Jewelry made in camp

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ddr-densho-2-49 (Legacy UID: denshopd-p2-00049)

Bain Collection

This corsage pin was made by Peggie Yorita, a Japanese American at the Tule Lake concentration camp. The flowers and leaves are composed of shells found at the camp. Tule Lake was drained in the early 1900s. The camp was located on the old lake bed, where people found shells for making jewelry to sell to camp personnel. Shells were scarce, and digging became competitive. To beat the rush, some people got up at sunrise and dug waist-deep holes in order to find the shells. Some had homemade wire sieves for sifting the sand.

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Densho

Courtesy of the Bain Family Collection

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