COLORADO RIVER INDIAN TRIBES
Colorado River Indian Reservation
ROUTE 1 BOX 23-B
PARKER, ARIZONA 85344
TELEPHONE (520) 669-9211
Dear Website Visitor:
I am writing this letter to request your support
in assisting the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) to preserve an
important part of American history. The Poston Internment Camps had
a lasting impact on everyone associated with the experience. After WWII,
four generations of our tribal members grew up in the barracks that
formerly housed the internees. During the building of the campus, the
tribal elders saw the mass destruction of mesquite shrubs valued by
our tradition and culture. For the Japanese Americans, the forced removal
from their homes and resettlement back into the mainstream community
caused financial, psychological, and emotional distress.
Our goal is to preserve and recapture the important
histories of our elders and former Japanese American internees who experienced
Poston and WWII. The elders of both communities are passing away and
with them valuable oral histories and artifacts of that time. The restoration
of Poston Camp I will provide jobs and tourism dollars to the Poston
community, while at the same time educate the public to an untold American
history of two disenfranchised peoples.
Plans for the Poston Internment Camp I site will
consist of the following:
• Visitor Center that orients viewers
to the Poston internment history and prepares them for a self-guided
tour of the site
• Actual barracks and barracks replicated
to the conditions that existed at the time that will contain appropriate
exhibits and artifacts
• Auditorium and classrooms restored
to the period. Some of the classrooms will be used to hold workshops,
teacher and student training, as well as archival materials
• Kabuki Theatre replicated to its original
design as well as a Japanese garden, both built by the internees
We urgently seek your support in helping us make
the Poston Restoration Project reality. Monetary donations to preserve
and restore the Poston site will be deeply appreciated. Please contact
Ruth Okimoto (email:
ryokimoto@comcast.net; 510-849-9375) or Jennifer Cox (email: jencox@ahakhav.com;
928-669-8831) for detailed information on how you might make a tax-deductible
donation to the project.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Daniel Eddy, Jr.,Chair
CRIT Tribal Council