Japanese kindergarten class posing in graduation caps on the steps of the kindergarten in the late 1930s. (P01073)
View of the Haney Nokai building with the Japanese kindergarten in the background. (P01070)
Three Kindergarten girls playing outside Japanese kindergarten hall in the 1930s. (P01071)
Before the internment of Japanese-Canadians in 1942, Maple Ridge had a large and thriving population of Japanese-Canadians, who primarily owned and operated local fruit farms. This building was once the Japanese Kindergarten, which was built on the property of the Haney Nokai, the Japanese Agricultural Association and community hub, in the late 1930s. Originally located at 23171 Dewdney Trunk Road, at the intersection of 232nd and Dewdney, it was moved to its current location in 1989. Now occupied and maintained by the CEED Centre, the building is one of the last surviving connections to Maple Ridge’s Japanese settlers.
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While this scavenger hunt addresses primarily white settler history, it is important to note that both the Katzie and Kwantlen’s history with this land spans back thousands of years prior to the arrival of European settlers. We would like to acknowledge that each of the places in this scavenger hunt are part of the unceded territories of the Katzie First Nation and the Kwantlen First Nation on which we are lucky enough to work and share this land’s history.
