uw
Evacuation of Bikini i
Early in 1946 it was decided that Bikini Atoll was the most
suitable location for the testing of atomic weapons.
people were asked to leave and,
The Bikini
as mignt have been expected of a
people of their historical conditioning to obedience, especially
after more than a quarter of a century of autocratic Japanese
The possibilities
rule, agreed to leave their ancestral home.
of resettlement in the Marsnalls were very limited because land
is scarce (only about 74 square miles) and very little of it is
available for settlement. Tne Marsnallese jealously guard their
land rights and will not willingly part with them,
‘
Problems of Resettlement
:
The 166 Bikinians Were offered the choice of moving to
Marshalls.
Lae,
or Rongerik,
all atolls in the northwestern
Ujae and Lae were already regularly inhabited, but
who had land rights on the atoll.
cee ee ee ee wt
as
.
These people visited Rongerix
_
7
1
to make copra, to fish, and to gather other foods.
reéeson,
presumably,
.
For this
as well .as the fact that it was the closest
to Bikini, the Bikini people opted to go to Rongerik. rather than
Ujae or Lae.
and all of the Bikini people were mov
ct
of Bikini men,
Qu.
A village was built on Rongerik by Navy Seabees,and a group
Oy n=
heme ee
either Ujae,
oOo tnat
For a detailed report of the movements of the Bikini pcople
from Bikini to Rongerik and to Kili,
see Mason,
Leonard
Bikinians A Transplanted Population," Kuman Organtzation,
Vol. 9, No.
1, Spring 1950, pp. 5-15.
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