As if they were the enemy: The dispossession of Japanese Canadians on Saltspring Island
Date
2020-10-20
Authors
Smallshaw, Brian
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Abstract
A microhistory of the dispossession of the Japanese Canadians who were living on Saltspring Island at the time of the uprooting during World War II. Like the approximately 22,000 other Japanese who were forcibly removed from the coast, their land was taken from them and sold without their consent, but several things make the Saltspring story unique: the largest and most valuable of the properties ended up in the hands of the local agent for the Custodian of Enemy Property, and this was contested in a court case in the 1960s that gained nationwide attention. As well, one of the families that was uprooted returned to the island, something that happened only rarely elsewhere. The book examines the legality of the dispossession, while also looking at the impact on individual families and the wider society on Saltspring Island.
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Keywords
Japanese—Canada—Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945, Japanese— British Columbia—Saltspring Island—Social conditions—20th century, Saltspring Island (B.C.)— Social conditions—20th century, Saltspring Island (B.C.)—Race relations—History—20th century, Japanese Canadians—Evacuation and relocation, 1942- 1945, Japanese Canadians—British Columbia—Saltspring Island—Social conditions—20th century