A panel of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated at the Minidoka War Relocation Authority camp in Idaho will be livestreamed on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 10 a.m. PST/11 a.m. MST.
Paul Tomita, Joni Kimoto, and Dave Sakura will discuss their families’ experiences during World War II. National Park Service representatives will also participate.
Watch it live on Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages’ YouTube channel, https://youtu.be/pH2iNqT1hEQ, or on Friends of Minidoka’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofMinidoka/.
This program presented is in partnership with the National Park Service, Friends of Minidoka, Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages, and the Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee; with support from Boise State University, ACLU Idaho, The Community Library, and Boise City Department of Arts & History.
Minidoka National Historic Site is celebrating its 20th anniversary in the national park system. On Jan. 17, 2001, President Bill Clinton signed a presidential proclamation designating the former Minidoka Relocation Center as the 385th unit of the National Park Service.
Preservation of the site did not begin there, however — Minidoka was first placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and there were movements within the Japanese American communities across the Pacific Northwest.
Decades later, this site continues to stand as a reminder of the incarceration of 13,000 Japanese Americans in Idaho during World War II. But more than that, it evokes important discussions of justice, loyalty, racial prejudice, and civil rights.
“We would like to thank artists Eugene Tagawa, Erin Shigaki, and Marie Okuma Johnston for designing this brand-new poster (below) to represent our site,” said a spokesperson for Minidoka National Historic Site. “It is a beautiful tribute to those who were incarcerated at Minidoka, and we are excited to share it with you all.”
