170_Murakami-Rose_Family-History.mp3

otter.ai

09.03.2023

no

Unknown Speaker 0:07
Spain Ireland Historical Society, Rosa Mara kami talking to the Saltspring Island Historical Society, February the 12 2003 central hall, introduction by Bob Rush

Unknown Speaker 0:34
everyone I represent the family of our late parents have to go to Dr. Savage, Akiko panamerican, the final resting place in the cemetery back here. And I hold experiences with me as I speak with you this afternoon. Thank you to the Historical Society for inviting me to share with you some the history of our family. And thank you to all of you for joining your instance and attending today. According to Charles Clark book offering in 1891, more time people are Japanese after the 1901 census shows to me. In 1945, there were 77 adults and children and 11. Some were involved in farming, fishing, working in the forest are being employed by people like Mr. Carey Bullock. They all did total about 1040 acres of land plus their home. The Japanese Canadians are community minded. And my older sister told me to tell you that they live by the question happening. Do unto others as you as you would happen to them do. They, for example, volunteer to like work fires, they donated money to the current elementary school already, we'll go right into the problem as well bring it to dollardays and people who didn't have any money donated their time and carpentry skills. They also donated money for church organ and the building of the church. And during the Depression when people came to their door, seeking food and clothing, and even though they were suffering, our grandparents and parents were very generous. The community was also very close every summer with permission for Mr. And Mrs. Caldwell to community on the picnic and relax for a day at Walker. Other than the cemetery in the back of this building, it is very easy to find guys that were Japanese that lived on Saltspring island before 1942 which has passed me basically on the way to go on farm. There are bugs who are planted by Japanese families so many years ago. The history of our family family in Canada began in 1896 When our paternal grandfather, camel camel, emigrated to Canada from Toshiba, Japan and following in 1902, our grandmother we all keep our mother Kimiko was born in 1904, the first Canadian baby of Japanese ancestry born and speaks in DC to Canada to British Columbia mother was born into not a friendly place where agents can be planful. The amendment of the provincial election act at the speed of eight to 95 days long China, Japanese or Indian, so have the same place on the register of voters for any electoral district or be accounted for uncovered to vote than any election. This was not seven for the Japanese Canadians are the First Nations until March 1949. And for the Chinese and the Indo Canadian in April 1947. One has to be on the DC voters list. You work in the professions like pharmacy, law, public health nursing at the end of civil service. The Japanese Canadians were allowed to only work in the primary industries, farming, fishing, logging and mining and they could find that for private person, but not in Vancouver the Asiatic exclusion League meeting of September 7 2007. attended by Tucson two men incited into violence by industrialists, politicians and media turned into a mom holding up banners and slogans such as stand up for white Canada marched through Chinatown. It depends on smashing windows and ransack the shop. Initially, you'll catch issues and move to that they are prospering in 1909. Another was five years old. They prospered and eventually on five votes, doubled strength and efficiently industry out in Japanese Canadian fishers who have discriminatory licensing. They turn 40 And there's so many others. In December 1919, the Oh camel bought 20 acres on Shark road. They pay for the land by selling their boats, the land and from the mouths of the root canal, ie the shark Roach across maple road and after the mountain, Rainbow rules housing is currently on some of that mountain property. You can have your 50 acres don't go home and other buildings commence farming and pop prospered. In 1925, mother and her sister went to Japan to help their paternal grandmother celebrate your ADA birthdays. A very special time and during this visit, with help from a go between our current facility more eye candy and chemicals panel. married in January 1976. Mother returned to Ganges and worked on her parents farm to wait for Father. Father has to be sponsored by the Academy to become eligible to immigrate to Canada. Starting in 1923, Canada allowed in only 150 immigrants from Japan. father arrived in Victoria on April 13 1927 and is 28 year during the years when it was very difficult for Japanese person for immigrants like father to get their naturalization with the Canadian citizen. Father is born in a family. He was a sixth born in a family of five sons and one daughter. He came from a very noble family. His family descended from the Seventh Son of the 82nd Emperor of Japan. His father was wealthy and own large tracts of land was required by hydroquin. The household was supported by name when father was five years old. He was playing on the beach is the end data for large crucifix. His mother took it to a priest who told her that this son was going for something to live a very different life of suffering up to father got that sensitive listen. He could play the piano and the violin. The violin should be dropped with him if the other violin lesson or home or soft thing was stolen during our incarceration. Being sponsored, also obligated father to work for those channels for two years. But it stretched to five years of hard work, fishing farming. They don't do panels to greenhouses, 120 feet by 100 and the other 185 300 feet, which would use to go to NATO to check the wholesaler of Victoria and Vancouver. And I can say to our parents as a young couple also purchased 17 acres on shock road. Overnight difficult years they cleared the wilderness and build a successful farm producing berries, asparagus, vegetables, and eggs for 5000 chickens want to build our comfortable home. This chicken houses and many other required buildings including a bath house, and a dormitory for workers. An example of how hard they work. Mothers have strawberries into place until 1am don't have that 3am 3:30am Even when she was pregnant, to give breakfast to fathers who got up at 3am to see the five petals and egg laying chickens. After Brexit he was picked strawberries, which was still wet with you and I remember him showing me the flaw in his hands to keep them warm as he picks the berries. By 2pm Mother has to keep my face packed and ready for the team to take them to a place also have in Victoria and the hotel also bought their quality strawberries and espresso last door. Eventually they hired him in from Vancouver Island we thought was the hardest and younger men to watch the children with optimism and hope for the family. Our parents look forward to the 1942 harvest because it was the year when all their debts will be paid back It was meant to be

Unknown Speaker 10:03
the antagonism towards the Japanese did not start with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was becoming more apparent and making us headlines in 1938. Let's demonstrate on McGregor McIntosh, Progressive Conservative MP from the Nymo on the iron was one of the most one of the moving forces behind the effort to drive out Japanese Canadians was these people. The major player who influenced Prime Minister king and his cabinet was Ian. Alistair Mackenzie, the Liberal MP for Vancouver Center. On February the first 1930 days, Macintosh held a town meeting again. He conveyed his alarm that the growing number of Japanese he said many things to inflame the populace against the Japanese are filthy. They live in substandard conditions, they proliferate like rabbits, etc. etc. Father remembers that Dr. Rush stood up and demanded that Macintosh come with him to see the animals and the farm. Of course, Macintosh did not somebody put it to the people at the meeting? Do you want to see DC a white man's country or not? Maybe it's one of them. And I think 41 This mostly for Pearl Harbor. Our Japanese Canadian men are definitely Canadian men and women remained 18 were photographed, fingerprinted, and made carry registration card. No other citizens of Canada were required to carry such car at this date in effect until 1949. On December 7 1941 father was discharged from hospital while wearing an appendectomy. We were happy with his homecoming and enjoying the second when he asked us what we would like to have for 1942 Christmas. One asked for a candle the other tennis score. Our parents goal was to purchase more land and enlarge the farm. The news of Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor December 7 1941. struck our parents like a thunderbolt is shrouded our family and a close of fear. Our parents knew immediately that something terrible was going to happen to the 77 Japanese Canadian of the level family on this island. Immediately, anti Japanese feelings on the island exploded like a bomb. For example, our oldest sister was a 13 at the time was abused by two of our teachers and some of the some of the students, the teachers and some of her classmates accused her of starting the war students and verse 10 soldiers as she went to and from the school our parents had donated money to my mother my shopping, people she thought were her Christian friends, both loudly in her presence about those jabs. Rumor spreads and a submarine was going out booth canal to do.

Unknown Speaker 13:17
interrogated by the RCMP on February 24 1942, to cabinet under the war measures that have ordered council 1486 against the advice of the Department of National Defense, the national defense for NATO services as the RCMP all never again, but the government's position that the Japanese Canadian poses a security risk. And this is proven after formal documents. Documents are made available for public for the public to see. The Minister of Justice was empowered to remove and detain any and all persons from designated information, protected areas. The origin did not distinguish between Canadian citizens and aliens. It was applied only to the Japanese race. Also the RCMP to intercede search our homes without going at dusk Dawn curfew was imposed fishing poles automobiles, home businesses and personal belongings received by security and an enemy property and held and trust. A trust that was later broken or properties were sold without our consent. Gavin Mullen was appointed the custodian of enemy foskey for all of the golf buyers. Unlike 1719 42, the RCMP came to our home and took my father our mother became an instant single parent with five children aged one to 13 years. Although the five children were all going on something I The old lady Mental Hospital which is now the community center up the hill, and mother's Easton, we were all labeled enemy aliens to custodian now have power to dictate our fate. Gavin told mother and directed her to sell off the 5000 Chickens don't touch the crop tag that you can carry. The limit is 150 pounds for adults and 75 pounds for children. On April the 22nd 1942 by government decree and because of our race, we were forced to board their Princess Mary married at the Ganges war to leave stock spring and our beloved home. This ship went to the other Gulf Islands to fix up others at main island. Mr. Whenever he left off, he dropped the boat and refused to get back on. He declared his home and property are on Salt Springs, and he wasn't going to leave them. He was hooked back onto the boat. Mystery was that his land includes all of what is now called Sunset drive. All of it three and a half miles of waterfront the way the crow flies, seven and a half miles taking in all the nooks and crannies and 640 acres in 1973 at the age of 93 he died. You're believing he owns his beloved home and land that they have stolen from him

Unknown Speaker 16:41
when he got off the boat and Vancouver and got on the bus, the animal barns are in park which is now called exhibition grounds welcomed them with a pungent smell of animal urine and feces still fresh getting installed a cm process we did our unbelieving mother was assigned to two and a half something which I used to offer Maximus to court blankets for band and a bolster for a pillow on some dead mother not only had a one year old baby, but also a very sick asthmatic child to care for, or food and food poisoning resulted in vomiting and diarrhea. The toilets were clogged previously used by the animals. The smell of mine or the content flowing water through the truck added to our misery and there was no privacy. casing Park was the gathering and dispersal center for Japanese Canadian prisoners of the Canadian government. On May the first 1942 We were sent by trained Greenwood to live in a filthy bunkhouse mall abandoned by divers. The women clean the interior to make it livable. We were assigned a small cubicle and slept on the floor. On this got five children and herself. Mother took their turn to cook our food and a plant communal kitchen. mother kept food in our cubicle because there was no other place for storage. Mother did not know what had happened to father until in England, she received the cup censored letter for him with other prisoners he had spent two nights at Hastings Park and by train was going to yellow hashtag to a road trip attempt to build the interprovincial highway between Jasper Alberta and the New River between the Netherlands and railroad boxcars and cold damp, dirty crowded conditions. Women's Health began to fail. While they're left the road crews to become a kitchen helper. The man who have paid 25 cents an hour, but 25 cents per meal per day was deducted. They were required to send at least chapter pay each month to their family and father had included $20 In the letter. In July 1942 Married men would be released from the prison camp and to join their family to baby to work in the sugar beet fields and alberca family left father vegetable camp by train or July August 21 1942. And then from the west Alberta stay with mother's parents and brother deal candles who already were assigned to a father. Mother the children left with England and arrived in the back on August the 16th 1942. After five months of force separation from Father Our family was divided. The next day we moved to the form assigned to you Whenever we're talking about and hated the Japanese, he told the town people treat the jacks like criminals. And he did just that to

Unknown Speaker 20:17
our mom was one room 10 by 15 shack, right next to a pig. The outside walls covered the flies looked like it was painted black. It had a broken down soul and dirty their floors while the bottom still lumber and Bill sunfish a table in Jenks is a watercolor was blue shared with a farm animal. Mother had no real kitchen to prepare our food, bathing and laundry facilities were non existent. or older sister was amazing to the farmer's wife. We pay them with Nelson louder while they had to do very heavy, far more, which led to his deteriorating health, mainly because he just kind of that average equity, bacteriology, heavy lifting really traumatic to him. Our parents concluded that if we continued living on this farm, we would have the certainty of died. Our oldest sister both the BC Securities Commission explaining our situation, the commissioner who visited us and we with our parents, he arranged for us to move to be moved to a prison camp

Unknown Speaker 21:37
in November 1942 with an RCMP escort, we arrived in slow cans. In the deep snow, we were assigned to share a large unheated camp with three other families who were all strangers. The communal toilets and the dancehall were quite a distance away. The BC Securities Commission that federal body formed in 19, formed on March 4 1940, to remove the 20 consecutive Japanese Canadians from the 100 mile strip along the west coast. Completed Tasks on October the 15th 1942. The ones thriving Japanese Canadian communities on the west coast were all destroyed. ethnic cleaning was completed in January 1943. We were the very first to move to Roseberry. A Hamlet at the end of the slow calculate. The tiny shack Bill draw upon road testing for us. We're not ready for occupancy, but in a freezing weather. We were forced to live in them. Our shack number two always 14 by eight to 14 by 18 T were divided into three tiny rooms and how to cancel a small kitchen stove and it wouldn't sink. Nobody likes it electricity and a communal water tap was outside the shack and only green shiplap boards for the outside wall. Knowing I was a goof but no human father again built some furniture disrupt small rooms required to be pushed against the wall. On winter morning. The bedding was stuck frozen to the wall. The cracks in the walls and the floor were stuck with whatever was available to keep up the code to make any wall bounce partaker and they see your shapes come down to cover the outside walls. of order in council 69 passed by cabinet on January the 23rd 1943 which gave the federal government the power to dispose of our property without our consent shocked our parents. Gavin Lord, the custodian of enemy property promised to keep our property safe our children, our mother that Saltspring Gatlin was put his arm around her said don't worry to me, not one chopstick will be moved. The process used was called Double conveying our land was given to the custodian of enemy property and stuff. And this is a copy of my father's certificate last time though, and honest in handwriting it says that it is the custodian of enemy property for 343 days. So it was called Double command. Our land was given to the custodian of enemy property and trust, then transferred to the Secretary of State Eight of the nation then transferred again to the real estate company helper to building an enemy property, who was also the president of that real estate company. When the custodian was given the power to liquidate he sold what he wanted to his company, and you can't watch for himself. The Hamilton in her book stops me I would say, the beautiful Gavin was fine is on the slope of Broadway is the last Mr. And Mrs. Who were some of the major Japanese removed to the interior. Our home and farm were sold to a veteran. After all, the transaction costs were deducted. Our parents were told that they were that only $500 became accredited to our bank account. $500 for years and years of hard work and sacrifice. Our household belongings were stolen, and now our home and land were gone. Our bank accounts were frozen throughout our incarceration, and an amount set by the government that was doled out to us each month, the federal government forced us to pay for only incarceration. They were trying to have another half or more of our money by winter clothes because we had baby things for our youngest daughter who was born in the prison camp. The answer was always a resounding no, because the government wanted us to keep paying for our own incarceration as long as possible. In December 1944, and his nomination speech in Alistair Mackenzie, the Liberal MP for Vancouver Center said then our slogan The word British Columbia, no Jack Welch from the Rockies to the scene in March 1945. The RCMP conducted for the government what they call a loyalty survey, he ultimately can choose from where to first to be exiled to a war torn starting Japan or moved east of the Rockies. We chose to go to Alberta. While they did not wish to move to Florida and British Columbia people one day to be turned to stop spraying virus to perform stolen from them and achieve his goals. In the summer of 1945, the sorting began as a destination. Those states and Canada were gathered a new standard and so funny to go to Japan we're gathered enrolled as therapists. We stayed in Ghana until May 1946. When we were moved to a sugar beet farm in the grass Alberta, in a tiny house 14 by 25 or eight people no longer no electricity, no vaping or washing facilities, drinking water and caring man and profit from the neighbors Well, water for washing clothes is gone from the irrigation ditches until the winter snows came. Then the snow was mounted. Our parents contracted 35 acres of sugar beets at $27 per acre. The field was five miles away, and whether they retired her or ill they walked both ways to tan and harvest the crop from spring to the winter freeze. Our oldest sister worked as a clerk at the grocery store. The earnings were crucial to our survival. She achieved her high school diploma in the prison camp for girls who attend university was never fulfilled. Who makes children when school does not like to deal with our parents. On September 21 1948, Walter was finally able to receive his Canadian citizenship. In January 1949, we moved to Cardston Alberta, just soften the ground. Reluctantly, we took over a restaurant started by our grandfather on an apartment. They were heavily in debt and near bankruptcy. London became the cook for two shifts each day. Father who hardly was ever in the kitchen. We think the stature of friends by the time the older children wash dishes, waiting on tables. As a family we suffered immeasurably. It took us six years to pay off grandfather's debt, save enough money and return to Saltspring. Grandfather Kendall died in Carson November 1949. On April the first 1949 Four years after the war with Japan had handed the restrictions under the War Measures Act were lifted for rights of citizenship and the French I and the freedom of movement were given to the Japanese Canadian. This month, Japanese Canadians were finally able to return to British Columbia. Most could not because there was nothing left for them to come back to. Also, as we paid for our own incarceration, you were all poverty stricken on my mother's 60th birthday in September 1964. And my mother in law that was 55, we returned to salt, the only Japanese Canadian family to return to any of the Gulf Islands. They had started all over again. We were not welcome. We heard that there had been a meeting of the flotation concerned citizens of softening and 85% had voted not to let those jacks return and stay tuned. I parents trying unsuccessfully to buy the farm that they bought from rode on Rainbow Road where the field is today. The real estate company involved in our purchase with a former custodian of enemy property for the golf club. And you have more than the fact that our parents paid in full for the land spread throughout the island. Shortly after we had moved into our home, a Revenue Canada representative came to our house to mother he said on behalf of the Concerned Citizens of Salt Spring Island, I have come to find out how to obtain the money to buy this property and return to the island.

Unknown Speaker 31:40
Through hard work with tears in them blowing out and burning trees some taking some manually digging drainage ditches and well and turn the land into a remarkable Market Garden. The crops of berries, asparagus and vegetables. Were as long as my parents had the business. Many many Saltspring Island citizens and regular summer visitors supported them by enthusiastically buying their party party's for those who supported and advocated for our families. We are forever grateful to them. Landlords offering it was not always easy. We experienced many, many, many, many acts of extreme racial hatred from individuals and officials of established institutions. Some examples are as follows one upon our return a priority with our cemetery behind them. One of our mothers next time my brother is there even a shock was in store for us. Our cemetery had been used as a garbage dump. Many gray markers were gone. Every Sunday we cleaned the cemetery to replace a lot of markers for the late Peter post. From memory, he carved the names of the deceased persons on them too. Soon after the Revenue Canada visitor mother had another visitor, a very senior person of a particular Christian Church, the denomination to which all of us children have been baptized. He told me about it. Our family was not to attend this church because we were seen as evil people. So we never did attend his church tree our parents experienced many acts of vandalism themselves. One year, a thief or II came in the night and stole the years entire crop of onions that were drying. Our livelihood was stolen. The RCMP without locked into the fifth. They refuse to give them service. A retired senior RCMP official who was a customer and a very good friend of our parents advocated for them. He telephoned headquarters and demanded an investigation, which was finally carried out for when my brother was starting this off of a parent's business. The our insights made life difficult. There are many others on the average return on within the yard. But the truck chose to harass my brother. Three of us attended a Transnet and discussed the situation during after returning home, received a phone call from one of the trustees who was literally literally he was yelling into the phone with the telephone in the center of the table. All of them sitting around the table with students land or races and falling slowly he yells the truck was the truck when they help us higher officials is going to do everything in its power to get you jacked off this island. Five. One my brother's business was well established. Our Father, our family, our family was threatened by an RCMP officer. The officer said, If you don't stop taking business away from my friends, and made two of his friends, I'll come down and wipe you and your family. Don't bother asking for service from the RCMP because it won't be available to you. These days to to to people like that. Let me say that again, don't go back to for service and the RCMP because they won't be available to people like us. We understood this as a death threat from a law enforcement officer. This threat threatened our family, especially our parents, we turned to the Japanese Kaizen Citizens Association of Greater Vancouver, the National Association of Japanese Canadian, the National Head of the RCMP in Ottawa to assist us to deal with this situation. Say no parking signs or no parking signs appear suddenly in front of our property. Another effort to curtail my brother's business. When the ministry of highways and Victoria was contracted, the official set a kind of consent form to request the favor of putting up the sign. The official name his friend, who is considered a prominent community leader of Saltspring, the high res official that you know, doing this kind of favors, and relays this response was explained profanities against our paddling the lake, Mr. Howard Marks a customer who became a great friend to our parents, a prominent developer who came off as American Idol advocated for us, and this matters, and in many other situations. He was a true friend, and we thank him from the bottom of our hearts for all the help that he provided especially to our parents. Also, anonymous friend came in the night and took down the sign. When the Centennial Park and Ganges was being built to commemorate cannabis and penury in 1967. And to honor the salt free plan years, our parents willingly and with great enthusiasm for the park donated money when asked to do so. The ask that a charity is planted in memory of the Japanese Canadian planning years here since 1890. That tree was never planted. A prominent citizen told mother to go get her money back because the parks committee did not want people of our race to contribute to the park. Mother did get her money back 30 years later, pay the park permissions to plant to tea. Before the trees were planted. However, we understand a survey was taken of the initial objectives to see if there was a consensus for the lending industry to be candid. And this was the 1996 public. Water day in March of 1988. Mother in July of 1997. Father Ada and mother in 97. Our parents were a powerful team. They were our role models. They taught them never, never never to quietly accept the cruel onslaught or racial hatred, never act as victims and always show up helping to the world, never a face of defeat. They showed us how to be generous and compassionate towards others. They provided securities and created opportunities for us. They believe strongly in education and cannot afford to go to university throughout their lives that were truly honorable and loyal citizens of saucepan of British Columbia and with dignity and courage. Our parents brought the families safely through some terrible, terrible terrible times in our journey through life and ensures that our families prevail. That's what I wanted to share.

Unknown Speaker 40:09
Thank you so much for that consented to answer some questions for a little while in my garage.

Unknown Speaker 40:22
Again, I beg your pardon. My father did my father speak English? Again that went to ask Yes, yes. No, my father did not speak English very well. And there's a lot of reasons for that. He came when he was 28. And as he said to me, he came from a very structured family into the depth of talent that he said, and he worked very, very hard. And because of the stress of all the work, he became damaged, and we were not able to afford to buy hearing aids for him until we were in the grass, Alberta and the sugar beet fields. And after he got his hearing aids, he tried to learn English but he uses an interesting combination of Japanese and English terms. But because of all the Dead Sea English very well, it allowed us to learn Japanese. And the other questions Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 41:45
That's an interesting question. Because when we were in America, and McGrath, we met a lot of Japanese people who live on main island. And also many of the Japanese people like my grandfather, my and my art Hasson and Arthur family around the grass, and there were people who went to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and many of the young families went to Toronto. And and when the when the ultimatum was put forth to us in terms of staying in Canada or going to Japan, there was one family for faltering. We all had our families who went to Japan. And I think they were in shock when they went there. And they worked really hard to try and get back to Canada. And the Canadian Council wouldn't count any of those people to return if they had a hard time. But they all came back. The father had died in the prison camp. So the mother and three daughters and came back to Canada, but one boy still remains independent. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 43:09
Well, the generation of deputies, Canadians, who were born in the camps or after, are really looked at what had happened to our generation as a parents generation, and became very angry. And there was effort from way, way back then, even during undergrad can to try and resolve for situations but they developed the National Association of Japanese Canadians. And they fought for what is called redress or September 22 1988. When the ruling was in government, he apologized to the Japanese and agreed to a token compensation appointments out of those four people. But it wasn't the money we wanted. We wanted to give you your life back. And the people who led that drive was our community was president who was a principal a high school and Wednesday. His brother was a major force and annoying just wanted the Governor General's Award for 40 this year, and so the group that led the the fight I guess you could say we're highly educated people like boy I need to translate English and foreign phrases and one of the interviews are a lot of lawyers. So yeah.

Unknown Speaker 44:53
Morning if it's possible for us to do It can be done through a political system and some lawyers have reviewed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And they say that it can happen again. But the only way that won't happen is this, the population doesn't get blinded by the record from the politician. Because in our situation, as I've said, with the documents not available for public access, they found that there really wasn't a security when when the Japanese Canadians because as I said, the army, the RCMP and the other armed forces, definitely were again, moving us up because they said that we weren't. So all you have to do is look around right now in the rise of anti semitism, and racism against the Muslim people. So it can happen.

Unknown Speaker 46:57
If you could pick up people from politics? Well, I think we all have to understand. One of the real things that happened to us, not just to us, to the people of Canada was this betrayal of democracy, I think we have to understand what democracy means we also have to understand what the meaning of citizenship, because the justice to us with democracy, to trade, and also our rights, were all disregarded. And, and the other thing the world is changing now, like when he first returned to Saltspring Island, it was indeed a very White Island, it was a very intolerant, the only people of color were was the Chinese family, the man, the father did the cooking at the Opera House. And then you have our friends who are descendants of the black pioneer. And but now you'll see that there's a little bit more color being asked, right. And then when you go to Vancouver, you'll notice that there's a multitude of colors, but I think when you live among people, you learn to you learn to know them as people first, rather than their color or their religion. You had a question? I'm wondering if you would feel comfortable saying something about your personal experience through the eyes of a child seeing that kind of thing? Well, one of the things I do is, these things kind of come back to us and flashback. And when I was a student nurse at the Vancouver general state, one of the churches allowed us to go swimming, because there was a swimming pool attached to the recreation section. And whenever I went there, the first few times I, I found it really, really uncomfortable and something about the smell. And one day, one evening when I was sleeping, all of a sudden, I found myself with my little bob over the frog and Hastings Park. And literally it was a swamp and the water is just swishing by and you could feel the water splashing on your bum and the smell of the line. And I guess, inlet and so those are the things that I remember and then and in the class when we left the camp, I was in grade three. And I used to get granted a lot one because we were Japanese But secondly, unfortunately there was Tokyo road and my name was thrown to harass me, but I mean what molecule now but in grade three I was pretty big. For the builder watch Yeah, you know, I was willing to get into a physical fight. Yeah. You know, if there was any disciplinary action taken a call at the time to meet that need to be officials or, you know, to make plans or directly know. When the example What happened, Mr. Iwasaki was all about. We call us back and Dr. Mystery once I thought the government in 1967, around there. And I was talking to his sunray last night because I wanted to get some facts straight. And he said that it went on for about four years. And he lost the fight anyway. But the lawyers that were hired by the what's lucky families, there were Cajun lawyers. They haven't been on for time. They were called all kinds of names for time, because I've definitely taken family looking justices. And but when it came to Africa, yes, that's when you tried to fight the good fight. But the people who benefited from, from the situation would say to us, well, it wasn't really awful, it was a dumb thing to do. Now, the other interesting thing is in the United States, there are many documentation. families of kids and families who looked after the requirements of Japanese American families who were taken away, but and then when they can, there's one thing flying outside of Bellingham, huge, huge woman, that the only break was that families definitely Canadian family was when they were taken to camp. But the difference between the American situation or the Canadian situation was that in the United States, they didn't have to take whether he was incarceration. They get the older man who I thought was stolen, and I think 45 Before a 44 before the war had ended with Japan, they allowed the people to return to their home and they allowed the American citizens to join the armed forces and you probably know the same as union the Japanese American and the the other irony is that in Hawaii where a harbor occurred, no one was taken to camp and so and then of course in in Canada, they didn't really release it to the war measure that until 1940 Yeah, I've been interested in this context and

Unknown Speaker 53:19
that's it. Good morning.

Unknown Speaker 53:48
Sounds as you can see that all you need is one

Unknown Speaker 54:02
right so

Unknown Speaker 54:10
you can go watch you

Unknown Speaker 54:19
watch you

Unknown Speaker 54:47
once you

Unknown Speaker 55:00
Hey Joe Jackson you can get what you want

Unknown Speaker 55:39
things golf circles confusion is nothing new

Unknown Speaker 55:57
good time sometimes you'll pick it up too far to me Can't you worry you've said that you say goes

Unknown Speaker 56:24
is said and done you will

Unknown Speaker 56:37
today

Unknown Speaker 57:07
you my two friends to grab lunch