The StuSie: Cargo Cults: Alive & Well

Samstag, Februar 17, 2007

Cargo Cults: Alive & Well

I don't mind admitting that I had never heard of a "cargo cult" before I stumbled upon the following article from the BBC: Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific. The concept is concurrently heart-warming, saddening, and hilarious. Basically, people (usually south pacific islanders) see modern stuff ("cargo") for the first time, assume it's from been sent from a divine being, and then spend all their time trying to get the being to send more. Here's an extract from the Wikipedia entry on the history of cargo cults:

The classic period of cargo cult activity was in the years during and after World War II. The vast amounts of war materiel that were airdropped on to islands during the Pacific campaign against the Empire of Japan necessarily meant drastic changes to the lifestyle of the islanders, many of whom had never seen Westerners or Japanese before. Manufactured clothing, medicine, canned food, tents weapons and other useful goods arrived in vast quantities to equip soldiers — and also the islanders who were their guides and hosts. With the end of the war the airbases were abandoned, and "cargo" was no longer being dropped.

In attempts to get cargo to fall by parachute or land in planes or ships again, islanders imitated the same practices they had seen the soldiers, sailors and airmen use. They carved headphones from wood, and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the landing signals while standing on the runways. They lit signal fires and torches to light up runways and lighthouses. The cultists thought that the foreigners had some special connection to their own ancestors, who were the only beings powerful enough to produce such riches.

In a form of sympathetic magic, many built life-size mockups of airplanes out of straw, and created new military style landing strips, hoping to attract more airplanes. Ultimately, though these practices did not bring about the return of the god-like airplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during the war, they did have the effect of eradicating the religious practices that had existed prior to the war.

To cut a long story short, if you follow the link above to the article, you'll be able to read all about a cargo cult that's still going strong. Some of the people on this specific island worship an unknown American GI that they call "John Frum," but who many suspect was simply someone who introduced themselves as "John from America." I'm guessing that these folks are still using dialup.