Wersgall trolled by an trorj, the island had passed to the United Srates as public domain land after World War Il. By moving to Kilt the Bikinians effectively rejected thetrown paramount chief, who had been unable to help them return home, and adopted the Uniced States as their surrogate trorj. To this day the people refuse to recognize the troy who claims dominion over Bikini. island is virtually inaccessible from November to May, when the trade winds cause heavy surf to poundit. Since visits by trust territory ships to Kili are infrequent and irregular, the Bikinians have Jost their incentive to produce copra, which is frequently left to spoil or is eaten by rats before the ships arrive. At times. food supplies on Kili have run critically short. In 1952 supplies were so low that the U.S. gov- ernment airdropped emergency rations onto the island (without the aid of parachutes, so * . that most of the food was smashed and rendered inedible). . The drastic change from an atoll exiscence. with its abundant fish and islands as far as the cye could see, to an isolated island with no lagoon and inaccessible marine resources. took a severe psychological and physical toll] ‘Hawaii Marshall islands on the people. Kili’s soil is richer chan Bikini's, but the Bikinians are not skilled in the intensive agricultural techniques needed to make the island productive. Theyare fishermen. not farmers. The Bikinians were completely self-suffi- cient before 1946, bur after years of living on Islands free U.S. food programs on Kili, they have virtually lost the will to provide for themselves. Moreover. since they refuse to accept the move to Kili as anything but a temporary “Majurom* + * . kil MILES © 1980, The Washington Post. The majority of the Bikinians. who now number more than 900, continue to live on Kili. Life is difficule there. Kili is an island. not an atoll, and a smail island at that—0.36 square miles (230 acres) or less than one-sixth the land area of Bikini Atoll. It has neither a lagoon norsheltered fishing grounds. so the skills the people developed for lagoon and resettlement, they have been reluctant to ad- just fully to life on the island. They miss the diversions available on the islands of Bikini Atoll. As one Kili resident lamented: ‘‘At Bikini. one could always go to anotherisland. but hereit’s always the same. Sleep, wake up, Kih. Sleep. wake up. Kili. Again, sleep, wake up, Kili. Kili is a prison.” Baker and Bravo While the people of Bikini were all but neglected by the Unired States, the nuclear testing program at Bikini Atoll received top government priority. The United States det- onated 23 nuclear devices there between 1946 ocean life at Bikini are useless on Kili. Moreover, since Kili runs parallel to the northeast trade winds it has no leeward side, and the and 1958, and the testing formed a crucial part of the U.S. nuclear weapons develop- 82. 83. ment program. Bikini suffered severe damage