RESETTLEMENT OF PEOPLE
1948 continued
NOVEMBER 2 Kili: The total Bikini com-
munity of 184 people arrives on Kili
after a 7-month stay on Kwajalein. Kili
(with .36 sq. mile of land) has advan-
tages of good agricultural soil and
stands of quality coconut trees for
copra export.
Prior to World War II,
the Japanese had used the island as a
copra plantation. The Island's drawbacks include a lack of lagoon or protected anchorage.
The full force of the
ocean pounds Kili from November through
May, halting fishing and isolating the
island.
Because the Bikinians were
used to gathering fish from a protected
are relocated from squalid shacks in the
Kwajalein Island labor camp near the U.
S. military installation to Ebeye Island
three miles away.
The Navy constructs
frame houses, cook houses and outhouses
on Ebeye for 370 people.
Kwajalein: Until 1958, the Kwajalein
Navy Station's primary functions are in
supporting the nuclear testing at Enewetak and Bikini.
1952 Ujelang: The people make repeated
requests for sail cloth and paint for
upkeep, repair and operation of their
lagoon with their nets, spears and outrigger canoes, the new Kili environment
causes many problems.
sailing canoes, as well as fishing net
material and fish hooks, but their
orders do not arrive on the field trip
ships.
",..Both the Bikini and Enewetak people have been relocated on
OCTOBER Ujelang: A U.S. Navy LST takes
other land that,has been deeded to
them and have been given considerable assistance in their resettlement and readjustment."
U. S. Representative Benjamin
Gerig to the U. N. frusteeship
Council, 1956.
the 169 Ujelang people to a point 100
miles farther away from Enewetak, which
is to be the site of the first hydrogen
bomb test as part of Operation IVY.
DECEMBER Ujelang: A special field trip
ship arrives, but brings only enough
Ssailcloth for two canoes.
of sails.
1949 Ujelang:
The Enewetak people liv-
5 out of 13
sailing canoes are unusable for lack
The long awaited order of
‘marine paint for wooden hulls was
ing on Ujelang are totally dependent on
"filled" with ten gallons of red paint
longer)
beled "for garden furniture.”
the infrequent (every 3-6 months or
and unreliable Trust Territory
field trip vessels for food and other
needs.
Vast distances (640 miles to
the District Center at Majuro, 410 miles
to Kwajalein and 290 miles to the clos-
for metal and 16 quarts of enamel la-
Few of
the other materials can be used, disappointing the people who planned to
paint the canoes after the copra har-
vest.
-
est inhabited atoll, Ujae) prevent Mar-
Shallese craft from sailing to Ujelang
to pick up copra or to supply trade
goods.
1951 JANUARY Kili: The 40-foot ship provided for the Bikinians by the adminis-
tration is washed into the Kili reef by
the heavy surf and sinks with a full
load of copra. Rough seas and a shortage of vessels cause food supplies to
run critically low more than once from
1951 to 1953, even necessitating an air
drop of emergency rations at one point.
JANUARY Kwajalein: About 550 Marshallese
I002b06
"Canoes and fishing are the life
of Ujelang. Without the canoes we
cannot get
to the other islands in
the lagoon to harvest ccconuts.
Without the fishing equipment, we
cannot catch fish to get enough to
eat."
An Enewetak Iroij (chief).
1954 Kwajalein: The Navy Station enploys.226 Marshallese, only 32 of whom
are from Kwajalein Atoll. The popula-
(continued on page 13)