A significant minority in the Fraser Valley in the early 20th Century were Japanese Canadians, but following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941, they were removed from the British Columbian coast and other municipalities deemed at risk. Their livelihoods and assets were confiscated and their communities broken.
The majority of those who called the Fraser Valley home did not return after their release from internment camps further inland or from work on sugar beet farms on the prairies, given that wherever they lived they were forced to start over.
However, before the war began and these disastrous events unfolded, Japanese Canadian families had been living and raising their families in the Fraser Valley for more than twenty years.
As such, question arise: what were their experiences with education, both from the perspectives of the parents and the children? Did racism impact their opportunities as students?
This website seeks to explore these questions and to raise others with the hope of allowing the stories and voices of these integral members of early Fraser Valley communities to speak for themselves.
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Acknowledgements
My research would not have been possible without the help of the Mission Community Archives, Abbotsford Archives located at The Reach, and Landscape of Injustice. Thank you!
Check out their websites and resources below.
