HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE 



21 



Fig. 4 The Enewetak children represent the promise for the future. UJilang Atoll, Nov. 17, 1976. [Photo by Janet Lamberson.] 



them to abandon their homeland, the Enewetakese 

 correctly concluded that they had no real alternative, so 

 they offered no resistance (Kiste, 1977). 



THE UJILANG RESETTLEMENT 



Ujilang is 124 miles southwest of Enewetak. It had 

 been inhabited by a Marshallese population, but in the late 

 1800s a typhoon decimated the atoll and killed all but a 

 handful of its people, most of whom were moved to the 

 southern Marshalls. Ujilang was then developed as a com- 

 mercial copra plantation during the German eind Japanese 

 eras, and as noted, some of the p>eople of Enewetak Atoll 

 had experiences there as laborers during German times. 

 Ujilang was abandoned during World War II, and thus it 

 was available to receive a population. 



American authorities initially thought of Ujilang as a 

 site for the relocation of the Bikinians. They were the first 

 to be moved to make way for the nuclear tests. Their first 

 relocation occurred in March 1946 when they were moved 

 to nearby Rongerik Atoll. It had never had a permanent 

 population of any size, and the reason soon beceime 



apparent. Rongerik's resources, greatly overestimated by 

 American planners, were inadequate to support the com- 

 munity. After considerable delay and many complications, 

 the Americans decided to move the Bikinians to Ujileing, 

 and in November 1947, an advance party of Bikini men 

 and navy Sea bees arrived to construct a village. In less 

 than 2 weeks, however, officieils in Washington, D. C. 

 announced plans to use Eneweteik as a second test site, 

 necessitating a relocation of its inhabitants. They were 

 moved to Ujilang on Dec. 21. The Bikinians were eventu- 

 ally resettled on small Kili Islemd in the southern Meu'sheills 

 where they have never made a satisfactory adjustment 

 (Kiste, 1974). 



Ujilang has only one sizeable island, 2tnd both the 

 riEnewetak and riEnjebi communities were resettled there. 

 The islemd was evenly divided by an Americiin naval offi- 

 cer who ckllotted one half to each community. A rather 

 compact village was constructed in the middle of the 

 island, with the Enewetak and Enjebi people residing on 

 their respective sides of the dividing line. No longer 

 separated by Enewetak 's large lagoon emd with the more 

 compact settlement pattern, the two groups became a sin- 

 gle community while retaining their dual political structure. 



