6 15 children who are part of the controlseries for the growth and development studies. Several Rongelap people of the exposed group and the comparison population group whowereliving in Majuro were also examined. The Navy kindly furnished a ship, the LST USS Duval County. The team met at Eniwetok where the ship had putin to onload the 21-ton steel room which had been stored there andalso the medical equipment and supplies. The medical team was berthed and fed aboardthe ship for the expedition. The ship was beached at Rongelap and Utirik for easy accessibility to the villages. Attitudes of Rongelap People Whenthe team arrived at Rongelap, the mag- istrate of the village indicated that there was some confusion and uncertainty in the minds of some of the people as to the necessity and significance of repeated medical examinations. He thoughtit wise to call a meeting of the village people in the council house so that they could ask questions to help clarify the situation. For the past 5 years during which the annual examinations have been going on there had been no problem in maintaining excellent rapport with the people, and. indeed, the relations of the team members with the Rongelapese were always cordial andfriendly. It was recognized that there wasslightly increasing re- sistance to blood sampling procedures. Also there was some discontent that, because of the high Sr’” content, they were forbidden to eat coconut crabs, which they consider a delicacy (Figure 4). Since the return of the people to Rongelap, copra production had not increased to the extent that the Trust Territory officials had hoped. Consequently, since copra production is the prime sourceofincome, there was some concern overthe slowness with which the people were getting back on their feet economically. It had become necessary to extend food subsistence beyond the timeoriginally planned. Fishing was not being carried on as actively as it should have been. At the village meeting the main questions cen- tered aroundthe necessity forthe continued medi- cal examinations in view of statements on the part of the medica] team in the past that the people were generally in good health. It was difficult to explain to them that, though they appearedto be in good health and to have recovered from the acute effects of radiation, very little was known about the possible late effects of radiation, and continued examinationswere essential in order to detect and treat any untoward effects, should they arise, The coconut crab problem was brought up again, and the reasonsfor prohibiting their consumption carefully explained through theinterpreter. To correct a misconception that several cases of fish poisoning during the past year had been due to eating radioactive fish, it was ex- plained thatfish poisoning had been going on in these islands for years and was not connected with radioactivity. After much discussion, it seemed that the people were satisfied with answers to the questions, and preparationsfor the examinations proceeded. Thereafter complete cooperation and the usualfriendly relations prevailed throughout the stay on the tsland. During the examinations a United Nations team ~ visited Rongelap. A meeting with the people was held in the church (Figure 5), and manyaspects of the Rongelapsituation were discussed. The report of the UN group was favorable toward the special medical assistance being rendered the people. Upon completion of the 1959 survey, a meeting’ was held for the people, and thev were advised that they were found to be generally in good health with noseriouseffects of their radiation ex- | posure apparent, but that continued examinations would be necessary in order to insure continued good health. They were also advised to trv to improve their oral hvgiene and observe sanitaryrules to control the flies on the island. Before the team left the island, a party was held for the Rongelapese. The Navy kindly furnished a meal, and small gifts were exchanged as tokens of appreciation of mutal cooperation. Figure 4. Coconut crab (robber crab, Birgus latro), con- sidered a delicacy by the Marshallese. (Photo courtesy American Museum of Natural History, New York, N.Y.)