While Lesson #1 focuses mostly on Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities in recent years, Lesson #2 is more historical. First, we will explore the different "push" and "pull" factors that led Asians to come to the United States--mostly, but not always, by choice. Afterwards, we will examine how different early immigration waves produced different types of communities, spaces, cultures, and music. Enjoy listening to the music of artists like Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin while considering how their immigration stories have affected their music making. In this lesson you'll also have a chance to perform a holehole bushi (type of song sung by Japanese plantation workers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries) and compose your own original work song!

Lesson Paths & Learning Objectives

1. Patterns of Asian Migration to the U.S.

   • Identify the major turning points in the history of Asian immigration to the United States up to 1965.
   • Identify key factors in changing U.S. policies about immigration.
   • Identify six overlapping period of Asian migration to the U.S. and make artistic connections to the first four periods.
   • 30+ minutes

2. Asian American Musicians and Their Immigration Stories

   • Explain how Asian American musicians’ immigration history or experience has affected their music making.
   • 20+ minutes

3. Holehole Bushi / Work Songs

   • Explain the themes, functions, and contexts of holehole bushi (work songs).
   • Aurally identify musical/expressive characteristics and interpret the meaning of one holehole bushi.
   • Create and/or perform a work song.
   • 15+ minutes