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:
  • Asian American Studies
  • Civics
  • Civics and Government
  • Civil Rights
  • Japanese American History
  • Japanese American Incarceration
  • Kip Tokuda
  • OSPI
  • Wa-social-studies
  • Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
  • wa-ela
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Video

    Education Standards

    Virtual Minidoka Pilgrimage

    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.

    Opening Welcome and Elder Panel

    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.

    We Hereby Refuse

     

    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.

    Japanese American Artifacts Are Not Your Collectibles

    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.

    Nisei Radicals and a Legacy of Activism

    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.

    Book Club Sessions

    Conversations

    Learn about experiences of racism through conversations of panelists and interviews with primary sources.

    Conversations

    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.