Last week, our ASTU class visited the Rare Books and Special Collections section of the library. In doing this, we observed and analyzed documents pertaining both to the publication of Obasan, and historical documents alike. My group (consisting of Avril and I) reviewed documents detailing a correspondence between a reverent who was representing the rights of Japanese Canadians, and those he represented. The letters were very personal on some issues, explaining how the lives of Japanese Canadians were affected, as written by them. One letter that particularly stood out to me, was one detailing how a mother and daughter were split up whilst being sent to camps out in Alberta. It is documents like this that really connect the book of Obasan to the collective memory of all those who suffered this. The book represented the sentiments expressed in many of the letters in the loss and betrayal that many of these Canadians had felt during World War Two.
In August of 2016, I visited Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. Apart from being, in my opinion, the mosquito capital of the world, the actual city and surrounding land was incredibly beautiful. While there, we were able to interact with the locals and gain a rich history of there area and the culture. We were able to learn quite a bit about Inuit culture, participating in historical games, and throat-singing. While on the trip, we also had the opportunity to learn about some of the struggles faced by the Inuit people around the turn of the twentieth century. The Inuit children were subjected to the residential school program, organized by the Canadian government. The residential school program took children from their homes, and attempted to forcefully assimilate them. In the program, many children, as young a seven, were subjected to beatings, and sexual abuse. The government of Canada finally apologized for this mistreatment in 2008 and established the truth and reconciliation council, although many issues pertain from decades ago. We learned how the program affected the Inuit community and generated “generational trauma”. In this, the children who were abused sometimes turned to substances to “forget” their past. With this, sometimes their children would be abused as a cause of the substances their parents were using. Similarly, to the internment of Japanese Canadians, it had massive implications on the youth. Both the internment of Japanese Canadians and the residential school program are seen as two of Canada’s largest “dark spots” on our history. These examples are important to document, through Obasan, and museums, so these should not occur again. The documents we read in the Rare Books and Special Collections reminded me of some documents I read about the residential school program. In particular, the one I mentioned earlier, about the mother being separated from the daughter as this occurred numerous times through the residential school program as well.
The visit to RBSC was a beneficial experience to me as I was able to connect the internment of Japanese Canadians to the residential school programs. As these events had many similar characteristics, it is important we recognize their causes through documentation and memory to prevent them from ever happening again.
