Submitted by Eileen Phillips
Vivian Wakabayashi Rygnestad gave an insightful and thought-provoking talk to us at the recent General Meeting. Eight years ago, she was elected to Chair the Advisory Community Council of Japanese Canadians to the Landscapes of Injustice project, a seven-year project encompassing five Canadian universities and many partner institutions. Its goal was to research the forced uprooting, incarceration, and dispossession of 22,000 Japanese Canadians from coastal BC; 77% were British subjects/Canadian citizens. They didn’t regain their freedom and rights until 1949.
The Landscapes of Injustice project culminated in the dissemination of research findings with a museum exhibit, a narrative website, an archival data base, specific summer sessions for teachers and university students, and free teacher resources.
Through a timeline, Vivian focused on the history of Japanese Canadians: their incarceration/internment, dispossession, and a broken promise by the federal government. She gave examples of how research not only corroborated Japanese Canadians ’memories, but also uncovered the injustices and the racism perpetrated by BC and federal government officials and others with influence. She personalized the history with stories from her own family and others.
Vivian also spoke about resilience and legacies. Major traumatic incidents have occurred in every country of the world. The legacies of trauma are generational, often affect mental health, and are often characterized by silence – silence as a community and/or the silence of individuals affected.
Curious? We encourage you to go to Yammer on our BCRPVPA website to view the entire presentation.
Resources:
- The Landscapes of Injustice website is landscapeapsofinjustice.com
- Video of the UBC Graduation of the class of 1942: https://youtu.be/6Py0LqEXPjM
- Other Landscapes of Injustice videos are also on Jordan Stanger-Ross ed. Landscapes of Injustice: A new perspective on the internment and dispossession of Japanese Canadians. McGill-Queen’s University Press. 2020.
- The Zoom recording of this presentation is available on BCRPVPA To join Yammer, please go to our website www.bcrpvpa.ca or ask for an invite at info@bcrpvpa.ca
Events:
The museum display of the Landscapes project will be touring the country. Please see the website https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/museum-exhibit/ for a complete list of places and dates. For example, it will be at:
- the Surrey Museum from February 1 to April 22, 2022;
- at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria from May 20 to August 19, 2022.
