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There are other problems.
Soil compositions have been
altered as a result of nuciear bomb tests making it @ifficult
to cultivate basic food sources.
Moreover,
a number of younger
Bikinians have never lived on the atoll and are not familiar
with basic skills required for daily survival.
alarming is
the grim possibility that Bikinians,
Perhaps most
like American
Indians, may become wards to the extent that livelihood and
quality of life will be totally derived from federal government
provisions.
Summary and Conclusions
Forced relocation of cultural groups is an issue that has
far-reaching psychosocial implications.
Historians and cultural
anthropologists have consistently reminded us cf the impact of
forced movement on maintenance of traditional cultural lifestyles and values.
To the contrary,
there are those who favor
assimilation through forced movements and argue that it protects
groups that might otherwise be victimized by unscrupulous and
inciéious land developers and colonists.
In some instances forced movement is necessary particularly
when a group is faced with the awesome effects of natural
hazards,
“However,
trations where
the examples discussed earlier offer
forced movement has occurred as a result of self-
serving interests of government agencies.
case
illus-
the outcomes
In each and every
have produced dramatic and unalterable
changes in quality of life.
|
Understanding of the problems of groups pressured to
migrate must begin by assessing the manner in which an
gum
04