Marshallese Senator Speaks of Nuclear Legacy on Generations

Ebon Senator and Minister of Resources and Development John Silk delivered the following address to the Nitijela (parliament) on March 14:

Mr. Speaker,
This is a story of people forced into exile. And it is a story of a child born into exile. It is, Mr. Speaker, our story…

Mr. Speaker, March 7, 2006 marks the 60th anniversary of the removal of the people of Bikini from their ancestral home, and the beginning of 60 years of exile and counting. More than half a century ago, there were only 167 of them; today, they number over three thousand, and are scattered throughout the Marshall Islands and the United States. Today, as I speak, less than half of the original 167 are still alive. Some of them have been lucky enough to go back home for a temporary visit. But for all of them, time is fast running out.

Mr. Speaker, I have a granddaughter who is part Bikinian. She is a descendant of the original 167. She and her parents have never been to Bikini. And like her father, and her paternal grandparents, she is also in exile.

Mr. Speaker, my granddaughter is only 2 years old. She is a child of the 21st Century but yet an orphan of the 20th Century. For our customs and traditions dictate Mr. Speaker that every Marshallese born is identified with the land of his/her ancestors. She has no access to the lands of her father. On that day of her birth, a torch was passed and received. Innocent in birth, she represents a new generation of Bikinians. A generation forced to inherit the legacy of the nuclear testing, and to carry the torch of a nuclear exile.

Mr. Speaker, I am one of the few privileged Marshallese who have visited Bikini Atoll. And should I live to see my granddaughter grow up to be a mature young woman, then this is what I will tell her about the ancestral home of her father:

I will tell her Mr. Speaker, that the atoll of Bikini is indeed a very beautiful island;

I will also try to impress upon her Mr. Speaker, that all of Bikini Atoll is sacred. For I will tell her that every weto, every coral head, every tree and grove, “has been hollowed by some fond memory or some sad experience of her people;”

I will also tell her Mr. Speaker, that even a grain of sand, or an empty sea shell that washes ashore with the tide, brings with it, “ memories of past events connected with the fate of her people;”

I will also tell her Mr. Speaker, that some parts of the land of her ancestors have been vaporized and scattered into the wind as a result of 23 nuclear and thermo-nuclear explosions;

And yes, sadly Mr. Speaker, I will also tell her that even the ashes of her ancestors are forever in exile.

Mr. Speaker, my granddaughter represents a new generation of Bikinians who are forever cursed by the events of March 7, 1946. For them and their parents’ generation, their right to swim and sail the lagoon, and to walk the beaches, and the privilege to eat the fruits of the land, and to wash it down with the sweet juices of a coconut may never come to pass.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, regardless of the fact that history has not been kind to her and her ancestors, it is my solemn promise that my granddaughter shall not, nor will she ever, hold the present generation of the American people personally responsible for what their forefathers did or failed to do to her people. I submit that they, as much as we, had no control or say over the politics of the Cold War and the consequences of the nuclear arms race. However, this generation of Americans, born at the dawn of the Cold War, is the inheritors of the riches and of the most powerful country in the world. And if indeed ...“The United States has no closer relationship with any nation in the world than it has through the Compact of Free Association with the RMI”, as alluded to by US Ambassador Greta Morris, then pray, Mr. Speaker, that my plea on behalf of my granddaughter and her generation, to Ambassador Morris and her generation, may not fall on deaf ears. Thus I pray then Mr. Speaker that this generation of Americans will have the courage and the will to rise above the past and make a difference, rather than to allow itself to remain controlled by the past, and make excuses.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot pretend to know what the future holds for my granddaughter and the children of her generation. However, our generation (Marshallese and Americans alike), can and must do our part to bring closure to the legacy of the nuclear testing. I believe that together, we can sow the seeds of respect and mutual understanding between our two peoples, and bequeath to our grandchildren the promise of a better future, and leave with them, an investment for their children.

Mr. Speaker, my granddaughter’s plea today is really a plea on behalf of all Marshallese. We are indeed all Bikinians, and we are indeed all Marshallese. And so, Mr. Speaker, should we die before the work is done, let your records show my granddaughter what we said on this day, the 60th anniversary of her people’s exile. And should her turn come to depart the land of the living, I pray that she will have passed to the land of her ancestors in peace, knowing that all is well.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my granddaughter,

Kommol.

Provided by the Office of the President, Republic of the Marshall Islands