Inscriptions and Silences: Challenges of Bearing Witness at the Gila River Incarceration Camp
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Inscriptions and Silences: Challenges of Bearing Witness at the Gila River Incarceration Camp Koji Lau-Ozawa 1 Accepted: 23 September 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Investigations conducted at the Gila River Incarceration Camp are a recent addition to the body of Japanese diaspora archaeology, with initial surveys focusing on landscaping features constructed by incarcerees. However, there remain difficulties in associating most landscaping features with their constructors, with exceptions of the few that have names inscribed. Furthermore, taking a diasporic approach to the incarcerated community materials highlights the diversity of identities present. In this article I discuss some of these challenges and the ambiguities which remain by exploring the ambivalence surrounding inscriptions and the populations which remain silenced by the archive. Keywords Japanese diaspora . Incarceration camps . Okinawans . Sexuality
From the Field Walking through the remains of the Gila River Incarceration camp on a morning in April, my eyes scanned the landscape left to right, looking for signs of landscaping features. Two of my collaborators from the Gila River Indian Community Cultural Resource Management Program (GRIC-CRMP) walk about 10 m to either side of me, both searching for the same. A call of, “Feature!” to the right of me signals the sighting of another potential garden construction. The other archaeologist and I rush over to the site of discovery, eager to see what was found, and ready to photograph and take points on the GPS unit. Before us lay a concrete pathway with a “T” intersection, and heartshaped concrete pond. Several other ponds are in close proximity. I imagine what it all would have looked like between the lines of white barracks and planted with desert blossoms and catalog-ordered seeds. Looking down at the pathway, an inscribed name
* Koji Lau-Ozawa [email protected]
1
Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Main Quad, Building 50, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
International Journal of Historical Archaeology
catches the eye, “8–1-A K. Kunisuye.” Who was “K” and what inspired them to build this? Were they involved with the other ponds nearby, I wonder, or was this their lone contribution to the little complex of garden features? The inscription looked familiar. Had I seen it before in a National Park Service book? I stood fascinated by a thousand thoughts that the name brought to mind, snapping back as my colleagues asked if the photograph had been taken yet. Definitely something to follow-up on, I thought, excitedly. We documented the feature and moved on, eager to see what else the day might yield.
Introduction Inscriptions captivate the mind. The ability to connect the material record with an individual, linked by name, is powerful. Alfred Gell (1996) argued that art, and art museums, can entrap the viewer, drawing them in and captivating them, holding complex bodies of knowledge and encapsulated potentialities.
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