September

At the Imperial War Conference in 1919, the Indian government successfully secured an agreement which finally permitted Indian women, and children under 18, to immigrate to Canada and Sikh family formation would begin. Many more first women and first daughters were allowed to enter Canada in the following years, with some of them joining their husbands to live in the early mill communities.

When Narain Singh Dosanjh's wife, Maha Kaur arrived in Canada, she quickly learned that she had to work hard to adapt and assimilate into Canadian society by wearing Western-style clothing and not that of traditional Indian custom. At the time, many women were told by their husbands to leave their Indian attire and jewelry behind as it would not be considered acceptable wear by Canadian society.

She would wear long dresses with scarfs as head covers which were part of her Sikh faith. With money being tight, Maha Kaur used her creativity and resources to save the sacks that food items like rice and potatoes came in.

She would bleach the cotton fabric and then dye the material in different colours and then hand sew shirts and dresses for herself and her children to wear. The only special clothing items they would purchase would be for wearing in public to Gurdwara events.

The Dosanjh family was one of the first five Sikh families to live in New Westminster, BC and Fraser Mills life was naturally structured to resemble village life in India. Since the men were responsible for working in the mill, Maha Kaur and the other women stayed home and were the caretakers of the children who would be born in Canada.

These early settler women lived a sheltered life and rarely associated with people from the broader society. However, they were quite happy and content in their new communities as there was a strong familial interdependency and dedication to service to their local Gurdwaras.