Historic Sites and Monuments

What Is the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada?

The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) may receive and consider recommendations respecting the marking or commemoration of historic places, the establishment of historic museums and the administration, preservation and maintenance of historic places and historic museums, and shall advise the Minister in carrying out his powers. In practice, the Board advises the Minister of the Environment on the commemoration of those places, persons and events that represent nationally significant aspects of Canadian history and indicates the form of commemoration.
http://www.appointments-nominations.gc.ca/prflOrg.asp?OrgID=HSM&type-typ=&lang=eng

National Historic Sites of Canada in British Columbia and the North

Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site of Canada
Highlights the historic Klondike gold rush
The mass movement of people into the North trying to survive the Canadian Wilderness

Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site of Canada
Fisgard Lighthouse NHS commemorates the national significance of the first lighthouse on Canada's west coast. Fisgard has been an important symbol of sovereignty-British, Colonial and Canadian-since 1860.

Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site of Canada
One of BC's few historically intact canneries, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery commemorates the history of Canada's West Coast fishing industry from the 1870's to the present.

For a complete list visit: http://www.pc.gc.ca/progs/np-pn/index_E.asp

Journal Article Summary with the Focus on The View From the West
Rickettes, Shannon. “Cultural Selection and National Identity: Establishing Historic Sites in a National Framework, 1920-1939,” The Public Historian 18, no. 3 (1996): 23-41.

The interwar period in Canada marked an increase in commemorative activity. A rise in specialization and professionalization were changing a remembrance movement that had previously reflected the conscious of the educated elite. However despite this growing diversity of historical commemorative efforts the ‘Canadian nation-building experience’ was focused around accentuating the British initiatives that had focused on assimilating the population.
The National Historic Sites had the goal of marking events and places significant to this nationalist endeavor. However, according to Shannon, the French-speaking Canadians and First Nations groups along with any other community not of British descent may have felt excluded. And it wasn’t until the 1980s that imperialist assumptions underlying the development of historical sites would be questions.
British Columbia in 1925 passed an early preservation act due to threats to petroglyphs and totem poles, which were being removed, from Aboriginal Villages by foreign collectors. Preserved sites have largely been from the viewpoint of the white immigrant, ignoring the attitudes of First Nations peoples regarding the use and conservation of their own cultural artifacts. The British Columbian Aboriginal communities were seen to have ceased with their legitimate history with the arrival of the White Settlers.
Shannon concludes by reiterating earlier observations as to the assumed assimilation of Native peoples into the British cultural origins and with the Francophone culture on the periphery of the Nationalistic Image being created. It wasn’t until the 80s when community involvement became more active in identifying historical sites representing the multicultural history we are familiar with today.

Article Summary: Yves Yvon J. Pelletier, “The Politics of Selection: The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada and the Imperial Commemoration of Canadian History 1919 - 1950”

Looks at the selection process undertaken by members of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC). Throughout the article, the author makes reference to the undermined importance of the HSMBC when choosing historical monuments; in the process, re-shaping the Canadian identity. The idea was, and always has been, to choose historical sites that have been viewed to serve as both a regional and a national heritage site. When first established, the members of the committee used the organization as a tool for Anglo-conformity; gathering a select group of privileged white males to take part in the decision making. Throughout several points in the article the author makes fine point to highlight two important biases that existed within the HSMBC. First, being the influence of the Loyalist movements that still existed in Canada during the late 20th century, resulting in an overwhelming recommendation of land-marking past historical sites of the Commonwealth; this would eventually lead to a clash of differences with French Canada, conforming to their own views of nationalism. The second, was seen as an overlook of the ideals of the Canadian proletariat in the decision making process, narrowing the acceptance into the HSMBC to members of the social elite. In almost all cases, the Canadian people went along with the decisions of the Board members in a process referred to by Italian political theorist Antonio Gramsci as the “common sense appraoch” where the lower classes simply go along with the decisions without any real conscious knowledge (pg. 127). As history has shown however, this elitist privilege that came with the HMSBC Board began to die out shortly after WWII, when activation of membership was based around scholarly merit. In the end, the author reiterates his final position that during the early 20th century the Canadian governments opinion on historical sites rested heavily in the hands of the Canadian Upper class who still remained immersed in an ongoing Loyalist sentiment.

BC Heritage Sites: Throughout the period of 1919 – 1950, the HSMBC mainly focused on sites originating in and around the Maritime provinces. However, that is not to say that BC didn’t receive any during this period.
1. Fort Langley National Historic Site of Canada. Langley, British Columbia
Date Designated: 1923
Plaque status: Plaqued in 1924
2. Fort St. James National Historic Site of Canada. Fort St. James, British Columbia
Date Designated: 1948
Plaque status: Plaqued in 1952
3. Fort Hope National Historic Site of Canada. Hope, British Columbia
Date Designated: 1925
Plaque status: Plaqued in 1927

The ties that BC has to its historical fortification sites are really no different from any other province. Used as either trade posts or security zones, these forts were designated to secure the economic stability of the province and in turn, the whole country. The forts in particular served as posts for the Hudson’s Bay Company during the mid and late 19th century. In the process of strengthening our own economy, we were also securing the Commonwealth’s who were so heavily invested in the developments within the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Of course, this appraoch to the view of 19th century forts in BC are symbolized in a two-prone approach. Fort Rodd Hill, located in Colwood, British Columbia, commemorates “the national significance of Victoria’s coast artillery fortress in the defense of Victoria and the naval base at Esquimalt harbour, as part of the larger defense strategy of the British Empire and Canada, 1878 to 1956. As well, it symbolizes the shift from British to Canadian responsibility for our national defence, and the evolution over time of the V-E Fortress in response to changing threats to Canada's sovereignty.”*
* http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/bc/fortroddhill/index_e.asp

Article Summary: Paul Litt, “Pliant Clio and Immutable Texts: The Historiography of a Historical Marking Program,” The Public Historian 19, 4 (Fall 1997): 7-28.

The author of the piece was in charge of replacing an old commemorative plaque with a new one and while doing so, he was approached by a man who was upset because in his eyes, the community’s history was being changed in the process. In a way, he was right. The inscription on the new plaque was different as a result of the changing interpretation of history. “I had been caught in the act of revising history,” says the author.
Plaques are the most difficult media to update out of all the types of public history because of their material make-up and so historical priorities of the past are often forced into the present. Therefore, the question is posed: what should be done in regards to the revision of plaques, since new interpretations and attitudes cause history itself to change?
Due to legal issues and an overwhelming amount of requests from the public the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board of Ontario established the plaque program. An unveiling of the plaque took place, and was supposed to be met by an “appreciative audience” and through media attention gain the awareness of the public.
A large amount of things were commemorated throughout Ontario and their plaques can be divided into the category of “men,” “communities” and “old buildings.” Most plaques celebrate the beginning of British settlement, from the 1780s to the 1880s. “The history commemorated by Ontario’s plaques is one dominated by the origins and early days of white society.” Minority groups are rarely acknowledged and if they are, they are likely to belong to a First Nations Group and the things that are being commemorated, such a missionaries and residential schools, promote assimilation and a Eurocentric viewpoint.
Past is simplified through the use of plaques and they emit an aura of “timeless authority.”

3 phases of the plaque program and who each phase was driven by:

1956-1974: communities- local cultural, business or political elite, genesis complex

1975-1984: although women, workers and minorities were becoming more recognized in historiography and society, this was not demonstrated in the plaques

1985-1996: 42 years of Conservative Government ended, Liberals and NDP were now in power leading to a significant change in the nature of plaques. The Ontario Heritage Board vowed to promote the heritage of “all of Ontario’s social groups, especially Aboriginal peoples, Franco-Ontarians, members of non-white or non-Anglo-Celtic ethnic groups, working people, farmers and women.”

Example from B.C. Gitwangak Battle Hill National Historic Site of Canada

This is a historical site based on a story that Native elders tell of a warrior chief who used this hill for his raids against neighbouring tribes.

But, the majority of plaques in existence are still from the program’s first thirty years

This brings to light the question: who creates Canadian history?

• The way we interpret the past is a result of our present day situation, so in this way, history is always changing.


• While the public does play a large role in shaping the identity of their own regions and perhaps even the larger idea of Canadian nationalism, it is the Canadian Government who is ultimately responsible for establishing and maintaining Historical Sites and Monuments.


• Through the historical sites that the Government has chosen for British Columbia, the province's wilderness theme is largely exhibited.
  

British Columbia Heritage Webpage
http://www.tsa.gov.bc.ca/heritage/

Japanese Canadian National Museum

Re-Shaping Memory, Owning History; Through the Lens of Japanese Canadian Redress

The Early Japanese in Canada

In 1877, Manzo Nagano was the first Japanese immigrant to arrive in Canada, landing in British Columbia. From the 1890s onwards, Japanese immigration began to increase, admitting 30 000 immigrants up until the First World War. British Columbia’s white majority produced negative sentiment towards this sudden influx of immigrants and in 1908, a deal was made with Japan in which its government agreed to discourage its people from immigrating to Canadian shores. Consequently, Japanese immigration significantly decreased during the 1920s and 1930s and plummeted even further during the Second World War. In this way, the Japanese have never even accounted for as much as 1% of Canada’s immigrants from 1900 onwards.

Early Japanese immigrants were most likely to be single men searching for opportunity in Canada. However, from 1910 onwards, a number of women were brought over as wives. With tight restrictions placed on immigration, the ties of Japanese Canadians to their home country were severely weakened, increasing their need to start families and communities of their own in their new homeland.
These early Japanese immigrants settled in Vancouver around a fishing village on the Fraser River. As their community grew, they began to disperse somewhat in British Columbia, but mostly remained around the first Japanese settlements. In fact, 95% of all Japanese Canadians could be found in British Columbia, until relocation occurred following the event of Pearl Harbor.

Issei= first generation Japanese immigrants

Nisei= second generation Japanese Canadians
· “By 1941, 60% of the Japanese community were Canadian-born”
· “they spoke English, played Canadian games, enjoyed popular pastimes, and shared much of the outlook of their white contemporaries…they absorbed the culture of the only society they knew.”
Despite this, a quarter of the Japanese community of B.C. at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack were citizens of Japan and so all people of Japanese origin were seen as a threat to the safety of Canada. A massive protest occurred in which white British Columbia demanded that all Japanese in their province be interned or removed from their coastal communities.

Ward, Peter. The Japanese in Canada. Saint John: Keystone Printing and Lithographing Ltd., 1982.

Life as an Interned Japanese Canadian

This notice from the newly established British Columbia Security Commission ordered the removal of Japanese Canadians from coastal-defense zones into interior often separating women and children from men

http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/%20Canada/internment/intro.html

Seized fishing boats on account of Japanese fisherman being rumored as spies and sent to work camps.
Picture: http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/%20canada/internment/internment_redress.html

You Tube Video of Japanese Canadian Internment Camps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mqSfnZ7D2I
This is an artistic video of still images, mixed with movie clips and captions about Canadian Reactions towards Japanese Canadians

The Japanese-Canadian Redress

Shortly following the aftermath of the Second World War, thousands of Japanese Canadians began to voice their outrage towards the Canadian government concerning their treatment in the internment camps they were subject to. However, many of these complaints fell upon deaf ears, as the Canadian government began to look towards aiding the reconstruction of war-torn Europe. Not to mention the fact that there was a growing anti-Japanese sentiment still looming throughout the whole of North America. Soon following, many Japanese-Canadian compensation groups would be established in attempt to rally Any and all grievances concerning the mistreatment of Japanese-Canadians during World War II would not see any kind of light until Canada’s innovative approach towards multiculturalism in the 1960’s.

Redress for Japanese Canadians however would not be reached until the 1980’s under the Mulroney government. In 1986, the Mulroney government stated a formal apology to the Japanese-Canadians for the mistreatment faced during the second World War. Though the apology was hard fought and much appreciated, many Japanese-Canadians felt that compensation was in order due to the amount of business income lost during the war years. (Later research would show that during internment, the Japanese Canadians lost nearly $443 million) In 1988, the Mulroney government took the apology even further by awarding compensation in the amount of $21,000 to those who were “directly affected”; roughly leading to the compensation of roughly 18,000 well-deserved individuals. The end result lead to a more unified sense of belonging for all Japanese descendents living in Canada.

“Soon after coming to Canada I got involved with the Japanese Canadian community. In the early 1980's redress was on the community's agenda. I was very much interested in the movement because I wanted to know why a democratic country like Canada could oppress her own people by violating their rights while at the same time fighting in Europe against countries pursuing these same authoritarian and racist practices…The community achieved an important victory with the redress settlement in 1988. We gained support from the public, particularly from minority communities, because we insisted that we were campaigning for the general principles of democracy and equal rights for all Canadians.”
- Tatsuo Kage, Human Rights Committee, Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association (JCCA)

Former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney signing the agreement towards Japanese-Canadian Redress
http://www.jccc.on.ca/heritage/five_gen/%20exhibit/05.html

CBC News Report on Japanese-Canadian Redress (Video File; 4:30):
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-71-568-2924/conflict_war/internment/clip9

· “Our mission is to collect, preserve, interpret and exhibit artifacts and archives relating to the history of Japanese Canadians from the 1870s through the present, and to communicate to all the Japanese Canadian experience and contribution as an integral part of Canada's heritage and multicultural society.” http://www.jcnm.ca/home.htm#mission

Exhibiton
Re-Shaping Memory, Owning History; Through the Lens of Japanese Canadian Redress
The Japanese Canadian National Museum's inaugural exhibition opened to the large crowds on September 22, 2000. After a successful tour to venues across Canada, the exhibition now returns to the Japanese Canadian National Museum gallery until 2005.The exhibition examines Japanese Canadian history through the experience of the redress achievement. The acknowledgement of injustice by the government of Canada produced a reawakening of confidence for all Japanese Canadians – a feeling of lives well spent. The exhibition uses layers of voices (including photographs and texts, oral history interviews, books, personal letters and diaries, newspapers and government documents) and also artifacts to re-examine the Japanese Canadian community's past, which remained trapped in memory and silence of many years after the Second World War.
Please contact the Museum for more information about hosting this exhibition at your venue. Tel: 604.777.7000 Email: jcnm@nikkeiplace.org
http://www.jcnm.ca/exhibits.htm


Japanese Canadian Timeline
For a brief overview of Japanese Canadian history, please see the timeline below.
1877: Arrival of Manzo Nagano, first Japanese person known to land and settle in Canada.1895 British Columbia Government denies franchise (voting rights) to citizens of Asiatic origin
1907: Anti-Asiatic Riot in Vancouver led by the Asiatic Exclusion League.
1908: Hayashi-Lemieux Gentlemen's Agreement: Japan voluntarily agreed to restrict the number of passports issued to male labourers and domestic servants to an annual maximum of 400.
1916-1917: 200 Japanese Canadians volunteer for service with Canadian army in France (WWI). 54 are killed and 92 are wounded.
1919: Japanese fishermen control nearly half of the fishing licenses (3,267). Department of Fisheries reduces number of licenses issued to "other than white residents, British subjects and Canadian Indians". By 1925 close to 1,000 licenses stripped from Japanese Canadians. 1920 Japanese Labour Union (eventually the Camp and Mill Workers' Union) formed under Etsu Suzuki
1923: Gentlemen's agreement: Number of Japanese male immigrants (same categories as in 1908) not to exceed 150 annually.
1924: The labour union newspaper The Daily People [Minshu] begins publication.
1928: Gentlemen's Agreement amendment. Wives and children now included in the annual quota of 150.
1931: Surviving veterans are given the right to vote. 1936 Delegation from Japanese Canadian Citizens League goes to Ottawa to plead for franchise (the right to vote). They are unsuccessful.
1941 (January 8): Despite citizenship, Japanese Canadians are excluded from military service (WWII).
1941 (March 4): Registration of all Japanese Canadians.
1941 (August 12): Japanese Canadians are required to carry registration cards that have their thumbprint and photo.
1941 (December 7): Japan attacks Pearl Harbour.
1941 (December 8): 1,200 Japanese Canadian fishing boats are impounded. Japanese language newspapers and schools close.
1942 (January 16): Removal begins of Japanese immigrant males from coastal areas.
1942 (February 24): All male Japanese Canadian citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 ordered to be removed from 100-mile-wide zone along the coast of British Columbia.
1942 (February 26): Mass evacuation of Japanese Canadians begins. Some given only 24 hours notice. Cars, cameras and radios confiscated for "protective measures". Curfew imposed.
1942 (March 4): Japanese Canadians ordered to turn over property and belongings to Custodian of Enemy Alien Property as a "protective measure only".
1942 (March 16): First arrivals at Vancouver's Hastings Park pooling centre. All Japanese Canadian mail censored from this date.
1942 (March 25): British Columbia Security Commission initiates scheme of forcing men to road camps and women and children to "ghost town" detention camps.
1942 (April 21): First arrivals at detention camp in Greenwood, British Columbia.
1942 (May 21): First arrivals at camps at Kaslo, New Denver, Slocan, Sandon and Tashme, British Columbia.
1942 (June 29): Director of Soldier Settlement given authority to buy or lease confiscated Japanese Canadian farms. 572 farms turned over without consulting owners.
1943 (January 19): Federal cabinet order-in-council grants Custodian of Enemy Alien Property the right to dispose of Japanese Canadians' property without owners' consent.
1945 (January-May): 150 Japanese Canadians volunteer for service with Canadian army in Far East.
1945 (April 13): Beginning of intimidation campaign towards Japanese Canadians living in British Columbia to move to Eastern Canada or be deported to Japan.
1945 (September 2): Japan surrenders after atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (WWII).
1946 (May 31): "Repatriation" begins; 3,964 go to Japan, many of whom are Canadian citizens.
1947 (January 24): Federal cabinet order-in-council on deportation of Japanese Canadians repealed after protests by churches, academics, journalists and politicians.
1948 (June 15): Federal franchise (the right to vote) extended to all Japanese Canadians.
1949 (April 1): Removal of last restrictions; Japanese Canadians are free to move anywhere in Canada.
1967: Canadian government announced new immigration regulations - a point system for selection. It no longer used race as a category.
1988 (September 22): Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announces the Canadian Government's formal apology for the wrongful incarceration, seizure of property and the disenfranchisement of thousands of Canadians of Japanese ancestry. A redress settlement was also announced which included individual compensation for all survivors.
1992: National Nikkei Heritage Centre Society is incorporated. Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation grants $3.0 million for heritage centre project.
1995: Japanese Canadian National Museum & Archives Society is incorporated and begins planning for museum and archives facility in National Nikkei Heritage Centre (NNHC).
2000: Proposed date for the opening of NNHC in Burnaby, B.C. The official home of the Japanese Canadian National Museum, JCCA Nikkei Resource Centre, a special events complex, a restaurant and shops.
http://www.jcnm.ca/resources.htm