This study aims to examine critiques of social injustices expressed through the medium of literature by Native peoples of Canada and Japanese Canadians. My objectives are to explore literary representations of their struggles and examine how these representations and the struggles intersect. My study uses the following: “Coyote and the Enemy Aliens” by Thomas King, My Name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling, Obasan by Joy Kogawa, The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto, Burning Vision by Marie Clements, and “The Uranium Leaking from Port Radium and Rayrock Mines is Killing Us” by Richard Van Camp. The findings reveal Canada’s nation state still rooted in a White settler constructed society, and a legacy of imperialism in the form of globalization that destroys Native peoples’ lands. My thesis concludes with the im/possibilities of reconciliation, also considering my own role as a person of colour, a temporary settler from Japan.

This study aims to examine critiques of social injustices expressed through the medium of literature by Native peoples of Canada and Japanese Canadians. My objectives are to explore literary representations of their struggles and examine how these representations and the struggles intersect. My study uses the following: “Coyote and the Enemy Aliens” by Thomas King, My Name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling, Obasan by Joy Kogawa, The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto, Burning Vision by Marie Clements, and “The Uranium Leaking from Port Radium and Rayrock Mines is Killing Us” by Richard Van Camp. The findings reveal Canada’s nation state still rooted in a White settler constructed society, and a legacy of imperialism in the form of globalization that destroys Native peoples’ lands. My thesis concludes with the im/possibilities of reconciliation, also considering my own role as a person of colour, a temporary settler from Japan.

This thesis examines the writings of second generation Japanese Canadian women in the newspaper, The New Canadian between 1938 and 1949. Nisei women lived in a dual world containing different messages of appropriate female behaviour. Although there were similarities between Japanese and North American notions of womanhood, female Nisei writers advocated acculturation to the dominant society. In The New Canadian three major themes emerge from their writings that centre around social acceptance. The first theme is prescriptions of masculinity and femininity. They openly advocated popular North American gender roles, deportment, etiquette and courting customs. The second theme concerns the Issei-Nisei relationship and the conflicts that arose over different notions of femininity. The third examines how Nisei women responded to Anglo-Canadian prejudice, by denouncing racism and advocating acculturation to mainstream society. These articles offer one image of how some Nisei women actively defined themselves, their male counterparts and their future roles. These female voices suggest the deep seeded ambivalent feelings many Nisei women had about their dual identity, their Issei parents, and their status in Canadian society. The women in The New Canadian offered one solution to this uncertainty--acculturation. / Graduate

In developing the Bird Commission, its commissioner, Henry I. Bird, and other officials eventually chose to compensate Japanese Canadians for the forced sale of their property below free market value using property categories and set percentages. They developed strict formulas for each category that should have been easy to follow when reimbursing claimants. However, this was not the case. Commission officials failed to follow the procedures that they had developed when awarding compensation to Japanese Canadians. Claimants could collect awards that were below or above the amounts that the commission’s procedure predicted. This thesis aims to understand the reasons why Bird Commission officials failed to follow the formulas that they had developed when compensating Japanese Canadians for the dispossession of their property through an examination of the Bird Commission Casefiles and Custodian Casefiles. Using information gathered from these government records, this analysis employs statistical analysis to explain the factors which influenced commission officials to alter awards. Considering the historical context of the commission, this analysis also offers explanations for why the factors uncovered using regression analysis may have impacted the commission and its outcomes. Recognizing the deviations in the Bird Commission’s compensation offers new insights into the commission’s operations and impacts on Japanese Canadians. It highlights a close relationship between the commission and officials from the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, and it participates with the work of other scholars in acknowledging the efforts that Japanese Canadians made in making the Canadian government confront the injustices it had conducted against them. / Graduate

During the Second World War, Japanese Canadians were uprooted from their homes along the coast of British Columbia and forced to leave the province. In 1946, almost 4,000 individuals were exiled to Japan. The Canadian government deemed their departure ‘voluntary,’ and labelled them ‘disloyal’ to Canada. However, a close reading of the evidence illustrates that ‘loyalty’ had little to do with their departure, and exposes the intent of federal and provincial officials to forcefully remove Nikkei from B.C. For those exiled to occupied Japan, life was filled with hardship and many were forced into difficult or unfamiliar situations. Many longed to return to Canada, but faced numerous restrictions, while others prospered and stayed in Japan for the duration of their lives. This thesis examines the experiences of many of those exiled to Japan, and explores the process by which the Canadian government facilitated their forced removal from B.C. and Canada. / Graduate

O objetivo desta dissertação é discutir o contraste entre voz e silêncio, assim como as formas pelas quais o pós-colonialismo se manifesta nos romances autobiográficos Obasan, de Joy Kogawa, e Chorus of Mushrooms, de Hiromi Goto, utilizando as relações familiares como tema central de minha investigação. Ambos os romances tratam de famílias nipo-canadenses, sendo a primeira, no romance de Joy Kogawa, uma família de segunda geração de japoneses no Canadá (Issei), e a segunda, no livro de Hiromi Goto, uma família de terceira geração (Sansei). Em Obasan, Naomi, a personagem central, é uma mulher de trinta e cinco anos que, em conseqüência da morte de seu tio, inicia uma jornada em busca de seu passado e de sua família. As lembranças de Naomi estão relacionadas à Segunda Guerra Mundial e ao processo de deslocamento de imigrantes japoneses e de seus descendentes para campos de concentração que se seguiu. O livro é uma mistura de narrativa pessoal, cartas oficiais e sonhos. Em Chorus of Mushrooms, Murasaki, a personagem central, conta a seu amante as lembranças que tem de sua infância em Alberta, onde viveu com seus pais e sua avó em uma fazenda de cogumelos. As histórias estão divididas entre três vozes: a da Murasaki adulta, a de Murasaki no passado, e a de Naoe, sua avó. São histórias dentro de histórias, em uma mistura de tradição oral, romance e autobiografia. Hiromi Goto lida com hibridismo e assimilação, e tenta criar pontes entre as culturas japonesa e canadense através de elementos que vão desde a linguagem até a comida. Este livro também é uma coleção de memórias. O principal foco do romance é a relação entre três mulheres, três gerações da família Tonkatsu: Naoe, Keiko e Murasaki. Os dois romances têm em comum mulheres fortes, sendo a principal diferença as formas de comunicação usadas para mostrar tal força. Obasan e Chorus of Mushrooms falam sobre como negociar um lugar entre culturas, e como fazer as pazes consigo mesma e com o passado.

O objetivo desta dissertação é discutir o contraste entre voz e silêncio, assim como as formas pelas quais o pós-colonialismo se manifesta nos romances autobiográficos Obasan, de Joy Kogawa, e Chorus of Mushrooms, de Hiromi Goto, utilizando as relações familiares como tema central de minha investigação. Ambos os romances tratam de famílias nipo-canadenses, sendo a primeira, no romance de Joy Kogawa, uma família de segunda geração de japoneses no Canadá (Issei), e a segunda, no livro de Hiromi Goto, uma família de terceira geração (Sansei). Em Obasan, Naomi, a personagem central, é uma mulher de trinta e cinco anos que, em conseqüência da morte de seu tio, inicia uma jornada em busca de seu passado e de sua família. As lembranças de Naomi estão relacionadas à Segunda Guerra Mundial e ao processo de deslocamento de imigrantes japoneses e de seus descendentes para campos de concentração que se seguiu. O livro é uma mistura de narrativa pessoal, cartas oficiais e sonhos. Em Chorus of Mushrooms, Murasaki, a personagem central, conta a seu amante as lembranças que tem de sua infância em Alberta, onde viveu com seus pais e sua avó em uma fazenda de cogumelos. As histórias estão divididas entre três vozes: a da Murasaki adulta, a de Murasaki no passado, e a de Naoe, sua avó. São histórias dentro de histórias, em uma mistura de tradição oral, romance e autobiografia. Hiromi Goto lida com hibridismo e assimilação, e tenta criar pontes entre as culturas japonesa e canadense através de elementos que vão desde a linguagem até a comida. Este livro também é uma coleção de memórias. O principal foco do romance é a relação entre três mulheres, três gerações da família Tonkatsu: Naoe, Keiko e Murasaki. Os dois romances têm em comum mulheres fortes, sendo a principal diferença as formas de comunicação usadas para mostrar tal força. Obasan e Chorus of Mushrooms falam sobre como negociar um lugar entre culturas, e como fazer as pazes consigo mesma e com o passado.

This paper provides an account of early Japanese immigration to Canada in the years between 1877 and 1908 from the point of view of the Japanese Imperial government of the time. Drawing on Japanese diplomatic correspondence uncovered by Toshiji Sasaki in his 1999 work "Nihon-jin Kanada imin-shi" and accounts from Japanese-language newspapers published in Vancouver during the period, I examine the Japanese experience in Canada and describe how Japanese officials and emigrants responded to Canadian efforts to restrict Japanese emigration to Canada, culminating in the Vancouver Riot of 1907. I show how, when faced with this diplomatic crisis, Japanese officials reacted only reluctantly and, for the most part, ineffectually to limit emigration to Canada. The result of such restrictions as ultimately were imposed on the emigration of Japanese workers was not the end of Japanese emigration but the beginning of permanent settlement by Japanese families in Canada.

This paper provides an account of early Japanese immigration to Canada in the years between 1877 and 1908 from the point of view of the Japanese Imperial government of the time. Drawing on Japanese diplomatic correspondence uncovered by Toshiji Sasaki in his 1999 work "Nihon-jin Kanada imin-shi" and accounts from Japanese-language newspapers published in Vancouver during the period, I examine the Japanese experience in Canada and describe how Japanese officials and emigrants responded to Canadian efforts to restrict Japanese emigration to Canada, culminating in the Vancouver Riot of 1907. I show how, when faced with this diplomatic crisis, Japanese officials reacted only reluctantly and, for the most part, ineffectually to limit emigration to Canada. The result of such restrictions as ultimately were imposed on the emigration of Japanese workers was not the end of Japanese emigration but the beginning of permanent settlement by Japanese families in Canada.

This exploratory study draws from six semi-structured interviews with multiracial Nikkei women living in Canada to investigate their experiences of mixed race belonging. After establishing belonging as intrinsic to the very nature of how multiraciality and Asianness have been historically constructed and are presently experienced in Canada, three areas relevant to how the interviewees experience mixed race belonging are then considered: multiracial name modification (MRNM), the nation and Canadianness, and Japaneseness in Canada. This study also considers how the recent racial climate of pandemic-related anti-Asian racism has potentially impacted how mixed race belonging is experienced by the interviewees, which reveals two additional areas of interest: the amplified experience of multiracial dysmorphia (MRD) during this time and the emergence of pan-Asianness in Canada as a potential new site of belonging. As captured, issues of mixed race belonging arise in various spheres of the interviewees' lives because of the very ways in which multiraciality and Asianness have been constructed and maintained in the Canadian social landscape. In doing so, this study hopes to drive home how issues of mixed race belonging speak more to the problematic nature of "race" itself than of mixed race people themselves.