By Carol Cameron Kurtz, M.A. California State University, Hayward
Today, the Sikhs are one of the most talked about and controversial ethnic groups in the world. Over the last two years the international news media has depicted Sikhs first, as victims of an oppressive government and secondly, as assassins and terrorists ready to die by the sword for their faith. In a recent random telephone survey of Northern California residents the majority of respondents identified Sikhs as natives of India and a few were able to name the Punjab of northwest India as the Sikh regional homeland, yet none of the survey participants were aware of the existence of a sizeable Sikh community in California even though they have lived in this state for more than half a century. Sikhs were the first people of India to migrate to California in large numbers. Even though a few Indian businessmen, students, lecturers and swamis did come earlier, none put down permanent roots in this state. The Sikhs first migrated to California in the opening years of this century. The majority of the early Sikh pioneers were agriculturalists from the Punjab. These Sikh farmers went to work in the valleys of California, especially the fertile plains of the Central Valley. Sikhs were present in the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento Valley as early as 1907; and in the Imperial Valley of southernmost California in 1910. Many Sikhs felt that the valleys of California resembled the Punjab in both topography and climate and would provide job opportunities and the possibility of the eventual ownership of land.
At the time of their arrival Sikhs found themselves in a situation similar to the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, and Filipinos. They found that California was not a land of golden opportunity and jobs were hard to come by. Sikh immigration came on the heels of the massive Chinese and Japanese migrations which had attracted adverse reaction from many Americans who feared the state was experiencing a “Hindu invasion by a tide of ragheads,” and the perceived fear of the “yellow peril” was rampant in the state.
Because only menial jobs were open to them, these experienced farmers went to work in the migrant farm labor cycle in the Central Valley. The men worked in labor gangs with one person acting as spokesman and bargaining for the groups, wages. In those early days living conditions were poor and the men often slept in barns or in the fields.
The labor gangs migrated from farm to farm and region to region as the need for workers dictated. Although the majority of Sikh was employed as migrants, a few obtained permanent basis. Such Sikhs were able to learn about California crop types, land conditions, and the labor situation in the state. During these years a few Sikhs were able to save money and move from migrant farm worker status to land lease holder and eventually to land owners.
It is estimated that in those early years the probably height of the Sikh population was no more than 7000 but with the close of immigration and the passage of the Federal Immigration Law of 1919, which created a Pacific Barred Zone that declared the natives of India inadmissible to the United States, the population underwent a drastic reduction. By 1946 it is estimated that fewer than 1700 Sikhs remained in California. This reduction was due in part to the death of many of the early pioneers and the return of a significant number to their Punjab homeland. From this narrow base, the Sikhs have increased to their present population.
With the passage of Public Law 483 in 1946 which authorized the admission into the United States of persons of “races indigenous to India” the character and size of the Sikh population changed. The occupational categories of the new immigrants were high. A majority were well-educated urbanites from the cities of the Punjab. These people were attracted to the urban centers in search of an education and professional employment. At the same time, however, the number of Sikhs migrating to the rural areas also increased with a definite shift of the population hub northward to the Sacramento Valley. With the abolishment of the immigration quota system in 1965 not only did the population increases, so did its social composition. Large numbers of Hindus and Moslems began arriving in this state.
The contemporary Asian Indian population can be characterized as consisting mostly of three groups: 1) Hindus, which constitute the largest number who have located primarily in the urban areas; 2) the Sikhs who live both in rural and urban areas; and 3) Moslems who have settled in the major cities of California. Small numbers of Jains and Zoroastrians also live in the state.
The most visible sign of Sikh presence in California is the Sikh temple or gurdwara (literally meaning: “gateway to the guru”). This social center and religious edifice is the main characteristic of the Sikh cultural landscape and its presence indicates a population significant enough in size to support it. At present there are eighty-seven Sikh temples in North America. Thirty-eight are located in the United States and forty-nine in Canada; fifteen are in California. They range from Live Oak in the north, to El Centro in the south. The oldest gurdwara is located in Stockton and the newest center of Sikh life opened in San Jose in 1984. The oldest Sikh temple in California, the United States and possibly all of North America was built in 1915 and is located in the city of Stockton in the Central Valley. Originally constructed of wood the first temple was torn down and replaced with a brick building in 1927. Although first and foremost a religious place the temple served for many years as the primary channel of communication between the Sikhs of California and it was an informational link to the Punjab. The gurdwara acted as a link in the underground which moved Sikhs from the Mexican border to northern California in the period of illegal immigration and it acted as a place of congregation for workers looking for employment. For thirty-one years the Stockton gurdwara functioned as the only formal house of worship for the Sikhs of California. It was not until 1946 that the Sikhs of the Imperial Valley purchased and remodeled a closed Buddhist temple in El Centro, and it would be another twenty-four years before a third house of worship would open its doors to the Sikh Community in Yuba City. Since 1970, twelve more Sikh temples have opened in response to the growing needs of the Sikh population. The largest population of Sikhs in California is located in and around Yuba City an agricultural community in the north Sacramento Valley. This “Little Punjab” as some journalists have called it, is the political and social hub of Punjabi Sikhs in California. Considerable amounts of money flow from Yuba City to help build California’s gurdwaras. The Yuba City community is one of the oldest Sikh settlements in California. Today, numbering 5,000 in population many of these Sikhs are engaged in the multimillion dollar enterprise of the orcharding of Peaches, prunes, walnuts and almonds. Three gurdwaras are located in the area. A small temple renovated from a closed Christian church in 1979 is located in nearby Live Oak and two massive temples were built in Yuba City in 1970 and 1980 as social and religious Centers to serve the growing Sikh community.
One of the most impressive religious structures in California is the Sikh Temple of Yuba City located on Tierra Buena Road in the western portion of that settlement. This 18,680 square foot gurdwara built in the Indian architectural religious tradition is impressive when viewed in its agricultural setting. Containing a very large meeting hall and a dining room in size approximately that of an American basketball court, the large structure has remained a focal point for the community. Regular services are held daily in the morning and at dusk with a weekend service on Saturday night. An adjacent annex was built several years ago. This structure houses the library, two classrooms and two large meeting halls in addition to a health center and two apartments that house the permanent priests or granthis. A private school opened at the temple in 1984 and adjacent school facilities are planned.
The second temple to be built in Yuba City opened its doors in 1980. The Guru Nanak Temple located on Bogue Road in the southern portion of the area is equally impressive with its striking architecture. This temple represents a split in the religious traditions of the community which occurred with the immigration of more orthodox Sikhs from the Punjab following the relaxation of immigration laws in 1965.
All Sikh temples are open to the public and welcome visitors. There is always someone at a temple who speaks English and they are more than willing to give a tour of the facilities to the non-Sikhs or to just a curious passerby.
The San Francisco Bay area is home to 3 Sikh religious sites. Located in El Sobrante, Fremont and San Jose, the area holds about 30% of the state’s Asian Indian population. Most of the Sikhs residing here are urban professionals with a significant number employed in High-tech professions. Other Northern California gurdwaras are located in Livingston, where a growing population is engaged in the raisin and grape growing industry and in Sacramento where a group of Fijian Sikhs opened a temple in the western part of the town in 1983. Five Sikh Temples are located in southern California and all have opened in the last 15 years with the exception of the El Centro site. In Los Angeles (proper) two temples are located in the older part of the city while the outlying community of Anaheim has one. The cities of Riverside and West minister (in Orange County) both hold one temple while Fresno and several other cities are planning new temple sites.
The Sikhs and all other members of the Asian Indian community are trying to maintain their cultural heritage. Throughout the country ambitious cultural programs have been established to offset their isolation from their native land and to make Indian culture more widely known. Schools have been established to teach language, music and dance of the Indian subcontinent. Lectures on Indian history and philosophy and films are readily available throughout the country.
Television and radio carry Indian programs as well as cover parades and festivals put on by various Indian organization. Many weekly newspapers and magazines print articles about news events in the United States and India.
Locally India West, which is published in El Sobrante, carries dozens of articles and it regularly announces cultural events. The World Sikh News situated in Stockton is one of the newest periodicals started to bring news of Sikh activities to those away from their native land. National organizations have been formed. The largest and most influential is the Association of Indians in America which mounted a massive campaign to classify East Indians as Asian Americans in the 1980 U.S. Census in order to establish their eligibility for affirmative action programs.
Owing to the recent worldwide attention Sikhs are more recognizable and possibly a bit more understood by the non-Sikhs of California. However, it might be that Americans now view all Sikhs are fanatics and radicals. Only time will tell what the world reaction will be to the recent events in India. Sikhs have taken out advertisements in newspapers asking non-Sikhs to attend their services to hear the Sikh side of the story. It is possible that out of these most recent tragedies a new understanding between Sikhs and non-Sikhs will evolve.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 8, 1985
