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Florin
JACL
Manzanar Pilgrimage - Walking In Their Footsteps
By
Andy Noguchi & Twila Tomita
The 55 sojourners hiked
the
dusty, parched grounds of
the
Manzanar Internment Camp on April 29th, walking in
the
footsteps of
the
600 Florin Japanese Americans forced from
the
ir homes in 1942.
Like
the
Nikkei before
the
m traveling under
the
cloud of
the
December 7th Pearl Harbor attack, this diverse group of Americans of
Japanese, Muslim, Chinese, Jewish, Filipino, Korean, and European
ancestry journeyed in
the
shadow of 9/11.
This adventuresome crew from
the
Sacramento
area, in this first organized effort, undertook this 350 mile pilgrimage
/ 8 hour bus ride spanning 3 days to traverse
the
Sierra Nevadas down Highway 395, past Bishop, and finally arrive at
Manzanar. Former internee, Hiroko Saigo, remarked that, “
the
ride reminded her of a long trip to a former destination in
Gila River
camp,” though a lot nicer, of course.
People on
the
protracted ride expressed that
the
y wanted to learn first-hand about
the
wartime stories of
the
Issei & Nisei. Some
wondered about what lessons this might hold after 9/11.
With ages ranging from 7 to
mid-80s,
the
assembly later absorbed
the
tales of camp hardship told by National Park Ranger Richard Potashin as
the
y trudged through
the
barracks foundation, mess hall, and rock garden areas.
Who could forget
the
women’s latrine building with pipes for
the
toilets placing strangers nearly cheek-to-cheek?
No partitions shielding modesty in
the
early months. The walk
brought back vivid memories for
the
dozen Nisei and older Sansei in
the
group.
The topnotch museum, housed in
the
renovated Manzanar gymnasium, impressed all.
Carol Hironaka, a former Manzanar internee, saw her name etched
on
the
expansive plexi-glass wall listing
the
names of over 10,000 inhabitants. The names of my two uncles, orphans in
the
Children’s Village, stood out for me.
The cemetery interfaith
ceremony, led by Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian priests, invited people
to pay
the
ir respects by offering carnations.
Some made o
the
r offerings. Our group, with
the
planning of Annie Kim Noguchi, had folded origami paper cranes along our
journey. Several of our ten students presented
the
cranes.
The five Muslim friends in our
group, Dina El-Nakhal & Maren Shawesh dressed in traditional hajib
scarves, represented Americans of
the
Islamic faith.
The L.A. Manzanar Committee drew over 500 people to its 37th
annual day program - a massive & valuable undertaking.
The Manzanar After Dusk program in Lone Pine drew several
hundred, mostly college students from
the
San Francisco Bay Area and
Sou
the
rn California
.
Camp
Dance
by
the
Grateful Crane Ensemble wowed
the
audience by expertly telling
the
poignant, moving, and humorous stories through lively song, dance, and
dramatic numbers.
Small circle group discussions offered students a chance to talk
to those who had lived
the
camp experience first-hand. Mary Yaskukawa, a former
Tule
Lake
internee, said
the
importance of
the
se discussions was driven home to her. Most of
the
students said parents & grandparents never talked about
the
camps.
Walking among
the
groups, you could see Nisei veterans, draft resisters, and those whose
families were No-No Boys generously sharing
the
ir stories and
the
impossible choices
the
government forced upon
the
m. Most of
the
discussion facilitators turned out to be our
Florin
pilgrimage members!
A young Muslim man in our
group, Mike Fauzy, unexpectedly made his way onto
the
stage during
the
open mic session. He
courageously shared his fears as a Muslim American when many people
ignorantly cast suspicion on his community after 9/11.
Karen
Kurasaki, Florin Chapter President, expressed
the
empathy felt by
the
audience when she called on all to support Mike Fauzy and our Muslim
neighbors. People responded
with a moving standing ovation.
Wayne Maeda, Asian American Studies professor at CSU-Sacramento,
later publicly thanked
Karen
saying, “We’ve all made a commitment to stand up for each o
the
r.”
As we journeyed back after 3
days toge
the
r, many people shared
the
ir thoughts & feelings. Joyce Eng, head of
the
Chinese American Council (CACS), disclosed that she “had been to two o
the
r internment camps before, Angel Island and Ellis Island”, where many
immigrants had been imprisoned. This was her first chance to hear people
share
the
ir stories.
The pilgrimage provided a
lesson for Dina El-Nakhal of
the
Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR). She “felt
the
sense of strength and pride from all
the
internees” “They had an
amazing resilient spirit – of looking forward.”
One of
the
youth, Esumi Fujimoto, a
Davis
student, shared her thoughts. She “valued every single word said on
the
trip. It’s really important for us young people to get out and be
educated. We’re not
learning about people’s personal experiences in school, just what’s
in a text book.”
Temple B’nai
Israel
member, JoAnn Solov, found a renewed commitment. “With
the
Muslim community feeling victimization, we really have to have a
stronger presence with
the
m, solidarity.”
As
the
pilgrimage ended, we were no longer just 55 individuals or members of
the
Florin JACL
, CAIR, CACS,
Temple B’nai
Israel
, Nikkei Singles Club, Asian American Studies Departments, or o
the
r groups. Along
the
journey’s way, we opened our eyes, listened, and learned from each o
the
r.
As Stan Umeda, a former Jerome
internee, put it, “What started out as just a trip, by traveling toge
the
r and sharing with people, it turned into a pilgrimage.”
By
the
end of our journey, we had walked in
the
footsteps of
the
original 600 Florin Manzanar internees, paid our respects, made new
friendships, and renewed our commitment to being vigilant today.
Andy Noguchi & Twila
Tomita served as
the
chairperson and assistant chair of
the
pilgrimage. For fur
the
r information on
the
Florin JACL
, please see www.florinjacl.com
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