Found History

Found History

Hope everyone's holding in there..... I've seen lots of tired faces lately, including my own. One more week and the worst will be over.

Anyway, this Friday I received word from the Japanese Canadian National Museum in Vancouver about something I've been researching.

You see, a Japanese friend of mine found out a couple of months ago that her Grandfather had lived in Canada from 1925 to 1946. Her mother had never mentioned anything about it until now, perhaps because it was a controversial issue. All my friend Chie learned was that her Grandfather left Japan in 1925 to seek work and returned in 1946. Supposedly he never spoke about his experiences in Canada or what he did here. Knowing I was Canadian, she asked my help to find out more.

I looked through online lists and government databases but unfortunately I only was able to find that he entered Canada at Victoria in 1925. In an appeal to expert help I emailed the curator at the JCNM my story. Nothing was heard, until yesterday- they'd found him.

He came to Canada to work at farming community called Haney Nokai and in 1941 was sent to a remote interment camp called Tashme, 100 KM from Hope. With this information hopefully I can find out more about him online and I plan to visit the JCNM in person when I go to Vancouver over the holidays.

What this experience has made me consider is two fold. First, the role that museums and archives can play in helping ordinary people discover their past and how I can use their expertise in my teaching. Second, the experiences of Japanese Canadians before the war and the interment during, and how I could effectively teach about it. Sadly many Socials texts give lip service what I consider a serious topic- the racially and politically motivated internment of Japanese Canadians and Americans during the war. Racism, both politically and not still exists in our society and this needs to be discussed critically with the goal of removing it.

So what resources are available?

Online:

http://www.japanesecanadianhistory.net/home_page.htm

http://www.jcnm.ca/

The JCNM also has what appears to be excellent printed resources for teachers, including resources guides ( not free though ) and hands on education kits with photographs, registration cards, videos and recordings.

CBC digital archives:

http://archives.cbc.ca/

Lots of material, including archival film footage of internment and radio reports and interviews. Also great general socials resource ( see cold war! ) and cheesy vintage CBC.