Register Now for 2018 Heart Mountain Pilgrimage
CODY, Wyo., June 4, 2018 – Heart Mountain WW II Interpretive Center is accepting registrations for the annual Heart Mountain Pilgrimage July 26-28. The weekend event includes an array of educational sessions, multigenerational discussions, film screening and other activities as well as a keynote speech by David Inoue, executive director of the Japanese American Citizens League.
The pilgrimage includes a special exhibit featuring the artwork of Estelle Ishigo, a Caucasian woman who chose to join her Japanese-American husband in prison.
Opened in 2011, the Interpretive Center is situated on the site of the Heart Mountain WW II Incarceration Camp where 14,000 Japanese-American citizens were imprisoned following the Pearl Harbor attack after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, forcing the imprisonment of 120,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry.
“During the war, there were more prisoners in the camp than the population of Cody, and the destination of Cody Yellowstone is forever linked to that black mark on our country’s past,” said Claudia Wade, executive director of the Park County Travel Council, the marketing arm for the region. “We believe that the best way to honor the thousands of people who were impacted by that executive order is to continue to study and reflect upon what happened here.”
The camp is located between Cody and Powell, Wyo., approximately 15 miles from downtown Cody.
Sharon Yamato’s “Moving Walls” explores what happened to the barracks that housed prisoners.
Heart Mountain Pilgrimage attendees can choose from an array of sessions. For example, on Friday, July 27, participants can select from three educational sessions: “Memories of Heart Mountain,” moderated by former incarceree Sam Mihara; “The No-No By Music Projected,” a collaborative multi-media concert featuring original songs, stories and photos; and “Artifacts of Incarceration,” a collection of objects that tell stories of camp life. There will also be a film screening in Cody of Sharon Yamato’s “Moving Walls,” which explores what happened to the barracks that housed prisoners. Some were hurriedly sold to homesteading farmers for $1 as the government rushed to deconstruct the camp following the end of the war.
The pilgrimage also includes a special exhibit featuring the artwork of Estelle Ishigo, a Caucasian woman who chose to join her Japanese-American husband in prison rather than be separated.
Visit the Heart Mountain Pilgrimage website for more details.
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Cody/Yellowstone Country is comprised of the towns of Cody, Powell and Meeteetse as well as the valley east of Yellowstone National Park.
The area of Park County called “Cody/Yellowstone Country” was the playground of Buffalo Bill Cody himself. Buffalo Bill founded the town of Cody in 1896, and the entire region was driven and is still heavily influenced by the vision of the Colonel. Today its broad streets, world-class museum Buffalo Bill Center of the West and thriving western culture host nearly 1 million visitors annually.
Related hashtags: #YellowstoneCountry #CodyWyoming #CenteroftheWest #BuffaloBill #Yellowstone # Wyoming
Media contact:
Mesereau Travel Public Relations
(970) 286-2751
