Bikini Atoll (pronounced or ; Marshall Language: ' Pikinni ', [p? i ????? in ?: ii?] , meaning coconut ) is a coral island in The Marshall Islands are comprised of 23 islands with 3.4 square miles (8.8 km 2 ) that surround the central lagoon covering an area of ​​229.4 square miles (594.1 km 2 ). It is located at the northern end of the Ralik Chain, about 87 kilometers (54 miles) northwest of Ailinginae Atoll and 850 kilometers (530 mi) northwest of Majuro. In the Bikini Atoll, Bikini, Eneu, Namu, and Enidrik islands cover more than 70% of the land area. Bikini and Eneu are the only islands on the atoll that become permanent residents. Bikini Island is the northeastern and largest island. Before World War II, the atoll was known by the German name, Eschscholtz Atoll.
Video Bikini Atoll
Etymology
The island's English name is derived from the German colonial name Bikini given to the atoll when it was part of New Guinea Germany. The German name is transliterated from the Marshall name for the island, Pikinni , ( [p? I? ? in ?: ii?] ), Pik "meaning" surface "and" Ni "meaning" coconut ", or the surface of coconut .
Maps Bikini Atoll
Culture
Prior to the advent of Western influence, the Bikini island-based lifestyle was based on cultivating native plants and eating shellfish and fish. They are ship builders and skilled navigators, sailing proa two hulls to and from the island around Bikini and other atolls in the Marshall Islands. Island residents are relatively isolated and have developed a community that is well integrated by close family associations and traditions. Each lagoon is led by a king and queen and a tribal chieftain and head of women who are the ruling caste.
The Japanese occupied the islands beginning in 1914. Some leaders retained Asian-style bungalows and kept servants, including secretaries, maids, and valets.
Islanders work on copra plantations under Japanese supervision, which take a portion of the sale. Heads can retain as much as $ 20,000 per year, and the rest is distributed to workers. The inhabitants of Marshall Island are proud to extend hospitality to each other, even distant relatives.
Clothing and clothing
Prior to the arrival of western missionaries, men wore skirts of original material about 25 to 30 inches (60 to 80 cm). Women traditionally wear two mats about one yard (meters) square each, made by weaving the pandan leaves and hibiscus together and tying the waist. Children are usually naked. Christian missionaries from O ? ahu who arrived at the end of the 19th century influenced the concept of modesty of the islanders. They introduce dresses for women of long, wide, loose dresses with long sleeves and high necks, which are meant to cover as much skin as possible. In Marshall, it's called wau ( [??????? uu? ] ), from the Hawaiian island name of Oahu.
In 1919, a visitor reported that the Marshall Islands woman "is a perfect model of prudery." No one would think to expose her ankle. " Women in the Marshall Islands are still very modest today. They believe that the thighs and shoulders of women should be covered. Women generally wear your cotton ? umu ? us or similar clothing that covers most of the body. Personal health is never talked about except in the family, and women are very personal about health issues related to women, even though they are willing to talk about their breasts.
The Marshall Island woman swimming in you ? umu ? we are made of quick dry polyester. In the capital Majuro, revealing cocktail dresses are inappropriate for islanders and guests. With the increasing influence of Western media, the younger generation may wear shorts, although older generations equate shorts with loose morals. T-shirts, jeans, skirts, and makeup are running through the media to the islands.
Wealth-based land
Bikini islanders continue to defend their land rights as the main measure of wealth.
For all Marshall people, the land is gold. If you are a landowner, you will be considered a very important figure in our society. Without the land you will be seen as a person without consequences... But landing here in Bikini now is a poisonous land.
Each family is part of the clan ( Bwij ), which has all the land. Clan owes allegiance to a head ( Iroij ). The head oversees the clan head ( Alap ), which is supported by labor ( Dri-jerbal ). Iroij controls land tenure, use and distribution of resources, and resolves disputes. Alap monitors land maintenance and daily activities. The Dri-jerbal works the land including agriculture, cleaning, and construction.
The Marshall Society is matrilineal and the land is passed down from generation to generation through the mother. Land ownership binds families together into clans. Grandparents, parents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, and cousins ​​form extended and close family groups. Meetings tend to be big events. One of the most important family events is the first birthday of a child ( kemem ), whose relatives and friends celebrate with parties and songs.
Payments made in the 20th century as a reparation for Bikini Atoll damage and the way of life of the islanders have increased their income compared to other Marshall Islanders. This has caused some Bikini islanders to become economically dependent on payments from trust funds. This dependence has eroded individual interest in traditional economic searches such as taro and copra production. This move also changed the traditional patterns of social alliances and political organizations. In Bikini, land rights and land ownership are major factors in organizational and social and political leadership. After the relocation and settlement in Kili, the dual system of land tenure evolved. The disbursement of trust funds is based in part on the ownership of the land in Bikini and based on the current land ownership in Kili.
Before the residents were relocated, they were led by a local head and under nominal control of Head Paramount of the Marshall Islands. After that, they interacted more with representatives of trust funds and the US government and began to seek support for them.
Language
Most Marshall people speak Marshall and at least English. Government agencies use Marshallese. One important word in Marshall is "yokwe" which is similar to Hawaiian "aloha" and means "hello", "goodbye" and "love".
Environment
Bikini Atoll is part of the Ralik Chain (for "sunset chain") in the Marshall Islands.
Nuclear test site
Between 1946 and 1958, 23 nuclear devices were detonated by the United States in seven test sites located on the reef, inside the atoll, in the air, or underwater. They have a combined fission of 42.2 Mt. The tests began with the Crossroads Operations series in July 1946. Prior to the nuclear test, the population initially accepted involuntary resettlement to Rongerik Atoll, believing that they would be able to return home in no time. Rongerik Atoll can not produce enough food and the islanders are starving. When they were unable to return home, they were transferred to Kwajalein Atoll for six months before choosing to stay on Kili Island, a small island one-sixth the size of their home island. Some may return to Bikini Island in 1970 until further testing reveals dangerous levels of strontium-90. The islanders have been the beneficiaries of some trust funds created by the United States government which in 2013 includes medical care and other expenses and pay about $ 550 per year for each individual.
Geography
There are 23 islands in Bikini Atoll; Bokonijien Island, Aerokojlol, and Namu were evaporated during a nuclear test. The islands consist of low limestone and sand. The average elevation is only about 7 feet (2.1 m) above the tidal level. The total lagoon area is 229.4 square miles (594.1 km 2 ). The island's main house is the northeastern and largest island, Bikini Island, with a total area of ​​586 hectares (237Ã, ha) and 4 kilometers (2.5Ã, mi).
Flora and fauna
The islanders cultivate native foods including coconut, pandan, papaya, banana, arrowroot, taro, lime, breadfruit, and pumpkin. Various kinds of trees and other plants are also present on the islands.
The islanders are skilled fishermen. They use fishing rods made of coconut husks and hooks from sharpened sea shells. They use more than 25 fishing methods. Islanders keep ducks, pigs, and chickens for food and keep dogs and cats as pets. The animal life in atoll is strongly influenced by atomic bomb testing. Existing land species include small lizards, hermit crabs, and coconut crabs. The islands are often visited by various species of birds.
To allow ships with larger drafts to enter the lagoon and to prepare for atomic bomb tests, the United States uses explosives to cut channels through reefs and blow up large coral heads in the lagoon. The undersea nuclear explosion carved a large hole at the base of the lagoon partially recharged by explosive debris. The explosion dispersed large amounts of irradiated and eroded coral and mud across the vast expanse of the surrounding lagoons and islands. In 2008, atolls have recovered nearly 65% ​​of the biodiversity that existed prior to radioactive contamination, but 28 species of corals appear to be extinct locally.
Climate
The islands are hot and humid. The temperature at Bikini Atoll is constant 80-85 Â ° F (27 to 29 Â ° C) throughout the year. The water temperature is also 80-85 Â ° F (27 to 29 Â ° C) throughout the year. The islands bordered the Pacific cyclone belt. The rainy season is from May to December while trade winds from January to May result in higher wave action.
Residents of resident and non-resident
When the United States asked the islanders to move in 1946, 19 islanders lived elsewhere. 167 residents consisting of about 40 families living on the atoll voluntarily moved to Rongerik Atoll, and then to the Kwajalein Atoll, and again in November 1948 to Kili Island, when the population numbered 184. They were then given public land in Ejit and some families initially moved there to plant copra. In 1970, about 160 Bikini islanders returned to live on the atoll after they were convinced that it was safe. They persisted for about 10 years until scientists discovered an 11-fold increase in cesium-137 body load and decided that the island was not safe at all. 178 residents were evacuated in September 1978 once again.
Since then a number of descendants have moved to Majuro (the capital of the Marshall Islands), other Marshall Islands, and the United States. In 1999, there were 2,600 total individuals; 1,000 islanders live in Kiji, 700 in Majuro, 275 in Ejit, 175 in the Marshall Islands or other atolls, and 450 in the United States. Of these, 81 were among those who abandoned atolls in 1946. In 2001, the population of scattered islands was 2,800.
In February 2013, there were 4880 residents of the Bikini islands: 1,250 islanders living in Kili, 2150 in Majuro, 280 in Ejit, 350 in the other Marshall Islands, and 850 in the United States and other countries. Of these, 31 live in Bikini in 1946. The population of atolls today is 4-6 nurses, including Edward Maddison. Maddison has lived on Bikini Island since 1985. His grandfather was one of the original inhabitants who moved in 1947. He also helped the US Department of Energy with soil monitoring, tested the cleaning method, mapped the wreck in the lagoon, and accompanied the visitors on the dive. He is also a divemaster of Bikini Atoll Divers.
Government
The inhabitants of the island of Bikini have historically been faithful to the king, or Irojj. After the Marshall Islands were separated from the United States in the Compact of Free Association in 1986, the constitution formed a bicameral parliament. The upper chamber is only a consultative body. It consists of traditional leaders (Ibiijaplap), known as the Irooj Council, which suggests a lower house on traditional cultural issues. In 2013, there are four Board members.
The lower assembly or Nitijela consists of 33 senators elected by 24 electoral districts. Universal suffrage is available to all citizens aged 18 and over. 24 electoral districts relate roughly to each Marshall Islands atoll. The lower house elects a president who, with Nitijela's consent, elects the cabinet from among the Nitijela members.
Local government
Four district centers in Majuro, Ebeye, Jaluit, and Wotje provide local government. Each district elects the council and mayor and may appoint local officials. District centers are funded by national governments and by local revenue. There are two political parties. Elections are held every four years. In 2011 Nishma Jamore was elected as the district mayor representing the Bikini people. Council members are selected from two neighborhoods on Ejit Island (three seats) and Kili Island (12 seats).
US. liaison
The local government works with U.S. paid Liaison Officers for Bikini Atoll Local Government, Jack Niedenthal, who acts as Bikini/Kili/Majuro Project Manager. He is also the Tourism Operations Manager and oversees the Bikini Atoll Diver.
History
Humans have been inhabiting Bikini Atoll for about 3,600 years. US Army Corps of Engineers archaeologist Charles F. Streck, Jr., found pieces of charcoal, fish bones, shells and other artifacts under 3 feet (1 meter) of sand. Carbon-dating puts the age of the artifacts between 1960-1650, B.C. Other discoveries in Bikini and the island of Eneu are dated between 1000 BC. and 1 BC, and others between 400-1,400 A.D.
The first sight recorded by Europeans was in September 1529 by the Spanish navigator ÃÆ' lvaro de Saavedra on his ship La Florida while trying to return to New Spain, and mapped as Buenos Jardines > (Good Gardens in Spanish). The Marshalls have no wealth to encourage exploitation or mapping. The English captain, Samuel Wallis, met with Rongerik and Rongelap atolls while sailing from Tahiti to Tinian. British naval captains, John Marshall and Thomas Gilbert, partially explored the Marshalls in 1788.
The first Westerner to see atoll in the mid-1820s was the Baltic captain and explorer of Germany, Otto von Kotzebue, sailing to serve the Russian Empire. He visited three times during 1816 and 1817. He named atol Eschscholtz Atoll after Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, naturalist aboard von Kotzebue. Baltic Germany uses atolls to produce copra oil from coconuts, although contact with indigenous people is rare. Climate atoll is drier than the more fertile southern Marshall Islands that produce more copra. Bikini islanders were recruited to develop copra trade during the German colonial period.
Christian missionaries arrive
The Protestant missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions arrived at Ebon, in southern Ralik Chain, in 1857. They first introduced the islanders to Christianity in 1857, which gradually replaced their original religion.
Spanish-German agreement of 1899
The unintentional blast in Havana Harbor from the USS Maine warship served as a fuse in the Spanish-American War in 1898. Consequently Spain lost many of its remaining colonies; Cuba became independent nominally while the United States took over Puerto Rico and the Spanish Pacific colonies in the Philippines and Guam. It left Spain with the rest of the Indies in the Pacific, about 6,000 small and sparsely populated islands. After losing the administrative center of Manila, the small islands became uncontrollable and, after all the loss of two Spanish fleets in 1898, were untenable.
The Spanish government sold the islands to Germany. The agreement was signed on February 12, 1899, by Spanish Prime Minister Francisco Silvela, and moved the Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, Palau, and other treasures to Germany. The islands were then placed under the control of New Guinea Germany.
Japanese Occupation
Bikini was captured along with the rest of the Marshall Islands by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1914 during World War I and mandated to the Japanese Empire by the League of Nations in 1920. Japan administered the island under the South Pacific Mandate, but most abandoned local affairs in the hands of the traditional local leaders until the start of World War II. At the beginning of the war, the Marshall Islands suddenly became a strategic outpost for Japan. They built and manned a watchtower on the island, a frontpost for the Japanese headquarters on the Kwajalein Atoll, to guard the American invasion of the islands.
World War II
The islands remained relatively unscathed by war until February 1944, when in bloody battles, American troops captured the Kwajalein Atoll. There are only five Japanese soldiers in Bikini and they commit suicide rather than allowing themselves to be arrested.
For the United States, the battle represents the next two steps in his journey to the island in Japan and a significant moral victory since this is the first time America has penetrated the "outer circle" of the Pacific region of Japan. For Japan, the battle represents the failure of coastline defense. The Japanese defense has been prepared in depth, and battles in Peleliu, Guam, and Marianas proved to be much more expensive for the US.
Residents relocated
After World War II, the United States was involved in the Cold War Nuclear weapons race with the Soviet Union to build larger and more destructive bombs.
The test of nuclear weapons in the Bikini Atoll program is a series of 23 nuclear devices that were detonated by the United States between 1946 and 1958 in seven test sites. The test guns were detonated on the reef itself, at sea, in the air and under water with a combined fission of 42.2 Mt. Testing began with the Crossroads Operation series in July 1946. Shortly after World War II ended, President Harry S. Truman directed Army and Navy officials to secure a site to test nuclear weapons on American warships. While the Army has seen the results of the ground explosion, the Navy wants to know the effects of nuclear weapons on ships. They wanted to determine whether the ship could be placed at sea and at the harbor in a way that would make nuclear weapons ineffective against ships.
The bikini is far from the usual sea and air traffic, making it an ideal location. In February 1946, Commodore Army Ben H. Wyatt, Marshall Islands military governor, requested 167 volunteer island inhabitants and temporarily moved so that the US government could begin testing atomic bombs for "the good of mankind and end all world wars." After the "confusion and sadness" among the Bikinia, their leader, King Juda, agreed to the US relocation request, announcing "We will believe that everything is in God's hands." Nine of eleven households, or alaps , chose Rongerik as their new home.
In February, the Navy Seabees helped them to dismantle their churches and community homes and prepare to relocate them to their new homes. On March 7, 1946, residents collected their personal belongings and salvaged the inventory. They were transported 125 miles (201 km) eastward on the US 1108 navy landing vessel to the uninhabited Rongerik Atoll, one-sixth of the Bikini Atoll. Nobody lives in Rongerik because it has inadequate water and food supplies and because of traditional beliefs that are deeply rooted that the island is haunted by the Demon Girls of Ujae . The Navy left them with a few weeks of food and water that soon proved inadequate.
Nuclear test program
The weapons test began with the Crossroads Operation series in July 1946. The test of radioactive contamination of Baker of all target ships was the first direct case, the concentration of radioactive explosions from nuclear explosions. Chemist Glenn T. Seaborg, chairman of the longest-serving Atomic Energy Commission, called Baker "the first nuclear disaster in the world." This was followed by a series of later tests that caused atoll islands contaminated with sufficient radioactivity, especially cesium-137, to contaminate food grown on the ground.
Areas of Strategic Trust
In 1947, the United States assured the United Nations to designate the Micronesian archipelago as the United Nations Strategic Trust Area. This is the only belief ever given by the US. The US Navy controlled Trust from headquarters in Guam until 1951, when the US Department of the Interior took control, managing the area from a base in Saipan. The directive states that the United States should "promote economic progress and self-sufficiency of the population, and for this purpose will... protect the population against the loss of their lands and resources..."
Despite the promise to "protect the population", from July 1946 to July 1947, Bikini Atoll residents were left alone in Rongerik Atoll and starved for lack of food. A US research team concluded at the end of 1947 that the islanders should be moved immediately. Releases from around the world strongly condemn the US Navy for ignoring people. Harold Ickes, a syndicated columnist, writes, "Indigenous people are really starving to death."
Move to Kili Island
In January 1948, Dr. Leonard Mason, an anthropologist from the University of Hawaii, visited Rongerik Atoll and was horrified at what he found. A Rongerik resident commented,
We'll get some fish, then the whole community should share this little amount... The fish are not fit to eat there. They are poisonous because of what they eat on the reef. We get sick from them, like when your arms and legs fall asleep and you can not feel anything. We wake up in the morning to go to our canoe and fall because we're so sick... Then we start asking these guys from America [to] bring us food... We're dying, but they do not listen to us.
Mason requested that food be taken to the island in Rongerik immediately along with the medics. The Navy then chose Ujelang Atoll for their temporary home and several young men from the Bikini Atoll population went ahead to begin building live accommodations. But the US Trust Authority changed their minds. They decided to use Enewetak Atoll as a second nuclear weapons testing site and move the atolls to Ujelang Atoll and to homes built for the Bikini Islands.
In March 1948, 184 Malnutrition Islands fishermen were transferred again to the Kwajalein Atoll. They were given tents on a patch of grass along the airport runway to live in. In June 1948, Bikini residents chose Kili Island as a long-term home. Very small island, 81 hectares (200 acres) is uninhabited and not ruled by a very important person, or king because of its size. It also has no coral reefs. In June, the Bikini community selected two dozen men to accompany eight Seabees to Kili to begin village development. In November 1948, the population, now totaling 184 people, moved to Kili Island, at 0.93 square kilometers (0.36 m²), one of the smallest islands on Marshall Island. They soon learn that they can no longer fish as they do in Bikini Atoll. Kili does not have a calm, protected lagoon. Life on Kili Island effectively destroys their culture based on fishing and island canoe trips to various islands around Bikini Atoll. Kili does not provide enough food for transplanted residents.
Resettlement failed
After their relocation to Kili, Bikini residents continue to suffer from inadequate food supplies. Kili is a small island with no lagoons, and most of the year is hit by 10 to 20 feet (3.0 to 6.1 meters) waves that make fishing and boat making difficult. Famine took place. In 1949, the trust government contributed a 40-foot (12 m) ship to transport copra between Kili and Jaluit Atoll, but the ship was heavily damaged while carrying copra and other fruit. US Trust Authority leaked food to Kili. Residents are forced to rely on USDA imported rice and canned goods and must buy food with their additional income.
During 1955 and 1956, ships sent by the US Confidence Region were constantly experiencing the problem of food dismantling because of the ferocious seas around the island, leading to a shortage of additional food. People once again suffered from hunger and deprivation increased in 1956. The US suggested that some Bikini Islanders move to Jaluit where food is more available. Some people moved.
The United States opens a satellite community for families on public land in Jaluit Atoll, 30 miles (48 km) north. Three families moved there to produce copra for sale and another family played there later. Their homes in both Kili and Jaluit were attacked by typhoons during 1957 and 1958, drowning their supply boats and destroying crops.
Return to Bikini Island
In June 1968, based on scientific advice that the level of radiation is sufficiently reduced, President Lyndon B. Johnson promised 540 Bikini Atoll family members living in Kili and other islands that they would be able to return to their homes. The Atomic Energy Commission cleared the radioactive debris from the island, and the US Trust Area was responsible for rebuilding the structure and replanting the plant at the atoll. But shortly thereafter, the Trust Territory ended a regular air flight between Kwajalein Atoll and Bikini Atoll which seriously hampered progress. The coconut tree was eventually replanted in 1972, but the AEC knew that coconut crabs had high levels of radioactivity and could not be eaten. The Bikini Council chose to delay returning to the island as a result.
Three large families, who eventually numbered about 100 people, moved back to their home island in 1972 regardless of the risks. But 10 years later, a team of French scientists performed additional tests on the island and its inhabitants. They found some wells too radioactive to use and determined that pandanus and breadfruit were also harmful to human consumption. Urine samples from islanders in Bikini Atoll show low levels of plutonium 239 and 240. As a result, the Bikini community filed a federal suit seeking a full scientific survey of Bikini and the northern Marshall Islands. Inter-departmental who fought responsibility for the cost of delaying work for three years. Then in May 1977 scientists discovered the extremely dangerous levels of strontium-90 in the well water beyond the maximum allowed by the US. In June, the Department of Energy stated that "All lifestyles involving Bikini Island exceed Federal [radiation] guidelines for doses of thirty years of population." Later that year scientists found an 11-fold increase in cesium-137 body burden on all people living on atolls. In May 1978 officials from the US Department of the Interior described a 75% increase in radioactive cesium being found as "extraordinary".
Women experience miscarriage, stillbirth, and genetic abnormalities in their children. The researchers learned that coral reefs behave differently than landland because they contain very little potassium. Plants and trees readily absorb potassium as part of a normal biological process, but because cesium is part of the same group on the periodic table, it is absorbed by plants in very similar chemical processes. Unidentified islanders consuming the contaminated coconut milk were found to have high concentrations of cesium in their bodies. The Trust Territory decided that the islanders should be evacuated from the atoll for the second time.
The islanders received $ 75 million in damages in 1986 as part of the New Free Association with the US and in 1988, another $ 90 million was used exclusively for radiological cleaning. In 1987, some Bikini parents went to the island of Eneu to rebuild the old property lines. Construction crews start building hotels in Bikini, docks, roads, and built-in generators, desalinators, and power grids. A full coral reef and sand foundation still exist on Eneu Island. The Bikini Atoll Divers was established to provide income. But in 1995, the council learned that the US Environmental Protection Agency's standards require a reduction in radiation levels of up to 15 millirems, much lower than the US Department of Energy's 100 millirems standard. This discovery significantly increases the potential cost of cleaning and stopping efforts.
Relocation to Kili Island
As a result of military use on the island and failed displacements, the islands are filled with abandoned concrete bunkers and tons of heavy equipment, vehicles, supplies, machinery and buildings. In September 1978, District Trust officials finally arrived to relocate the population. The radiological survey from northern Marshalls, forced by the 1975 lawsuit, began only after the occupants were moved and returned to Kili Island.
In 2013, a small 0.93 square kilometers (0.36 m²) of Kili Island supports about 600 residents living in cinderblock homes. They have to rely on contributions from the settlement trust fund to supplement what they produce locally. Each family receives 1-2 boxes of frozen chicken, 2-4 23 kilograms (51 lb) flour bags, and 2-4 bags of rice 2-3 times per year. The islanders operate several small shops from their homes to supply non-perishable food items such as salt, Tabasco, candy, and canned goods. A generator provides electricity.
Children attend elementary school in Kili until eighth grade. Towards the end of the eighth grade, students must pass a standardized test to obtain admission to attend public high school in Jaluit or Majuro.
Beginning in 2011, residents who resettle on Kili Island begin to experience periods of oceanic flooding when a wave of kings is exacerbated by the effects of global warming. The highest point of Kili Island is only 3 meters (9.8Ã, ft) above sea level. The ocean waves have covered some of the island at least five times from 2011 to 2015, contaminating wells on the island. The foundation that serves the island can not be used during and after the rain and flooding of the sea as it becomes very muddy. In August 2015, the Bikini Council passed a resolution requesting assistance from the US government to amend the provisions of the Bikini Trust Fund for Resettlement to be used to relocate the population once more, this time outside the Marshall Islands.
Trust funds and claims failed
In 1975, when the islanders who returned to Bikini Atoll knew that it was unsafe, they sued the United States for the first time, demanding radiological research on the northern islands.
In 1975, the United States regulated the Hawaiian Trust Fund for People of Bikini, totaling $ 3 million. When the islanders were removed from the island in 1978, the US added $ 3 million to the fund. The United States created a second trust fund, the Bikini Raising Trust Fund for People , containing $ 20 million in 1982. The US added another $ 90 million to the fund to pay for cleaning, reconstructing houses and facilities, and resettled islanders in Bikini and Eneu islands.
In 1983, the United States and the islanders of Marshall signed the Free Agreement of the Association, which granted the independence of the Marshall Islands. The Compact became effective in 1986 and subsequently modified by the Compact Amendment which became effective in 2004. It also established the Claims Nuclear Court, which was tasked with trying to compensate victims and families affected by the nuclear testing program. Section 177 of the compact is provided for repairs to Bikini islands and other northern atolls for damage. This includes $ 75 million to pay for 15 years. On March 5, 2001, the Nuclear Tribunal Court ruled against the United States for damage done to the islands and its inhabitants.
Payments started in 1987 with $ 2.4 million paid annually to the entire Bikini population, while the remaining $ 2.6 million was paid to the Claim Bikini Claims Claim. This belief is meant to exist forever and to give the islanders a 5% payment of trust every year.
The United States provides $ 150 million in compensation for damages caused by the nuclear testing program and their removal from their home island.
In 2001, the Nuclear Claims Tribunal gave the islanders a total of $ 563,315,500 after deducting the previous award. However, the US Congress failed to fund the settlement. The only way is for Bikinis to petition the US Congress to finance payments and fulfill this award. The United States Supreme Court rejected the islanders' appeal from a US Court of Appeals decision that refused to force the government to fund their claims. In 2001, out of 167 native residents were relocated, 70 were alive, and the entire population had grown to 2,800. Most of the islanders and their descendants live in Kili, in Majuro, and in the United States.
The Hawaiian Trust Fund for Bikinis has been liquidated as required by law in December 2006. The value of the Resettlement Trust Fund for Bikinis as of 31 March 2013 is approximately $ 82 million and Claim Bikini Claims are worth about $ 60 million. Each member of the trust receives about $ 550 per year, making them relatively wealthy (compared to other Marshall Islanders). In 2012, trust earns about USD $ 6 to $ 8 million per year in investment income, and the trust issues about USD $ 15,000 per family per year in benefits.
Representatives for Bikinis expect this process to take years and do not know whether the United States will respect the terms of the Compassion Free Association.
World Heritage Site
Because the site has direct evidence of a nuclear test conducted there in the midst of a paradoxical tropical location, UNESCO determined that the atoll symbolized the dawn of the nuclear era and named it a World Heritage Site on August 3, 2010.
Bikini Atoll has preserved direct evidence... conveying forces... a nuclear test, ie sinking ships being sent to the lagoon base by testing in 1946 and the giant Bravo crater. Equivalent to 7,000 times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb, the tests have major consequences on the geology and natural environment of Bikini Atoll and on the health of those exposed to radiation. Through its history, the atoll symbolizes the dawn of the nuclear age, despite its paradoxical image of peace and earthly paradise.
Access visitors
Bikini Atoll is open to visitors on board completely independent if they get prior approval. They also have to pay divers and two representatives of local government councils to accompany them. Local representatives are required to verify that visitors do not remove the artifacts from the wreck in the lagoon.
Bicini Lagoon diving
In June 1996, the Bikini Council allowed diving operations as a means to generate income for residents of the current Bikini islands and in the end they returned. The Bikini Council hired an Edward Maddison dive guide who has lived in Bikini Island since 1985 and Fabio Amaral, a Brazilian citizen at the time, as head of divemaster and resort manager. The tour is limited to fewer than a dozen experienced diver's a week, costing more than US $ 5,000, and includes a detailed history of the nuclear test. The operation generated over $ 500,000 during the season from May to October during 2001.
On-shore facilities
To accommodate dive and angler programs, the Bikini Board builds new air-conditioned rooms with bathrooms and private showers. They include a veranda overlooking the lagoon. There is a dining facility that serves American food. The head chef Mios Maddison also prepares a Marshallese dish that serves fresh seafood. Only 12 visitors are hosted at one time. Due to lingering contamination, all fruits and vegetables used for diving Bikini Atoll and sport fishing operations are imported. In September 2007, the last Marshall Islands commuter plane stopped operating when spare parts could not be found and the aircraft no longer feasible to fly. Half a dozen divers and a stranded journalist for a week on Bikini Island. Bikini Island residents suspended land-based dive operations from August 2008.
Live in the dive program
In October 2010, a self-contained, self-contained ship managed diving operations. In 2011, the local government licensed live-aboard operators as the only provider of diving expeditions to the nuclear ghost fleet at Bikini Atoll. Diving season runs from May to October. In 2013, a 12-day dive trip costs US $ 5,100 per person. Visitors can still land on the island for a short stay.
Since the lagoon remains undisturbed for a long time, it contains more marine life than usual, including sharks, which increases the interest of divers in the area. Visibility of more than 100 feet (30 m). This lagoon is very popular among divers and is regarded as one of the 10 best dive sites in the world. In 2016, diving programs are managed by Indie Traders.
Submarine visitors receive a history lesson along with diving experiences, including films and a complete description of each ship, their respective history, and touring the island and atoll. Divers can visit the USS Saratoga.
In 2016, the Marshall Air Islands operate a Bombardier Dash 8 Q100 and a Dornier Do 228 19 seat. Only fully independent vessels that make previous arrangements can now visit atolls.
Sportfishing
Bikini Island Authority opens a fishing sport to visitors along with diving. Although atomic explosions obliterate the three islands and contaminate most atolls, after 50 years most coral reefs have recovered. Coral reefs attract reef fish and its predators: 30 pounds (14 kg) dogtooth tuna, 20 pounds (9.1 kg) barracuda, and bluefin trevally at 50 pounds (23 kg). Given the long-term absence of humans, Laguna Bikini offers sportsmen one of the purest fishing environments in the world.
Shipwrecks
Shipwrecks in the lagoon include the following:
- USSÃ, Saratoga Ã, (CV-3) - aircraft carrier
- USSÃ, Arkansas Ã, (BB-33) - battleship
- USS Gilliam (APA-57) - Attack transport
- USSÃ, Carlisle (APA-69) - Attack transport
- USSÃ, Lamson Ã, (DD-367) - destroyer
- USSÃ, Anderson Ã, (DD-411) - destroyer
- USSÃ, Apogon (SS-308) - submarine
- USSÃ, Pilotfish (SS-386) - submarine
- Japanese warship Nagato - warship
- Japanese explorers Sakawa - light explorers
Current habitable status
In 1998 an IAEA advisory group, formed in response to a request by the Marshall Islands Government for an independent international review of radiological conditions in Bikini Atoll, recommended that Bikini Island should not be permanently resettled under current radiological conditions.
The potential for making livable islands has increased considerably since then. A 2012 assessment from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that cesium-137 levels dropped much faster than people thought. Terry Hamilton, scientific director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Dose Assessment and Radioecology Program, reports that "Conditions have really changed in Bikini They are increasing at an accelerated rate By using the combined option to remove soil and add potassium we can get very close by the standards of 15 millirem.That's been true for the last 10 years, so now is the time when Bikinians, if they want, can come back. "
By 2013, about 4,880 Bikinis live in Kili and other Marshall Islands, and some have emigrated to the United States. Bikini Island is currently visited by several scientists and is inhabited by 4-6 nurses. The inhabitants of the archipelago want the topsoil removed, but the money is not there for cleaning. The opportunity for some Bikini islanders to potentially move back to their original island creates a dilemma. While the island is inhabited in the near future, almost all the islanders living today never lived there. Most of the younger generation have never visited. In 2013, unemployment in the Marshall Islands reaches about 40 percent. The population grew at a growth rate of four percent, so more and more are taking advantage of the terms in the Compact of Free Association of the Marshall Islands that enable them to find employment in the United States.
After the island's inhabitants were relocated in 1946, while Bikini islanders were starving at Rongerik Atoll, Lore Kessibuki wrote songs for the island:
- No longer can I stay, that's right
- No longer can I live in peace and harmony
- No longer can I rest on my mat and sleeping pillow
- Because of my island and the life I've known there
- The thought is amazing
- Makes me helpless and hopeless.
In popular culture
Movies
Operation Bikini 1969 A World War II drama about a team sent to destroy submerged submarines to protect radar technology.
Television show
In the NBC TV series Voyagers! (1982-1983), Phineas Bogg and Jeffrey Jones traveled through time to ensure history goes right. In the episode "The Travels of Marco... and Friends" (season 1, episode 9, original airdate December 3, 1982), Phineas and Jeffrey met a retired Voyager named Isaac "Wildman" Wolfstein, who requested that they take him to the Pacific island The beautiful south where he can live his days. They dropped him "somewhere" in the Marshall Islands on July 1, 1946. When Phineas returned to the island at the end of the episode, he discovered that he had taken Isaac to Bikini Atoll just before the Crossroad/Able Atomic Operations trials. Phineas and Isaac re-enter the flow of time, escaping from a nuclear explosion with a few seconds to spare.
The Nickelodeon Design swimsuit
On July 5, 1946, four days after the first nuclear device (dubbed Able ) was detonated over the Bikini Atoll during Operation Crossroads, Louis RÃÆ'Â © erard introduced a new swimsuit design called bikini after the atoll. RÃÆ'Ã… © ard is a French mechanical engineer with the training and manager of his mother's clothing store in Paris. He introduced a new garment to the media and public on July 5, 1946 at Piscine Molitor, a public swimming pool in Paris.
He hired Micheline Bernardini, an 18-year-old stripper from the Casino de Paris, to demonstrate his design. It features a 30-inch rear g-string (200 cm 2 ) of cloth with newspaper-type printing and is a direct sensation. Bernardini received 50,000 fan letters, many of them from men. RÃÆ'Â ard hopes that the style of revealing her swimsuits will create a similar "commercial and cultural explosive reaction" in intensity to social reactions to the 1946 nuclear explosion at Bikini Atoll. Fashion writer Diana Vreeland described the bikini as "atomic mode bomb".
Ironically, the bikini design violates the modern custom of Marshall Islanders courtesy for exposing the thighs and shoulders of women. However, prior to contact with western missionaries, Marshall Island women are traditionally topless and still not sexually objectify female breasts as is common in most Western societies that cover the bikini not . Marshall Island Women swim in muumuus made of quick dry polyester. Wearing bikinis in the Marshall Islands is mainly limited to limited access to beaches and swimming pools such as in private resorts or at US government facilities at Kwajalein Atoll on the Ronald Reagan Missile Ballistic Test Site.
Gallery
See also
- Fortress Operation
- Operation Ivy
- Bikini Radio
References
Note
Bibliography
- Niedenthal, Jack,
, Bravo Publishers, (November 2002), ISBNÃ, 982-9050-02-5 - Wiesgall, Jonathan M, Junction Operation: Atomic Test in Bikini Atoll , Naval Institute Press (April 21, 1994), ISBNÃ, 1-55750-919-0
External links
- Bikini (atoll) on EncyclopÃÆ'Â|dia Britannica
- Brief History of People in Bikini Atoll
- What about Radiation in Bikini Atoll?
- Department of Energy Marshall Islands Program: Chronology of nuclear testing, island resettlement and radiation test results
- Annotated Bibliography for Bikini Atoll from Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- The Island Wants the Truth About Bikini Nuclear Test
- the Marshall Islands site
- Sign in at Oceandots.com in the Wayback Machine (archived December 23, 2010)
- Everything the Marshall Islands
- Lauren R. Donaldson Collection, serves as a radiation monitor for Operation Crossroads; codename for the first atomic bomb test in Bikini Atoll. - Washington University Digital Collection
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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