US Neo-Colonial rule. It is pervasive to this day and is still raging. Almost everybody is silent about this. You will note that this struggle will not be seen in the mainstream Canadian cultural presentation. Hence, what the diaspora is getting is just a partial story of the struggle narrative.” [37]
An affluent, highly educated physician, author, sojourner and Catholic, Rizal as person and persona has become the figurehead of the mainstream Filipino men and women around the globe who belong to the Knights of Rizal. Rizal’s father was a wealthy Chinese mestizo, and his mother had received a college education. Rizal studied medicine at Santo Tomas University in the Philippines, and then spent a decade in Europe completing his medical degree at the University of Madrid, and a Doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. Although he was a medical doctor by training, Rizal became famous in 1887 for a novel called Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) that criticized both the Catholic church and Spanish colonialism. The book was banned, Rizal’s family was exiled, and in December 1896 the Spanish executed him for treason. Spurred on by Rizal’s sacrifice, two years later the Philippines became the first independent Asian nation. [38]
Religion is deeply embedded in Filipino history and has been an integral part of the migration and settlement process here. Filipinos, unlike Chinese and Japanese migrants, were usually Christian (Catholic or Protestant) when they migrated. In this way, they met with greater acceptance because Canada was a Christian nation. Churches, along with religious groups, continue to play an enormous role in providing newcomer assistance and enabling Filipinos to form ties and relationships. [39] As one Filipino observed: “It’s an important part of our life. Whether it’s Roman Catholicism, or whether it’s Iglesia ni Cristo, or whether it’s Jehovah’s Witness, or whatever, Filipinos are very religious.”
Evangelical and Catholic churches in Manitoba have been revitalized by Filipino congregations, and services are entirely in Tagalog. A variety of Winnipeg’s religious groups, including Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Sacred Heart, Santo Niño, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Piat, Our Lady of Penafrancia, Lord of Pardon and Cenacle Prayer Group, organize and host religious festivals. Each year on 25 January, Winnipeg Filipinos observe Ati Atihan, one of a few festivals that celebrate Santo Niño (Infant Jesus). [40]
Newly elected MLA Flor Marcelino (right) celebrates with Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, 22 May 2007.
Source: Flor Marcelino
Although Manitoba Filipinos originate from diverse provinces and speak different regional languages, they are unified here in speaking English or Tagalog. They use regional languages amongst themselves. Most research participants also mentioned wordless greetings to acknowledge other Filipinos: Men lift the eyebrow, sharing a special look, or saying “spss,” and women exchange nods, waves or smiles.
The importance of education was a strong theme in the oral history interviews. Another pervasive value was that of multiculturalism. Most early Winnipeg Filipinos had been active participants in ethnocultural groups and initiatives. Filipinos engaged with Manitoban society and were attracted to multiculturalism through values imparted by bayanihan spirit.
Through involvement with leaders of the Chinese, Japanese and other newcomer communities, Filipinos have fundraised, lobbied, organized and hosted Asian and multicultural events since the late 1960s. [41] By 2002, Filipinos had been elected to all levels of government in Manitoba.
As happened with other Asians, discrimination initially limited the earliest Filipino migrants in North America to unskilled labour as domestic servants, care givers and cooks, on sugar beet farms and in market gardens, in factories, and on the railway. [42] During periods when lone labourers and their families lived apart, ties were maintained through regular correspondence and financial remittances sent home. Family ties and networks are key to immigrant success in all Asian contexts. Chinese cultivate connections and belonging in Manitoba through five traditional relationships [43] and guanxi. [44] Filipinos cultivate connections through the bayanihan spirit that both solidifies and transcends family bonds. But there are key differences between Chinese and Filipino migration patterns in terms of gender, religion, language, politics, socio-economic status and education. Manitoba’s earliest Filipinos lived in a predominantly bachelorette (not bachelor) society of nurses, caregivers, domestic and garment workers. [45] Given the paucity of Filipino men in the province, single migrating women seldom married after they arrived. Filipinos migrated mostly after 1950, and were Christians who already spoke English and thus the classes that had been important for other earlier groups of non-Christian Chinese and sometimes Buddhist Japanese were not needed by them. Most Filipino newcomers were university–educated and sometimes from affluent families. Unlike Chinese Canadians, the earliest Filipinos were usually not anchored to home through political associations. [46] Their attachment to birthplace nevertheless remains strong as displayed through the use of formal costume, annual celebration of Philippine Independence Day, singing of the Philippine National Anthem and regular vacations to the Philippines.
When I first became a professor, I remember telling my classes about a growing apathy toward institutionalized religion. At that time, I incorporated the study of secularism into religion classes. Most students were either atheists or nominal Christians, but rarely churchgoers. Almost 15 years later Manitoba’s religious terrain has changed. The United and Anglican churches may be dying in this province but evangelical and Catholic churches have been revitalized by Filipino congregations, ecumenism, and services entirely in Tagalog.
Filipinos were now working at the legislature, in parliament, at city hall, as well as in hospitals, dental clinics, the military, libraries, universities, insurance agencies, hotels, and at the post office. Manitoba’s spoken languages reflect the complicated shifts in migration patterns. For most of the 20th century, English, German and French were the most widely spoken languages in Manitoba. In 2014 Tagalog has become the province’s second language. Today, most non-Filipinos know that the Philippines is its own country, but when Mike Pagtakhan was growing up they thought it was part of China.
Newly elected city councillor Mike Pagtakhan (right) with Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray, November, 2002.
Source: Mike Pagtakhan
Bayanihan and Belonging is part of an ongoing study. Part 2 of this work, which will appear in the next issue of Manitoba History, will present the stories of Filipino activists and leaders from Dauphin to Winnipeg. These individuals have shown leadership in the garment industry and on behalf of domestic helpers and temporary foreign workers, in medicine and dentistry, and as entrepreneurs, politicians, life insurance agents, postal workers and nurses. Through service to the broader community they have formed strong bonds and changed Manitoba’s cultural fabric. I end Part 1 with a poem by Levy Abad, describing the beginning of a Filipino migrant’s journey to Manitoba:
“Leaving”
Lyrics by Levy Abad
I’m journeying tomorrow to a distant land
And wondering what the future holds for me
Hoping that this venture will bring a better life
Wishing it’s all worth the misery.You and me, countless others take this leap of faith
Gambling all into the hands of fate
Leaving all relations to the cost of distance
And a sad song that will be playing through the years.Who knows of the burden that we’ve been carrying
Or the colored walls that we have to climb
Who can share the struggles that this journey is asking
As we take on unfamiliar times.If only things were different that we don’t have to leave
And home is free of hard times brought about by greed
If only empires crumble by itself without fight
You and I may never be here tonight.And so often there’s this endless yearning to look back
To embrace the motherland that brought us up
And in the silence of the night we cry to be forgiven
While the souls of our forebears call us home.At times under the neon lights we find ourselves grieving
For friends and comrades slain to set us free
In our weakness we left them alone to do the fighting
Through the violence of darkness to break free.Sadly, reality comes to wake us up
And here we are scattered and trying to rise up
And so we gather strength through bonds of living hope
Care for one another to build a better world.
1. This is Part 1 of a two-part article. The research presented here has been funded by two SSHRC grants for which I am principal investigator (2008–2011; and 2012–2017 with Pauline Greenhill, co-investigator), and the CCK Foundation (with Allen Chun, collaborator). I thank research assistants Pat Garry, Alison Mayes, Hannah Tufts, Melba Sumat, Barb Manko, and Morganna Malyon. Last but not least, I thank confidential research participants who read a draft of this article, and edited the introductory, concluding sections, though no changes were made to research participant stories.
2. Alison R. Marshall, The Way of the Bachelor: Early Chinese Settlement in Manitoba. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2011.
3. My research team and I have searched well over 500 local histories in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario since 2008, as well as newspapers and other archives related to settlements in these regions. Research participants have also shared personal archival collections with me.
4. See: Marcial Q. Aranas, The Dynamics of Filipino Immigrants in Canada. Edmonton: Coles Print Co., 1983; Darlyne Bautista, Winnipeg’s Filipino Health Professionals (c. 1950–1970). Winnipeg: ANAK 2012; Glenda Tibe Bonifacio, Pinay on the Prairies: Filipino Women and Transnational Identities. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2013; Anita Beltran Chen, From Sunbelt to Snowbelt: Filipinos in Canada. Calgary: Canadian Ethnic Studies Association, 1998; Roland Sintos Coloma, et al., eds., Filipinos in Canada: Disturbing Invisibility. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012; Jim Corrigan, Filipino Immigration. Broomall: Mason Crest, 2004; Isabella T. Crisostomo, Filipino Achievers in the USA & Canada: Profiles in Excellence. Farmington Hills: Bookhaus, 1996; Pauline Gardiner Barber, “The Ideal Immigrant? Gendered Class Subjects in Philippine-Canada Migration,” Third World Quarterly 29(7): 1265-1285 (2008).
5. I have come to know since my deadline for this preliminary work that there are others not included here who had become the first to achieve positions of distinction in their careers or places of employment, namely, a “member of the University of Winnipeg Board of Regents; Heads of Vascular Surgery Section and Pathology departments at the Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface General Hospital; Professors in the Faculties of Human Ecology and Arts and Dean of Education at the University of Manitoba; Vice-Principals and Chair of Seven Oaks School Board; Head of High School Math and Science Department; key roles in musical production and performing arts; high-school graduate Governor General Gold Medalists; owners of supermarkets, restaurants, travel agencies and architectural firm; geologist soil specialist; Speaker of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly and other Members of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, publishers of community newspapers and entrepreneurs.” Rey D. Pagtakhan, “Filipinos in Manitoba: Celebrating Half a Century of their Coming”, lecture at the Philippine Canadian Centre of Manitoba, 27 May 2009. It is my hope that I could engage these individuals later as research participants in this continuing project.
6. I attempt to research and write reflexively by choosing methods and theories that develop patterns within research participant narratives. I attend events and get to know research participants and develop relationships with leaders to determine community interest in a project. As much as possible, I try to balance my own role as scholarly interpreter and outsider with the needs of the individual community. Sometimes, this means that I omit stories I perceive to inflame disunity in a community, or racism toward it. See Katherine Borland, “That’s Not What I Said”: Interpretive Conflict in Oral Narrative Research,” in S. B. Gluck and D. Patai, eds. Women’s Words: The Feminist Practice of Oral History. New York: Routledge, pp. 63-75.
7. “Objectivism is the relentless faith in the ideal correctness of a truly unbiased account as not only possible, but preferable.” See Pauline Greenhill and Alison Marshall, “Racism and Denial of Racism: Dealing with the Academy and the Field,” Journal of American Folklore, forthcoming. See also Donna Haraway, “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective,” Feminist Studies 14(3): 575-599 (1988).
8. See Natasha Pinterics, “Riding the Feminist Waves in With the Third,” Canadian Woman Studies 21(4): 15-21 (2001).
9. Dr. Rey Pagtakhan provided important elaboration on these three socio-cultural values in Filipino culture.
10. Affect, as defined in this article, can be a physical feeling or an emotion. Affect is both positive and negative, creates bonds among people in different places and times, and has momentum leading to conviviality or apathy and belonging or exclusion. See Brian Massumi, Movement, Affect, Sensation: Parables for the Virtual. Durham: Duke University Press, 2002, p. 217.
11. Arthur Frank adds, “Stories work with people, for people, and always stories work on people, affecting what people see as real, as possible, and as worth doing or best avoided.” Arthur W. Frank, Letting Stories Breathe: A Socio-Narratology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010, p. 3.
12. In the Philippines, Chinese are generally seen as distinct from “Filipinos” belonging to an ethnic group known as “Chinoy” or mixed-race Chinese “mestizos.” Chinese-Filipino trade began in the Song dynasty (960–1127) and migration began in the 16th century. See Edgar Wickberg, The Chinese in Philippine Life, 1850–1898, Reprint. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2000, p. 25.
13. “Table 24—Population Classified According to Racial Origin by Provinces.” Census of Canada, 1921. Vol. I. Ottawa: F. A. Acland, 1925, pp. 356-357.
14. See Alison Marshall, Cultivating Connections: The Making of Chinese Prairie Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2014.
15. Between 1898 and 1934, Filipinos (unlike Chinese) enjoyed unrestricted migration to the United States as colonial subjects. Two Filipinos resided in Minnesota in 1910 and by 1930, 236 Filipinos resided in Minnesota. After 1934, United States migration was limited to a quota of 50 Filipino newcomers per year. June Drenning Holmquist, They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of the State’s Ethnic Groups, Reprint. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Association, 2004, pp. 547-550.
16. See Gemma Dalayoan, Leah Enverga-Magsino, and Leonnie Bailon, The First Filipino Immigrants in Manitoba (1959–1975). Winnipeg: Artbookbindery, 2008, p. 39.
17. See Darlyne Bautista, Winnipeg’s Filipino Health Professionals.
18. Cleto M. Buduhan, “An Urban Village: The Effect of Migration on the Filipino Garment Workers in a Canadian City,” MA Thesis. University of Manitoba, 1972.
19. Immigration Act, 1967.
20. Nandita Sharma, Home Economics: Nationalism and the Making of “Migrant Workers” in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.
21. Diwa Marcelino, Programme Coordinator-Migrante Manitoba, “Migrant Workers and Human Rights,” Winnipeg Multicultural Human Rights Forum. 26 June 2014.
22. Wilf Falk, Chief Statistician of Manitoba, reports that according to the 2011 Census National Household Survey, the province has 61,270 people of Filipino origin and that each year a quarter of Manitoba’s 13,000 newcomers are Filipino. This makes the total population roughly 75,000 by 2014 (if one includes 2011 migration numbers). Telephone conversation, 24 March 2014.
23. Ema Olarte notes that of the 60 Filipinos who currently reside in Russell, Manitoba, a handful of them live with families.
24. Neepawa’s Filipino population is estimated to be 1200 as of April 2012. Jeremy Janzen, Human Resources, Hylife, Neepawa, and Settlement Office, Filipino Association, and Town of Neepawa. See also Monday, 22 April 2013, Filipino Journal and “Neepawa Filipino Basketball League gaining momentum.” Tuesday, 19 November. 2013, My Westman.ca http://www.mywestman.ca/sports/1793-neepawa-filipino-basketball-league-gaining-momentum.html (accessed 22 July 2014).
25. http://www.cicnews.com/2014/01/story-filipino-immigration-canada-013193.html. See also “Tagalog fastest-growing language in Canada, data show.” 24 October 2012. The Globe and Mail, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/tagalog-fastest-growing-language-in-canada-data-show/article4650109/ (accessed 22 April 2014).
26. “Strand Week of April 8: Filipino Sextette,” 5 April 1918, The Voice, n.p.
27. “Champagne Orgy at Jamestown,” 25 September 1907, Brandon Daily Sun, n.p.
28. Peel 10569.15: Proceedings of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Alberta, A.F. and A.M. Freemasons, 1920, p. 155.
29. Canadians followed Filipino boxing matches in the 1930s. 24 January 1933, The Globe, p. 13.
30. Peel 7378: Facts about the new international wheat agreement, 1949–50 to 1952–53. Saskatoon: Modern Press, 1949, pp. 49-50.
31. Peel 10567.64: Manitoba Telephone System. Radio Branch. Manitoba Calling. Winnipeg Manitoba Telephone System v. 6, no. 4. 1937.
32. For a thorough discussion of 1970s wages and cost of living in the Philippines, see Buduhan, pp. 38-48.
33. “MM has world’s highest homeless population” by Jose Rodel Clapano, The Philippine Star, 6 May 2014. http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/05/06/1319831/mm-has-worlds-highest-homeless-population (accessed 30 June 2014).
34. See, for instance, “Jason Kenney effectively phasing out temporary foreign workers in low-wage jobs,” CBC news, 21 June 2014. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jason-kenney-effectively-phasing-out-temporary-foreign-workers-in-low-wage-jobs-1.2682950 (accessed 21 July 2014).
35. “Concerns rise over temporary foreign workers,” Fort Saskatchewan Record, 3 July 2014. http://www.fortsaskatchewanrecord.com/2014/07/03/concerns-rise-over-temporary-foreign-workers (accessed 21 July 2014).
36. Research participants emphasized that most left-wing liberation movement supporters had not migrated and thus their views, heroes, and interests were not represented in Manitoba’s cultural fabric or in activities that take place during the annual Philippines Heritage Week celebrations.
37. Email correspondence, Levy Abad, 11 June 2014.
38. See Stanley Karnow, In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines. New York: Ballantine, 1989, pp. 67-77.
39. Only one research participant among the 30 interviewed did not list religion as a major involvement. For the majority, churches, pastors and volunteer ministry figured prominently in experiences, life decisions and community participation. Information collected thus far strongly suggests that Filipinos are reviving and re-invigorating dwindling or dying church populations from Winnipeg to Dauphin.
40. Aklanons in Canada to hold Ati-Atihan, Blog. 9 January 2014. http://aklannewsupdate.blogspot.ca/2014/01/aklanons-in-canada-to-hold-ati-atihan.html (accessed 14 April 2014). For a list of Winnipeg’s earliest religious and other associations, see Buduhan, p. 94.
41. See for instance, Joseph Du, ed., Mr. Hung Lee and Winnipeg Chinatown (Winnipeg: publisher name? 2003), p. 94, and Patrick Choy, ed., Winnipeg Chinatown. China: Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre, 2011, p. 186.
42. See Marshall, Way of the Bachelor, and the discussion of Japanese sugar beet farmers in Halbstadt Heritage Book Committee, Halbstadt Heritage: Halbstadt, Strassberg and Blumenthal, 1879–2005. Halbstadt: The Committee, 2005, p. 301. Most of Manitoba’s earliest migrants came from Minnesota, Dakota and other American states. For a discussion of Filipinos in Minnesota, see June D. Holmquisto, They Chose Minnesota. See also Gemma Dalayoan, et al., The First Filipino Immigrants in Manitoba (1959–1975), p. 39.
43. Subject to ruler, father to son, husband to wife, brother to brother, and friend to friend. See Confucian Analects, juan 12.19, and 13.3.
44. “Guanxi is a term that is often used to describe the circulation, exchange, and redistribution of material goods, as well as pampering and gifting by both donors and recipients.” See Alison Marshall, Cultivating Connections: The Making of Chinese Prairie Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2014, p. 28.
45. For an incisive discussion of the formation of Filipino nursing migration culture in the United States, see Catherine Ceniza Choy, Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003, pp. 18-21.
46. From the beginning, Manitoba’s Chinese settlers were strongly nationalist, atheist bachelors. By contrast, the province’s Filipino settlers were non-political religious bachelorettes. See Alison Marshall, The Way of the Bachelor.
We thank Clara Bachmann for assistance in preparing the online version of this article.
We thank S. Goldsborough for assistance in preparing the online version of this article.
Page revised: 31 March 2020
