Covert Cooking: Food Acquisition, Preparation and Consumption outside of the Granada Relocation Center Mess Halls

Summary

Historic archaeology is uniquely positioned to provide a fuller understanding of the Japanese diaspora in the United States, and also allows the recordation of methods employed by nearly 120,000 forcibly relocated Japanese Americans to modify and adapt to their newfound surroundings. Using archaeological survey, excavation, oral history data and historic documents, research at the Granada Relocation Center, in southeast Colorado, has provided insight to identity maintenance strategies. Recent research has focused on the food ways internees used to supplement their diets outside of sanctioned mess hall meals and the gardens grown to reinforce Japanese cultural heritage and augment lackluster mess hall meals. This paper will examine the ways in which internees adapted daily practices in a highly institutionalized environment to continue private food preparation and consumption despite relocation center regulations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Critical Mass: The Emerging Field of Japanese Diaspora Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 510