Outdoor Portrait of the May Court; Tashme, BC

Outdoor Portrait of the May Court; Tashme, BC

Description

Title Proper Outdoor Portrait of the May Court; Tashme, BC
Date(s) 1944
General material designation
This item contains a textual record.
Scope and content
This image depicts four girls in white dresses standing front of a wooden building. From left to right they are: Saito, Yanagawa, Sato, and Seo. Saito is turned toward the middle; there is a white headband in her hair, and a flower hanging from her right wrist. Yanagawa, the May Queen, is standing angled toward the middle, with a flower hanging down from her right wrist. Sato is standing angled toward the right, her hair is held back with a white headband and there is a flower hanging from her left wrist. Seo is standing angled toward the center with a flower hanging from her left wrist. Behind them can be seen a wooden building and the slope of a mountain; snow is still on the ground and on the mountain.
Name of creator
Fumiko Kawata was born in 1938 in Cumberland BC to parents Itoko and Yoshitoshi Kawata. Yoshitoshi's parents were Sowa & Kinshiro Kawata from Ehime prefecture. Kinshiro came to Canada as a farm labourer on the Empress of Russia Dec 19, 1922, his nearest relative at that time was Tomi Kawata of Yanazaki Mura, Nishiwa gori, Ehime Ken, Japan. Itoko and Yoshitoshi were born in Japan and remained Japanese Nationals.
Immediate source of acquisition
The digital copies of the records were acquired by the Landscapes of Injustice Research Collective between 2014 and 2018.
This record was digitized in full.

Metadata

Title

Outdoor Portrait of the May Court; Tashme, BC
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Terminology

Readers of these historical materials will encounter derogatory references to Japanese Canadians and euphemisms used to obscure the intent and impacts of the internment and dispossession. While these are important realities of the history, the Landscapes of Injustice Research Collective urges users to carefully consider their own terminological choices in writing and speaking about this topic today as we confront past injustice. See our statement on terminology, and related sources here.