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Machine-read from the scan, so expect some errors. Lines that couldn’t be read are left out.
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Or. Josepi) E. Tri Inble Social Change Study Center Battelle Human Affairs Researcli Centers Post Office Box 5395 Your letter o-f July 5, 1977, on possible future research studies of readjustment of the peoples of Bikini and Enewetak after resettlement is being forwarded to the }{igh Conmlissioner of the Tl”USt “ferritory for his review and coITrnentsince any proposal of this nature would require his approvdl and COOpei”dtiO\l, as well ds that of the people concerned. Additionally, both groups have legal counsel of their own choosin! who represent them and who also need to be consulted on any activity involving their clients. We have several corrments,thou’gh~since it seems ‘chat some confusion has resulted in treating the Bikini and Enewetak situations as similar, Dr. Robert Kiste, of cours~, is well known to us through his research in the Fiarshallse The preliminary proposfil for a study on readjustment of Llikinians we assume was clr~wrllargely from his background knowledge ~I;cl it is an interesting proposa”l. }-lowcver,the “Bikini research matrix” should not be superiinposed in its en~.i)’ety as a model for a followup study of the ad.jldstnlcntpl”OblemS of isolatecl island ‘without a lagoon, and having otlhcr physical charactc)-- istics quite different from Bikini Atoll, T-he people of Encwctak Atoll haV@ been Iivillcjon Ujclang Atoll, which, although it is consi(ierab”ly smaller in extent t!lan Enewetak Atoll, basically has similar atoll characteristics. For example, wc doubt that the Ujelanqese have now lost thc?ir lagoon fislli~g techniques ~S stated in your letter and given as an example of a readjustment pattern they have to r?learn in Enewctak Atoll. l-hey have undergone ma!l,yprivations but also as a result of these privations and isolation, have had to rely more on certain traditional methods than many other Marshallese. (lcither have as mdny residents of Kilians. Actually, except for stucjents and a group of workers, relatively few of t}le lJje”l~ngpeople are dispcr5cd in comparison with the between the Iwo gro[tps l)ut they will not all necessarily bc the same. BEST COPY AVAILABLE
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Incidenta”lly5 yo~ might be interested in ? recerrt film oi) the people of on ABC Television, ‘rhi~ film, done in coll~boratior with the people of UjelangY their Iegcl; representatives, various dgenc’ies and the Trust Territory Government, originally had a segm?rrt on “tra(litional fishing methods used in the Ujelang lagoon.” It m~y not be in the fi17al version b~lt the short film should bc of considerable interest. It should be kept in mind also that very intensive Naster Plans have been cleveloped for the relocation of both groups, Social Scientists participated in the preparation amongst them such all’thropoloqists as Dr. Jack to some degree in a consultant capacity, either -formally or informally, on some aspects. Specia-l thought has been given to pianning for the future for these two groups. . The two small groups of people, one group on Bikini island, and one on Japtan Island in the Enewetak Atoll result from spccia.1 circumstances. A small group of 50 people, members of the Ujelang Planning Council and their families, are on Japtan in order to be consulted on every phase of the cleanup anti rehabilitation program which wiil be carried out during the next four years. The small community on Bikini Island is made up of Kili families, who on their own have gone back to Bikini prior to the official resettlement. Your statement that “you heard that recently a few Bikinians ate fruit contain cesium, a high”ly radioactive substance and became extremely ill” 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 of the people had an increased body burden of cesium-”137. This increased level resulted from eating bre~(ifruit and pandanus, wilich the people have been told not to eat, but which they could not resist. These levels though are us that no one there is .in any inlmec]iatcdanger. Nonclhcless, even though the memb~rs of this small group hr,ve gone back on their oi{n prior to the completion o-f the Bikini Resettlcrnent Project, careful watch is /- and the Trust Territory authorities are -taking necessary steps to prevent any iidverse health effect to any of the group, Recently, there has been a great deal of newspaper publicity about Bikini and Enewetak. MUCII of it has been of a sensational nature, often resulting from examples from one area, such as the Rongclap fallout being
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transferred to the people of Ene\veLak, etc. Statements by scientific experts are quoted out of context, resulting in a far from accurate description of current conditions, You may he assureci tl]at various agencies coi~cerned and the Ilicjh Commissioner of the Trust “I_e?:r-itory tire watching the situation very Office o-f Territorial Affairs