Cargo Cult

vladimirk800i (46)in #life • 7 years ago (edited)

On February 15th in Vanuatu they celebrate the Day of John Frum, and it's time to tell a couple of funny stories about the locals. What is a “Cargo cult”? Why do they worship planes, make models of airplanes out of manure and straw?
The Cargo cult is a whole group of religious movements on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. In the these cults, they believe that Western goods were created by the spirits of their ancestors and are meant for the local people. Islanders conduct rituals similar to those of white people, so that amount of these items become bigger.

Residents of the Pacific islands, who first encountered white people in the mid-20th century, were struck by the incredible abundance and luxury that accompanied them. They saw how the US military ate a delicious stew, slept in beautiful houses and wore comfortable clothes. Initially, savages decided that these were their ancestors, but soon they changed their minds. They saw that the soldiers got all the things from the air, and therefore directly from the Ancestors. This led to the idea that all the goods are intended for them, the islanders, and whites just intercept and deprive them on halfway.
Members of the cult usually do not understand the importance of production or commerce, their perceptions of Western society, its religion and economy can be quite naive. Therefore, the islanders believe that the actions of whites - marching, riding jeeps, listening to radio signals - is a magical action by which you can get magical goods from your ancestors from heaven.
In the most famous cargo cults the build exact copies of runways, airports and radio towers from coconut palms and straw. Members of the cult erect them, believing that these buildings will attract transport planes (which are considered envoys of the spirits) filled with cargo. Believers regularly conduct drill exercises and some sort of military marches, using branches instead of rifles and drawing on the body orders, buttons and "USA" inscriptions.

Cargo cults were common during and after World War II. A huge amount of cargo was dispatched to the islands during the Pacific campaign against the Japanese Empire, which brought about radical changes in the life of the islanders. Industrial clothes, canned goods, tents, weapons and other useful things appeared in huge quantities on the islands in order to provide the army. A bit of this abundance was shared with local people.
At the end of the war, air bases were abandoned, and cargo no longer arrived. The islanders decided that either the ancestors had left them, or the greedy whites cheat them and take everything for themselves.
During the Vietnam War, a part of the Hmong people likewise believed in the soon advent of Jesus Christ. According to them, he should come dressed in camouflage while driving a military jeep to pick them up on it and take to the promised land. Or here is another example from another part of the world: some Amazon Indians carved models of cassette audio players out of wood, with which they tried to establish a conversation with spirits. And most importantly: they urged each other that they really hear the ancestors' voices from them.
The cult cannot exist without a mystical prophet and this role took a figure of all-merciful John Frum. Residents of Vanuatu, faced with American soldiers, wanted to know their names, but for the local people they were simply unpronounceable gibberish, so they all merged into one image of a certain "John From USA". Thus the collective image of John Frum appeared, who, after a generation, turned into the metaphor of the Great Ancestor.

To get the cargo and see parachutes, incoming planes or incoming ships, the islanders mimicked the actions of soldiers, sailors and pilots, because they saw in these actions only a sacred meaning.
They made headphones out of wood and put them on their heads, while sitting in wooden towers; made the landing signals on a runway constructed of wood.

And all this time the local people believed that the majestic John Frum was looking down from heaven, and he was waiting for all the rituals to be done nicely and in accordance with the canon. And when each magic gesture is made, John will fly, punish all white brigands, and good indians - tasty canned food and comfortable tents.
Over the past 75 years, the majority of cargo cults have disappeared. However, the cult of John Frum is still alive and flourishing in Vanuatu. And moreover, on February 15, the citizens of this country celebrate their most important national and religious holiday, John Frum's Day.
One can distinguish one more attribute of the cargo cult: the so-called “ritual inactivity”; Having built ritual aerodromes, the islanders began to wait for the coming of their ancestors in a long-lasting silence and vigil without leaving the place. Dreaming of "heavenly gifts," the savages stopped hunting, cultivating land and in general forgetting about farming or other affairs.

The irony is that in some cases, the idea of a gift from heaven proves to be justified: governments begin to help the poor savages, so that they do not die of starvation in their ritual inactivity and throw them humanitarian aid from planes. Although this only reinforces the confidence of the savages in their righteousness, after which they begin to worship John Frum and build straw aerodromes with even greater zeal.