June 7, 2011
Tribute band remembers those in internment camps
http://www.king5.com/on-tv/Tribute-band-remembers-those-in-internment-camps-93028904.html
by SAINT BRYAN / Evening Magazine
Posted on May 6, 2010 at 8:33 PM
http://www.king5.com/v/?i=93028904
At the time, more than 100,000 Japanese Americans lived behind fences with barbed wire in internment camps. It is one of America’s most shameful chapters. But a Northwest tribute band vows never to forget. Named for the notorious Idaho internment camp, the Minidoka Swing Band pays tribute to the music that made life bearable.
The Nikkei Exclusion Memorial on Bainbridge Island is located on the site of the former Eagledale ferry dock. On March 30, 1942, 227 men, women and children – two-thirds of them American citizens – were forcibly removed from their homes, rounded up by US Army soldiers armed with rifles fixed with bayonets and boarded a ferry to Seattle. Find out more at www.bijac.org.
The Minidoka Swing Band performs about half a dozen times a year. They are coming up to Seattle in September to perform at the dedication of the Japanese American Veterans Wall. More at www.facebook.com.
August 7, 2010
Reflection Poem by Rachel Seeman
Rachel Seeman, a member of the Minidoka Swing Band and a participant on the 2008 Minidoka Pilgrimage wrote the following poem based upon her experiences at that pilgrimage. This poem was read at the 2010 Pilgrimage by Lynn Grannan. We’re grateful that she’s been willing to share it with other Minidoka Pilgrimage.
Rachel
But how can I tell their story
If I was not there?
How can I feel their pain and the injustice that they faced
If I was not there?
I do not know how it feels to be told that you must leave your home, friends, pets and community in five days
I don’t know how it feels to sell my business for $200
and to leave my crops and dog to strangers
I don’t know how it feels to have my family broken apart and to live without privacy in a desert
But I do know how it feels to be a proud Japanese American
To know that the Minidoka desert was turned to lush green fields by my ancestors
And to know that because of the hardships they faced
I now have more rights and opportunities
I know how it feels to be an American
I know how it feels to be Japanese American.
–Rachel Seeman
May 10, 2010
Evening Magazine: Tribute band remembers those in internment camps
For those who may have missed the viewing on Thursday evening, the Evening Magazine piece on the Minidoka Swing Band was also posted online. Here’s a link to the source article and video: http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine/Tribute-band-remembers-those-in-internment-camps-93028904.html.
May 6, 2010
Minidoka Swing Band on Evening Magazine
For those in the Seattle area and have the ability to watch Evening Magazine on King-5 TV. Evening Magazine will be doing a feature on the Minidoka Swing Band at 7pm tonight, Thursday May 6, 2010 on Channel 5. Check it out if you have time!
March 27, 2010
Minidoka Swing Band in the Wall Street Journal!
Here’s a great article about the Minidoka Swing Band in the Wall Street Journal. The Minidoka Swing Band were participants in the 2008 pilgrimage. Check out both the article and video!
Here’s the link to the article:
Here’s a link to the video:
Minidoka Pilgrimage's Blog 