<Begin Segment 14>

TI: So other, so school, like during the summer, did you also have to go to school?

RS: No, I can't remember. You know, that's something I can't remember. Maybe not, because the one year, a bunch of us decided we want to buy this or that, clothing. And so at that time, the farmer that lived outside Minidoka, the Caucasian people, see, they needed workers, especially for harvest time. And so we signed up and we got to go outside and make money. We were treated good by the people there.

TI: Yeah, so what kind of harvesting, what kind of crops did you have to harvest?

RS: Well, like the main thing was hoeing the sugar beets, keeping that area clean, or I can't remember what other product there were, but mainly corn and things like that during the summer.

TI: So describe that. So the work group, was it your family or was it...

RS: No, just a bunch of us, the kids.

TI: And was it like a day thing where you would just go out and hoe?

RS: No, we stayed at the place, at the farmers'. They have a place. And so like there were, I think, four or five of us girls, and then we became real good friends. See, this was because, see, freshmen and sophomores, those two years, we were in camp. So that's when they needed workers outside, and so the farmers that had the row crop and all that, see, they have a place where we stayed, and they treated us good.

TI: So describe that. So you would leave camp, a group of four or five girls...

RS: Uh-huh, you'd stay at the place.

TI: You would stay. So what were your living quarters?

RS: It was nice.

TI: Better than your place?

RS: Oh, that was... you mean in Minidoka? Oh, well... when you live outside, you have to do your own cooking, see. Where you're in camp, there's somebody that takes care of you.

TI: So how did the four of you, or the five of you figure that out? Did one of you guys take turns cooking?

RS: Oh, we'd do it together. We had fun, I think, just being away.

TI: So it was kind of an adventure almost.

RS: Yeah.

TI: And how was the work? Was the work pretty hard?

RS: No. We were treated good, and that's what's surprising.

TI: And the people you worked with, can you describe them? Were they just like a couple, farming couple, or was it a family? Who'd you work for?

RS: Hakujin.

TI: And how long would you be gone from Minidoka?

RS: Well, just during... well, until school started.

TI: So this is maybe, like...

RS: Just during the summer.

TI: So like weeks you'd be gone?

RS: No, maybe more than a week, maybe a month or two, somewhere around there.

TI: And do you remember how much you were paid?

RS: No, can't even remember that. [Laughs]

TI: But it was fun?

RS: Yeah. Just being, just having that freedom.

TI: Now, besides working at a farm, were there any other times that you left Minidoka?

RS: No.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.