NEWS. THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT IS KNOWN FOR ITS RICH HISTORY, OF COURSE, INCLUDING THE GOOD AND THE BAD. LIKE DURING WORLD WAR TWO, WHEN NEW MEXICO JOINED OTHER STATES TO SET UP JAPANESE INTERNMENT CAMPS. I THINK A BREANA ALBIZU WHO FOUND OUT TOUGH MEMORIES CREATED A LOT OF TRAUMA. IT’S A PART OF NEW MEXICAN HISTORY THAT HAS TO BE TOLD, BUT SOMETIMES IT’S NOT EASY. A LOT OF PEOPLE IN NEW MEXICO DON’T KNOW THAT THERE ARE JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT CAMPS IN NEW MEXICO. THE STATE’S JUST ONE OF DOZENS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ESTABLISHING THESE INTERNMENT CAMPS, PARTICULARLY FOR JAPANESE AMERICANS. IN THE 1940S. I THINK THE PEARL HARBOR IS DEFINITELY THE BEGINNING OF HOW THESE THINGS HAPPEN. BUT HISTORICALLY SPEAKING, ANTI JAPANESE SENTIMENT WAS HAPPENING EVEN BEFORE THAT. THERE WERE FOUR CAMPS. LOURDES BERG, FORT STANTON AND OLD RATON RANCH. BUT THE BIGGEST JUST 45 MINUTES OUTSIDE OF ALBUQUERQUE AND SANTA FE. WHEN YOU COME TO THIS LOCATION, WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS THAT YOU GO THROUGH? WELL, I’VE BEEN HERE SEVERAL TIMES. MEET NIKKI. YOU KNOW, JIMMY LEWIS, HER FATHER, SOCHI, LIVED HERE. HE WAS ISSEI, WHICH TRANSLATES TO A FIRST GENERATION IMMIGRANTS FROM JAPAN. SO SHE WAS A COMMUNITY LEADER IN SEATTLE, HOPING TO MAKE A BETTER LIFE FOR HIS WIFE AND KIDS. BUT EVERYTHING CHANGED WHEN HE WAS TAKEN FROM HIS OWN HOME THE SAME DAY AS THE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK ON DECEMBER 7TH, WHICH WAS MY FOURTH BIRTHDAY. MY FATHER WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM 1942 TO 1946. HE WAS SENT TO DIFFERENT CAMPS IN THE MID AND SOUTHWEST. MEANWHILE, NIKKI AND HER MOTHER WERE FORCIBLY RELOCATED TO A CAMP IN IDAHO. THE TRAUMA THAT I UNDERWENT WAS NOT A PHYSICAL BEATINGS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT DEEPLY PSYCHOLOGICAL. PEOPLE STILL PTSD IN TERMS AND A LOT INTERNALIZE RACISM WHILE THE PAIN STILL REMAINS DECADES LATER. NIKKI STAYS BUSY EDUCATING OTHERS ABOUT HER PAST THROUGH A PROJECT KNOWN AS CONFINEMENT IN THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT. VICTOR YAMADA WAS PART OF THE JOURNEY TO PUBLISH IT. HE NOW WORKS TO SHARE HIS RESEARCH AND IS DIGGING TO PRESERVE EVEN MORE HISTORY TO MAKE SURE VOICES ARE BEING HEARD. THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS REALLY ARE COMING AROUND TO SAYING THAT THEY WANT TO KNOW THEMSELVES EITHER BECAUSE OF THEIR FAMILIES OR THEIR PEOPLE THAT THEY KNOW HE HELPED GET THIS HISTORICAL MARKER AT FRANCÉS ORTIZ PARK IN SANTA FE. WHEN THAT NIKKI IS MORE THAN PROUD OF. I FEEL LIKE I’M STANDING ON A LOT OF SHOULDERS, NOT JUST FOR MY OWN COMMUNITY, BUT FROM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. AND THAT IS WHAT I, I WISH TO EXPRESS. BRIANNA BUSUU KOAT ACTION SEVEN NEWS. MO