Hunt, ID – Located in rural southeastern Idaho, Minidoka National Historic Site bears the scars of injustice perpetrated against our own citizens. As I am not a historical expert on this subject, I have relied heavily on the brochure from the National Park Service. We were staying at the Arco KOA and made this part of a day trip combined with the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. As we toured this site, we could not help but think about the parallels in 2017 USA.
Scars of the relocation camp that once existed here
On February 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which deprived over 110,000 people of their freedom. All were of Japanese ancestry (known as Nikkei). Two-thirds were American citizens, half were children. They closed their businesses, shut down their farms, and packed their suitcases. They boarded trains and buses first to detention centers and later to prisons. For the rest of WWII, most would remain behind barbed wire. Over 13,000 people were imprisoned in Idaho at Minidoka War Relocation Center, known locally as the Hunt Camp. As Sylvia Kobayashi said, “I want to forget the day we were herded like cattle into a prison camp. What did we do wrong? What was our crime?”
Remnants of the Military Police Building, located along the North Canal of the Snake River
Japanese immigrants began settling the West Coast of the United States during the 1800’s, seeking work and a better life. Mostly men, they did work others did not want such as stoop labor in fields and hauling rocks in mines. Over time, many started businesses and families. Some Americans were suspicious of these immigrants who looked different and were of a different culture. Leaders passed an enforced laws preventing Japanese immigrants from becoming citizens or owning land. Children born here would have these rights, but not their parents.
On December 7, 1941, Imperial Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Fears of a West Coast invasion increased. Newspapers published rumors such as Japanese residents were signaling enemy ships from shore. The FBI found no truth to the rumors, but President Roosevelt listened to military advisers who insisted Nikkei were a threat. Executive Order 9066 allowed the military to force people out of exclusion zones which included the coastal half of Washington and Oregon, all of California, Alaska, and the southern third of Arizona. Some Germans and Italians had to leave, but only Japanese endured mass removal from their homes.
Minidoka War Relocation Center housed about 7,000 people from Seattle, 2,300 from Oregon, and 200 from Alaska. Minidoka was one of ten relocation camps. The others centers included: Tule Lake and Manzanar in Western California, Heart Mountain in Montana, Topaz in Utah, Poston and Gila River in Arizona, Granada in Colorado, and Rohwer and Jerome in Arkansas. People were incacerated at Minidoka between 1942-1945. Minidoka was a 33,000 acre site, but most of its 600 buildings were crowded onto 949 acres. At least 19,000 Japanese American soldiers fought in World War II, many of whom had family in war relocation camps.
There were 8 guard towers similar to this recreation and 5 miles of barbed wire
The Honor Roll lists men from Minidoka who volunteered and fought in WWII. The memorial has a “V” shape for Victory
Minidoka was not completed before the people began arriving there. One girl recalled that her family had to stay in a stall at a fairgrounds that had previously held horses. Some of the incarcerees helped complete construction. The sewage treatment plant was not completed; everyone had to use open pit toilets for over 6 months. Camp conditions gradually improved, but it was still a prison. Those held in the camps worked to improve their conditions by building a community. There were many feelings of confusion, as incarceree Louise Kashino said, “They (Imperial Japan) were the enemy to us, just like everyone else felt.”
Several buildings from the camp remain
Minidoka closed October 28, 1945 and the Nikkei found themselves starting over with nothing. Gerald Ford formally terminated Executive Order 9066 in 1976. Ford said,”We have learned from the tragedy of that long ago experience forever to treasure the liberty and justice for each individual American, and resolve that this kind of action shall never again be repeated.” A congressional commission released a report in 1983 that stated, “The broad historical causes which shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of government leadership.” In 1988, this report was quoted again in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which provided a presidential apology and reparation payments to 82,000 former incarcerees. With our current political and social climate, I am wondering if we have learned anything from our past or is history doomed to repeat itself?
“This is not just a Japanese American story but an American story with implications for the world.” – Frank Kitamoto
