By Marcel Tetrault, Comox Valley Echo September 24, 2010

Modern day technology is being used to unravel a decades-old mystery in Cumberland's historic Japanese Cemetery.

In the 1940s, when Cumberland's Japanese population was forced to relocate to the Interior, the location of the gravesites of close to 200 people who had passed on before them was lost.
"During internment, people were taken away (and) vandalism occurred on the site," said Imogene Lim, a professor from Vancouver Island University and member of Cumberland's Coal Creek Historic Advocacy committee.

"You can see some depressions and whatnot. (But) we don't actually know where people have been buried."

So Lewkowich Engineering Associates Ltd. has agreed to loan both their ground penetrating radar equipment and their expertise to the project.
The device scans beneath the ground and can identify objects as well as changes in soil density. If the readings are particularly good, the hope is that actual 3D images of what is buried beneath the ground can be generated.

The ultimate goal is to create a map that descendants can use to find the burial sites of their ancestors. It is believed that 198 people are buried in the cemetery.

"We're not saying that this is going to tell us everything," said Lim. "But it's a way of saying that's actually the spot where that child burial is. If that family returns, we can say it was sort of in this area.

"If you have that map to show the holes, you can imagine this larger population. You're building up a picture of the population that really has become lost to the more recent people who have moved into the area.

"In Cumberland, we are trying to honour (and) acknowledge the population that was forced to move. This is some small way of recognizing the people."

It took technologists about four hours to scan the entire graveyard. Once the data is collected it can be analyzed right on-site.

The resulting information is to be added to other historical information about the graveyard and is expected to provide another piece to the puzzle about Cumberland's deep history.

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