Description of Historic Place

The community of Haney is a historical settlement located on the banks of the Fraser River, one of several communities that together make up in the District of Maple Ridge in B.C.'s Fraser Valley.

Heritage Value

The community of Haney has historic, scientific, cultural, social and economic value as a place that exemplifies Japanese Canadian successes in the agricultural industry, their struggle against racism, and internment during World War II.

Beginning with the immigration of Jiro Inouye in 1906, Haney demonstrates the involvement of Japanese Canadians in the economic pursuits of canning, sawmilling and brickmaking. Haney became the Fraser Valley's centre for agriculture, especially strawberry production. Japanese immigrant families transformed thousands of acres of logged-off wasteland into productive farms, significantly influencing the settlement patterns, choice of soft fruit crops, and economy of Haney.

The Japanese Canadian community demonstrated their business acumen in promoting and controlling a fair strawberry market. While the provincial government, urged by white farmers who felt threatened by the success of the Haney farmers, created the Alliance of Strawberry Growers Union to control the market, the Japanese Canadian farmers orchestrated a breakthrough agreement to ship strawberries through the Canadian Fruit Distributors which provided equal opportunities and optimum prices for all strawberry farmers. Furthering this theme of cooperation and solidarity, in 1927 the Japanese Canadian strawberry farmers in the Fraser Valley joined the BC Fruit Growers' Association.

The Haney Japanese Canadian community demonstrated their innovation and technical expertise in other aspects of the agricultural industry. To ensure a varied market, they branched out into the construction of greenhouses for tomatoes and cucumbers, poultry farming, hops and other agricultural pursuits, including innovating the production of forced winter rhubarb.

Economic, cultural and social value is found in the creation of the 1919 Haney Nokai, a unique co-operative that was instrumental in supporting the agricultural enterprises of new Japanese Canadians. Nokai were also critical in pulling the community together, organizing cultural events, addressing cultural concerns, promoting better living conditions and improving relationships with the white community. Institutions that demonstrated the cultural value of Haney included the Haney Buddhist Church and the 1913 Japanese Hall which was a social club, kitchen, meeting place, a venue for Japanese games, English night school, Japanese Language School and Sunday School.

The Haney kindergarten, which opened in 1926, was one of the first in the province to pioneer the Japanese Canadian kindergarten system where children learned English before entering elementary school. The still-existing building is a rare tangible reminder of the Japanese presence in Haney in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Japanese Language School in Haney was an important place where children were instructed in the Japanese language and where community members learned English. It reflects the strong sense of solidarity within the Japanese Canadian community and the desire to allow people to retain their cultural identity while integrating into Canadian society.

Despite their cooperative efforts, Haney represents the Japanese Canadian suffering from anti-Japanese sentiment beginning in 1902 with prohibitions for voting, engaging in political activities, owning land and exclusion from certain professions; ultimately Japanese Canadians in Haney were ordered to gather at the Haney Nokai Hall for forced evacuation.

Like others in the Fraser Valley, some families chose the "special project dispersal policy" option to move intact families to farms in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is important to acknowledge the actions of former Haney resident Rikizo Yoneyama who, in 1944, wrote to the Canadian Minister of Justice to protest the sale of his valuable agricultural property. Japanese Canadians were told that, in conformity with a new federal law, everything, including their homes, would be sold.

Character-Defining Elements

Not applicable