Adventuresin History

Strangers at the DoorTeachers' Guide

National OfficeFilm Board national du filmof Canada du Canada

Strangers at the Door

LevelSenior elementary and junior andsenior secondary school.

Subject Areas

Canadian History, World History,Canadian Literature, Social Studies,Politics.

Summary

The film focuses on the Laluckifamily to dramatize the confusion andculture shock experienced by Europeanimmigrants to Canada in the earlyyears of this century. As the filmopens, we see the Laluckis preparingto land. Mrs. Lalucki relies on tradi-tional peasant strategy — she makesher children as presentable as shecan and directs them to say as littleas possible when questioned byimmigration officers.

Meanwhile, on deck, Jan Lalucki,less shrewd than his wife and believingthat all officials take bribes, entrustshalf his life's savings to a crooked

fellow immigrant who promises tosee them safely into Canada.

The scene on deck forecasts theexperiences of the Laluckis. The well-dressed, first-class passengers lookdown with genteel amusement as thesailors hose down some teen-agedpassengers. To them, as to the immi-gration officers, travelers in steeragerepresent what an American writer atabout the same time termed "thewretched refuse of a teeming shore" :they are not quite human, certainlydirty, and need not be treated withrespect.

Finally the Laluckis are herdedbefore immigration officials. Bewil-dered by half-understood questionsand procedures, they are finally ad-mitted to Canada, except for Kasia,the daughter. She is held up awaitinga medical inquiry into her case be-cause she has trachoma, an infectiouseye disease.

The Board of Inquiry is uncon-cerned with the human tragedy ofwresting a twelve-year-old from her

family. The regulations are clear: shecannot be admitted with a contagiousdisease. The family, even furtherimpoverished by the father's foolishact of entrusting his money to astranger, cannot return with her toEurope and must stand helplessly byas Kasia is deported, perhaps neverto be reunited with her family.

Aims of the Film• To dramatize the plight of immi-grants to this country as they en-countered Canada's first immigrationlaws.• To suggest the risks taken by anearly generation of immigrants, riskswhich are difficult to comprehendin this age of cheap and convenienttrans-Atlantic travel.• To raise the moral implicationsof the conflict between bureaucraticregulations and human values.

Discussion Questions1. Describe the difference betweenliving conditions in steerage and first-class cabins. How long did a voyagelike this usually take?2. What expectations did the Laluckifamily have about Canada?3. What was the crew's attitudetoward the immigrants during thetrip?4. Compare the characters of thefather, the mother, and Kasia. Whyis Jan Lalucki taken in by Dudek?Do you think you might have acted thesame way under the circumstances?Why is Anna able to see throughDudek? Why do Kasia and the oldwomen befriend each other?5. From what country did the familyoriginate? Why did they emigratefrom England and come to Canada?Why did they not go to the UnitedStates?6. What is the purpose of each ofthe various stages of the immigrationprocess — the on-board inspection,the interview, and the medical inspec-

tion? How do the immigrants reactto the way they are treated?7. What is trachoma? Why did theydeport only Kasia and not the rest ofher family? Did she get a fairhearing?8. What moral dilemmas do immi-gration officials face during thecourse of their work?9. What were other grounds fordeportation? Why was not being ad-mitted to Canada so serious for theprospective immigrant?

Related Projects

1. If your family emigrated to Can-ada in this century, find out what theyremember of the immigration process.How did they come to Canada? Whydid they come? How did their expe-riences compare with what we seein the film?2. What social and economic condi-tions in eastern Europe encouragedemigration in the years 1900-1907?From what country did most of ourimmigrants come? How many came toCanada between 1896 and 1914?How many came in 1907? Try to findout how many immigrants went toEngland and to the United States dur-ing the same period. What otherCanadian ports processed immigrants?Where did they settle?3. How might the experiences of aPolish family of immigrants to Can-ada differ from a similar Englishfamily?4. How did Canadians at that timeview immigrants from various Euro-pean and Asian countries? Wereimmigrants from certain countriesbelieved to be more valuable thanthose from others? Have our attitudeschanged today?5. Review the terms of the Immigra-tion Act in force in 1907. What doesit indicate about the government'sattitude toward immigrants? Whatsort of immigrants are actively soughtby Canada today? In your opinion,

has the change in immigration policybeen a positive one? What changesin our present policy would you finddesirable?6. Research immigration before theofficial laws. Compare the Laluckifamily's experience of immigrationwith that of earlier immigrants. (See,for example, Susannah Moodie'sRoughing It in the Bush, especiallychapter II, "Quebec", as well as otherearly narratives and memoirs. )7. Try to establish the ground rulesfor a Board of Inquiry which wouldreconcile the human rights of immi-grants with the social needs ofCanada.

Related Films from NFB

Turn of the Century B&W28min. 5 sec. 106B 0164 145Our Street Was Paved with Gold28 min. 37 sec. 106C 0173 086This Is a Photograph10 min. 5 sec. 106C 0171 094

Filmstrips from NFB*

The Immigration Experience —a series of six sound filmstrips(release date, fall 1979)

* Available for purchase only fromMclntyre Educational Media Ltd.,30 Kelfield Street, Rexdale, Ontario.

Bibliography

Bailey, Leuba. The Immigrant Expe-rience.* Themes in CanadianLiterature. Toronto : MacMillanof Canada, 1975.

Brown, Robert Craig and RamsayCool. Canada 1896-1921: ANation Transformed.* The Can-ada Century Series. Toronto:McClelland and Stewart Ltd, 1974.

Harney, Robert and Harold Troper.Immigrants: A Portrait of theUrban Experience, 1890-1930*Toronto : Van Nostrand ReinholdLtd., 1975.

Marsh, Jean. The Last Best West*Toronto: Fitzhenry and WhitesideLtd., 1976.

Phillips, Alan. Into the 20th Century1900-1910. Canada's IllustratedHeritage. Toronto : NaturalScience of Canada Ltd., 1977.

Robertson, Heather. Safe of theEarth* Toronto: James Lorimerand Co. Publ., 1974.

Woodsworth, J.E. Strangers WithinOur Gates* Introduction byMarilyn Barber. The Social His-tory of Canada Series. Toronto:University of Toronto Press, 1972.(This is a reprint of the originaledition which appeared in 1909.)

^Paperback edition

For teachers of CanadianLiterature :

The Immigrant Experience: A Re-source Guide for the Teaching ofCanadian Literature. Toronto Writers'Development Trust, 1977.

One of the most difficult tasksconfronting the teacher of history orsocial studies is that of demonstratingthe relevance of the past to the pre-sent lives of the students. The Adven-tures in History series has beendesigned to provide, in a lively, fic-tional form, a bridge to Canada's past.

Although founded on soundresearch, the series does not attemptto document specific events or thelives of famous people. Instead it con-centrates on the effects of periodsof broad social change on the lives ofordinary persons, especially youngpeople. Each half-hour drama pro-vides the teacher with the opportunityto encourage the class to becomeimaginatively involved with charac-ters whose lives are touched by thesesocial changes, and to develop thecapacity to view the subject from acritical perspective.

The Adventures in Historyseries is a continuing project which,upon completion, will touch onvirtually every aspect of Canada'srecent past.

History Consultant:Terence Brennan, member, CanadianHistorical Association Council ; and Chair-man, History Department, Loyola HighSchool, Montreal.

Writer:Yvonne Matthews Klein, Professor ofEnglish, Dawson College, Montreal.

Support material for "Adventures inHistory" series coordinated by AnnPearson, NFB.

Marketing (E)P.O. Box 6100, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3H5