- Author:
- Kari Tally, Barbara Soots, Jerry Price, OSPI Social Studies
- Subject:
- Arts and Humanities, U.S. History, Social Science
- Material Type:
- Lesson, Teaching/Learning Strategy
- Level:
- Middle School, High School
- Tags:
- License:
- Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
- Language:
- English
- Media Formats:
- Video
Education Standards
Conversations
Film - Elder Panel
Film - Japanese American Artifacts Are Not Your Collectible
Film - Nisei Radicals and a Legacy of Activism
Film - We Hereby Refuse
Short Documentaries
Yon-Say Podcast
Virtual Minidoka Pilgrimage
Overview
Educational videos, documentaries, book club sessions, conversations, and a podcast produced by the Minidoka Pilgrimage that cover a variety of topics on the Japanese American WWII incarceration.
Image of Minidoka Internment Camp by Dave Horalek, courtesy of Pixabay
Films and Documentaries
Documentary Films by Minidoka Pilgrimage
In FY 2020-2021, the Minidoka Pilgrimage used funds from the Kip Tokuda Memorial Civil Liberties Public Education Program to produce four videos that were released to the general public via Youtube as part of the 2021 Virtual Minidoka Pilgrimage. The videos covered a variety of topics and will be maintained online free of charge for public and educational access. Summaries of the videos, approximate runtimes, and direct links are as follows:
Elder Panel
Jim Akagi, Yasuko Aratani, and Kenji Onishi, all survivors of Minidoka, share their stories of life before, during, and after Minidoka, and how their resilience has carried them through today’s challenges. Approximate runtime: 1 hour.
We Hereby Refuse
Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration is the story of camp as you’ve never seen it before. While they complied when evicted from their homes in 1942, many refused to submit to imprisonment in American concentration camps without a fight. Based upon painstaking research, We Hereby Refuse presents an original vision of America’s past with disturbing links to the American present. Erin Shigaki from the Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee is joined by authors Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura for a closer look at the Minidoka-based part of this story — the draft resistance of Jim and Gene Akutsu, the organizing of the Mother’s Society of Minidoka, and the brief life of the Civil Liberties League. Approximate runtime: 56 minutes.
Japanese American Artifacts Are Not Your Collectible
Nancy Ukai, Kimiko Marr, Lori Matsumura, Kim LeRoy, and Bif Brigman share accounts of their efforts to halt recent auctions of incarceration camp artifacts and the importance of recognizing these artifacts as pieces of history. Approximate runtime: 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Nisei Radicals and a Legacy of Activism
Hear from Mitsuye Yamada about her experiences at Minidoka and resettling after the war, which fueled her life-long activism to dismantle systems of injustice. Author Diane Fujino, who recounted the legacies of Mitsuye and her brother in her latest book Nisei Radicals: The Feminist Poetics and Transformative Ministry of Mitsuye Yamada and Michael Yasutake, will introduce this conversation. Approximate runtime: 1 hour and 5 minutes.
Short Documentaries
Watch video documentaries of WWII experiences, learn the history of the Nisei, and take a virtual tour of historical places.
Book Club Sessions
Watch videos of discussions on books centered around the Japanese American incarceration and aftermath.
Conversations
Learn about experiences of racism through conversations of panelists and interviews with primary sources.
Podcasts
Yon-Say Podcast
The Minidoka Pilgrimage used funds from the program to provide sponsorship for production of the Yon-Say Podcast, a monthly podcast produced by and featuring young adults involved in and around the Japanese American community to honor the community’s history and explore its implications today. The podcast is currently in its second season.