A Comparative Analysis of Indigenous Displacement and the World War II Japanese American Internment

Abstract

Leslie Marmon Silko's novel Ceremony and Hisaye Yamamoto's short story “The Eskimo Connection” reveal how the structure of internment impacted Japanese Americans and Indigenous people in interrelated but different ways. These pieces of fiction attest to the absolute necessity of building coalitions between Native Americans and Japanese Americans. They also acknowledge the barriers that may stand in the way of collective political organizing.