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Singing folk songs and playing the dhol

Item consists of a home movie from a Pakistani-Indian family featuring a trip to Delhi to attend a family member's wedding.

Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: "On one of her trips to Delhi, Mariam attends her mom's cousin's second wedding. Cousins, aunts, and extended family are gathered on the floor and sofas. Women are dressed in bright yellow and orange saris and joy radiates through song as the bright sunlight washes the shot.

The family is singing folk songs and playing the dhol, a South Asian drum, in a town dialect that would only be recognizable to someone from the state of Uttar Pradesh (U.P) and perhaps Delhi.

The songs are familiar to Mariam, but she doesn’t understand what is being said. They are part of an oral tradition, sung in celebration and passed down from generations. The folk songs cannot be found online and aren’t "officially" preserved.

Mariam remembers that holding the camera was very enjoyable, and she documented hours of what she calls mundane footage of family eating lunch and going about everyday activities, mostly on her yearly trips to India to visit extended family. She is a filmmaker, and plans to create short films with selected clips from her home movies.

Mariam’s transition to Canada is complex and layered: ‘Having grown up in Dubai, I carry a sense of knowing what it feels like not being from where you grew up [...] I didn’t process how difficult it was [to move to Canada] because [at first] I was excited to be [in Montreal], and put my heart into classes and the university experience.’"

Silvia Mittler welcoming Manos Loizos at the Pearson International Airport

Silvia Mittler (right) welcoming Manos Loizos (left) at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto and with them George Papadatos. Η Σύλβια Μίττλερ (δεξιά) καλοσορίζει τον Μάνο Λοΐζο (αριστερά) στο Διεθνές Αεροδρόμιο Πήρσον του Τορόντο. Ανάμεσά τους ο Γιώργος Παπαδάτος.

Silvana Tinelli_oral history_video.mp4

Silvana Tinelli, 83 years old, was born in Alexandria in a Catholic family of Italian and Yugoslavian origins. She narrates her migration to Brazil in 1957, when she was 17, as an adventure of her youth years. When she went back to Alexandria and saw her childhood home, Tinelli thought everything there looked like a miniature, if compared to the dimensions of Brazil.

Shovelling snow

Item consists of a Japanese family's home movie featuring children in the snow.

Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: "Terry Watada became interested in his family history when he realized his parents were forced into internment camps by the Canadian government during World War II. The youngest of two boys and with an 18-year age gap, he only came to know this history in his late teens. The footage selected shows glimpses of Terry’s childhood and features community members with whom he grew up. A small clip shows Terry wearing his cub scout uniform. In 1959, he was eight-years-old and was part of the 45th cub scout "wolf pack"; he later became a scout until the age of 17.

The families on the farm near the beginning of the footage feature the Watada family visiting the Itos in Cooksville, Ontario. Mr. Ito had connections with Terry’s father when he lived in BC; Mr. Ito was a former employee of Matsujiro Watada. Because his father helped with the down payment of their farm, the Watadas would receive bushels of vegetables every season during Terry’s childhood.

A prominent feature of his childhood, Terry and his family attended organized community picnics along with other members of the Japanese Canadian community in Toronto. A game played was the catching of mochi balls. A coveted gift since the process to make it by hand was time consuming. The picnic near the end of the selected home movies depicts a Shinto lion dance (around 68’ or 69’). There were always religious undertones at these picnics, either Buddhist or Shinto along with the Obon festival that would take place every year. The religious undertone would shift as they became an event that no longer only catered to a Japanese audience."

Shinto Lion dance

Item consists of a Japanese family's home movie featuring a lion dance performance.

Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: "Terry Watada became interested in his family history when he realized his parents were forced into internment camps by the Canadian government during World War II. The youngest of two boys and with an 18-year age gap, he only came to know this history in his late teens. The footage selected shows glimpses of Terry’s childhood and features community members with whom he grew up. A small clip shows Terry wearing his cub scout uniform. In 1959, he was eight-years-old and was part of the 45th cub scout "wolf pack"; he later became a scout until the age of 17.

The families on the farm near the beginning of the footage feature the Watada family visiting the Itos in Cooksville, Ontario. Mr. Ito had connections with Terry’s father when he lived in BC; Mr. Ito was a former employee of Matsujiro Watada. Because his father helped with the down payment of their farm, the Watadas would receive bushels of vegetables every season during Terry’s childhood.

A prominent feature of his childhood, Terry and his family attended organized community picnics along with other members of the Japanese Canadian community in Toronto. A game played was the catching of mochi balls. A coveted gift since the process to make it by hand was time consuming. The picnic near the end of the selected home movies depicts a Shinto lion dance (around 68’ or 69’). There were always religious undertones at these picnics, either Buddhist or Shinto along with the Obon festival that would take place every year. The religious undertone would shift as they became an event that no longer only catered to a Japanese audience."

Shereen Elshafei_oral history_video.mp4

37-year-old Shereen was born in Saudi Arabia, returning to Egypt at the age of 10 before migrating to Oman to work as a teacher at the age of 31. Shereen discusses the challenges of living abroad as a single woman, the importance of financial independence, and why parents shouldn't hesitate to let their daughters live abroad.

Sharing a meal

Item consists of a Japanese family's home movie featuring a woman and a boy eating a table.

Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: "Terry Watada became interested in his family history when he realized his parents were forced into internment camps by the Canadian government during World War II. The youngest of two boys and with an 18-year age gap, he only came to know this history in his late teens. The footage selected shows glimpses of Terry’s childhood and features community members with whom he grew up. A small clip shows Terry wearing his cub scout uniform. In 1959, he was eight-years-old and was part of the 45th cub scout "wolf pack"; he later became a scout until the age of 17.

The families on the farm near the beginning of the footage feature the Watada family visiting the Itos in Cooksville, Ontario. Mr. Ito had connections with Terry’s father when he lived in BC; Mr. Ito was a former employee of Matsujiro Watada. Because his father helped with the down payment of their farm, the Watadas would receive bushels of vegetables every season during Terry’s childhood.

A prominent feature of his childhood, Terry and his family attended organized community picnics along with other members of the Japanese Canadian community in Toronto. A game played was the catching of mochi balls. A coveted gift since the process to make it by hand was time consuming. The picnic near the end of the selected home movies depicts a Shinto lion dance (around 68’ or 69’). There were always religious undertones at these picnics, either Buddhist or Shinto along with the Obon festival that would take place every year. The religious undertone would shift as they became an event that no longer only catered to a Japanese audience."

Seventh annual Mariposa Folk Festival Innis Lake Ontario

Item consists of the 34 page Mariposa Folk Festival program for 1967, held near Innis Lake, Ontario from 11-13 August, 1967. The program was edited by Raymond Gallinger, and featured a cover design by Gary Preet. Program includes an illustrated schedule of concerts and workshops, as well as a listing of performer biographies. Also features three articles, including "Richard Waterman's Short History of the Blues", The Revolving Trends of Popular Music" by Leigh Cline, an anonymous short article about the University Settlement International Folk Dancer, "Traditional Folk Songs, Dances, and Tales of England - Scotland - Ireland" by Roger Deveer Renwick, "A Canadian Sampler" by Edith Fowke and a farewell letter from Ruth M. Jones, founder of Mariposa.

Scouts Canada pledge and badges

Item consists of a home movie featuring a girl pledging to a scouts program and receiving badges.

Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: "Cindy Long was one of only 2 girls that participated in her Scouts Canada pack that held meetings at CD Farquharson Junior Public School. Here she is being honoured with a badge representing her moving up in ranking in the Cub Scouts (ages 8-10) program."

School recital : singing and speech

Item consists of a home movie featuring the end of a school performance with the last song "celebrating our differences" and includes a speech about diversity and thank yous.

Project and donor(s) contributed description follows: "At North Agincourt Junior Public School a group of elementary school children are performing at a concert either in 2003 or 2004. Large drawings hung in the background of different countries indicate that the concert is likely a multicultural day celebration performed for parents.
"The running joke at Agincourt Collegiate Institute is that white people are the visible minority."

Since Cindy was very young when moving to Canada, she identifies more with having immigrant parents than being an immigrant herself. Cindy had a lot of friends that shared similar cultural backgrounds, and experiences as the community of Agincourt where she lives is largely Chinese, East and South Asian, and Tamil."

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