For the vast majority of the 20th Century, and into the 21st, the headstones in Calgary’s Chinese Cemetery have lain damaged both by neglect and by vandalism.
But for the past three years, Calgary’s Chinese community has been working to upright the headstones and clean the grave markers of some of Calgary’s earliest but largely forgotten pioneers.
On July 31, volunteers completed the cleaning and repair work on the final rows at the Chinese Cemetery located along Macleod Trail, restoring honour and recognition to those individuals.
“This project is actually extended from the [Chinese] Exclusion Act. It stems back when the Chinese people, obviously, weren’t allowed to come to Canada, and there was a group of pioneers that were already here, but they weren’t allowed to bring their families over. So, they passed away, and of course, they were buried here,” said Ron Lee, Treasurer for the Chinatown Development Foundation.
“Because they didn’t have any families here, their headstones or their burial sites were not attended to. That’s probably one of the main reasons why it was, I guess, the way it was.”
He said that members of the Chinese community in Calgary felt that it was their duty to restore history and the honour of their ancestors.
“This has been a pretty huge project for the Chinese community and also with the City of Calgary,” Lee said.
“In the first year of execution, there was three rows. The City and the Chinese community did three rows, and this year will be finished the last four rows. So, four rows. What the scope of the project includes, I guess you have to have appreciation of what it was looking like prior to the work. All the headstones were basically falling over, in disrepair, and crumbled.”
Jack Yee, one of the organizers for the restoration project, said that volunteers and community members were very happy to complete the work.
“The cemetery looks beautiful, and all the stones have been straightened now, and made it really tidy. The grass is growing really well. So we are very, very happy this is done, and that we can move on to do other projects for the community,” Yee said.
He said that it was also great to see many seniors from the community helping, as culturally cemeteries have been seen as places not to visit.
“We feel really good about that, having the volunteers to come out, because in China most people are superstitious. I think all these folks put that behind them, and they come out and participate. A lot of them are people who volunteer. So, we are very happy about this changing of the culture, and people all working together and all agreeing on the same purpose,” Yee said.
To celebrate the completion of the work, a plaque is set to be installed at the Chinese Cemetery next week, and a closing ceremony will be held on August 23.
Yee said that Calgarians of all cultures were invited to attend the ceremony and to view the restoration work.
