Welcome, Ranger Midori!

We’re excited to introduce Minidoka National Historic Site’s newest ranger, Midori Tanada! Midori will be a park guide providing tours and helping with operations of the Visitor’s Center.

Hi, my name is Midori (she/her/hers)! I’m a yonsei (fourth generation Japanese American) from the Portland, OR area. I went to undergrad at Beloit College in Wisconsin where I studied anthropology and Japanese. In school I focused on cultural anthropology so I got to take courses focused on immigration/migration, language, and politics of care.

I feel very lucky to work at Minidoka National Historic site, not only because of its cultural significance but also because of my family’s history there. My grandpa and his family were incarcerated at Minidoka and though my grandpa passed away before I could meet him, I feel I have a responsibility to share the incarcerees’ histories. 

Some things I am excited about in working at Minidoka are the opportunities to educate younger generations on the incarceration camps and to be working with others who are passionate about these kinds of histories. My favorite location on the site is the visitor center. More specifically, the area where we can help you find where a person or family was placed in Minidoka. We provide records of the incarcerees and can sometimes find them in the Interlude where there are pictures of everyone from each block. 

 In my free time I like to bake, run, play soccer, and go thrifting. I’ve been playing soccer most of my life and I was able to continue playing in college so I hope I can keep playing for as long as possible (if you also like soccer I highly suggest watching the tv series Ted Lasso)! Some of my favorite things to bake are pies, chocolate babka, and tiramisu for special occasions. I hope to one day nail down croissants and sourdough bread.