Description of Historic Place

Kaslo is a small community in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, located approximately 70 kilometres north of Nelson on the west shore of Kootenay Lake, within the Regional District of Central Kootenay.

Heritage Value

The Village of Kaslo has historic, aesthetic, spiritual and cultural value as an enduring record of its association with the Japanese Canadian internment between 1942 and 1945 during which families were uprooted, their rights as Canadian citizens removed, and their possessions taken and sold.

With internees arriving in early 1942, Kaslo is important as one of the internment camps situated in re-purposed former Kootenay mining towns located outside the 100-mile coastal restricted zone. Over 22,000 Japanese Canadians were incarcerated in camps during World War II after being forcibly uprooted and dispossessed through a federal order-in-council administered by the BC Security Commission. Internees began arriving in Kaslo in the spring of 1942.

The use of abandoned former mining town buildings for housing internees in Kaslo illustrates the need to find remote buildings that could be used as housing as quickly as possible. Fifty-two buildings were leased by the BC Security Commission, including the Kaslo Hotel and the Langham Hotel, most of which were in decrepit condition and needed considerable renovation to be habitable. Conditions were dormitory-like and without cooking facilities, and with internees often living in basements.

As with other internment camps, Kaslo is significant for the integration of the internees with the local population. While propaganda encouraged suspicion of the almost 1,000 new residents, which during the time of internment was two-thirds of the local population, the town was able to adapt. Thirty acres of land were set aside for a garden to be maintained by Japanese Canadians, and the Security Commission and The BCSC and Provincial Game Department stocked the lake with fish and provided work in wood cutting, construction, maintenance and gardening.

Kaslo is significant for being the location of the offices of The New Canadian, the only newspaper permitted for Japanese Canadians. The influential publication documents Japanese Canadian wartime experiences first-hand, it was anti-racist and pro-justice and it championed the postwar fight for justice and redress. A lifeline to the Japanese Canadian community, it provided news of friends and family members scattered across the province.

Reacting to the provincial government's refusal to be responsible for the education of the uprooted children, Kaslo is notable for being the location of the first organized school. To Japanese Canadians, who attach great value to education, the situation was alarming, but solved through citizen organization and resourcefulness.

Kaslo has historic value for the still-existing buildings related to internment, including the Langham Hotel and St. Andrew's United Church. The Langham Hotel is important to Kaslo because it is the only one of the hotels erected during the mining boom and bust era that still exists in its original form. It stands as a monument to the Japanese Canadian internment, particularly through its use as the Japanese Canadian Museum. Formally opened in 1993, the museum keeps alive the stories of the Japanese Canadians, and acts as a commemorative space for the Japanese Canadian families who lived there during the war time.

St. Andrew's was constructed in 1893. Because many of the internees were members of The United Church of Canada, the internees felt right at home and felt safe. The church people in St. Andrew's were considered compassionate, open, helpful, welcoming et al to the internees. A brass plaque which is affixed at the door of St. Andrew's recognizes the church as being a sanctuary for the interned Japanese-Canadians beginning in 1942.

Like all internment sites, Kaslo has the ability to evoke the memories and stories of the Japanese Canadians who lived there, assisting with the education and understanding about what happened in B.C. during World War II. Recognition of each internment camp acknowledges Japanese Canadian struggles, tenacity and resilience.

Character-Defining Elements

Not applicable.