1939-1952

Lesson 4: LEGACIES OF DISPOSSESSION

Landscapes of Injustice tells a story of the loss of home. It is about fear, racism, and measures taken in the name of security that made no one safer. It is also about the resilience of Japanese Canadians confronting injustice.

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Shaken Identity Activity

In this activity students will explore the limited range of choices given Japanese Canadian families for resettlement at the end of the internment. Students examine archival sources and secondary readings where they consider the very limited options faced by Japanese Canadians. The activity culminates with a mixed media project taking the form of a collage, storyboard, gallery walk, monologue or song. Drawing upon the knowledge and understandings gained in the previous activity students demonstrate the depth of their understanding with respect to the challenges, resiliency, and long term impact of dislocation and dispossession on Japanese Canadians.

SUGGESTED TIME: 90 MINUTES

Teaching Instructions

  1. Explain to your students that they are now going to look at the options for relocation given to Japanese Canadians at the end of the internment. Provide students with Handout 4.3 From Internment to Exile and Source 4.8 Notice for Dispersal>.

    - In this activity students are to reflect on the options given Japanese Canadians to relocate and to choose an option.

    - Under the Family and Individual Considerations header ask students to consider any variable that may have been considered prior to making a choice (economic needs, communal needs, legal issues, emotional needs, transportation, access to education, etc.)

    - Students then make a choice for themselves. If they had to make a decision in the summer of 1945 which choice would it be and why?

    - Allow 30 minutes for these steps, then review student responses.

  2. For the next activity students need to be placed in teams/groups of 4–6. After organizing teams/groups provide each group with Handout 4.4 Shaken Identity Project review the guidelines for the project with the class.

    - Provide a set of the source materials for this activity to each team/group:

    • Source 4.9 Repatriation Survey
    • Source 4.10 Internment and Exile
    • Source 4.11 Pickersgill Memo

    - Students use the source materials, previous learning and additional research to develop their project. It is recommended that teachers spend some time debriefing each of the sources with the class.

  3. Give students a chance to share their creations and display any art and play any songs they have produced.

Handouts

Sources