Saturday, April 7, 2018
Four air-conditioned chartered buses, two large vans, and several cars transported over 250 attendees of the 2018 Poston Pilgrimage, the premier event for the Poston Community Alliance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit group. The buses departed from the Blue Water Resort & Casino parking lot in Parker, Arizona and traveled south on the Mohave Road for 20 miles to reach the first destination: the Poston Memorial Monument and Kiosk site. Photo credit: Johnny Hill, Jr.
Those in attendance to the 2018 Poston Pilgrimage were pleasantly *surprised* to be greeted by ROYALTY. Photo credit: Reid Nishikawa
...Colorado River Indian Tribe (C.R.I.T.) Royalty! Miss Colorado River Indian Tribe-Andrea Eddy is pictured on the left and Little Miss Colorado River Indian Tribe- Marley Neolge Welsh is in the center. AND not only C.R.I.T. Royalty---- but Miss Indian Arizona, Mariah Jordan Sharpe, of Mohave and Chemehuevi descent and member of the Colorado River Indian Tribe is shown on the right, greeted the attendees, while the Mohave Singers, the Curtis Martin Group, performed for the crowd. Photo credit: Manataba Messenger
Marlene Shigekawa, Poston Community Alliance board member and project manager, welcomed the attendees. Photo credit: Marty Kobata
Reverend Saburo Masada, a Jerome concentration camp detainee, lead the group in prayer and blessing of the bricks. Photo credit: Marty Kobata
C.R.I.T. councilman, Johnny Hill, Jr., blessed the bricks in native Chemehuevi language. Photo credit: Marty Kobata
C.R.I.T. Chairman, Dennis Patch tells the of the shared history of the Japanese concentration camp and the Colorado River Indian Tribe. He spoke of how the tribe had made gains from the infrastructure created for the camps. He told how the tribe continues to benefit today due to the incarcerated Japanese farmers who figured out how to condition the soil and how to farm and irrigate the land successfully. The colonists who moved into the camps after the end of World War II, were grateful for the household goods and furniture left by some of the detainees, as well as the permanent school buildings for their children. Photo credit: Marty Kobata
From Miss Indian Arizona's facebook page, Mariah Jordan Sharpe wrote, "Saturday morning I was in Parker for the Poston Pilgrimage where I was amongst individuals who were in the Japanese Internment Camps located in Poston, Arizona. It was such an honor to be amongst living treasure and to hear their stories in person! " Photo credit: Reid Nishikawa
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