POV

There's stories about things that happened here. But nobody listens. My people, my ancestors, my grandparents, have lived on this lake for thousands of years. The outsiders came into this valley and renamed it. We call it Payahnad, which means, "the place where the water always flows." I was evacuated from Los Angeles on May 9, 1942. We were sent to the Manzanar concentration camp. The period I spent in Manzanar was the most traumatic experience of my life. Manzanar is one square mile of land that has a deep history of forced removal. Los Angeles goes to the heart of the valley. The came here for the water. They are trying to recharacterize this valley as always being a desert. What made it such a desert is their pumping. This was the lake. This was all water before then. Many people who lived at Manzanar developed upper respiratory breathing problems like my grandmother. I just don't have any energy. When I walk a little ways I get tired real fast. Not only was water a major factor in the siting of Manzanar, water was also the means of resistance. This water, our water, it's there for everybody. Natives, non-natives, everybody. Don't take everything. I think we've reached a point in America where we have to look on ourselves as more of a diverse nation.