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Social Change Study Center Battelle Human Affairs Research Centers Post Office Box 5395 Your letter of July 5, 1977, on possible future research studies o f readjustment o f the peoples of Bikini and Enewetak after resettlement i s being forwarded t o the High Commissioner of the Trust Territory for his review and conment since any proposal of t h i s nature would require his approval and coopeyation, as well as t h a t of the people concerned. Additionally, both groups have legal counsel of their own choosing who represent them and who also need t o be consulted on any activity involving their clients, We have several comments, though,since i t seems that some confusion has resulted in treating the Bikini and Enewetak situations as similar. Dr, Robert Kiste, of course, i s well known t o us through his research in Bikinians we assume was drawn lar'gely from his background knowledge and itis an interesting proposal. .However, the "Bikini research matrix" should not be superimposed inits entirety as a model for a followup study of the adjustment problems of the people o f Enewetak, The people of Bikini were moved to Kili, an isolated island without a lagoon, and having other physical characteri s t i c s quite different from Bikini Atoll. The people of Enewetak Atoll have been living on Ujelang Atoll, which, although i t i s considerably smaller in extent than Enewetak Atoll, basical ly has simi 1ar a t o l l characteristics. For example, we doubt that the Ujelanqese have now lost their lagoon fishing techniques as stated i n your letter and given as an example ofa readjustment pattern they have t o relearn i n Enewetak Atoll. They have undergone many privations but also as a result of these privations and isolation, have had to rely more on certain traditional methods than many other Marshallese, Ujelang been dispersed throughout the Marshalls as i s the case for the Kilians, Actually, except f o r students and a group of workers, relat i v e l y few of the Ujelang people are dispersed in comparison with the Bikinians. Obviously, there will be many similarities of readjustmmt between the two groups but they will not all necessarily be the same. The preliminary proposal f o r a study on readjustment of Neither have as many residents of
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Incidentally, you might be interested ina recent film on the people of Ujelang and the early return t o Japtan. The f i l m will he shown on the on ABC Televlsion. This film, done i n collaborat-ion with the people o f Ujelang, t h e i r legal representatives, various agencies and the Trust Territory Government, originally had a segment on "traditional fishing methods used i n the Ujelang lagoon." b u t the short film should be of considerable interest. I t may not be i n the final version It shou li be kept i n mind also that very intensive Master Plans have been developed for the relocation of both groups. pated in the preparation amongst them such anthropologists as Dr. Jack t o some degree i n a consultant capacity, either formally or informally, on for these two groups. Special thought has been given to planning for the future 2 The two small groups of people, one group on Bikini Island, and one on Japtan Island in the Enewetak Atoll result from special circumstances. A small group of 50 people, members o f the Ujelang Planning Council and their families, are on Japtan i n order t o be consulted on every phase of the cleanup and rehabilitation program which will be carried out during the next four years. The small community on Bikini Island i s made up o f Kili farn'ilies, who on their own have gone back to Bikini prior t o the official resettlement. Your statement that "you heard that recently a few Bikinians ate fruit contain cesium, a highly radioactive substance and became extremely i llll must be based on someone's misinformation. Recent monitoring of the small group of people on Bikini island by the Brookhaven Laboratory Medical Team revealed that some o f the people had an increased body burden of cesium-137, This increased level resulted from eating breadfruit and pandanus, which the people have been t o l d notto eat, but which they could not resist. These levels though are '5below the levels that would be expected t o produce any detectable health effects. No one has become i l l , and the nicdical authorities assure us t h a t no one there i s dn any immediate danger. Nonetheless, even though the members of thfs small group have gone back on their own prior t o the completion of the Bikini Resettlement Project, careful watch is kept on them, and the Trust Territory authorities are taking necessary steps t o prevent any adverse health effect t o any of the group, Recently, there has been a great deal of newspaper publicity about Bikini and Enewetak. Much of i t has been of a sensational nature, often resulting from examples from one area, such as the Rongelap fallout being
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transferred t o the people of Enewetak, etc, experts are quoted out o f contextp resulting in a far from accurate description of current conditions You may be assured t h a t various agencies concerned and the High Conmissioner of the Trust Territory are watching the situation very Statements by scientific once rely yours, Office of Territorial Affairs