The Moab Citizen Isolation Center Archaeology Project with Dr. Koji Lau-Ozawa

Description

Summer 2026 marks the first field season of the Moab Isolation Center Archaeology Project, which seeks to understand the history of Japanese American confinement at the former Dalton Wells Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp. Led by field director Koji Lau-Ozawa, a team of archaeologists and students from UCLA are using a range of archaeological techniques from drone survey and ground penetrating radar to hand excavation to identify the physical remains of this site. Join us at the Moab Information Center on Thursday, September 10th at 6 pm for a presentation by the team. During the 1930s Dalton Wells hosted a vibrant CCC camp with young men coming from across the nation to participate in projects along the Colorado Plateau. After the CCC camp closed it was converted into an isolation center for Japanese American citizens deemed troublemakers by the US government. This project provides one of the first archaeological investigations to understanding the complex history of the site. About Dr. Lau-Ozawa: Koji Lau-Ozawa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UCLA. His research focuses on the archaeology of Japanese diaspora, and he has led projects at multiple sites including the site of Santa Barbara's former Japantown, the Gila River Incarceration Camp, and as a co-director of an archaeological project at the Old Leupp Federal Indian Boarding School and Citizen Isolation Center.