シルバーデールから追放された (4)

Silverdale, in the District of Mission, was originally a hunting and fishing area for the Sxa’yaks People, and later the Kwantlen. Non-Indigenous settlement began in the 1870s. While some settlers had farms, many relied on logging and fishing for employment.

In 1911, Tsurukichi Fujikawa and his business partner, Eitaro Nishisawa, purchased just over five acres of farmland. Riwo Fujikawa joined her husband the following year, and together they cleared the land by hand. In 1919, they acquired more than three additional acres, and by the mid-1920s Tsurukichi had purchased Nishisawa’s share of the property. The farm primarily produced strawberries and raspberries, and they also grew rhubarb in their cellar. The family belonged to the Pacific Co-operative Union and the United Farmers of Canada Co-op. The Fujikawas ceased commercial berry production in 1935 following a downturn in the market.

The Fujikawas were among the few Japanese Canadian families who retained ownership of their property during the Second World War. After receiving advance warning of the evacuation order, they transferred title to their daughter Shigeno and her husband, George Broomfield, preserving the farm within the family throughout the war.