Culture

Among immigrant groups in Canada, one of the most important vehicles for the retention of cultural identity has been the use of the native language. It has helped to maintain ethnic boundaries, community solidarity, and differentiation from the surrounding communities. In many groups, language retention has always been and continues to be high. Yet among the Dutch such seems not to be the case. The non-official languages study of 1975 indicated that the desire for language retention among persons of Dutch origin was one of the lowest of all Canadian ethnic groups. The reason seems to be related directly to a judgment on the part of Dutch immigrants about the value of retaining their language in the new homeland.

Prior to their departure from the Netherlands, immigrants were encouraged to take lessons in conversational English. Emigration societies, the Dutch government, and the churches stressed fluency in the English language and the desirability of integration, both economically and socially. When the immigrants arrived in Canada, the people with whom they associated – employers, fellow employees, and neighbours – generally spoke English. Language acquisition was therefore a high priority. Given the educational level of many immigrants, the English that they spoke was often not grammatical and was mixed with Dutch, but it was good enough to ensure their survival. Those with a previous knowledge of English in the Netherlands and a higher educational level found it easier to attain fluency, but most still had to deal with what they regarded as an annoying accent.

For the first generation, fluency in Dutch began to diminish as their contacts with Canadian society increased and the homeland became more distant. Yet approximately 68 percent still spoke the language with ease. Those who arrived as children and were separated from most Dutch-speaking institutions except for their families saw their language skills diminish rapidly in the context of Canadian schooling and everyday life. By the mid 1950s the Protestant churches began scheduling more English services to meet the demands of those who were increasingly losing touch with their native language. The Roman Catholic Church, committed to the total assimilation of immigrants in Canadian parishes, encouraged the acquisition of English at every level.

Since the Neo-Calvinist churches held the belief that their religious traditions would only have an impact on Canadian society if their members adopted the English language, the retention of Dutch was not stressed in these institutions either. Beginning with catechism instruction and extending into young people’s societies, English replaced the Dutch language. Two-language sermons, with difficult words translated into Dutch, were the transitional method for the congregation as a whole. After a few years, even this approach was unnecessary as the language skills of the congregants improved. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, most churches limited themselves to one Dutch service on Sunday, and by the 1970s, services in the language were generally relegated to a few occasions, especially in the summer, when visitors from the Netherlands might be attending. Not all first-generation church members, particularly the rural ones, were comfortable with the changes, but the transformation was accepted, if sometimes grudgingly.

The fluency rate in the second and third generations, those born in Canada, indicates a rapid decline. Less than 10 percent of the second generation and fewer than 1 percent of the third are competent in Dutch. Some knowledge of the language is retained, although it is largely in oral form. It most likely results from the need to maintain contacts with family members here and overseas who are not fluent in English. One can assume that as these connections diminish, language retention will further decline. By the fourth generation, Dutch Canadians will have few contacts with the old country and even less to distinguish them from other Canadians.

It is not hard to understand why fluency in Dutch has declined so drastically. Outside the family or among close friends the language is hardly ever used, even among immigrants. Within the family, Dutch is used only occasionally. Among fully fluent speakers it may be the main language of communication among family members, but its use drops by half among friends. Each succeeding generation seems to follow this pattern. Since the family makes up only a small part of the social world, Dutch is appropriate for a minuscule part of daily life. Lack of use leads to self-consciousness and to reversion to the more familiar language, English.

In recent years some third-generation Dutch Canadians have taken language courses offered privately or at the university level. The University of Toronto and Waterloo University provide Dutch-language instruction, and the University of Calgary offers a course in Dutch culture, but enrolment numbers are small and do not indicate a significant interest in ethnic origins and language among Dutch-Canadian students. Unless there is a massive infusion of immigrants from the Netherlands in the near future, the language will soon be spoken only in the classroom and the homes of recent immigrants.

Among other Canadian ethnic groups, one of the mainstays of identity has been an ongoing and developing body of folk culture. Dance, music, literature, and art unique to the group or its homeland inform its character. Most Dutch newcomers brought little of such cultural heritage with them. Although literacy was almost universal, much of what was read was of either a pious or a practical nature. The Neo-Calvinists in particular had no tradition of secular music or literature and, as well, opposed all forms of dance, art, theatre, and film, which they considered not consonant with their religious beliefs. For them, life consisted of family, church, and work, and much of the secular world was either dangerous or distracting. Roman Catholics from the southern provinces of the Netherlands had a tradition of religious festivals and other cultural expressions that differed from that of their Protestant compatriots. These were not, however, retained in Canada as the newcomers were rapidly assimilated into the Canadian Catholic community. Given the educational level of the majority of immigrants, they were clearly not the bearers of a high culture. Their pragmatic views about the world left little room for cultural activities, and they were more directly concerned with the survival of their families and themselves.

In recent years, with financial aid from the federal government’s multicultural program, Dutch-Canadian clubs have become involved in ethnic festivals in such cities as Winnipeg, Toronto, and Edmonton, but these clubs only represent a minority of the ethnic community. Generally organized by non-Neo-Calvinist Dutch, they have had limited appeal for the orthodox religious groups and practically none for second- and third-generation Dutch Canadians. As their memberships grow older, support for the clubs diminishes, and theatre, dance, and choral groups and even the clubs themselves disappear. Such has been the history of Dutch clubs from their genesis in Winnipeg early in the twentieth century to the present day. The oldest extant social organizations in Canada are to be found in Toronto. Recently, the Netherlands Luncheon Club, founded in 1954, celebrated its fortieth anniversary; the Dutch Canadian Association of Greater Toronto (a social-cultural umbrella group) was started two years later. These organizations are having to face the fact that they are becoming anachronisms as the active Dutch community continues to shrink. They recognize that the music, folk songs, costume, and food served up at ethnic festivals by the clubs increasingly represent only a nostalgic or romantic image of life in the Netherlands and reflect the disappearance of the Dutch community in Canada.

The children of the immigrants have shown little interest in the culture of their parents’ homeland or a unique Dutch-Canadian version of the immigrant experience in Canada. Educated in this country and in large part adopting the values of society around them, they have expressed their artistic interests within the Canadian milieu. Painters, writers, musicians, and photographers have in turn found a ready acceptance from other Canadians. Their vision is regarded as fully Canadian and not ethnic or distinct. A few writers have focused on the nature of the group experience, but they have not directed their efforts specifically to the Dutch-Canadian community; rather, they have sought acceptance in the larger society.

Another vehicle for the retention of language and culture is the ethnic newspaper. The Dutch community saw the development of a strong press in the 1950s, but it has declined steadily as the community has been eroded and language and cultural uniqueness have faded. At present there are two exclusively Dutch newspapers, the Nederlandse courant voor Canada (Burlington, Ont., 1953– ) and the Hollandse krant (Langley, B.C., 1969– ), with a diminishing readership. The only bilingual newspaper, the Windmill Herald (Surrey, B.C., 1972– ), offers a general overview of Dutch, Dutch-Canadian, and Dutch-American news, editorial comments, columns, and advertisements for businesses in the Canadian and American communities. It has a growing circulation of 13,000 resulting in part from its use of English and its penetration of the Dutch-American market. The Christian Courier (St Catharines, Ont., 1945– ), with a circulation of 5,000, serves the Christian Reformed community and functions largely as a church organ for Calvinist opinion. A number of church magazines and newsletters are also published, but their readership is limited to their religious constituencies.

First-generation listeners continue to support Dutch radio programs across the country, although advertising revenues have been declining. The long-lived Dutch Program on CHIN in Toronto has had to cut back on its broadcasting time because of financial shortfalls. Holland Calling, originating in Toronto, is carried on eight stations and competes with other ethnic programming in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Toronto. The audience numbers are not high, and the programs are almost entirely dependent on a declining number of immigrants whose children and grandchildren evince little interest in ethnic radio. These young people are thus expressing the pragmatic views taught them by their elders, who had emphasized the achievement of success at the expense of cultural traditions. The only exceptions seem to be the Neo-Calvinist immigrants, who have retained their religious heritage, but then even they have had to struggle to keep this tradition relevant to the new homeland.