Brewing Behind Barbed Wire: An Archaeology of Saké at Amache

After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry living on the west coast of the United States were forcibly removed from their home communities. These people were designated as "evacuees" by the U.S. Government and were incarcerated within a network of federal government facilities the largest of which were internment centers operated by the War Relocation Authority that held mostly U.S. citizens. The Granada Relocation Center (Amache) was the smallest of these internment centers. The presence of saké at Amache indicates that Japanese Americans continued important practices of daily life despite restrictions under confinement. This thesis investigates the practices of saké production and consumption at Amache and examines the importance of these practices in Japanese American daily life. In order to understand these practices, this research draws on multiple lines of evidence. This includes investigations of an assemblage of the material culture associated with saké, research into the history and methods of production and consumption, collection of oral histories, review of archival data, and the application of practice theory. These data provide insight into practices that are not well understood by researchers of Japanese American internment due to their illicit nature. This research endeavors to characterize how saké was produced and used at Amache and provides a way to understand how cultural practices maintain aspects of everyday life in ways that may have little to do with intentional resistance.

A History of Transplants: A Study of Entryway Gardens at Amache

Previous research shows that during the period of Japanese American internment gardening became a popular activity for the interned. Primarily approached historically, little work has been conducted to archaeologically analyze the efforts of landscaping by former internees. Gardening activity can paint a better picture of Japanese American identity during the period of forced confinement. This research investigates internee gardens methodologically through surface survey, ground penetrating radar, excavation, oral history, soil chemistry, archaeobotany, and palynology. The thorough investigation of landscaping efforts of internees builds upon knowledge of expression within Japanese American relocation centers, as well as the understanding of a lineage of gardening as Japanese immigrant tradition. Using available materials, gardeners adapted both tradition and environment for the purpose of improving conditions under internment and maintaining an affiliation to heritage. My examination of internee landscaping better explains how many collectively maintained, adapted, and publicly expressed an ethnic identity.

Blurring the lines : how Japanese American internment camps re-defined art and religion's relationship

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor during WWII, anyone of Japanese descent living on the West Coast was placed in internment camps scattered throughout the country. Life inside the camps included many different activities to make life as normal as possible. This study will focus on two intersecting day-to-day activities in particular, the practice of religion within the camps, as well as the creation of art. Art created in the camps was influenced by multiple religious traditions. An analysis of artworks created by professional and amateur artists, interviews and an examination of existing scholarship demonstrates that internment camps created a unique environment for the creation of art. The values of internees reflected the seamless coexistence of Christianity, Buddhism and Shinto in internment camp art.