BY KAREN BOSSICK
A Survivors Panel will be among three ways the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Minidoka National Historic Site will be commemorated.
The commemoration of Minidoka’s establishment as a park unit within the National Park Service will be held virtually on Sunday, Jan. 17. It will train viewers’ lenses on the Japanese American citizens who were forcefully brought to Idaho from Bainbridge Island in Washington during World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The schedule:
- 11 a.m.—Minidoka Survivors Panel—Paul Tomita, Joni Kimoto and Dave Sakura will describe their family’s experiences at the Minidoka War Relocation Center located near Jerome. All three panelists were incarcerated at Minidoka as children.
Link to watch: https://youtu.be/pH2iNqT1hEQ Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/215800583501082/
- 1 p.m.—Origin Story about how Minidoka became a National Historic Site. The discussion will include Neil King, first superintendent of Minidoka; Dan Sakura, a member of President Clinton’s staff; Emily Momohara, co-founder of Friends of Minidoka; Anna Tamura, National Park Service planner, and Hanako Wakatsuki, chief of interpretation at Minidoka.
Link to watch: https://youtu.be/rwfKmOwvyXM Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/419319019269540/
- 3 p.m. Story of the Minidoka Pilgrimage. Will feature Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee members Ann Tamura, Dale Watanabe, Stephen Kitajo and Gloria Shigeno.
Link to watch: https://youtu.be/twy7r_W3gvI Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/726829574936924/
Minidoka National Historic Site is located at 1428 Hunt Road in Jerome—20 miles northeast of Twin Falls. Admission is free.
The site’s Visitor Center is closed for the winter season and will reopen in the spring. But even now visitors can walk along a 1.6-mile trail and around historical buildings, such as a barrack and mess hall, on a self-guided tour.
Outdoor exhibits along the trail allow visitors to learn more about life there and why the United States imprisoned its own citizens during WW II.
For more information, call 208-825-4169 or visit www.nps.gov/miin
The visual program is being presented with support from Ketchum’s Community Library, Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages, Boise State University, ACLU Idaho, and the Boise City Department of Arts & History.