Dr. Pamela Sugiman PhD. Lecture at the Royal BC Museum
By Roy Katsuyama
On January 28, 2018, Dr. Pamela Sugiman presented a lecture about the Japanese Canadian internment.
The title of the talk was, “Acts of Kindness and Complicity: The silence of bystanders and eyewitnesses to the dispossession and internment of Japanese Canadians”
The following synopsis is from the Royal BC Museum website.
In this talk, distinguished oral historian Dr. Pamela Sugiman confronts the complexity and messiness of human relationships. She reveals a troubling silence: not the silence of Japanese Canadians, but rather of their friends, neighbours, classmates, teachers, co-workers, employers and religious leaders. Based on her interviews with these bystanders and witnesses, she explains who they are and how they remember the ugliness of Canada’s past, how they shared their memories with their children and grandchildren, and how their stories have changed her own understanding of Canadian history, memory and racism.
I attended the lecture with Dr. Henry Shimizu. Almost one hundred people came to hear Dr. Sugiman. It seemed that there were many in the audience who knew little about the Japanese Canadian internment. They probably are now well informed and will spread the history of unjust treatment of the Nikkei Canadians in the 1940’s.
After the talk, there were people who asked questions about the internment and even how the Japanese Canadian Redress was started.
Dr. Henry Shimizu became involved in responding to the questions. As the former Chairman of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation and an internee when he was a teenager, he is well qualified in explaining what took place.
Dr. Shimizu added colour to the talk with facts and anecdotes about the internment and Redress movement.
He related a comical incidence during internment where a Japanese doctor was making the rounds to various internment camps. An RCMP officer accompanied the doctor in a car. The doctor was the driver and as he accelerated to high speeds, he asked if there are any cops around.On Feb 17, a small group of VNCS members and friends journeyed to Gabriola Island for the annual Nori Tori. Despite the threatening weather, it turned out to be a nice and sunny albeit crisp day for nori gathering; and the nori was very plentiful. After about 2 hours of harvesting the winds really started to pick up but by then everyone had gathered their quota of nori. So we all headed back to the ferry. This year we did not have a potluck at Sus Tabata’s cabin. Due to his advancing age Sus has stepped down from organizing Nori Tori and hosting the Potluck. Many thanks to Sus for establishing this great VNCS tradition. Thank you also to Bradley Kurushima for taking on the Nori Tori event. It is encouraging to see some of our younger members stepping in to carry on our VNCS traditions.
The talk was a great success. Thank you to Dr. Sugiman for making the trip from Toronto to make the presentation.
Nori Tori 2018 – Tsugio Kurushima
On Feb 17, a small group of VNCS members and friends journeyed to Gabriola Island for the annual Nori Tori. Despite the threatening weather, it turned out to be a nice and sunny albeit crisp day for nori gathering; and the nori was very plentiful. After about 2 hours of harvesting the winds really started to pick up but by then everyone had gathered their quota of nori. So we all headed back to the ferry. This year we did not have a potluck at Sus Tabata’s cabin. Due to his advancing age Sus has stepped down from organizing Nori Tori and hosting the Potluck. Many thanks to Sus for establishing this great VNCS tradition. Thank you also to Bradley Kurushima for taking on the Nori Tori event. It is encouraging to see some of our younger members stepping in to carry on our VNCS traditions.
2018年海苔取り– ツギオ・クルシマ
2月17日、毎年恒例の“海苔採り”を行うべく、VNCSのメンバーと友人による少数のグループがガブリオラ島を訪れました。天候が危ぶまれましたが、気持ちの良い晴れの日となり、海苔をたくさん収穫することができました。作業開始から2時間ほど経ったところで風が強くなってきたのですが、それまでに皆十分な量の海苔を採っていました。今年は、Sus Tabataのキャビンでの海苔採り後のポットラックパーティーがなかったので、その後すぐにフェリーでビクトリアへ戻りました。加齢による諸事情のため、Susは海苔採りの運営とポットラックパーティーの主催から退くことになったのです。この素晴らしい海苔採りをVNCSの恒例行事のひとつとして確立してくださったSusに心からお礼を申し上げます。また、Susより運営を引き継いでくれたBradley Kurushimaにも感謝致します。このように、若い層のメンバーが率先してVNCSの伝統行事の運営を継いでいってくれるのは喜ばしいことです。
（和訳：マーサー佳奈）
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