Sikh Heritage Month - Alberta Sikh History Project
April is Sikh Heritage Month in Canada
Image: "Harnan Singh Hari, driving wagon, De Winton area, Alberta.", 1913, (CU1102785) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
April is Sikh Heritage Month in Canada. The following research by the Alberta Sikh History Project shares the story of Harnam Singh Hari, the first Sikh settler to permanently reside in Calgary.
“Upon his arrival [in 1910], Harnam Singh quickly gained employment at the Eau Claire Lumber Co. through his sheer determination and hard work. Family memory recalls how he was able to carry two 100-pound bags of cement at a time whereas others could manage but a single bag. He was hired on the spot. He earned enough money to rent a small farm just up the hill from Nose Creek (roughly at what is now Edmonton Trail and 30 Avenue NE in the area of Tuxedo Park) and to purchase a horse and wagon.
Within two years, he expanded his holdings, (likely) purchasing several acres of land just south of the city limits in what is now the district of Kingsland just south of Chinook Centre. Here, he not only farmed but raised hogs. Over the years, Harnam Singh continued to expand his holdings, purchasing land in the DeWinton area and possibly as far south as Bow Island in the southern part of the province. At its height, Harnam Singh owned over 5000 acres of farmland in Alberta.
In 2014, Harnam Singh and his descendants were honoured when the City of Calgary inaugurated Singh Hari Park in Kingsland (717 80 Avenue SW), the location of Harnam Singh’s first purchased farm. To date, six generations of the Hari family have made Calgary home, and many of Harnam Singh’s descendants continue to live in the Calgary area."