Lejmanjuri: Resisting Nuclear Testing
Source: WUTMI
Across the Pacific Islands, women have been formidable actors in building peace. Among the many roles women have played in building, keeping, and making peace, their engagement in addressing nuclear weapons proliferation endures as a significant effort. Unfortunately, their narratives have not only been sidelined in the history of global advocacy addressing nuclear weapons proliferation, but have also been overshadowed by the narratives of white women in the space. Desmond Narain Doulatram calls the women who are actively engaged in advocacy to address nuclear weapons “Lejmanjuri,” a word that means peacemaker, combining lej (fearless), man (the front, also used to refer to the eldest woman), and juri (to step on). In combination, the term Lejmanjuri refers to a woman who has the last word in the context of conflicts, as she calls for an end to hostility.
Historically, the idea of Lejmanjuri is connected to the history of the Majuro Atoll and how it split up into two halves. A peacemaker called LiWeman from the Rimwejoor Clan intervened to prevent Kaibuke Tobinwa, the Paramount Chieftain of the Raano Clan, from slaying his maternal relative, Jebrik Kapelle, a lesser chief. The Marshall Islands has three key matrilineal genealogical lines, of which LiWeman’s is one.
Nuclear Testing on the Marshall Islands
In 1914, the Marshall Island was captured by Japan, which built military bases on the atolls. In February 1944, after defeating Japan on the Kwajalein and Enewetak atolls, US Marine and Army Forces captured the Marshall Islands and converted them into US military bases. The combination of remoteness from the mainland and proximity to other US military bases led to the Marshall Islands being considered a site for nuclear weapons testing. In 1947, the Marshall Islands became a part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands created by the UN. It began to be administered by the US. In 1946, the Marshall Islands had a population of 52,000. Until 1958, the US conducted 67 nuclear tests on the islands, 23 of which were conducted on the Bikini Atoll and 44 near the Enewetak Atoll. The nuclear fallout engulfed all of the Marshall Islands. With the Cold War raging, the US’ nuclear weapons program continued unabashed.
In 1946, the US Navy asked 167 people living on Bikini Atoll to relocate so they could use the atoll “for the good of mankind,” claiming that the people there were a “chosen people” whose assistance could help the US in “perfecting atomic weapons” to “prevent future wars.” While the residents were promised the right to return, they were not given any choice but to leave. They were relocated to Rongerik Atoll, an island about 125 miles away from the Bikini Atoll. They returned to the Bikini Atoll, but had to evacuate as radiation levels were too high.
Although the Marshallese filed a complaint before the UN in 1946, it did nothing to hold the US accountable or to prevent it from conducting more nuclear tests. In 1948, the US conducted more tests. After some of these tests, the US launched medical tests on the Marshallese people without their consent, to evaluate the effects of radiation.
The Human cost of Nuclear Weapons Testing
The human cost of this nuclear testing was significant. Immediately after the testing, people fell ill - their skin began to itch and peel, their eyes burned and hurt, they had stomach aches, headaches, migraines, and experienced color changes in their nails. For several years after, women gave birth to "jellyfish babies," namely babies born without limbs or heads, with transparent skins, with features resembling those of marine life. Women also faced excess risks of cancer.
Subverting the System
Women were significant actors in holding the US and the international apparatus accountable to address and prevent nuclear testing on the Marshall Islands. A Marshallese woman from Majuro Atoll, Dorothy Tarjikit Laelan Kabua, led a petition in 1950 to stop nuclear testing in the islands, citing the peace and freedom of her people as inviolable. In 1953, she submitted a request before the UN Trusteeship Council, calling for an end to nuclear testing, but her plea was disregarded. Following more tests with devastating consequences in 1954, Dorothy Kabua filed another petition before the UN, with the statement: “If you take away their land, you also take away their spirit.” In this, she not only drew attention to the destruction of land, but also of the sentient bonds between the people and their land, the sea, and sky – all of which nourished life. This was a powerful fight that looked power in the eye and sought to subvert military control and colonialism. In the words of Desmond Narain Doulatram, “Indigenous peoples realistically fight the structural violence embedded in capitalism and imperialism through cultural resilience, adapting and indigenising foreign resources to live to fight another day, due to the technologies and systems of oppression at play.”
To date, many Marshallese women continue this fight against nuclear weapons and call for reparations for the damage caused. Seventy years and counting, the damage to life, health, and society continues. Women continue to remain at the forefront of these efforts. In the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women, Ariana Kilma, the chair of the Marshall National Nuclear Commission and a descendant of survivors of nuclear weapons testing, spoke out with a personal story, calling for accountability for nuclear testing. The Marshallese seek comprehensive evidence-based data that can effectively connect health outcomes directly with the Marshall Islands' nuclear legacy, as these data can inform their policy to secure resources to ensure the health and wellbeing of the people.
Fighting for justice, these women are not only looking to hold the US accountable for their historical wrongs, but also reiterating their rights over their lands and natural resources. Seeking to hold the US accountable is a direct effort to question systemic and structural violence and to resist militarism and colonialism and its lasting impacts.
References
Adams, L. (2019). The human cost of nuclear weapons is not only a “feminine” concern. https://thebulletin.org/2019/11/the-human-cost-of-nuclear-weapons-is-not-only-a-feminine-concern/
Doulatram, D. N. (2025). Lejmanjuri: Marshallese Women Leading the Fight for Nuclear Justice. https://www.apln.network/news/weekly-newsletters/lejmanjuri-marshallese-women-leading-the-fight-for-nuclear-justice
Maddison, B. K. (2023). The Ongoing Consequences of the U.S. Nuclear Testing Program on the Marshall Islands. https://www.boell.de/en/2023/10/09/ongoing-consequences-us-nuclear-testing-program-marshall-islands
Pacific Women Leaders want action on nuclear legacy and Gender disparities . https://islandsbusiness.com/news-break/pacific-women-leaders-want-action-on-nuclear-legacy-and-gender-disparities/
Pohle, C. (2024). ‘Ashes of Death’: The Marshall Islands Is Still Seeking Justice for US Nuclear Tests. https://thediplomat.com/2024/03/ashes-of-death-the-marshall-islands-is-still-seeking-justice-for-us-nuclear-tests/
Rika, N. (2024). Marshallese women call for nuclear justice. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/522997/marshallese-women-call-for-nuclear-justice
