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12,000 BCE
Native Americans of Puget Sound
"The Puget Sound region has been inhabited by humans for at least 12,000 years. By the time of the European arrival in North America, it was home to many distinct cultures, most of which had in common a fishing and hunting and gathering economy and some form of the gift-exchange system called..."
(Britannica) “Its members were murdered almost immediately upon setting foot on the beach by a party of Nootka slave raiders.”
(Guterson 7) Describes the scene of the war zone Image:Edward S. Curtis -
European Settlers of Puget Sound
"In 1851 about two dozen settlers from Illinois, traveling aboard the schooner Exact via Portland in the Oregon Territory, landed at Alki Point in..."
(Britannica) "Settlers arrived--mostly wayward souls and eccentrics who had meandered off the Oregon Trail... Canadian Englishmen up in arms about the border but San Piedro Island generally lay clear of violence after that."
(Guterson 5) Ironic that he calls them peaceful but they're at the front of war Image: Museum of History and Industry -
Alien Land Laws
"Alien land laws were a series of legislative attempts to discourage Asian and other "non-desirable" immigrants from settling permanently in U.S. states and territories by limiting their ability to own land and property. "
(Wikipedia) “The law said they could not own land unless they became citizens; it also said they could not become citizens so long as they were Japanese”
(Guterson 76) Explanation of the unfairness of the law Image: calendar.eji.org -
Pearl Harbor
"Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941..."
(History.com) "The fishermen felt, like most islanders, that this exiling of the Japanese was the right thing to do, and leaned against the cabins of their stern-pickers and bow-pickers with the conviction that the Japanese must go for..."
(Guterson 79) Shows the affect Pearl harbor had on America Photo: National Archives, Washington, D.C -
Japanese American Internment
"Japanese internment camps were established during World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt through his Executive Order 9066. From 1942 to 1945, it was the policy of the U.S. government that people of Japanese descent would be interred in isolated camps..."
(History.com) “The arrested men rode on a train with boarded windows—prisoners had been shot at from railroad sidings—from Seattle to a work camp in Montana”
(Guterson 198) How the arrested men got to the camps Image: Bettmann Archive -
Military Recruitment and Propaganda During WW2
"It wouldn't be until the surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 that the United States would be thrust into World War II. Once U.S. troops were sent to the front lines, hundreds of artists..."
(History.com) "It was all propaganda...they wanted us to be able to kill them with no remorse, to make them less than people...they could have used his face for one of their propaganda films."
(Guterson 345) This shows the connected bias from war to trials / society Image: Hulton Archive -
Battle of Tarawa
"In the Battle of Tarawa during World War II, the U.S. began its Central Pacific Campaign against Japan by seizing the heavily fortified, Japanese-held island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands..."
(History.com) “On the second day his company was assembled on the top deck and told that they were moving toward Tarawa atoll, where they would go ashore at Betio, a strongly defended island”
(Guterson 236) Context on what happen right before the battle Image: Businessinsider.com -
Dear John Letter (day before Battle of Normandy)
"A Dear John letter is a letter written to a man by his wife or romantic partner to inform him that their relationship is over, usually because she has found another lover. The man is often a member of the military stationed overseas, although the letter may be used in other ways.."
(Wikipedia) "I don't love you, Ishmael. When we met that last time in the cedar tree,I knew we could never be right together."
(Guterson 442) Hatsue's true feelings for Ishmael :( Image: SFC -
Battle of Okinawa
"The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II, and one of the bloodiest. On April 1, 1945, the Navy’s Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push..."
(History.com) "Who, like Horace himself, had survived Okinawa-- only to die, it now appeared, in a gill-netting boat accident."
(Guterson 46) Ironic how Carl dies in a boat accident but survived Okinawa Photo: U.S Department of Defense -
Pearl Harbor Memorial
"The USS Arizona Memorial is built over the remains of the sunken battleship USS Arizona, the final resting place for many of the 1,177 crewmen killed on December 7, 1941, when their ship was bombed by Japanese Forces"
(pearlharborhistoricsites.org) "Look at my face," interrupted Hatsue. "Look at my eyes, Ishmael. My face is the face of the people who did it—don't you see what I mean?..."
(Guterson 161) He has a reason to be scared since people will hate him for his looks Photo: nps.gov
