On the Road: National Park Staff and Friends of Minidoka Visit PNW Partners
By Shannon Reagan, Beyond the Barbed Wire Project Manager
In late March, Friends of Minidoka and our National Park Service colleagues spent five days in Portland and Seattle. This Pacific Northwest “tour” was an opportunity to meet with our partners, conduct research, and strengthen connections – both old and new – in the Seattle and Portland communities. We packed as much as possible into each day of our visit and we are deeply grateful to all the people and organizations that welcomed us.
One of the trip’s many highlights included screenings of our short film featuring author Maggie Tokuda-Hall reading her powerful childrens’ book, Love in the Library, about her grandparents meeting and falling in love at Minidoka. The film, which was shot at the Minidoka National Historic Site, was made possible by a partnership with the Idaho Libraries Association and our partnership with the National Park Service. It was an honor for us to share this film with audiences at Bishop & Wilde Books in Portland and the Klondike Gold Rush Museum in Seattle, and we are grateful to everyone who attended these premiere events. (We’ll be posting the film on our website very soon!)
Research was an important focus of the trip as well; we spent time in several archives to support several ongoing and future projects, including Nisei Trials: 80 Years and Beyond the Barbed Wire: Japanese American Stories of the Pacific Northwest. Our team looked at collections held at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), the Bainbridge History Museum, and the University of Washington, where we were joined by our intern, Peter Pflug-Tilton. We also visited the archives of the Oregon Buddhist Church in Portland. During this visit, we learned that an important decision regarding the Oregon Buddhist Church was made behind barbed wire at Minidoka. Before Executive Order 9066, church leaders had planned to construct a new building at the corner of N.W. First and Davis Streets in Portland, and a groundbreaking ceremony, or jichin sai, was held in February 1941. However, forced removal and incarceration delayed the project. Eventually, members of the Oregon Buddhist Church incarcerated at Minidoka held a general meeting, where they made the difficult decision to sell the land and the sale was finalized in March 1945. It was deeply meaningful to us to make these kinds of connections between the Oregon Buddhist Church’s history and Minidoka. We’re grateful to Carol Saito Saiget and Cathy Saito Yarne for allowing us to peruse the files.
Our visit to the Nisei Veterans Committee Memorial Hall in Seattle was another incredible experience. Since the 1950s, the historic NVC Memorial Hall has served as a Japanese American community center. Today, it also includes a stunning set of exhibits, curated by Chris Sketchley and the late Rian Ebesegawa. Chris – who is a painter by trade, fourth generation tradesman, and self-taught curator – guided us through a memorable tour of the hall. We saw countless photographs, furniture constructed at Minidoka, an album of dance cards from Minidoka’s many social events, veteran medals and memorabilia, and much more. Chris told us he has traveled all over the country collecting items and the stories that accompany them, in addition to countless hours spent building displays and writing exhibit labels. His dedication, commitment, and passion for preserving the histories of veterans is inspiring. Our thanks to Chris and Keith Yamaguchi for welcoming us into the hall and sharing the NVC’s rich history. If you would like an exhibit tour, please contact Nisei Vets to make an appointment.
On Saturday, March 30, our last day of the trip, the Friends of Minidoka and NPS teams supported BIJAEMA and BIJAC at the 82nd Anniversary of forced removal at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. During this well-attended event, keynote speaker Natalie Sakuma spoke about the legacy of her grandfather, Satoru Sakuma, who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team after his incarceration at Minidoka and Manzanar. Following Natalie’s deeply personal and eloquent remarks, Ken Matsudaira and Taiga Araki read the names of all 276 names listed on the memorial wall. Friends of Minidoka and NPS employees then distributed tsuru for attendees to hang upon the memorial, where they will remain for a full year. That afternoon at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, our Executive Director Robyn Achilles joined Professor Emerita Lorraine Bannai from the Seattle University School of Law (she is also Director Emerita of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law & Equality) for a panel following the screening of Kishi Bashi’s Omoiyari: A Song Film. Robyn and Lorraine led a fascinating discussion entitled, “Alternative Ways of Storytelling.”
These are just a few of the many impactful experiences we enjoyed during our time in the Pacific Northwest, and we are grateful to the many people and organizations that welcomed us during our Seattle and Portland visits: JAMO, Oregon Buddhist Church, Bishop & Wilde Books, MOHAI, Klondike Gold Rush Museum, Densho, University of Washington Collections & Archives, Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee, Nisei Veterans Committee and Foundation, Bainbridge History Museum, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community, and the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association.
