Date of Award

6-1-2010

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Bonnie Clark, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Susan Sterett

Third Advisor

Lawrence Conyers

Keywords

Amache, Archaeology, Children, Internment, Japanese American, World War II

Abstract

Children’s lives in the World War II Japanese American Internment Camp, Amache are investigated using a combination of archaeology, oral history, and archival research. As part of internees’ efforts to create a more hospitable environment both children and adults extensively modified the physical landscape. The importance of landscape and place in Japanese culture and for the internee community is examined using the development of gardens around the elementary school as a case study. Internees also developed a rich social landscape that allowed for the socialization of children within Amache. The socialization of children at Amache was being influenced by the internee community, the American government in the form of the WRA, and their own peer groups composed of other children usually with a dual cultural heritage. The influences of these socializing agents can be seen in the development of formal social organizations by adults, children’s participation in them, and in the material culture used by children. Children also interacted with and conceptualized the political landscape which affected the formation of their identities.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

April Kamp-Whittaker

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

225 p.

Discipline

Archaeology, American history, Asian American studies

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