Immigrants from South Asia first began settling in Washington and Oregon in the nineteenth century, but because of restrictions placed on Asian immigration to the United States in the early twentieth century, the vast majority have come to the region since World War II. Roots and Reflections uses oral history to show how South Asian immigrant experiences were shaped by the region and how they differed over time and across generations. It includes the stories of immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka who arrived from the end of World War II through the 1980s.

Biographies, Community life, Community life Northwest, Pacific, Ethnic relations, Immigrants, Immigrants Northwest, Pacific Interviews, Immigrants Northwest, Pacific Social conditions, Immigrants Social conditions, Interviews, Northwest, Pacific Biography, Northwest, Pacific Ethnic relations, Oral history, Oral history Northwest, Pacific, Pacific N

Foreword by Deepa Banerjee Preface Introduction: Situating StoriesAn Introduction to South Asian Communities in the Pacific Northwest1. “Finding Traces of Our Existence Here”: Pre-World War Two South Asian Migrations 2. Routes and Roots: Stories of Departure and Arrival 3. Creating Professional Classes: Education and Training 4. All in a Day’s Work: Employment, Migration, and Identity 5. Falling from the Tree: Family, Gender, and Generational Differences 6. Seeds Take Root: Growing South Asian Communities in the Pacific Northwest Epilogue: Meditations on Methodologies Appendix 1. Interviews in the South Asian Oral History Project Appendix 2. Narrator Biographies Notes References Index

Originally published in hardcover 2013

Originally published in hardcover 2013