On Wednesday, KJZZ hosted a discussion at the Chandler Museum about the history of Japanese internment on tribal land during World War II.
More than 31,000 Japanese Americans were held captive in Arizona — without due process — at a pair of wartime camps.
One of them, Poston, sat near the California border on the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation. Chairwoman Amelia Flores says this history must not be forgotten.
“We know kind of what they went through. So I guess through all of the difficulties, the challenges, we have a buy-in, into our history. So it is just part of us,” said Flores.
Richard Matsuishi, 88, was imprisoned at Poston as a young boy. The Glendale resident says Americans must remain vigilant and ensure history does not repeat itself.
“It was racial prejudice, war hysteria and lack of political leadership, and that’s what we have to be aware of,” Matsuishi said. “Don’t let the politicians go outside the Constitution.”
Echoing Matsuishi’s concern amid the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding was Koji Lau-Ozawa, UCLA assistant professor of anthropology. He’s a descendant of internees from the Gila River camp just south of Phoenix.
“There’s always been a question of who’s in, who’s out, and we’re seeing that today more than ever,” Lau-Ozawa said. “And I think it’s important to push back, to learn from these histories, to recognize the repetitions, the echoes, the ways in which people are being rounded up and put into different kinds of camps and detention facilities.”
Like the Old Leupp Boarding School, which has been the focus of research being done by Davina Two Bears, who is Diné and an assistant professor at ASU’s School of Evolution and Social Change.
“We have always stood up for ourselves, and now all of us Americans have to stand up for ourselves,” Two Bears said. “I really don’t like what’s going on in this country, but maybe now people will realize how us Natives feel and how it feels to like, lose your land, lose your rights, be taken, be killed.”
Chandler Museum Director Jody Crago underscored the importance of creating safe civic spaces where the public “can look at, read facts, see photos, read accounts, hear oral histories in the words of people that experienced it.”
The panel coincided with two Chandler Museum exhibits about the internment camps: "Gaman: Enduring Japanese American Internment at Gila River" and "Echoes Unearthed."
Watch the panel here or on YouTube.
Panelists
Davina R. Two Bears is Diné (Navajo) and originally from Birdsprings, Arizona, on the Navajo reservation. She is an assistant professor at Arizona State University's School of Evolution and Social Change. Two Bears is currently working on a community accountable archaeological project that focuses on the entwined histories of the Old Leupp Boarding School, an early 20th century federal Indian boarding school, and Japanese American incarceration at the Leupp Isolation Center on the Navajo reservation during World War II.
Koji Lau-Ozawa is an assistant professor at UCLA's anthropology department. His research focuses on the archaeology, history and memory of Japanese diaspora and World War II incarceration, especially as it intersects with Indigenous land. Lau-Ozawa has directed and participated in projects focusing on the Gila River incarceration camp, Santa Barbara’s historic Nihonmachi, the Old Leupp Federal Indian Boarding School and Citizen Isolation Center, the Moab Citizen Isolation Center and the Tulare Assembly Center. He is also a descendant of Gila River incarcerees.
Richard Matsuishi, 88, was born in Los Angeles in 1937. He and his family were interned at Poston Camp 1 from February 1942 until September 1945. Afterward, the family moved to Indio, California, where Matsuishi spent his childhood while attending Coachella Valley High School. He graduated from dental school at the University of Southern California in 1962.
Richard and his wife, Margaret Hirohata, started their family, including three daughters while living on the Stead Air Force Base in Reno, Nevada — before moving to Phoenix in 1964 and opening his dental practice a year later. He sold his practice after many years, but stayed in dentistry by becoming an adjunct professor at Midwestern University between 2010 and 2023.
For more than half a century, Matsuishi has been a member of the Japanese American Citizens League’s Arizona chapter — sitting on its board of directors for three decades and being elected president multiple terms. Through his connection, Matsuishi has participated in many panel discussions and spoken about his internment camp experiences.
Amelia Flores was elected chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes or CRIT in 2020. She is the first woman elected to lead the Tribal Council. Prior to that, she served as a Tribal Council member from 2013 to 2020. During that time, she twice served as tribal secretary – in 2013-2015 and 2017-2020.
During her time as chairwoman, historic legislation was passed that enables CRIT to lease a portion of its Colorado River allocation, providing tribal sovereignty, drought relief for Arizona and economic opportunities for CRIT. President Joe Biden signed the bill in January 2023.
In 2021, Gov. Katie Hobbs appointed Flores as a member of the Arizona Governor's Water Augmentation, Innovation, and Conservation Council. She serves on the Arizona Governor's Water Policy Council and the Ground Water Policy Committee.
Jody Crago has had a 33-year career focused on small museums and their connection to community. He is currently the Chandler Museum director/general manager. He oversees the Chandler Museum, the McCullough-Price House, The Ranch at Tumbleweed Park, the Vision Gallery, the Gallery at the Chandler Center for the Arts, 12 historical kiosks throughout Chandler, The History Spot in Downtown Chandler, several other historical displays throughout Chandler, and the Museum's online site ChandlerpediA. He has been with the City of Chandler for 18 years. During that time, he oversaw the creation and construction of the new Chandler Museum. He established the Chandler Museum Foundation and serves as its president.
