an!
6
15 children whoare part of the control seriesfor
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
wherethe ship had put in 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 aboard theship for the
expedition. The ship was beached at Rongelap
and Utirik for easy accessibility to the villages.
weg
Attitudes of Rongelap People
Whenthe team arrived at Rongelap, the magistrate 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 cali a meeting ofthe 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 and friendly. It was
recognized that there wasslightly increasing resistance to blood sampling procedures. Also there
was some discontent that, because of the high Sr*°
content, they were forbidden to eat coconutcrabs,
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
continued examinationswereessential in order to
detect and treat any untowardeffects, should they
arise. The coconut crab problem was brought up
again, and the reasonsfor prohibiting their consumption carefully explained throughtheinter-
preter. To correct a misconception that several
cases of fish poisoning during the past year had
been due to eating radioactive fish, it was explained that fish poisoning had been going onin
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 preparations for the examinations
proceeded. Thereafter complete cooperation and
the usualfriendly relations prevailed throughout
the stay on theisland.
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 Rongelap situation were discussed. The report
of the UN group was favorable toward thespecial
medicalassistance being rendered the people.
Upon completion of the 1959 survey, a meeting
was held for the people, and they were advised
that they were found to be generally in good
health with noserious effects of their radiation exposure apparent, but that continued examinations
would be necessary in order to insure continued
good health. They were also advised to try to improve their oral hygiene and observe sanitary rules
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.
Trust Territory officials had hoped. Consequently,
since copra production is the prime sourceofin-
come, there was some concern over the 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 centered aroundthenecessity for the continued medical examinationsin view of statements on the part
of the medical team in the past that the people
were generally in good health. It was difficult to
explain to them that, though they appeared to 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
Figure 4. Coconut crab (robber crab, Bzrgus latro), considered a delicacy by the Marshallese. (Photo courtesy
American Museum of Natural History, New York, N.Y.)