Quotes & Stories from several sources from Marshallese who experienced the relocations or the ramnifications of the relocations

Interview with Lore Kessibuki on the hardships of living on Rongerik atoll (Niedenthal, 2001):

“While on Rongerik there were of course many problems for us to deal with as leaders. But the crisis in particular that stands out in my mind, even today after the many years have gone by, is the illness that many of us came down with as starvation became prolonged and excruciatingly painful.”

Interview with Kilon Bauno about living in tents on Kwajalein (Niedenthal, 2001):

”We were frustrated by the small amount of space in which we were permitted to move around. We had to depend on the US military for everything. We were afraid of this alien environment and almost from the day we got there we began thinking about other places to live.”

Kinoj Mawilong about living on Ebeye (Dibblin, 1988):

"At first it was a few families but since then many more. We're still living on the same small island but there are more of us - so it just gets more crowded."

Hermy Lang about living on Majuro vs. living on Rongelap, emphasizing the westernization of several Marshall Islands (Dibblin, 1988):

"They didn't have modern things on Rongelap. I prefer life on Majuro. I like going to the disco and the movies. On Rongelap I was a bit bored..."

When asked who she lived with Hermy Lang (Dibblin, 1988) explained the following which is typical among many Marshallese families:

She lives with "My husband and kids in my mother's house. My sister lives there, too. that's our custom, to all live together."

This quote demonstrates the attempt to actively hang on to traditions within the Marshallese culture despite her family having moved from Rongelap (her mother lived there) and the intermingling of western traditions.

Interview with Jukwa Jakeo on the reasons the Marshallese treasure land so highly (Niedenthal, 2001):

"To all Marshallese land is gold. Without land you would be viewed as a person of no consequence...But land here on Bikini is now poison land." "Why did they move us off our islands back then, telling us that they were poison, but we are able to return and visit here today? I know we have come here to try to figure out the old boundary lines that divided our pieces of land."