As part of a new series, writer Haley Healey has delved deep into the lives of two historical women who never gave up.
Last month, the Nanaimo-based author released separate biographies on Kimiko Murakami, a Japanese-Canadian pioneer and internment camp survivor, and Lilian Bland, believed to be the first woman to design, build and fly her own plane.
“Many other history books heavily feature men. Women might have been mentioned just as in relation to their husband,” Healey said. “These books focus on just these women, and I think its neat for young women and young men to see women represented in history and featured rather than being secondary characters.”
Murakami and Bland first appeared in Healey’s literary debut, On Their Own Terms: True Stories of Trailblazing Women of Vancouver Island, as well as in her 2022 release, Her Courage Rises: 50 Trailblazing Women of British Columbia and the Yukon – which was shortlisted for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize this year.
The author said that since the bulk of her research was already done, she had more than enough material to delve deeply and personally into the women’s lives. However, an important aspect with her latest books, she said, was reaching out to family members to ensure the women were represented accurately and respectfully.
While not originally from the Island, their journeys led both historical figures to settle on, or just off of, Vancouver Island
In Kimiko Murakami: A Japanese Canadian Pioneer, Healey recounts that Murakami was born in Steveston in 1904 and moved to Salt Spring Island with her family when she was five years old, where they made a living fishing and farming. During the Second World War, she and her family were part of the 22,000 Japanese Canadians taken to various internment camps, as they were considered “enemy aliens.”
“After the war, they were the only Japanese-Canadian family to return to Salt Spring Island… her story is about perseverance and resilience through one of the worst human rights atrocities in Canadian history,” Healey said.
During her research, Healey was surprised to discover that Murakami is the only Asian-Canadian women to have ever appeared on Canadian money – a Salt Spring Island community currency $100 bill.
Healey’s Lilian Bland: An Amazing Aviatrix details how Bland had wanted to fly since she was a little girl, and how enthralled she was with seagulls and airplanes. The author wrote how, as a woman, no one wanted to teach the aspiring aviator.
“So she took matters into her own hands and designed and built her own plane. And then flew it,” Healey said. “She called it the Mayfly, because it may or may not fly.”
Although originally from England and Ireland, Bland homesteaded in Quatsino Sound on Vancouver Island with family in the early 1900s. Included in Healey’s biography is a historical timeline that details Bland’s work on Mayfly to that of the Wright Brothers.
While both books deal with challenging topics like racism and sexism, and although they are written for an elementary school-aged audience, the author said she didn’t want to oversimplify the women’s stories because “you have to give kids credit – they’re really smart.”
Both Kimiko Murakami: A Japanese Canadian Pioneer and Lilian Bland: An Amazing Aviatrix can be purchased in Nanaimo at WindowSeat Books on Wesley Street.
READ MORE: Nanaimo authors shortlisted for B.C. children’s lit award
mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com
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