"Bikinians" or to people of "Bikinian” descent.

Even the bulk of the

administration employees, as I understand it fell into this category.

The question of who can be considered a “Bikinian" is a complex one as

you know. Mr. Weisgall, the Legal Counsel for the people of Bikini,
recently informed us that the list of "Bikinians" who claim some part of
the Trust Fund payments now runs to well over 900 individuals.

Again, as

you know, many of these individuals have never lived on Kili or Bikini.
All claim land rights on Bikini either through descent or marriage

‘connections.

Also, before the relocation, the Bikini-Kili Council was consulted on
several occasions with respect to locations of houses for the 28 families
on Kili. Agreement on the weto arrangements on Kili Island was worked out.
It does not seem realistic that the Bikini-Kili Council would have agreed
on housing sites, etc., unless these 28 families had some claim either by
descent or marriage, to land rights in Bikini Atoll. At the time of the
move, the Andrew Jakeo clan and certain relatives of his did not elect to
stay on Kili and they made up the original group which settled instead on

Ejit Island.

Also the families involved were living in the houses built on wetos on
Bikini Island assigned to “Bikinian families". I do not have specific

house numbers available here, but I doubt that complete outsiders without

any "Bikinian" ties would have been permitted to set up permanent
residence on Bikini.

Representatives of the Bikini-Kili Council regularly

visited Bikini Island to distribute Trust Fund payments as well as to
make inspection trips. Certainly, the Council would have protested if
Bikini Island was being taken over by families with no claim of any kind
to Bikinian affiliation. We know also that there has been considerable
intermarriage between the Rongelap and Bikini groups in recent times.

Il am prepared, of course, to accept your statement that many of the group
may not have come from Kili Island but as I noted above, there are hundreds

of Marshallese with "Bikinian" ancestry scattered throughout the Marshalls.

To say that these individuals are not "Bikinians", would not be accepted by
Marshallese tradition.

There seems to be discrepancy also in your claim that 71 of the people
removed last August were Trust Territory Government workers or their
dependents and only four of these were from Kili. The May 1978 Census shows
eight families in this category with some 32 people involved. Additionally,
by August, at least one or more of these families had been transferred by

the Administration. As I pointed out earlier, District Administrator
DeBrum explained in August 1968, that the bulk of these employees had
married into "Bikinian families". This appears to be further substantiated
by cable traffic between the District Administrator and the High
Commissioner at the time of the relocation. You may recall that a “moving
allowance" was given the families who would be returning to Kili and a
careful list was prepared. On August 23, 1978, Distad DeBrum notified the

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