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)