PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Seattle, WA – June 1, 2021
Announcing the 18th annual Minidoka Pilgrimage
See Our Strength – June 26, 2021
The Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee announces the date of See Our Strength, the 18th annual Minidoka Pilgrimage, held virtually on Saturday, June 26, 2021.
This free virtual program pays tribute to the nearly 13,000 people of Japanese ancestry living in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska—most of whom were American citizens—who were forcibly removed from their homes in 1942 and sent to a desolate concentration camp in Idaho during World War II. Each year former incarcerees, their families and friends, and allies from across the nation gather to learn, share memories, and ask questions about the experiences of those held at Minidoka.
The 2021 Minidoka Pilgrimage, See Our Strength, will honor and celebrate the resilience of the Issei and Nisei generations and bring awareness to the activism and unique experiences of Nikkei in the United States.
“The rise in anti-Asian violence over the past year underscores the need to continue telling our stories and to preserve sites like Minidoka,” said Stephen Kitajo, co-chair of the Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee. “The annual Minidoka Pilgrimage is an important forum for conversation, activism, and learning. We are grateful to be able to feature so many survivors of the Minidoka incarceration camp in this year’s program.”
To join the event and for more information, visit www.minidokapilgrimage.org.
About the Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee
The Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee is a volunteer-run committee based in Seattle, Washington, with the goal of educating the community about the experiences of nearly 13,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated at the Minidoka Relocation Center during World War II. The committee organizes an annual trip to the former incarceration camp site near Twin Falls, Idaho. The first pilgrimage was held in 2003, and it temporarily shifted to a virtual format in 2020 due to safety concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Media contact: Dale H Watanabe, information@minidokapilgrimage.org.
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Ryan Kozu, M.Ed
University of Washington ’07, ’13