Paper short abstract:

The Rongelap is one of atolls belonging to the Marshal Islands that suffered from the US nuclear bomb tests. This presentation examines how the resettlement project of the Rongelap Atoll Local Government is leading to a new sense of community among the Rongelap people.

Paper long abstract:

The Rongelap is one of atolls belonging to the Marshal Islands that suffered from the US nuclear bomb tests. Through the analysis of the residents traditional land use, kinship, resource management and crisis management, this presentation examines how the resettlement project of the Rongelap Atoll Local Government is leading to a new sense of community among the Rongelap people.

Firstly, in order to elucidate the source of the people's attachment to their home, I will discuss the Rongelap people's traditional land use prior to the nuclear bomb test, in relation to their knowledge of natural environment, resource management, food distribution, and disaster prevention. Secondly, I will discuss the methods of decontamination and its scope, infrastructures and industrial reconstruction. Thirdly, I will discuss how the possibility of Rongelap atoll becoming their home once again.

　There were only 82 residents living in the Rongelap atolls before the nuclear testing, but even after 72 years, they have maintained the sense of a community. When you compare it to the communities that lost cohesiveness after Chernobyl's nuclear accident, this is a remarkable fact. This presentation explores the foundation of the Rongelap people's cohesiveness as a "community."