The 2012 Tule Lake Pilgrimage Committee announces that registration forms for the four-day Tule Lake Pilgrimage are now available at www.tulelake.org.
This year’s pilgrimage will be held Saturday, June 30, through Tuesday, July 3. Note that this year the pilgrimage is scheduled the weekend before the July 4 holiday.
Thanks to the all-volunteer work of the Tule Lake Committee, the registration fee is $400 per person. For those on low or fixed incomes, the fee is $325. The registration fee is all-inclusive and covers charter bus transportation, lodging, meals and all activities. The committee again will offer free registration to former Tule Lake incarcerees who are 80 and older.
The registration deadline is April 30. After that date, if there is space available, the registration fee goes up to $450 for all categories.
“Given the growing interest in the Tule Lake pilgrimage, we expect this to be another very full pilgrimage,” the committee said. “If you wish to join us, please avoid disappointment by registering early.”
With “Understanding No-No and Renunciation” as the theme, this is the 19th pilgrimage to Tule Lake and will continue the focus on the Japanese American dissenters who said “No” to America’s demand that they prove loyalty, and understanding the nearly 5,600 Japanese Americans who gave up their devalued U.S. citizenship while segregated at Tule Lake.
Pilgrimage Details
Participants travel together in deluxe, chartered buses that depart from San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose, Union City, Sacramento, Seattle and Portland. Accommodations are at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls. The two housing options are: the standard double-occupancy dorm rooms that are covered by the registration fee, or four-bedroom/four-person air-conditioned suites that will add an extra charge of $50 per person to the registration fee. The suites are further from the main building and have no elevators; a limited number of ground-level suites are handicapped-accessible.
Activities include a tour of the Tule Lake camp site and a memorial service. Intergenerational discussion groups and open forums provide an occasion to learn, share experiences and help heal the wounds of the incarceration experience. The cultural program of music, dance and spoken word is open to the public and will be held at the Ross Ragland Theater in downtown Klamath Falls.
Registration forms posted at the Tule Lake website www.tulelake.org may be filled in, printed out and mailed with a check. If you would like registration forms mailed to you via USPS, or if you want more information, contact Hiroshi Shimizu at (415) 566-2279, (415) 317-2686 (cell) or hshimizu@pacbell.net.