Author Don MacKay will present his new novella, Gambari, an account of racial intolerance in Canada during the Second World War, at Powell River Public Library on Tuesday, August 13.
Canada's history of racial intolerance and discrimination toward those not of Anglo-Saxon heritage goes back to the first colonial settlements. But, as most Canadian children learn in school today, the forcible expulsion and confinement of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War is one of the most tragic sets of events in Canada’s history.
"I was told years ago by a colleague that one of his friends had found a wild rice paddy in the bush behind Powell River," said MacKay. "I thought about that story for 40 years before I decided to write something about it."
Before WWII, Japanese Canadians had long settled on Canada's west coast and today, remnants of charcoal-making kilns can be found on many of the southern Gulf Islands.
"I went to [qathet Museum and Archives] and read through copies of the newspaper, but never found any direct reference to that [of Japanese people being in qathet]," said MacKay. "I certainly got a sense of the kind of racial intolerance that was going on in British Columbia at that time, and it was really quite shocking."
After the bombing of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese military in WWII, western newspapers labelled people of Asian descent, and specifically those of Japanese descent, as the enemy.
Gambari is a Japanese word meaning: persevering and not giving up. The story looks at discrimination at the time, through the eyes of the protagonist, a character of Coast Salish and Japanese descent, and his adventures of "resistance, romance and revenge," during WWII.
First Nations faced the brunt of segregation and discrimination on BC's west coast and until 1951, status Indians were not considered citizens. Until 1960, they did not have the right to vote in federal elections.
"In fact, one of the editorials I quote and put in the story came directly from the newspaper at the time," said MacKay. "I took that story and then thought, well, what if his mother had been First Nations and married a Japanese person, she would have lost her status at that time."
MacKay, who lives in Lund, said many of the settings in the book are in the qathet region.
"Theodosia Inlet and the Copeland Islands or what was called the ragged islands are some of the places in the book," said MacKay. "It really wasn't that long ago that this discrimination took place. Even now, there is quite a kerfuffle about whether we should change the name of Powell River, given that it's named after someone who was instrumental in setting up the residential school system."
During MacKay's presentation at the library, he will read excerpts from his book and then open up for discussion and questions audience members may have.
"The novella is 90 pages of solid text," said Mackay. "I was busy with life, I was a full time teacher, I built a couple of houses, so that's why it took awhile to finally write the book."
MacKay is from this region but moved to Victoria where he taught for many years and wrote poetry. He said he never found time to write in a sustained way until he retired.
"I came back in 2003 and now live in Lund with my wife," said MacKay. "I actually wrote [the book] in longhand, and my daughter helped me get it into a more manageable format."
Gambari was published by Terminal Press and is available at Pocket Books on Marine Avenue. Copies will also be available at the library presentation, which starts at 7 pm.
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