[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 39 (Friday, February 27, 2015)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 11069-11073]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-04352]



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Vol. 80

Friday,

No. 39

February 27, 2015

Part VII





The President





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Proclamation 9234--Establishment of the Honouliuli National Monument
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  Federal Register / Vol. 80 , No. 39 / Friday, February 27, 2015 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                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

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                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



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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD27FE15.005


[FR Doc. 2015-04352
Filed 2-26-15; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4310-10-C