80 FR 11067 - Establishment of the Honouliuli National Monument
Executive Office of the President
Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 39 (February 27, 2015)
Page Range
11067-11073
FR Document
2015-04352
Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 39 (Friday, February 27, 2015)
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 39 (Friday, February 27, 2015)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 11067-11073]
From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-04352]
[[Page 11067]]
Vol. 80
Friday,
No. 39
February 27, 2015
Part VII
The President
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Proclamation 9234--Establishment of the Honouliuli National Monument
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 80 , No. 39 / Friday, February 27, 2015 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 11069]]
Proclamation 9234 of February 24, 2015
Establishment of the Honouliuli National Monument
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The Honouliuli Internment Camp (Honouliuli) serves as a
powerful reminder of the need to protect civil
liberties in times of conflict, and the effects of
martial law on civil society. Honouliuli is nationally
significant for its central role during World War II as
an internment site for a population that included
American citizens, resident immigrants, other
civilians, enemy soldiers, and labor conscripts co-
located by the U.S. military for internment or
detention. While the treatment of Japanese Americans in
Hawai'i differed from the treatment of Japanese
Americans on the U.S. mainland in ways that are
detailed below, the legacy of racial prejudice, wartime
hysteria, and failure of political leadership during
this period is common to the history of both Hawai'i
and the mainland United States.
Early on December 7, 1941, Japanese air and naval
forces attacked Pearl Harbor and other military
installations on O'ahu. Before martial law was invoked,
government officials began selectively rounding up
Hawai'i residents on suspicion of disloyalty. They were
confined at local jails, courthouses, and other
facilities on six of the main Hawaiian Islands before
being transported to the U.S. Immigration Station and
Sand Island Detention Camp on O'ahu. Nearly all of the
internees were of Japanese descent, including leaders
in the Japanese American community who were educated,
were teachers or priests, or were distinguished by
virtue of their access to means of communication with
Japan or to transportation from Hawai'i. Most would be
sent to the mainland to be held for the duration of the
war in Department of Justice and War Relocation
Authority camps. Despite the government's allegations
of disloyalty, none of the Japanese American internees
from Hawai'i was ever found guilty of sabotage,
espionage, or overt acts against the United States, and
all later received formal apologies and many received
redress compensation from the United States.
On the Island of O'ahu, the U.S. War Department sought
a place removed from the active combat areas of Pearl
Harbor for internment of individuals. The War
Department chose Honouliuli Gulch, the bottom of which
was hidden from view by the gulch's steep walls. The
Honouliuli Internment Camp opened on March 2, 1943,
with the transfer of internees from Sand Island and
rapidly swelled in population with the influx of
prisoners of war. Managed by the U.S. Army, it was the
largest and longest used confinement site in Hawai'i.
Honouliuli is significant for having been used as both
a civilian internment camp and a prisoner of war camp,
with a population of approximately 400 civilian
internees and 4,000 prisoners of war over the course of
its use. Honouliuli was divided into seven compounds:
one compound for administration and guards, one for
civilian internees, and eventually five compounds for
prisoners of war. The civilian compound was further
divided into sections for male civilian internees of
Japanese ancestry, female civilian internees of
Japanese ancestry, and civilian internees of European
ancestry. Historic documents indicate there were 175
buildings, 14 guard towers, and over 400 tents among
the 7 compounds on 160 acres. Many internees referred
to Honouliuli as Jigoku-Dani (Hell Valley) because its
secluded
[[Page 11070]]
location at the bottom of a deep gulch trapped heat and
moisture and reinforced the internees' sense of
isolation and unjust confinement.
The majority of Honouliuli's civilian internees were
American citizens or permanent resident aliens--
predominantly Japanese Americans who were citizens by
birth--interned on suspicion of disloyalty. The
remaining group comprised predominantly German
Americans, though there were also Americans and aliens
of Italian, Irish, Russian, and Scandinavian descent.
Honouliuli also held women and children who were
Japanese civilians displaced from the Pacific.
The 4,000 prisoners of war in Honouliuli included enemy
soldiers and labor conscripts from Japan, Korea,
Okinawa, Taiwan, and Italy. The prisoner of war
compounds were guarded by an African American infantry
unit as well as units of Japanese Americans from the
mainland.
Honouliuli closed in 1945 for civilian internees and in
1946 for prisoners of war. With the closing of the
camp, fast-growing vegetation quickly took over the
site. Honouliuli was forgotten as Americans celebrated
the victories of World War II and focused attention on
the valor displayed by Americans at Pearl Harbor and
abroad.
While both mainland and Hawaiian internment camps are
sobering examples of wartime prejudice and injustice,
Honouliuli reminds us of the differences in the way
that forced removal was approached in Hawai'i and on
the mainland.
The primary difference between the Japanese American
experience on the mainland and on Hawai'i is that the
internment in Hawai'i targeted a relatively small
percentage of the ethnic Japanese population on the
islands. Less than one percent of Hawai'i's ethnic
Japanese population was interned in Hawai'i. This
contrasts with the mass exclusion of all 120,000
Japanese Americans on the West Coast of the mainland.
In Hawai'i, the Japanese American citizenry and
immigrant population were over one third of the
territory's total population. Without their
participation in the labor force, the economy of the
territory could not have been sustained and the war
effort in the islands would have been crippled. Both
the policies in Hawai'i and those on the mainland
devastated Japanese Americans and their families and
created a social stigma that was borne by Japanese
Americans during and after the war. The selective
nature of the internment in Hawai'i also sowed division
within the Japanese American community in Hawai'i,
leading to ostracism and other backlash against the
targeted individuals and their families that would last
their lifetimes.
The declaration of martial law served as the basis to
authorize internment in Hawai'i, as opposed to the
mainland where mass exclusion was authorized by
Executive Order 9066. During the period of martial law
from December 7, 1941, to October 24, 1944, the U.S.
Army issued hundreds of military orders, some of which
were applicable only to persons of Japanese ancestry
and enemy aliens. For example, people of Japanese
ancestry were restricted from residing in certain areas
of O'ahu and were forcibly removed from their
properties. These types of discriminatory policies
created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion.
Finally, Honouliuli is significant because of the
comparatively lower level of public understanding and
awareness of the history of internment of civilians in
Hawai'i during World War II. On the mainland during
World War II, mass exclusion was well known. In
contrast, the internment in Hawai'i was largely kept
secret during World War II, and has only recently
become the subject of scholarship and awareness
campaigns. It was not until 1998 that information about
Honouliuli resurfaced. After 4 years of research and
exploration, the site was uncovered in 2002. In 2008,
an archeological research survey was conducted at the
site. Honouliuli remains an object of archeological
interest.
Honouliuli serves to remind every American about the
critical importance of safeguarding civil liberties and
maintaining our values during times of
[[Page 11071]]
crisis. It is important to recognize Honouliuli as a
part of our shared national heritage and national
consciousness. It is a place to reflect on wartime
experiences and recommit ourselves to the pursuit of
freedom and justice.
WHEREAS section 320301 of title 54, United States Code
(known as the ``Antiquities Act''), authorizes the
President, in his discretion, to declare by public
proclamation historic landmarks, historic and
prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic
or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands
owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be
national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof
parcels of land, the limits of which shall be confined
to the smallest area compatible with the proper care
and management of the objects to be protected;
WHEREAS Honouliuli's objects of historic interest were
listed in the National Register of Historic Places in
2012 as nationally significant for their association
with events that have made a significant contribution
to the broad patterns of our history;
WHEREAS, for the purpose of establishing a national
monument to be administered by the National Park
Service, the Monsanto Company has donated certain lands
at Honouliuli to the United States, and the University
of Hawai'i-West O'ahu has agreed to provide access
across its property to those lands;
WHEREAS it is in the public interest to preserve and
protect the historic objects at Honouliuli;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by the authority vested in me
by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code,
hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are
situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or
controlled by the Federal Government to be the
Honouliuli National Monument (monument) and, for the
purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as a part
thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or
controlled by the Federal Government within the
boundaries described on the accompanying map entitled,
``Honouliuli National Monument,'' which is attached to
and forms a part of this proclamation. The reserved
Federal lands and interests in lands encompass
approximately 123.0 acres, together with appurtenant
easements for all necessary purposes. The boundaries
described on the accompanying map are confined to the
smallest area compatible with the proper care and
management of the objects to be protected.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the
boundaries described on the accompanying map are hereby
appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry,
location, selection, sale, leasing or other disposition
under the public land laws, from location, entry, and
patent under the mining laws, and from disposition
under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal
leasing.
The establishment of the monument is subject to valid
existing rights. Lands and interests in lands not owned
or controlled by the Federal Government within the
boundaries described on the accompanying map shall be
reserved as a part of the monument, and objects
identified above that are situated upon those lands and
interests in lands shall be part of the monument, upon
acquisition of ownership or control by the Federal
Government.
The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) shall manage
the monument through the National Park Service,
pursuant to applicable legal authorities, consistent
with the purposes and provisions of this proclamation.
The Secretary shall prepare a management plan for the
monument, with full public involvement, within 3 years
of the date of this proclamation. The management plan
shall ensure that the monument fulfills the following
purposes for the benefit of present and future
generations: (1) to preserve and protect the objects of
historic interest associated with Honouliuli Internment
Camp, and (2) to study and interpret the history of
World War II internment and detention in Hawai'i. The
management plan shall set forth the desired
relationship
[[Page 11072]]
of the monument to other related resources, programs,
and organizations associated with World War II
internment, detention, and exclusion.
The National Park Service shall use available
authorities, as appropriate, to enter into agreements
to provide for access to the monument. The National
Park Service shall also use available authorities, as
appropriate, to enter into agreements with governmental
and nongovernmental organizations to provide for
research, preservation, interpretation, and education
at Honouliuli and additional sites associated with
World War II internment in Hawai'i and exclusion
elsewhere. The National Park Service shall also
coordinate management with World War II Valor in the
Pacific National Monument, which commemorates the
broader story of the war in the Pacific and its impacts
on Hawai'i.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke
any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation;
however, the monument shall be the dominant
reservation.
Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not
to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature
of this monument and not to locate or settle upon any
of the lands thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord
two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
ninth.
(Presidential Sig.)
Billing code 3295-F5-P
[[Page 11073]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD27FE15.005
[FR Doc. 2015-04352
Filed 2-26-15; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4310-10-C