This is the CTV documentary about my cousin Rhonda Larrabee's struggle to resurrect Canada's smallest First Nations band the Qayqayt.......... Once upon a time the band flourished on the banks of the Fraser River. Then White settlers moved into their territories and renamed it New Westminster. The Qayqayt were put on a Reserve, but that was taken away from them too....... Rhonda's mother fled her homeland territories due to racism and shame. She came to Vancouver's Chinatown, where she met Rhonda's father. Rhonda grew up into her teenage years thinking she was Chinese. Then she discovered she was First Nations.    more »

Last year in 2006, the Vancouver Sun published a list of 100 Influential Chinese-Canadians in B.C. in BC.... to much criticism - positive and negative.  I commented on my blog article: GungHaggisFatChoy :: Vancouver Sun: 100 Influential Chinese...

I am now working on my list of "Chinese-Canadians that inspired me in 2007"

I was inspired by seeing the name of Roy Mah, in the Vancouver Sun's list of people we lost in 2007, and shared the idea with my friend George Jung.   Rather than create a list of newsworthy or influential Chinese Canadians, we decided on CC's that inspired us.  This way there is NO official requirement or standards.  It is  very subjective and personal.

I also emailed some friends to create their own lists:  David Wong and Gabriel Yu have sent me replies.  David's list can be viewed on http://www.uglychinesecanadian.com

In no order, other than who came to mind first, who has crossed my path, and reviewing my blog www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com to remind myself who I wrote about in 2007.


Roy Mah - the founder of Chinatown News, was written about in the Vancouver Sun after celebrating his 90th birthday, as well as when the City of Vancouver declared July 12th Roy Mah Day, in recognition of his memorial service.  I have known Roy since I submitted an article back in the early '80's.  When he would make his regular trips to the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, he would also wave to me sitting at the Information desk.
  
  
Thekla Lit for her work with Alpha Canada, promoting the film Rape of Nanjing, and inviting media and public to meet Comfort Women survivors.  Gabriel says that a columnist on the Global Chinese Press has named Thekla the Chinese-Canadian of 2007, as she and her husband Joseph have been busy on these issues for a long decade.  I got to know Thekla when she joined the committee for Chinese Head Tax Redress campaign in the months preceding the 2006 federal election.  She is a very smart women, not afraid to say what she thinks.


James Erlandsen - the young Eurasian SFU Student needing a bone marrow donor as he fights leukemia (James was named honourary drummer for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon boat team).  James reminded me so much of my own 1989 battle with cancer, even going to the same high school and university.  There have been ups and downs, and he still puts on a brave face.  I did a City TV interview with James, when James and I met for the first time.  It was James' cousin Aynsley who first contacted me about writing about James for my blog.
  
 
Tracey Hinder - the 15 year old inaugural BC CanSpell champion, featured in the CBC documentary GENERATIONS: The Chan Legacy.  People constantly told me after watching the documentary that they  thought that my young cousin Tracey was great in it.  She was very inspiring for the future of Canada, especially with Tracey's Eurasian heritage, learning Mandarin and being involved with her school's multiculturalism club.  This summer Tracey started an e-newsletter titled "Becoming Green" that gives suggestions how to create a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.  I knew from the beginning that Tracey had to be in the documentary.  The documentary also featured family elders Victor Wong, Helen Lee, and Gary Lee, artist/author Janice Wong and myself.  Read my blog stories about Generations: The Chan Legacy
Tracey Hinder, Betty Wong and Todd Wong re: Generations: The Chan Legacy

Henry Yu - UBC professor of History, chair and organizer of the Anniversaries for Change '07 events recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Anti-Asian Riots in Chinatown.  Henry has organized events at UBC and throughout Vancouver recognizing the impact on Vancouver made by the 1907 Anti-Asian riot in Vancouver Chinatown, the 1947 franchise for Chinese Canadians enabling them full citizenship rights, the new immigration act of 1967, and the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.  Henry has attended many Gung Haggis Fat Choy and Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop events over the past few years.  Henry always seems to have boundless enthusiasm and energy for all his projects.  But this past year was also significantly inspiring because he also became a cancer support person for his wife (see below).


Brandy Lien-Worrall - editor of Eating Stories: a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck and All Mixed Up - a Hapa anthology.  It is easy to be impressed by all the writing and editing projects that Brandy is involved in.  I got to know Brandy better when I took the writing workshops sponsored by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC.  I truly learned what an incredible dynamo she is. She pushed us to write creatively, and from the heart.  And it was fun to have my stories and pictures published in Eating Stories. Read: Eating Stories, a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck: book launch Nov 25th at Vancouver Museum.  But more important to recognize is that Brandy finished editing Eating Stories in between chemotherapy treatments, after she was diagnosed with cancer in the summer.  Soon she started up a cancer blog in addition to her poem a day blog, and her 12 other blogs...  Just like James Erlandsen, Brandy is Eurasian... and also reminds me of my own cancer experience. 


Larry Wong, Todd Wong, Shirley Chan, Janice Wong with editor Brandy Lien Worrall at the Eating Stories anthology official book launch at Vancouver Museum - photo Deb Martin

more to come....

Jen Sookfong Lee -

Margaret Gallagher

Karin Lee

Bill Wong

Vicki Wong

Joseph Wu

Tricia Collins

see part II
More Chjinese Canadians that Inpired me in 2007: part 2

Head Tax survivors Mrs. Der and Ralph Lee

Sid Tan - head tax activist

Bev Wong - community activist on bone marrow and blood donors

Douglas Jung building at 401 Burrard St. 

Lan Tung, leader of Orchid Ensemble, incredible musician and creator of Triaspora

Wesley Lowe - film maker, creator of I Am the Canadian Delegate - story of Douglas Jung

George Chow - city councilor

Raymond Louie - city councilor

Jenny Kwan - MLA

Jim Chu - 1st Vancouver police chief of Asian ancestry

Assaulted Fish - sketch comedy troupe

Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre VACT presented three productions in 2007, Cowboy VS Samaurai, Asian Comedy Night, and Bondage.

Twisting Fortunes duo - Charlie Cho and Grace Chin

Chinese Canadian veterans

Generations: The Chan Legacy
re-scheduled for August 19th on CBC Newsworld

***  Re-schedule for August 19th ***

On July 29th, 4pm PST / 7pm EST, CBC Newsworld showed Generations: The Crowfoot Dynasty instead of The Chan Legacy on July 29th - contrary to their http://www.cbc.ca/newsworld website.

so....  set your VHS recorders... or go buy a new DVD recorder!

True patriot Love: North Shore News article on Todd Wong, Betty Wong and Tracey Hinder re: The Chan Legacy

http://www.canada.com/northshorenews/news/live/story.html?id=281951b4-4181-4c68-a39b-5e5855445271

- Generations: The Chan Legacy is re-scheduled for August 19, on CBC Newsworld at 4 p.m. PST / 7pm EST

To say that Todd Wong, a 47-year-old North Vancouver resident, is proud of his roots would be an understatement.

Wong's family is one that has greatly impacted Canada's history and as a result its members continue to celebrate where they come from.

"We're just a Canadian family," says Wong, not downplaying his family's identity, but rather stating, realistically, who they are.

Not only has the Chan family survived, its members are continuing to thrive, exemplifying what it means to truly be "Canadian."

Wong's family's unique story is being brought to life in Generations: The Chan Legacy, a CBC documentary airing today on CBC Newsworld. It's part of a series of documentaries called Generations and was produced by Halya Kuchmij.

Filmmakers approached Wong, known in the Lower Mainland for his unique interest in multiculturalism, community work and activism. He's the founder of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, a website promoting inter-cultural activities.

Wong is also behind a 10-year-old Vancouver tradition, the Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner -- a mix of Chinese and Scottish traditions meant to play against racial stereotypes -- and he's a member of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team that further promotes multiculturalism and community spirit.

Wong's website site also details his adventures, told at times through his alter ego, "Toddish McWong," further celebrating what it is to be Canadian, he says.

The documentary discusses Wong's great, great grandfather Reverend Chan Yu Tan and how he and his wife came to the West Coast in 1896 to "spread the gospel" throughout, he says. Methodist church missionaries, they were tasked with "Westernizing" and "Christianizing" the Chinese pioneers, the majority working in labour-based jobs like the railroad.

Filming and interviews with Wong and his relatives, encompassing a number of generations, happened last fall.

"Before the documentary, I didn't know a lot about my ancestry," says Wong's second generation cousin, West Vancouver resident Tracey Hinder, 15, who's featured in the film. Hinder attends West Vancouver secondary.

"I only knew that I was Chinese-Canadian, that my mother was Chinese and that my father was British-Canadian. With the making of the documentary, I found that my family history started to unfold and I never knew that part of myself. It was absolutely fascinating," Hinder says.

Hinder is a member of her school's multiculturalism club, which organizes activities for students to participate in. She's also learning Mandarin.

Wong says he's proud of her as he believes it's important to ensure the younger generations of his family come to know and recognize their ancestral roots.

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Generations: The Chan Legacy on CBC Newsworld.
July 29th - 4pm and midnight

The Chan Legacy is the lead episode in the new documentary series Generations on CBC Newsworld.  It debuted on July 4th - my grandmother's 97th birthday.

How fitting!  Because the show is about her grand-father Rev. Chan Yu Tan who came to Canada in 1896 as a Christian missionary.

Feedback has been very positive.  Family members are very proud.  Friends are very supportive.  Historians are enthusiastic. Strangers are thrilled.

Listen to Auntie Helen and Uncle Victor tell stories about Rev. and Mrs. Chan, and about growing up in pre-WW2 BC, and facing racial discrimination.  Uncle Victor Wong also tells about enlisting as a Canadian soldier to go behind enemy lines in the Pacific for suicide squadrons, fighting for Canada, even though Chinese-Canadians could not vote in the country of their birth.

The next generations assimiliated more easily into Canadian culture.  Gary Lee became an actor and singer.  Janice Wong became a visual artist and author of the book CHOW: From China to Canada - memories of food and family, which addressed the history of Rev. Chan coming to Canada, and how Janice's dad started a Chinese restaurant in Prince Albert SK.

Then there is Todd Wong - cultural and community activist who founded Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner - which inspired a CBC Vancouver television performance special.  Todd is shown active in the dragon boat community, and speaking at a Terry Fox Run in the role of a 16 year cancer survivor.  Renowned Japanese-Canadian author Joy Kogawa makes an appearance, as Todd was also involved in helping to save Kogawa's childhood home from demolition and to turn it into a national historic and literary landmark.

July 29th Sunday - repeats at midnight

4:00 p.m.

Generations: The Chan Legacy - Missionaries from China come to the West Coast help Westernize Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

J

Kilts and family history abound during two episodes of the 6-part Generations series on CBC Newsworld

Find out what a 250 year old Anglophone family in Quebec City and a 120 year old Chinese-Canadian family in Vancouver have in common.

Both have:
bagpipes and kilts
+ accordion music
+ canoe/dragon boat racing
+ immigration as a topic
+ Church music
+ archival photos/newsreels of an ex-premier
+ cultural/racial discrimination stories
+ prominent Canadian historical events to show how
   the families embraced them or were challenged by them
+ both featured saving a historical literary landmark.
+ younger generation learning the non-English language

Generations: The Chan Legacy features Todd Wong, founder of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, a quirky Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner, which inspired a CBC Vancouver television performance special.  Todd's involvements with Terry Fox Run, Joy Kogawa House campaign and dragon boat racing are also shown.

July 29th 4pm PST / July 30th 12am

4:00 p.m.

Generations: The Chan Legacy - Missionaries from China come to the West Coast help Westernize Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

August 5th 4pm PST

4:00 p.m.

Generations: The Blairs of Quebec - An Anglophone family with 250 years of history in Quebec City struggles to maintain it's heritage.

Produced by Halya Kuchmij, narrated by Michelle Cheung.

Work took Ronnie Blair and his family to England in the 1960’s but his children longed to return to Canada, and to Quebec City. Alison Blair was the first to return, as a student, in 1972. Her brother David followed in 1974. Both were excited by the political and social changes that had taken place during the Quiet Revolution in Quebec and threw themselves into everything Francophone. David learned to speak French, married a French Canadian and settled into a law practice.

Generations on CBC Newsworld. 
The Chan Legacy plays 5 times

The Chan Legacy is the lead episode in the new documentary series Generations on CBC Newsworld.  It has played a total of 5 times.  But only the 1st and 2nd times were listed correctly on the www.cbc.ca/documentaries/generations website.  I had trouble finding listings on the www.cbc.ca/newsworld program listings.

Feedback has been very positive.  Family members are very proud.  Friends are very supportive.  Historians are enthusiastic. Strangers are thrilled.

The series is supposed to repeat on July 29th and is listed on the Generations website - but not the CBC Newsworld program listings.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.

I am looking forward to seeing the other Generations stories. 
The Blairs of Quebec begins on Wednesday July 11th.
The McCurdy Birthright begins on Wednesday July 18th
The Crowfoot Dynasty begins on Wednesday July 25th

July 4th Wednesday

7:00 p.m.

Generations: The Chan Legacy - Missionaries from China come to the West Coast help Westernize Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

July 4th Wednesday

10:00 p.m.

Generations: The Chan Legacy - Missionaries from China come to the West Coast help Westernize Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

July 6th Friday

1:00 a.m.

Generations: The Chan Legacy - Missionaries from China come to the West Coast help Westernize Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

July 8th Sunday

7:00 a.m.

Generations: The Chan Legacy - Missionaries from China come to the West Coast help Westernize Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

July 9th, Monday

12:00 a.m.

Generations: The Chan Legacy - Missionaries from China come to the West Coast help Westernize Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

Other upcoming Generations episodes
July 11th, Wednesday

7:00 p.m.

Generations: The Blairs of Quebec - An Anglophone family with 250 years of history in Quebec City struggles to maintain it's heritage.

July 18th, Wednesday

7:00 p.m.

Generations: The McCurdy Birthright - From the Underground Railroad to the House of Commons, one of the oldest Black families built a civil rights legacy.

July 25th, Wednesday

7:00 p.m.

Generations: 100 Years in Crowfoot - The Crowfoot Dynasty: The descendants of a great Chief continue a legacy of Native leadership through seven generations.

Where was GENERATIONS: The Chan Legacy on CBC Newsworld at 10am PST

I received a number of e-mails this morning asking this very question?

The http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/generations/ website listed 10am EST/PST but evidently only broadcast at 10am EST (7am PST)

I have sent notice to the Generations executive producer.
looks like different branches of CBC (Newsworld and documentaries aren't talking to each other).

I have both video and dvd - and will try to arrange for a public /family viewing at a restaurant if possible.

In the meantime - please check http://www.cbc.ca/programguide

The Chan Legacy is next set to air on July 29th, Sunday, 7pm EST (which means 4pm PST).

More comments about GENERATIONS: The Chan Legacy

Generations is a 6 part series and the lead installment is The Chan Legacy - which is about my great-great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan, and our family descendants who are committed to community service - like me!  The episodes of the series are:

Generations: The Chan Legacy - Missionaries from China come to the West Coast help Westernize Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

Very fine! That Generations item on CBC-TV is another indication that the history of the Chinese in Vancouver is rich and interesting and human. And, besides, we got to see Todd Wong in a kilt! It inspired me to think, and I'm being serious here, that my history web site www.vancouverhistory.ca should be offered in Chinese. We just need to find someone to share that dream.

- Chuck Davis - Vancouver historian


Being the son of head tax payers and a founding member of the Head Tax Families Society of Canada, I watched your documentary with a great deal of interest and a touch of sadness; I am happy that you told the story of the Chinese pioneers in Canada with such clarity, but saddened by the memory of the racism all Chinese had to endure.

Watching "GENERATIONS: The Chan Legacy" with my grandmother and family

We attended the 97th birthday dinner for my grandmother, Mabel Mar (who can be seen in the documentary during the home movies, and in the Gung Haggis Fat Choy television special dinner segment.  It was great to watch with family members who hadn't seen the documentary yet.  My cousins Diane, Chris, Auntie Sylvia and Uncle Ian were all so pleased at how well done the show was. 

They kept talking over the narration whenever they recognized somebody in the pictures or the home movies that were shown.

Below are e-mails and messages that I have received from friends and family:

Todd - YOU have made us all very proud of our ancestors.
YOU did a great job to make this happen
MANY thanks
- David Young (Toronto cousin)

Dear Todd-really touched by your family, thought it was beautifully told - you look like your aunt Helen Lee 
but in a handsome, manly way.  What a treasure to have this documentary of this incredible 
clan-well done, thanks for sharing
- Jane Duford - artist and Gung Haggis paddler

SO Canadian. Great documentary, and I'm glad that I caught it. Well, I
only received half a dozen messages about it. ;) The other segments
look really good, too.
- Hillary Wong

Karen and I enjoyed it. Watch the whole thing.
- Richard Mah (Vancouver International Dragon Boat Race - race director)

Congratulations, Todd!  I actually read a story last year about your family in the North Shore News -- how proud you must feel!!!!  & how proud I am to know you!!! 
--Terrie Hamazaki (writer)

Todd! Generations was excellent! I loved it!  You were so great in it!!
Great job on all of your hard work in putting this together, it was really interesting.
Tell Aunty Mabel Happy Birthday for me!  Talk to you soon
Katie (Toronto cousin)

sharing,-jane         

GENERATIONS: The Chan Legacy airs today 10pm on CBC Newsworld

10:00 p.m.

Generations: The Chan Legacy - Missionaries from China come to the West Coast help Westernize Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

Yesterday I was interviewed 8:20 am Tuesday morning, July 3rd, by Rick Cluff for the CBC Radio 690 show "The Early Edition."  Rick first asked me how I got interested in family history, and I replied that one of the first computer programs I got was for genealogy.

I had found it fascinating that we were descended from a Chinese United Church minister. It was important for me to find positive role models growing up, because as a Chinese-Canadian, there weren't many.  I grew up in North Vancouver, and many people couldn't tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese back then. Some people would tell me to go back where I came from.

I brought some photo displays into the radio studio and Rick asked about them.

"Here's a picture of Rev. Chan Yu Tan" when he first arrived in Canada in 1896."

Here's a picture of Uncle Dan and his brothers during WW2"

"Here's a picture of our family reunion in 1999."

"How many people attended, Todd?"

"We had over 200 people, from all across the continent Rick - from Ontario, Alberta, Washington, California."

Rick asked what I hoped the younger generations would learn from the story.  I told him that it was important for our younger generations to learn what our ancestors had overcome, such as the head tax, the 1907 riot, the exclusion act, gaining the voting franchise.  And that it is an important story for all Canadians.  Too often as multigenerational Chinese-Canadians we get lumped in with the new immigrants as "Chinese" - even though our family has been here for seven generations.

Rick asked "What would Rev. Chan think of Gung Haggis Fat Choy"

 but our family didn't go to Church. When I was little, I attended one day of class at the Chinese United Church.  I was little and cried for my mother almost the entire time. 

But the legacy of Rev. Chan Yu Tan and his brother and sisters still lives in our family.  It lives on in the stories that my grandmother and my mother have shared with me.  My grand-uncle Daniel Lee and his sister Helen Lee, lived with Rev. and Mrs. Chan Yu Tan in Nanaimo while they were growing up.  Auntie Helen recalls her memories while she is interviewed for the documentary.  There are some newsclips of Uncle Dan and Chinese-Canadian veterans at Vancouver's Victory Square cenotaph for Remembrance Day.

Many of our family is excited at seeing the documentary tonight.  I have received e-mails from Ontario, and Washington.  Distant family members I haven't met have found the Rev. Chan Legacy facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2390778670

Here are some well wishes from my friends after hearing me on radio and receiving my announcements about GENERATIONS: The Chan Legacy

Good morning Todd, just heard you on CBC Early Edition about your family.  
I look forward to watching it tomorrow night on CBC  Newsworld at 10 p.m.  
I hope some of our colleagues will watch some of the Chinese history in 
Vancouver.  You may wish to tell us something more about this 6-part series 
on Chinese pioneers in Vancouver.
- Kelly Ip (Community organizer and advisor on Canadian Club Vancouver)

Hi Todd
congratulations !!!!
where are you going to watch tonight's episode .... invite me along if 
appropriate.
All good things,
Joseph Roberts - publisher of Common Ground

Generations is a 6 part series and the lead installment is The Chan Legacy - which is about my great-great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan, and our family descendants who are committed to community service - like me!  The episodes of the series are:

Watch The Chan Legacy on CBC Newsworld

Many family members were interviewed:

• Victor Wong, grand-son, WW2 veteran and Victoria resident who visited his grandparents in Nanaimo BC.
  
• Helen Lee, grand-daughter, who lived with Rev. & Mrs. Chan Yu Tan in Nanaimo.
• Gary Lee, great-grandson who tells about some of the challenges overcome by the family.
• Janice Wong, great-grand-daughter, and award winning author of CHOW: From China to Canada, memories of food and family.
• Rhonda Larrabee, great-grand-daughter, and chief of the First Nations Qayqayt (New Westminster) Band, featured in the NFB film "Tribe of One."
  
• Todd Wong, great-great-grandson, community and cultural activist, creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.
• Tracey Hinder, 5th generation high school student who was the inaugural Vancouver CanSpell champion and went on to compete in Ottawa and Washington DC.  Tracey is a member of her school's "multicultural club."
  

Rev. Chan Yu Tan came to Canada in 1896, following his elder brother Rev. Chan Sing Kai who had earlier arrived in 1888 at the invitation of the Methodist Church of Canada.  These two brothers were later followed by sisters Phoebe in 1899, and Naomi who later moved to Chicago.  Throughout seven generations, the family has spread throughout Canada and the United States.  The Rev. Chan Yu Tan Family was featured in the photographic exhibition Three Early Chinese Canadian Pioneer Families. 


Read my blog entries about Rev. Chan Legacy Project which includes stories during the making of the documentary and events for Janice Wong's award-winning book C H O W: From China to Canada memoris of food and family.

http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/RevChanLegacyProject
http://c-h-o-w.blogspot.com/

Please tell all your friends and relatives about this upcoming documentary, very informative about the history of Chinese-Canadians, and the legacy they have built in Canada.

check out the CBC Generations home page:
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/generations/

Produced by Halya Kuchmij, narrated by Michele Cheung.

Halya is convinced this "our project" is going to rock! She is amazed at the almost 120 year long family history that started when Mr. Chan Sing Kai first came to Canada at the invitation of the Methodist Church of Canada in November 1888. There are now 7 generations of Chan descendants throughout North America, descended from eldest b