NPCA position on H.R. 1154 and H.R. 2497

H.R. 1154 – The Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area Act: NPCA supports this legislation, which would authorize the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the states, to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area in Virginia and North Carolina. This heritage area, once designated, would represent the distinctive aspects of people and cultures that have often been overlooked or deliberately ignored. The Great Dismal Swamp was home to Native American tribes and a refuge for Africans and then African Americans who resisted enslavement through flight, evasion, and force on the Underground Railroad. The addition of these stories and resources to the National Heritage Area program will benefit community partners, the states of Virginia and North Carolina, and the nation by enhancing our understanding of the influence of the natural environment on the cultural and historic folkways of the region’s inhabitants.

H.R. 2497 – Amache National Historic Site Act: NPCA supports this bipartisan legislation, which would establish the Amache National Historic Site. This bill presents the unique opportunity to share and learn from a time in American history that has largely been forgotten: the unconstitutional imprisonment of 7,567 Japanese Americans at the Granada Relocation Center, or Amache, in Southeast Colorado. The designation of this site is the first step toward a telling a more inclusive history of America and honoring the heroic survivors and descendants within the Amache community. The longstanding and heroic efforts of Amache survivors, descendants, and other community leaders to share this story are the reason why it remains alive today. While the story of Amache is first and foremost the story of its survivors and descendants to tell, it is also the story of the Town of Granada’s courage to keep this flame alive. Considering the current scourge of anti-Asian American Pacific Islander hate crimes, our country needs places like this more than ever to ensure that these lessons of the past are learned and remembered.