Densho Digital Archive - Akiko Okuno Interview (denshovh-oakiko-01-0029)

<Begin Segment 29>

KL: What... well, let me ask you about a couple things, and then I want to go back to education stuff. There's a few events in Poston and I wonder if you remember, there was an adobe workers strike in August of 1942, so I guess right after you got there.

AO: August '42? I don't remember anything, not even hearing about it.

KL: There was then a strike in Poston, in Camp I, there was a beating and two Kibei people were arrested?

AO: There was an uprising of sorts, and people were marching. I remember my mother making sure that we stayed home. Because a lot of people went to see what was going on. And it was over this "no-no," and being sent to Tule Lake type of thing. Some people protested that they've locked us up, and no way are we going to be drafted, type of thing. And then there was the "no-no," you're aware of those questions?

KL: But I'd like to hear about what you're experience with them was, what they were.

AO: Well, I felt like it doesn't pertain to me. And I guess I was not... I certainly wasn't as aware as I am today of civic stuff, nor particularly did I delve into the consequences of actions or anything like that. So it did not affect me other than hearing all the commotion. I think it affected the families with boys especially, especially of draftable age. We were a family of all girls.

KL: Did you receive the questionnaire?

AO: No.

KL: Did your parents or brother and sister?

AO: No. So we were kind of left out of the whole thing.

KL: There were these two speeches that John Collier, who was head of the Bureau of Indian affairs at that time gave in Poston where he was talking about the importance of planning for the future and developing land and planting crops and things being permanent in Poston. And I guess Dillon Myer from the WRA gave a speech shortly after saying, "This is temporary, you don't need to worry that you're gonna be held here for a long time." Do you have any, what did you think?

AO: Well, I was not aware of that. And at that time, I hadn't... I didn't even try to think of how long we might be here. Because I don't know, we were aware of the war and the battles going on in the Pacific, but not having anybody in the military... it was like it's not, I'm not involved type of thing, so it didn't affect me. Now, my older sister didn't talk about it. She may have thought differently, but I and Kazue certainly were just enjoying ourselves, or living each day as it came.