Asian History Month: Honouring History and Celebrating Diversity

By Pat Parungao

The Honourable Dr. Vivienne Poy. https://www.pchc-mom.ca/board-of-directors

The Honourable Dr. Vivienne Poy, a former senator and the first Canadian of Asian descent appointed to the Senate, played a key role in establishing Asian Heritage Month (AHM) in Canada. In 2001, she proposed a motion in the Senate to officially designate May as Asian Heritage Month—a motion that was adopted and formally recognized by the Government of Canada in 2002.  British Columbia followed suit and started officially recognizing May as Asian Heritage Month in May 2002 (see May 2025 BC Proclamation below).

The Pacific Canada Heritage Centre – Museum of Migration Society (PCHC-MoM) is honoured to have Dr. Poy as its Honorary Patron. Her primary motivation for this motion was to give visibility to Asian communities in Canada and to raise awareness of their diverse contributions and presence here.  PCHC-MoM proudly continues Dr. Poy’s vision by offering and supporting programs during AHM and throughout the year.

People of Asian origin have been arriving in BC since the 1700s, bringing their rich cultural heritage and making significant contributions to various aspects of life.

 

Cacahuate adapted by Peter Fitzgerald, Globe-trotter, Joelf, Texugo, Piet-c and Bennylin. “Map of Asia.” 5 May 2007 (original upload date). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Asia.svg

Legend: 

• Purple = Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan)
• Blue = Central Asia
• Yellow = East Asia (China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan)
• Brown = West Asia/Middle East
• Green = South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan)
• Red = South East Asia (10 ASEAN countries + East Timor)

Explore Diverse Cultures

• The Pacific Canada Heritage Centre – Museum of Migration (PCHC-MoM)
  On Friday May 16, PCHC-MoM is partnering with Capilano University to offer a panel presentation at CapU – tentatively planned for 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  The  focus will be  on Asian music / musicians, entrepreneurship and migration stories. For more information, see https://www.pchc-mom.ca/upcoming-events or email info@pchc-mom.ca.
• Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society (VAHMS)
  For decades, VAHMS has presentedExplorAsian events across Metro Vancouver to celebrate Asian-Canadian arts, culture, and community.  Explore and register on EventBrite.
• Southeast Asian Cultural Heritage Society (SEACHS), 
• Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre – see https://centre.nikkeiplace.org/upcoming-events/
• Powell Street Festival – see https://powellstreetfestival.com/
• Beyond AHM – attend the Powell Street Festival (Japanese arts and culture) in the summer and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival in November.