Places

Minidoka was one of ten War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps used to carry out the government's system of exclusion and detention of persons of Japanese descent, mandated by Executive Order 9066. Executive Order 9066, which eliminated the constitutional protections of due process and violated the Bill of Rights, was issued February 19, 1942 following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Two-thirds of the 120,000 persons of Japanese descent incarcerated in American concentration camps were American citizens, an act that culminated decades of anti-Japanese violence, discrimination and propaganda.

Minidoka opened August 10, 1942, detaining persons of Japanese descent removed from Washington, Oregon and Alaska. With a peak population of 9,397, Minidoka was a regular size camp. It operated like a city with all of the pieces and parts necessary for the inhabitants to exist. Minidoka closed its gates on October 28, 1945.

Here are some of the places important to Minidoka:

Fire Stations
Interpretive Trail
Center Field
Families, Food, and Dining
Bainbridge Island, WA
Hood River Valley
Kooskia Internment Camp, ID