Faith and protest: Origami cranes symbolize immigrant solidarity

Episcopalians unite in prayer and origami for immigrant justice

The Episcopal Church's Asiamerica Ministries is calling on Episcopalians to make origami cranes for immigrants in detention as a symbol of peace and solidarity.

"Making each crane is an act of prayer for healing and wholeness," the Rev. Jo Ann Lagman, missioner for Asiamerica Ministries and a Filipina American, told our website.

During its April 15-17 annual retreat, which is taking place this year in the Diocese of Olympia in Washington, Episcopal clergy and lay leaders of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander - AANHPI - descent will hold a prayer service at an immigrant detention center in Tacoma, where they will leave the strung-together cranes.

In Japanese culture, the crane, or "tsuru" in Japanese, symbolizes transformation, healing and nonviolence. Origami "tsurus" are called "orizurus," and they are frequently used to honor Japanese American victims and survivors of concentration camps during World War II.

"We thought bringing 'tsurus' to the detention center would be a great symbol for us of our solidarity and prayers and presence," Lagman said. "Through the wider Episcopal Church, many of goodwill are praying and present and hope for much better things."

Episcopalians participating in the project are encouraged to write prayers for the incarcerated immigrants on the origami paper before folding the cranes.

The origami project aligns with this year's retreat theme, "Let it Not Happen Again." In the mid 19th century, East and Southeast Asian immigrants - primarily from China, Japan and the Philippines - began settling in what is today Washington state to work in labor-intensive industries like railroad building. Anti-Asian racism and violence quickly spread, leading to riots and, notably, the expulsion of hundreds of Chinese residents from Seattle in 1886. Puyallup was the site of a concentration camp that held about 7,500 Japanese Americans during World War II. In 1976, President Gerald Ford proclaimed that incarcerating Japanese Americans was a "national mistake" that "shall never again be repeated."

The idea to make origami cranes came from Tsuru for Solidarity, a nonviolent, direct-action campaign project of Japanese American social justice advocates. They are working to end immigration detention sites and support immigrant communities by advocating for fair immigration policies and other means.

During the retreat, the 70 participants also will make a pilgrimage to sites throughout the Diocese of Olympia that are significant to AANHPI history and culture.

"Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, hold a lot of both sacred joy and hardship for AANHPI communities in a way that other cities don't," the Rev. Janelle Hiroshige, associate for youth and community partnerships at the Parish of the Epiphany in Boston, Massachusetts, told ENS. Hiroshige, who is of Japanese descent, is assisting with this year's retreat preparations.

"There's this mixture of both difficult histories and a lot of joyful representation," Hiroshige said. "Unlike previous retreats, we're approaching this one more like a pilgrimage - a sacred journey through these histories - while also connecting the historical family trauma to the immigrant experience that Asian Americans and Latinos and other folks are experiencing now."

When they're not visiting pilgrimage sites, participants will engage in various social activities and share their experiences as Episcopalians of Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent. While professional networking is a goal, the retreat is also designed to foster fellowship. Much of the programming will be discussion- and storytelling-based, with participants welcome to express themselves through speaking, music or any way that best suits them.

Storytelling is an "impactful" way to advocate for civil and human rights, according to Adrienne Elliott, canon missioner for creation care and environment in the Diocese of Olympia and a member of the retreat's planning team.

"It feels like an honor and a real gift that we can offer the larger church the opportunity to learn some of these stories - and for us, as local people, to better learn these stories," Elliott, who is half Japanese, told ENS. "I think it's really special that we get to experience this with our larger Episcopal AANHPI community."

The retreat will include an evening vigil service for immigrant solidarity on April 16 at Christ Episcopal Church in Tacoma. New York Bishop Suffragan Allen K. Shin, who is Korean American, will preach. During the closing Eucharist, the Rev. Mark C. Lee, president of Bexley Seabury Seminary in Chicago, Illinois, will preside.

Western Oregon Bishop Diana Akiyama, the first Asian American Episcopal bishop and the first woman Episcopal priest of Japanese descent, also will participate in the retreat in person.

"I think the immigrant solidarity prayer vigil will be really special," Lagman said. "I'm hoping it'll be a really powerful and meaningful space for people to come and bring some of their own worries and fears that they've been carrying. Being together in worship like that will be wonderful."

Hiroshige most looks forward to the retreat's communal environment every year, and this year is no different.

"My favorite part is the community gathering, and I use the word 'gathering' intentionally," she said. "It is people of such diversity that really are reflective of our church and are reflective of who we are, as Asian Americans. It's a lot of good fun and worship and being together that really brings this sense of community and family."