COLORADO RIVER INDIAN TRIBES
Colorado River Indian Reservation
ROUTE 1 BOX 23-B
PARKER, ARIZONA 85344
TELEPHONE (520) 669-9211

Dear Website Visitor:

I am writing this letter to request your support in assisting the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) to preserve an important part of American history. The Poston Internment Camps had a lasting impact on everyone associated with the experience. After WWII, four generations of our tribal members grew up in the barracks that formerly housed the internees. During the building of the campus, the tribal elders saw the mass destruction of mesquite shrubs valued by our tradition and culture. For the Japanese Americans, the forced removal from their homes and resettlement back into the mainstream community caused financial, psychological, and emotional distress.

Our goal is to preserve and recapture the important histories of our elders and former Japanese American internees who experienced Poston and WWII. The elders of both communities are passing away and with them valuable oral histories and artifacts of that time. The restoration of Poston Camp I will provide jobs and tourism dollars to the Poston community, while at the same time educate the public to an untold American history of two disenfranchised peoples.

Plans for the Poston Internment Camp I site will consist of the following:

• Visitor Center that orients viewers to the Poston internment history and prepares them for a self-guided tour of the site

• Actual barracks and barracks replicated to the conditions that existed at the time that will contain appropriate exhibits and artifacts

• Auditorium and classrooms restored to the period. Some of the classrooms will be used to hold workshops, teacher and student training, as well as archival materials

• Kabuki Theatre replicated to its original design as well as a Japanese garden, both built by the internees

We urgently seek your support in helping us make the Poston Restoration Project reality. Monetary donations to preserve and restore the Poston site will be deeply appreciated. Please contact Ruth Okimoto (email: ryokimoto@comcast.net; 510-849-9375) or Jennifer Cox (email: jencox@ahakhav.com; 928-669-8831) for detailed information on how you might make a tax-deductible donation to the project.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Daniel Eddy, Jr.,Chair
CRIT Tribal Council