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BN: Okay, so just wanted to back up a little bit to Wounded Knee, and I guess on the way back, I guess, that you and Mo were, was it a group of you that went and visited the Amache site, and I'm curious how that came about and what your thoughts were when you visited.

KM: Yeah. I remember that very vividly, because we were rushing from Wounded Knee and trying to make it before dark to Amache, because we were trying to get home. There were two cars, so there were about nine or quite a number of us. So we didn't quite make it to Amache before dark, and partly because I wasn't willing to pass large trucks, and so Mo was very irate, he was like, "Pass the truck." I said no, I can't do that, it's too close. So he was really mad that we didn't make it to Amache before dark. But we stopped at a gas station to find out where it was, and so then I remember getting out of the car and asking somebody, "Where is Amache or Granada?" I think we were in the town of Granada. And the guy said, "Oh, you mean the Jap camp?" And then I thought, oh, okay. He must have seen my face because he said, "Oh, you mean the camp where..." So that was the first time someone said that to me to my face. He wasn't calling me that, but it was like that was the word. So then we ended up having car trouble, so we ended up staying overnight in Amache at Pueblo where my cousin happened to live. So we just lucked out, so we were able to all crash at their place, eight or nine of us, how many of us. And then the next day we went to Amache, but I don't remember Amache, I just remember everything that came up to getting there. I kind of remember it, the foundations, not a lot. That's where Mo was at.

BN: Was it his kind of idea to make the visit?

KM: Yeah. I think we didn't have to go that route, but we went that route.

BN: Out of the way?

KM: Right. I would ask you later, but what was his version of that story?

BN: [Laughs] He doesn't go into detail, he just says that, on the way back, that you stopped off at Amache. So there's no, doesn't go much beyond that.

KM: I knew it was very important to him, though.

BN: Probably should have asked him more about that.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2023 Densho. All Rights Reserved.