[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 129, 114th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
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

[[Page 3298]]

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 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.

[[Page 3299]]

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 crisis. It is important to recognize Honouliuli as a part of our
shared national heritage and national consciousness. It is a place to re

[[Page 3300]]

flect 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 authori

[[Page 3301]]

ties, 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 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.
BARACK OBAMA


[[Page 3302]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD27FE15.005