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Waiting for the U.S.: The John Frum Cargo Cult of Vanuatu
| Article
# : |
20045 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1992 |
3,394 Words |
| Author
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Anders Rayman
Anders Ryman is a free-lance photojournalist and
anthropologist who lives in Sweden. His work focuses on the
peoples of the South Pacific. |
The far-flung pacific islands of Melanesia have been the home of scores of so-called cargo cults--native religious movements that by magical means have sought to acquire the large material riches of groups visiting the islands. They take their name from cargo, pidgin for Western goods, and were especially common during and shortly after World War II, when first Japan and then the United States appeared on the scene with goods, machines, and soldiers in awesome abundance.
Normally, the cults have been short lived: Despite the docks built into the sea, airstrips cleared in the jungle, conversations with the gods through "radio masts" made of bamboo, and much else that has startled Western observers, the cargo fails to arrive and the cultists soon tire and give up. But on the island of Tana in Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), one of the most famous cargo cults still thrives--the John Frum cult, the members of which have waited for more than forty years for the return of the United States.
Volcano is Cosmic Center
Tana is a green and fertile island at the foot of the long, Y-shaped island group of Vanuatu. The landscape is mountainous and varied. The south of the island is crowned by 3,300-foot Mount Tukosmera; and to the west, the gray cone of the Yasur volcano rumbles continuously, belching forth clouds of smoke and spreading its fertile ashes over the island as a blessing for the inhabitants and their crops.
A visit to the rim of Yasur is best at night. Then the crater is the scene of spectacular fireworks. About 600 feet down, on the
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