Old Leupp – An Archaeology Collaboration to Study the Indian Boarding School and Citizen Isolation Center

Monday, September 23rd, 12 to 1 pm

A noon-time lecture at J-Sei

A team of archaeologists of Diné and Nikkei members, Davina Two Bears, Jun Sunseri, and Koji Lau-Ozawa, are studying the history and landscape surrounding the Old Leupp Indian Boarding School and the Leupp Citizen Isolation Center, located in Northeastern Arizona. Davina Two Bears is Diné and originally from Birdsprings, Arizona, a community adjacent to Leupp. Kojun “Jun” Ueno Sunseri is shin-issei, born in Tokyo with biological paternal roots from Ueno and emigrated at five years old to the United States to be raised in other cultures in Southern California and eventually adopted. Koji Lau-Ozawa is a sansei/yonsei from San Francisco. His grandparents, along with great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, were all incarcerated at the Gila River Incarceration Camp where he focused his first major research project.

Due to the history of the site, the team has approached the project slowly with care. They began this project by first entering into agreements with communities around the Old Leupp site including Birdsprings and Leupp, as well as local schools. They also received input from some of the descendants of Japanese Americans imprisoned at Leupp.

In June 2024, after receiving Community support and protective blessings, they completed their first season of fieldwork at the Old Leupp site, employing non-invasive archaeological methodologies to document structural and artifactual features which are visible on the surface and through multispectral imaging. Combining high precision mapping equipment, UAVs, and meticulous survey strategies, they recorded a large number of features and artifacts which promise to expand our understanding of life at Old Leupp and deliver on at least one community mandate regarding safely planning for the reintegration of the site back into contemporary community life.

The team looks forward to sharing some of their initial results as well as seeking mentorship from community members as we work on analyzing our results and co-crafting our next steps.

RSVP to jill@j-sei.org with “Old Leupp” in the memo.

You are welcome to bring a lunch.  Or if you would like to order a J-Sei lunch to-go, please contact kathleen@j-sei.org

Leupp Boarding School (Museum of  Northern Arizona Archives), Mess Hall at Leupp Isolation Center (Henry Ueno photo from Embrey et al), National Park Service Confinement and Ethnicity, NPS History.com