Interview with Alma Sumiko Miike (nee Kawano)

タイトル
Interview with Alma Sumiko Miike (nee Kawano)
Accession number
2010.066
Interviewer
Lisa Uyeda
Videographer
Lisa Uyeda
Date of Interview
Language
English
Description

Alma Sumiko Miike (nee Kawano)'s interview was born in Vernon, BC in the Okanagan Valley on November 30th, 1926. She grew up in Coldstream Ranch which is five miles from Vernon, BC where her father worked at an apple orchard. Her father was born in Hiroshima, Japan and in 1896, he emigrated to Hawaii where he worked in sawmills before migrating to Canada in 1900. Her father worked in various jobs including the Canadian Pacific Railway. Her mother, also from Hiroshima also emigrated to Canada as a picture bride and her parents got married in Victoria, BC.

She talks about the Japanese farming community in Vernon including their communal building as well as celebrations. Sumiko remembered learning about the bombing of Pearl Harbour and how her classmates did not treat her any differently after that. She talks about the meals that her family frequently ate including sukiyaki.

During WWII, Sumiko's family were allowed to stay in Vernon. However, her brother who was working away from Vernon were not allowed to relocate to Vernon for the duration of the war. Instead, he was sent to road camp. Sumiko's sister who was living in Salt Spring Island, BC was removed to a sugar beet farm in Alberta and eventually relocated to Montreal, QB. After that, Sumiko left Vernon and join her sister in Montreal where she worked for the air service for a few years before relocating to Toronto when she got married. In Toronto, she worked for the department of air regulations, where they investigate aircraft accidents. Years later, she would work for the city of Etobicoke.

Format
Videotape
Video File
Length of Interview
1 hr 1 min
Period
Pre War
Post War
World War II
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
Event
World War II
Relocation
Forced Removal
Attack on Pearl Harbour
Internment
Location
Okanagan, BC
Hiroshima, Japan
Victoria, BC
Salt Spring Island, BC
Alberta, Canada
Montreal, QC
Toronto, ON
Kelowna, BC
Topic
work
food
festivals
road camps
beet fields
Momiji
Number of Physical Tapes
1
Permission
For uses other than research or private study, researchers must submit a Request for Permission to Publish, Exhibit or Broadcast form.
Citation
Alma Sumiko Miike, interview by Lisa Uyeda, October 1, 2010, 2010.066, Sedai: The Japanese Canadian Legacy Project Collection, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.