Intent of a Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is about reconnection with each other, with our ancestors, with mystery and the depth of life. We remember in order to heal, to recover memory, to decolonize ourselves, to restore our deeper souls. Pilgrimage is a collective experience. We journey together, experiencing together more than we could alone.


This blog documents the pilgrimages that the Institute for Leadership Development and Study of Pacific and Asian North American Religion (PANA) organizes for students and community members to the Sacramento River Delta and the Japanese Internment Camp, Manzanar.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Pilgrimage #2 October 24 - 26, 2008

The second pilgrimage to the Sacramento Delta took place from October 24-26, 2008. There were 4 students from the Pacific School of Religion (PSR), 7 students from the Franciscan School of Theology (FST) and 31 students from San Francisco (SF) State who attended, along with 4 community members. The students from PSR and FST were taking a contextual learning course on immigrant theologies taught by Dr. Joanne Doi of FST. The students from SF State came from a Japanese American History and Chinese American Psychology class taught by Gordan Lee. All joined to learn about the Native American and immigrant history of the Delta region and honor the laborers who struggled there.

Much suffering, racial violence, interethnic conflict, and genocide has taken place on California soil. These are buried stories we seek to hear and heal. To forgive and to ask forgiveness. To heal the pain of ruptures caused by transnational migration and diaspora. To increase our love for this land and the layers of peoples for whom this land is sacred. -Dr. Joanne Doi, Franciscan School of Theology



"The pilgrimage was an amazing opportunity to meet and listen to people whose individual lives and larger communities have been profoundly shaped by experiences of discrimination in the Delta region. Their stories of painful suffering, mourning, solidarity, pride, and healing were inspiring and heartening." - Zamira Ha, PSR Student '11
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