Preliminary Anthropologist's Report - Bikini Atoll Survey 1967 (Appendix I)

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Brief Historical Background The Bikini people had lived on their atoll for many generation. They and their fellow Marshallese came under the domination of foreigners less than one hundred years ago. The (lerman regime was succeeded by that of the Japanese at the onset of World War 1. The Japanese rule was terminated by the American forces during World War II. Contact with the Outside World The people of Biklnl Atoll were not the isolated twentieth century “Stone Age primitives” as described by sensationalist news reporters and other Journalists. They were and are, however, less sophisticated than other more acculturated Marshallese, but they had been In contact with the rest of the Mar8hall Islanda, and had been exposed to at least some of the aspects of Western culture. Every two months a Japanese schooner visited Bikini to purchase copra and to sell food, clothing, and ot;her goods. Every six months a Japanese official made a vlslt to the atoll. Some of the Blklni people visited other atolls, married out, and attended school elsewhere. Other Marshallese visited BEST COPY AVAILABLE

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The small Bikini community hsd developed a close in-group feellng during the years of relative isolation prior tc the coining of the white man and found satisfaction and security in their closely knit personal relatlon8hlps and communal life, World War II and the Bikini People The Bikini people were directly affected by World War 11 In that three of their young men who had been attending the Japanese government school on Jalult Atoll were drafted as laborer~ and sent to Enewetak Atoll. They were later killed there In the American bombing and bombardment of that huge and important Japaneae military base. There were only six Japanese ooldiers at Bikini, however; vd3521e3s station operators also manned the ammunition stores. These men were all killed by American bombing and shelling. Little damage was done to Bikini, however, and the Bikini people were much better off tha~l !4arshallese In areas such as Jaluit, Enewetak and Kwajalein, where heavy fl.~hting occurred. The Bikini people suffered as did the other Marshallese, from the cut-off of supply lines from Japan with the resultant cessation of imports of’ neces~ary consumer goods and exportation of copra, Communications were restored and wartime hardshipo were alleviated when the American arm~d forces captured the Marshall Island8 early In 194/1. The serious hardships of the Bikini people were yet to come however. ‘

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Evacuation of Bikini 2 Early in 1946 it was decided that Bikini Atoll was tne most suitable location for the testing of atomic weapona. The Bikini. people were aaked to leave and, as mi~ht have been expected of a people of their historical. cor]ditioni.ng to obedience, especially after more than a quarter of a century of autocratic Japanese rule, agreed to leave their ance~tral home. The poa6ibllities of resettlement in the Fiarshalls were very limited because land is scarce (only about 74 square milee.) and very little of It Is available for settlement, The Marshallese jealously guard their land rights and will not willingly part with th,em. The 166 Blkinians were offered the choice of moving to either Ujae, Lae, or Rongeri!{, all atolls in the northwestern Mar8halls. Ujae and Lae were already regularly inhabited, but Rongerik was only exploited by the people of neighboring Rongelap, who had land rights on the atoll. These people visited Rongerlk to make copra, to fish, and to gather other foods. For this reason, presumably, as well as the fact that it was the closest to Bikini, the Bi!cinl people opted to go to Rongerik rather than A village was built on Rongerlk by Navy Seabees ar~d a group of Bikini men, and all of the Blklni people were moved to thab

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atoll on March’ 6, 1946. Ror.gerik has a dry land area of 0.65 6quare miles, sczttered over appro.xi.mately 17 islands. It has a lagoon area of 55.38 square miles-. This is much smaller than the 2.s2-square-mile land area and 229.40-square-rnile lagoon area of Bikini, with its 36 islands The attempt to settle at Ron[;erik was a failure, allegedly due to the insufficient natural re30urces. A Board of Investigation convened by the Navy on June 2, 1947, recommended that the displaced Bikinians be moved again. The Blklnlans through their leader “King” Juda, as he was erroneously christened by romantically minded newsmen, accompanied by three leaders (slab) of Bikini, inspected Rongerlk, Kill, Ujllang, Wotto and UJae to try to find a suitable place in which to relocate their p~ople. The Bikini people were lrrteref3ted in getting back LO their ancestral home as rapidly 8s possible and had alleged].y regarcled tnc past and future resettlements as only temporary. The period from Jun~ 2, 1947, to September 1, 19b7, was spent in inspecting these possible resettlement areas. On August 26, 1947 the council 01’ the ex--lliklni people on Rongerik sent tt~e followl.n~ letter to the American authoritlcs: Gentlemen: We the council have held a meeting . to some other places to inspect :.i)d have considered them. In movlnu we fir,d it quite a problem. The place we all agreed to stay on

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It was obvious that the Bikini leaders refused to accept the fact that they would not be allowed to return to Biklnl some day and for that reason preferred to suffer the hardships of neighboring Rongerik to a new move, in hope of being able to return to their ancestral home. ., It was decided however, that the best Interests of the Bikini people would be 8erved by transferring them to Ujilang Atoll , the westernmost of the MarshalIs. Ujilang belonged to the government, as heir to the Imperial Japanese government which had seized It from ita former German owners, who had “purchaaed” the tiny atoll from it8 former chief. A group of Bikini men and Navy Seabees arrived at U~ilang In late November to prepare a village for another resettlement attempt. Shortly after their arrival, an announcement waa made that the atoll of Enewetak, west of Bikini, and north of Ujl18ng, would be commandeered as another testing ground for atomic weapons. It wa8 then decided that the Enewetak inhabltant~ would be resettled on Ujllang. This left the ex-131klni people right where they were SIX months earner, but undoubtedly with increased feellngs of insecurity, frustration and general bewilderment. In January of 1948 Anthropologist Leonard Mason of the University of Hawaii, made a f’leld investigation of the problem at the requeot of the Navy. He found among other things thaC the relocated Bikinians were suffering serious hardshipa on

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were not getting enough to eat. He recommended that the Bikini people be moved to another location. Sojourn on Kwajalefn Upon the basi8 of Mason’s investigation and recommendation, the ex-Biklnians were again moved to a temporary locatlon on KwaJalein Island In the middle In March, 1948. Here, In a “tent Cltyti In the midst of Marshallese workers from far and wide, as well as thoueands of American members of the armed forces, the wandering Bikinlans awaited the next move. Once again a tour of inspection was made of available and po~sible locationa for resettlement , The posaibllltles finally narrowed down to Wotto Atoll, which was populated, and the single Island of Kill in the southern Marahalls. Klli was not populated and was U.S. The majority of the Blklnl people allegedly voted for Kill as agalngt Wotto, and in early November of 1948 the 184 B1.kinlans were transferred to Kill Island. z The new home of the Bikini people is a low ~lngle coral island about one and one half miles long, on an axl~ of 063° true, and is approximately three-fourths of a mile wide at Its widest point. The extent of the area la only 0.36 square miles, with no lagoon area and a small fringing reef. This compares 2 The Increase in population was caused by the addition of Biklnlans vmo nad married out)’ plus their spouses and

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very unfavorably~ of course, with the 2,32 r3quare miles Of dry land area, the 22~’.4o square miles ofle.goon area, and the large reef areas of Eikini Atoll. . Ki.li was purchased by German traders from the local chief’s and was operated as a commercial copra plantation by the Germans. The title to the island was transferred to the Japanese Government when the Japanese seized the Marshalls in 1914. It waa lea8ed to a Japanese company and operated as a oopra plantation until 1940. There were allegedly not more than about thirty Marshallese laborers working on the plantation at a time. Food wa~ brought in from Jaluit Atoll, about thirty miles to the southeast. Chickens and swine were raised to supplement the imported foodstuffs, A small number of’ breacifrulttreeB were planted and ueed, but the island ua8 primarily a copra plantation. Kill passed into the hands of the United States (government following World War 11, and the few remaining plantation workers were evacuated. Klli., lyinE as it does in the southern Marshall, cn~oys a heavy rainfall and has rich and deep soil, for the Marshalls. Most of the island, 198.04 acres have been planted to coconut palms (191.17 acres). A taro patch area occupies the center of the island to the extent of 4.25 acr-es...There are a number of’ bearing breadfruit trees, 3 some edible pandanug, a3 well as . banana, papaya and pumpkin planting8. 3 A ~eriau~ breudrrj.ut bl::;ht has destroyed many of the trees on Kill and remains uncnecke(l. A methou of conLrolllng this menace has not yet been found.

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Unfortunately, the lack of’ a lagoon or protected ~nchorage presents very serious problems to the inhabitants of Klli. The unfavorable axis of the island (063-240”) in relation to the prevailing northeast trade winds and the ~helving ccxnparatlvely narrow reef, are factors which cause the ialana to be isolated during many months of the year. From December through Harch the equatorial front lies to the south, and northea~terly winds prevail. Landing conditions are therefore generally unfavorable. From November into late March It Is possible to get a boat aahore only during a few very brief periods, because of the large breakers which crash against the rocky beacheB. Copra cannot be loaded and trade good~ cannot be off-loaded. The8e unfavorable 8urf conditions naturally prevent utilization of the important marine resources, which at best are infinitely poorer than those of the atoll of Bikini. The Resettlement on Kill The ex-Blkl.nl people apparently experienced difficulty in adjusting to Kili. from almost the very beginning. This was due in part to the different ecological condl.tlons. The change -from an atoll exlstance where marine resources were abundant and the lagoon and land areas stretched away ae far as the eye could see, to a small, l~olated Island without a lagoon, and without the rich marine re~ources which are found in an atoll environment, was drastic. This psychological attitude toward Kill was and hag continued to be a vital Impcptance in the lack of adjustment. The refusal to accept the move to Kill as final

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and desirable has prevented a wholehearted attempt to ad~ust to the island. The writer was closely involved with the former Bikini people durinE his years of’ service as District Anthropologist in the MQrshal.1 Island. He lived on Kill for several prolonged periods and was able to see what life on Kili Is like, In his opinion the complaints of the ex-Bikir]i people on Ki.li are valid. Conditions are certainly unfavorable. There are pe$ids when the island is Isolated and the people are very short of food, There is no doubt that Klli could support a ~maller population, if the island could be supplied adequately frcm the outside world. However, the only solution acceptable to the former Biklnlans, as a whole, Is to return them to The Administration of the Trust Territory made various efforts to assist the relocated Bikinlans t.o make a successful adjustment to Kill_. A fif’ty-foot schooner was purchased and turned over to the group. This was to be used to Bupply the island In addition to the regular field trip stops. The craft was soon lost In the surf due to mishandling by :he irlexperlenced crew. A ~econd craf’t was provided several yearo later. This was a great help but was lost In a typhoon which swept through the southern Nlarohalls in December of 195’7. Government land was provided for the use of’ the Kill people on the rlefghboril;g atoll of Jaluit, used as a village area. Several acres on Jabwor I~land were Houses, a Storehouse, and other

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structures were erected by the government. These were to be used by the members of the Kill. boat crew and others while the craft was anchored off Jabwor. Three smaller islands were - provided from which the Kill residents of Jabwor could obtain coconuts, pandanus and other local foods. The typhoon wiped out the village on Jabwof and the few Kilt people there left the atoll for good. A community development pro~ect waa set up to asBlat the Kill people to develop and exploit the resources of the island to the maximum. Handicraft production was stimulated. The production of the now famou~ Klli Bags ha~ continued but other items are no longer made for export. Attemptg were made to exploit the large taro patch area aa a 8ource of food, and possibly cash income. Two taro lifts were made to Kusaie Island In the Ponape District. Large quantities of high quality taro plants were obtained and planted on Klli . It Boon became obvious that the former Blkinians, to whom taro waa a very minor and unimportant item, were not intere~ted In cultivating thla useful plant. It should be added that taro cultivation la becoming Increasingly of less importance throughout the l+far~halls, even in those areas In the southern Marshall where taro once flourished. The taro patch itself was ruined during the typhoon of December 1957. Wave action flooded the area with salt water, which killed the few plants which were left and affected the freshwater lens.

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The Community Development Projeot on K1.li was terminated some time after the typhoon. It was not continued by the AttemptB by the Administration to obtain another location for the displaced Blki.nians have been abortive. The economic difficulties of the former Bikini people were alleviated when they were paid the sum of $325,000 W the Government In exchan&e for the use of Bikini Atoll. The interest from the trust fund, into which $300,000 was placed fa a guaranteed income which hslpa the local economy. This wI1l become less ~ignl.flcant as, the population Increases, as it has since the fund wa~ established In 1956. Present Attitudes Toward Kili The attitudes of Magistrate Juda, the leader of the Kill community, and of other leading people of the community with whom I talked on Majuro, Kwajaleln and Eoeye in connection with the Bikini Atoll Survey, seemed to be unchanged. They still say that Klli. Is no good, it is like a prison, there is not enough food there, and the like. The same ob~ecti.ons which were made over a decade ago are still made. …