From harbour to harvest: The diverse paths of Japanese-Canadians to landownership, farming, and the making of community in the Fraser Valley, 1904--1942 (British Columbia)

From 1904 and 1942, over 2000 Japanese-Canadians settled in the farming communities of Mission and Maple Ridge in British Columbia, Canada. Drawing on a database of 135 farmers, this study looks at the occupational paths of issei men and women to landownership, farming, and the making of community.; The first chapter reviews the historiography and background to Japanese-Canadian settlement of the Fraser Valley with an emphasis on the social, cultural, and ethnic contexts. The second chapter focuses on the occupational paths of issei men and their reasons for gravitating to landownership and farming; The third chapter examines the diverse and difficult occupational paths of issei women who shared fully in the establishment and maintenance of the family farm. The final chapter looks at the making of community in the Fraser Valley as an outgrowth of occupational paths and an ongoing dynamic process that was subject to the guidance of issei leaders who spoke English and understood Canadian culture. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...