Chapter Four
Ronpertk ated Kwajalein
0521005
ommended it as the bese sie for reseetlement (MacMillan EOE7}.
On September 1, the poverteor and the Board New to Rong
erik to learn why the Bikinians had decided co remain there
They indicated that their primary concern way to retain |
kind, and they could not agree om another relocation site.
“Po
them, Ujelang was too distant and lacked pandanus. Worle was
coo small; it and Ujac were inhabited, and resetcment on either
could result in populations too large for EXIStE FESOUee Ch.
o
ther, the Bikinians wanted to keep their community Ge, aan
they were strongly opposed to residing with another populace,
Kili, while uninhabited, had no lagoon and was now judged an
desirable. They wished to stay on Rongerth because of tees
tively close proximity to Bikini, and they reportedly tele obli |
gated to remain because of the village constructed by the Ameri
cans. The islanders also feared chat the costs and clfort required
by another relocation might earn them the displeasure ol the |
Americans. The possibility of moving to Ujelang was discussed,
and the Americans returned to Kwajalein.
The Board concluded that Rongerik was madequate anil Ox
pressed doubt that it could ever produce resources sufficient for
the people. The Board’s first choice was toreturn the people we
Bikini. Assuming that this was impossible, it recommends reset
tlemenc at Ujelang. The governor concurred and determined the
feasibility of Bikini's reoccupation. The results of the invest ipa
tions conducted by the Bikini Resurvey, however, revealed that
radiological activity precluded Bikini’s habitation by a permanent
population for years to come.
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In late September, 1947, the Bikinians became pawns iin
cernal squabbles within the United States government,
Vhe age
culturalist’s report on conditions at Rongerik came into the possession of a Washington, D.C. syndicated newspaper columnist,
He, a former Secretary of the Interior and long tine critic of the
naval island administration, charged the navy with the responsi-
bility for the sorry condition of the islanders. ‘I he Bikinians became the subject of newspaper articles and editorials throughout
the United States and Europe. As a consequence, public opinion
as well as the threat of censure by the United Nations placed considerable pressure on navy officials to rectify the situation.
During the second week of October, Juda and at least two
dhlab were town to Ujelunpe i an effort
to porsitade chem gor
settle there. On October 17, navy Officials
aunmounced that che
Bikinis were to be moved co Ujelangy (Mason
E954: $25). Ay
parently, the Bikinians had agreed to the move,
and on Novenuibey
22 ten Bikine men and twenty Seabees airiv
ed at UNelanp web
Matetial to conseruce a Villiage, Less
than two weeks later, oft
ctals in Washington, D.C. advised the ddmin
istracion an the Muar
shalls that Enewetok Atoll was to be uscd
for a second seties of
acomme tests and that its inhabitancs had
to be aoved aamedtate
ly. Operations in che Marshalls chanped ac
cordingly. The Ene
wetok people were moved to Ujelany
on Decenber 21s the Bil
Hab Peete cn Rongenk. “Fhe governor
conwatted with Juda
and the Council, who reportedly decided
that perhaps an adj
ment to the atoll was possible after all.
Shortly chereatter, the
High Commuussioner of the Perritory decid
ed to conduct a cou
prehensive study of the Bikini people to
determine the “2. 2 un
derlywip causes of their apparent discontent”
(Richard 1957.525).
Response to Crisis
Leonard Mason, an anthropolopise from
the University of
Hawiait, was engaped to conduct the Inves
tipation, tle and an as
sistant, Mi. James Milne, an islander of
mixed Micronesian/Euro
pean descent, New to Ronperik by sca
plane OW January 31, Lob.
Their arrival coincided with the niose
critical food shortape yer
experienced. Only immature coconuts
and pencanus fraits wer
available. Arrowrooc was exhausted on
the main island and trea
ly depleted oa others. The commmunity’s
store had only one han
dred pounds of flour. Canoes were in
disrepair because of the
lack of sennit and, asa resule, Fishi
ng Was largely curtailed and
the relief voyapes to Rongelab had ended. Adul
ts were even con
suming small quantities of chose fish whic
h were found to have
Coxic qualities.
1
the Conununal Organization. Mason learned
that, when
their traditional household and lineage organization
had proven
ineffective in
coping with the crisis, the islanders had
responded
by reorganizing their community into a single coop
erative unit.
AY