Steveston Reflections
A poem inspired by the resiliency of immigrant workers and descendants in the face of hardship in Steveston, British Columbia's fisheries.
I have been to Steveston before. Garry Point is a special place to me as it is where I saw my first wild juvenile salmon, a group of species that I feel very connected with. I think back to the many mornings I've spent here while studying salmon on the Fraser River last summer, and I feel as though I have gained a new perspective on this region since my recent trip to Steveston.
Our trip to Steveston was eye-opening to me on different experiences on the Fraser River: the people and industries. With Julianna guiding us, a type of eerie feeling grew in me as our class walked through the Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site. From imagining a river so lively with salmon it looked full enough to walk on, to picturing the boardwalk I was crossing crowded with people all connected by aquatic resources- this place looks so different now. Most of all, this feeling developed while learning of the hardships and discrimination faced by immigrant workers and their descendants in a place I had been to without realising. I noticed this temem throughout our field trip, across different decades and aspects of the salmon fishery from boat to can. I believe my greatest takeaway from this trip is the relevance of untold stories and people to our industries and environments of past and present. As someone who studies salmon, I feel as though it has gained new meaning to me now, understanding that its industry has cost some people so much.
When visiting the Murakami House, I was inspired by Asayo’s courage to break her marriage contract as a picture bride, leading her to work at a cannery. Standing in the family home, Julianna described the terrible mistreatment of Japanese-Canadians, people who may have never even been to Japan, in Canada during World War II after Pearl Harbour. During this time, 22,000 people were forced to sell and give up belongings and leave to internment camps. Julianna recited a story that Mr. Murakami, Otokichi, had hidden a bottle of sake in the house before they were sent away, which was to be opened when the family returned, which never happened. This sounds devastating, and I can only imagine what it would have been like to experience this. Another story that resonated with me was told in the Chinese Bunkhouse. Here, I learned of the broken dreams: people coming to this place with a belief of economic opportunity and hope to travel back home to create a different life for their family. However, many were not able to go back. This building was crowded with bunkbeds to sleep 100 people, though this story made it feel very lonely. Some of these issues have been shared with us in preparation for this trip, like discrimination in our fisheries, though this proximity created a very different learning experience for me.
At the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site with Andrea, we discussed the transition of various relationships to salmon and the Fraser River. Earlier, reciprocal and intimate relationships with the river may have been held by Indigenous peoples, though after colonization and European settlement here these relationships may have been exploitative and divided. We discussed that this would have occurred over the salmon rush: a time that led to the high fishing effort to capture salmon in Steveston and the establishment of many canneries on its banks to export them. These canneries were strategically placed at the mouths of rivers, to catch adult salmon at the start of their migration upriver to spawn while they are still fatty. Though sockeye salmon were the initial target species, this transitioned to pink salmon as populations fell. These canneries grew in efficiency and initially had a high labour force, which included women and children. At cleaning stations, where scales were removed from the butchered salmon, babies would be carried on their mother’s backs to free their hands, and children were present because of discrimination in people of colour’s access to education. This, and racist marketing that was present on some labels, gave me a glimpse into what our society’s environment was like in my home.
In my poem, Steveston Reflections, I aim to share my understanding of fisher people's stories that were largely unknown to me before, and resonating thoughts. These words are printed on coffee soaked parchment to represent its historical context, though issues of racism are still present today. I have pasted my poem on a painting I made of salmon scales, as I remember walking through the cannery and seeing scales splattered on the walls and thinking how difficult they would be to shake off. In my position as a white woman in conservation, I feel a desire and responsibility to be a part of changing the way that environmental problems and resources are understood, and how relevant history is to these things. Something crucial to this is my own learning, and I am thankful that this trip has taught me so much about my own river and history in Vancouver.
Another Question to Reflect on...
If this salmon rush had not been exploited following colonization of this land by Europeans, would the Fraser River still have been so full of salmon in the present day has it was during the salmon rush? Would these fish be better equiped to adapt to climate change as there are more individuals which could promote diversity?