During World War II, on the islands of Melanesia, a cargo cult arose among the aborigines - the worship of airplanes and the Gifts of heaven. Thanks to contacts with the Americans, the natives imagined that all the blessings of Western civilization are created by the spirits of their ancestors and descend to earth on "iron birds" - airplanes, but due to some misunderstanding it is not they who get it, but the "pale-faced". Wanting to correct the gross injustice, the islanders began to copy the behavior of the "aliens" and carry out strange rituals.
Paradise on the islands
In 1943, the Americans, who fought against the Japanese, began building military bases on the Pacific islands. The natives watched with interest. Outsiders cut openings in the jungle, poured concrete over them, painted some strange markings on the ground. They put headphones on their heads, waved flags, shouted incomprehensible words, kindled bonfires or shone in the sky with searchlights - and giant birds roared to the ground. From the belly of the planes, foreigners took out a lot of magical things: packs of cigarettes, shiny tin cans of jam, chocolate bars, shaving razors, flashlights, tents, weapons, bottles of fire water. From such an abundance, the natives were speechless, but they were even more surprised that the visitors did nothing at all in order to receive all these wonderful items. The natives are accustomed to a certain order of things: if you want to get meat for dinner, run with a spear through the forest, if you want to bake a cake, sweat over a mortar with grain. Instead, the "pale-faced" performed many useless and strange actions. For example, they put on the same clothes and paraded for hours on the parade ground. They turned on some object that made pleasant sounds, sat around it and listened for a long time. We started up our jeeps and drove aimlessly through the forest. Flags were welcomed - ordinary pieces of variegated cloth, which were raised on a pole in the morning and lowered in the evening.making pleasant sounds, sat around him and listened for a long time. We started up our jeeps and drove aimlessly through the forest. Flags were welcomed - ordinary pieces of variegated cloth, which were raised on a pole in the morning and lowered in the evening.making pleasant sounds, sat around him and listened for a long time. We started up our jeeps and drove aimlessly through the forest. Flags were welcomed - ordinary pieces of variegated cloth that were raised on a pole in the morning and lowered in the evening.
Sometimes foreigners gave local flasks with fire water, pictures of beautiful white women, lighters, sunglasses. The natives rejoiced at the gifts like children. But the war ended, the newcomers turned down their tents, loaded their belongings into planes and flew away, leaving the natives with many beautiful things. And so they finally believed that they were dealing with deities. After all, neither the planters, nor the missionaries, nor the merchants possessed even a fraction of the wealth that the newcomers had.
Made in USA
For a long, long time, the Melanesians puzzled over this riddle. They could not even imagine that white people prosaically produce binoculars, penknives and stew on the other side of the world in factories and factories. Instead, they imagined that the pale-faced had tricked into the trust of the spirits of their ancestors and received riches that were not really intended for them, but for the aborigines.
Promotional video:
Spirits with the help of planes sent the natives necessary and useful things, and insidious strangers insolently intercepted them. Not otherwise, white people knew some magical rituals, thanks to which they were able to win over higher beings! During the time while the allied forces occupied the islands, the natives managed to learn all their rituals. There was little left to do - to start doing what the newcomers did. The natives abandoned their usual occupations and began to "conjure". They marched from morning till night on the parade ground with bamboo rifles at the ready. They wore earmuffs and glasses made of halves of coconut, built radio towers, waved flags, cut openings in the forest, burned fires, and painted "USA" on naked bodies or painted buttons. But the most amazing thing was that they built airplanes! Of course, these were not real planes, but their copies. However, the natives tried very hard,after all, in their view, airplanes were messengers of ancestral spirits. The entire tribe worked on the plane. It was usually placed in the center of the village, sometimes on a platform. Something like a ladder, knocked down from planks hewn with an ax, led to the plane's door. The villagers brought gifts to the plane - sweet potatoes, bananas, mangoes. Sometimes rusted Japanese helmets with flowers were hung on poles near the plane. The plane was worshiped, believing that sooner or later it would fly into the sky to return back with a cargo - a sacred cargo. Rusty Japanese helmets with flowers were sometimes hung on poles near the plane. The plane was worshiped, believing that sooner or later it would fly into the sky to return back with a cargo - a sacred cargo. Sometimes rusted Japanese helmets with flowers were hung on poles near the plane. The plane was worshiped, believing that sooner or later it would soar into the sky to return back with a cargo - a sacred cargo.
The Hunger Games
Once anthropologists sailed to the Melanesian islands and were amazed to the core. Among the aborigines, a hitherto unprecedented cargo cult spread and took root. The new religion flourished in full bloom on all the Pacific islands - Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Guinea and New Caledonia, etc. In most cases, these islands are not connected in any way and are at a decent distance from each other. Consequently, there can be no question of any connection between the aborigines, which prompted scientists to believe that blind imitation and worship are at the heart of the newly-born religion.
Observations of adherents of a new cult made scientists sound the alarm. It turned out that the islanders were so carried away by the practice of religious rituals that they abandoned all their usual affairs. They stopped hunting wild animals, catching fish in the river, and growing sweet potatoes. And why, if a plane with a magic cargo is about to arrive and then the whole village will be happy ?! Among the aborigines, priests appeared who convinced mere mortals that there was just a little more to wait, and in order for the miracle to happen as soon as possible, you need to pray and perform rituals even harder. The priests drove all the villagers to drill and forced them to march for hours. And while the natives walked in formation, the priests commanded the parade: they watched the subordinates from the sentry towers, shouted into bamboo "microphones" and punished those responsible for improper execution of orders. It all ended withthat whole villages of islanders were starving. Scientists called on the authorities and the public to pay attention to the problem, which resulted in humanitarian aid. And since it was delivered by air, the natives became convinced of the correctness of their religious beliefs. In their opinion, the spirits heard their prayers and collected a "parcel" for mere mortals.
God named John Froome
Nothing is eternal. So from the cult of cargo on many Melanesian islands, only memories remain. But not on the island of Tanna (owned by Vanuatu), where the cult of the so-called John Froome is still widespread. So, according to the Papuans, they call their god, who is responsible for the wonderful goods delivered by air.
Scientists believe that the cult of John Froome arose even before the Americans landed on the islands. There is evidence that in 1941 a man named Manehivi began to talk about the coming of the Messiah, who would take all their values from the white people and give them to the indigenous people of Melanesia. And after the allied troops landed on the islands, faith in John Froom only increased. After the war, his followers built an airstrip on the island and erected mock planes to lure John Froome. The priests assured that they were in constant contact with the deity thanks to "radio" - antennas in the form of long sticks and dummies of radio receivers. And if there is an urgent need to convey some information to John Froome, the priest falls into a trance and communicates with the deity directly. For followers of the cult, John Froom is a figure like Jesus Christ. They believe,that someday God will come down to earth, and for this, a military parade is held annually on February 15 in the village of Salfa Bey. Today this exotic event attracts crowds of tourists to the island.
Lyubov DYAKOVA