Why

How

Warm up activity
- On index cards, write one of these words on each card: wagon, car, wheel, space shuttle.
- Four students hold the cards at the front of the classroom.
- The class rearranges the cards (and students) into chronological order: wheel, wagon, car, space shuttle.
- Ask students to explain their reasoning. There is usually a logical reason for the order of events as some events need to occur before another event can occur.
Timeline
- Distribute timeline handout 1 and handout 2 to students.
- Read the events out loud with the class. Explanation of terms or vocabulary will be helpful for students.
- Students cut the event sheet into individual boxes. They read, discuss, sort, and number the events described in chronological order in the boxes beside the dates.
- Students share their chronology with others and explain the order they chose. After the discussion, students glue the events in place.
- This activity could be assigned to pairs or small groups.
- The teacher reveals the actual order of events (below). Discuss the events over time. Examples:
  - Were you surprised that Canada did not have a Charter of Rights until 1982, almost 40 years after the war? Were you surprised that it took another 6 years after adoption of the Charter for the government to apologize to Japanese Canadians (more than 40 years after the end of the war)?
  - Which events and their order made the most sense to you? Which ones did not make sense?

1877 Manzo Nagano, the first Japanese individual known to land and settle in Canada arrives. Japanese begin to arrive in British Columbia and settle along the coast.
1938 A delegation is sent by the Japanese Canadian Citizens’ League to seek the right to vote.
1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, USA and British Hong Kong. The US and the UK declare war on Japan. Canada declares war on Japan.
1942 All Japanese Canadians are forcibly moved from the 100-mile “protected” area along the BC coast. While in internment, their homes, businesses, farms, fishing boats, properties, and personal possessions are sold without their consent.
1945 World War II ends. All internment camps, except for New Denver, are ordered closed and settlements of shacks bulldozed. Japanese Canadians are told to move east of the Rockies or be exiled to Japan.
1949 Four years after the end of World War II, all restrictions are lifted and Japanese Canadians are allowed to return to the BC coast and are given the right to vote
1982 The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms comes into being.
1988 Redress. The Government of Canada acknowledges the injustices suffered by Japanese Canadians during wartime, offers an apology and monetary compensation.
2002 Japanese Canadian communities throughout Canada celebrate the 125th anniversary of the arrival of the first immigrant from Japan. “Things” Japanese have become part of Canadian society. Intermarriage is very common.