irreversibly changed by the U.S. nuclear bomb tests.
GIFFE JOHNSON
Micronesia: America’s ‘strategic’ trust
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The lives of the people of the Marshall Isiands have been
On August 6. 1945. the B-29 Enola
bombs that would kill over 200.000
the Marshalls went to Bikini in February. he told the people that American scientists were experimenting
Within months the United States
of mankind and to end all world
Gav dropped the first of two atomic
neople in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
with nuclear weapons “for the good
ODegan searching for sites far from wars. He promised that ther atoll
American population centers for would be returned after the tests
further development and testing of were finished, and asked that they
nuclear weapons. The Detense Depurtment looked to Micronesia in the
“western Pacific. whose 2.000 remote
isiands have only one-half the land
area of the state of Rhode Island.
Easternmost in Micronesia lie the
Murshail Islands. about 2.200 miles
southwest of Hawai. Up to the
1940s the Marshall islanders, like
most other Micronesians. were selfsulficient. living off the ocean and
land. Though covering a great expunse of ocean. the Marshalls’ 28
muliti-islet atolls and five single isiands comprise only about 70 square
mies. The atolls are rings of 15 to as
consent to be moved to another island, With more than 42.000 mili-
tary, scientific and technical personnel. 250 naval ships and more than
150 observation aircraft potsed to
enter Bikimi Atoll for Operation
Crossroads, the 166 Bikinians had
little choice but to leave their island.
Less than two years later, in De-
cember 1947, the Navy decided to
use another atoll, Enewetak. for a
second series of atomic tests. The
Enewetakese, like the Bikinians,
were relocated by the United States
quickly and with little planning to
smail, uninhabited atoils.
many as 97 tslets connected bv a
Even while the United States was
coral reef that encircles a clear blue removing the Marshallese from their
lazoon. Out of necessity. the Mar- islands. in July 1947 it was signing
shallese are traditionally expert the United Nations Trusteeship
fishermen, deriving most of their Agreement for the U.S. Trust Terriprotein from the rich lagoons. while tory of the Pacific [Islands ‘Micthe land provides coconuts, bread- rcnesia). This agreement stated:
fruit, pandanus andtaro.
The most tsolated and least wes-
‘In discharging its obligations. the
ternized of the Marshallese lived on administering authority [U.S.] shall:
the northern atolls of Bikint and promote the economic advanceEnewetak. Having little contact with
foreigners (not even with the
Japanese during their 25-year occunation), they relied on the outside
world for almost nothing.
Ironically, this very isolation
thrust the Bikini and Enewetak
people into the nuclear age.
ment and seif-sufficiency of the in-
habitants, and to this end shail...
encourage the development of
fisheries. agriculture and industnes;
and protect the inhabitants against
the loss of their land and resources.”"
In addition, this agreement bound
In January 1946, Navy officials in the United States to “promote the
Washington, D.C.. announced that social advancement of the inhabtBokini Atoll fitted all requirements tants. and to this end ... protect
for Operation Crossroads. designed the nghts and fundamental freedoms
to test the destructive power of nu- ot all elements of the population
clear weapons on naval vessels. without discrimination; and protect
When the U.S. military governor of the health of the inhabitants... ."
10
After the relocation of the Mar-
Shallese. however, what happened
during the next [2 vears was that
about 70 atomic and hydrogen bomb
blasts devastated the istands and trreversibly changed the lives of the
people.
The Bikinians first moved about
100 miles east to Rongenk. an un-
inhabited atoll consisting of bareiv
one-half square mile of land. Within
two months. they expressed anxiety
over the atoll’s meager resources
and made thefirst of many requests
to return home. Within a year. the
people taced starvation: a visiting
American medical officer reported
that the Bikinians were ‘‘visibdly sutfering from malnutntion.”” in 1948
the Bikinians were evacuated to 2
temporary tent city at the Navvbase
on Kwajalein.
Kili Island in the southem Marshalls was selected for their next
home. Kili, a single island. has no
lagoon or protected anchorage:
heavy surf from November until late
spring halts fishing and isolates tue
island. On the other hand. ail: had
once supported a Japanese copra
plantation. and U.S. authorities
hoped that. while the Bikinians were
not a farming people. the island's agricultural pessibdilities would overcomeits drawbacks. Thus, the Bikinians were forced to adapt to a completely alien environment.
In early December 1947. Washine-
ton officials announced without rreliminaries, that Enewetak was to be
used for the next series of bomb
tests. In less than three weeks. the
people of Enewetak were relocated
to Ujelang, the westermmost atoil in
the Marsnalis. Like Rongerik and
Kiil if was also uninhabited. and for
good reason. Ujeiang has only a
quarter of the iand area ct Enewetax
and its 25-square-mile lagoon is less