Tree that inspired author is damaged by windstorm
Landmark linked to Japanese-Canadian internment
A cherry tree that inspired award-winning Canadian author Joy Kogawa has been badly damaged by the fierce windstorm that swept across southern B.C. last week.
Ann-Marie Metten, executive director of Historic Joy Kogawa House in Vancouver, says a huge limb of the aging cherry tree was torn off.
The backyard tree is the focus of Kogawa's children's book, Naomi's Tree, which became a symbol of her desire to return home after she and thousands of other Japanese Canadians were interned during the Second World War.
Her acclaimed novel, Obasan, prompted Canada to confront the legacy of persecution suffered by Japanese-Canadians and although Kogawa could not return to her first home, supporters saved it from demolition in 2006, turning it into a literary landmark.
Metten says the old cherry tree is diseased and can't be saved, but that there are
already plans to plant a new tree in almost the same location, using a cutting from the original.
She says artists, from carvers to papermakers, are being urged to use the wood to create items suitable for auction to support programs at Kogawa House.
Metten says the city is giving her organization time to
decide how to salvage the tree.
“People care about this tree ... In 2004, we had taken some grafts from this tree and one was planted at Vancouver City Hall, there is one at a community garden at the local elementary school, I've got one on my front boulevard that's now 15 years old and massive.''