Cargo cults. Heard of them before? The John Frum kind? No, I hadn't either. Now I'm over this side of the world, I feel a pilgramage coming on, maybe even a final film project.
A visiting lecturer introduced me to the subject. Mike Daisy is a John Farley/Jack Black-esque American chap that makes ends meet as a performance "monologist" (this, from what I could gather, is basically an overly enthused stand up comedian avec great capacity to rant and gush - my dream job?). He's quite the fire cracker raconteur and his emphasis on the pragmatic pursuit of the sort of audience coalescence that can't be commodified is "right on!" in my books.
He's just returned from the Vanuatu island of Tanna where he was investigating the surviving enclave of the cargo cult. Armed with a crate of Levi jeans, he asked if he could stay a while. For reasons I can only try to describe below, the islanders embraced his offering and a strange odessy followed, one that has me itching to plot my next trip abroad.
When the American military rocked up in the 1930s to build army bases to bolster their efforts against Japan, the islanders' rudimentary way of life was abruptly introduced to the 20th century. Airplanes, type writers, torches, demin...overwhelmed, they could only assume these men in military fatigues possessed supernatural powers - Gods amongst men!
When the Americans abandoned the bases years later, the natives continued to revere all things American and practiced sympathetic magic to attempt to conjure their American gods once more. They would build 1 for 1 scale models of aircraft bombers out of bamboo and foliage in the hope that it would attract U.S aircraft from the heavens. The guitar was widely adopted and played, being, as it is, the iconic instrument of their holy America. They adorned their bodies with stars and stripes tattoos and clothed their backs with improvised army uniforms in the hope that it would lure the Americans back.
Much of this practice died out across the island chain over time but on the island of Tanna it has continued to go from strength to strength, gaining momentum, and in particular their worship an American called John Frum, (a name that could well have come from war-time GIs who introduced themselves as "Jon from America").
Of as population of 18,000, 70% are committed followers of the cult and the remaining population usually joins in when festivals and celebrations are held. Apparently, the reason this particular island holds the practice so dear is that years prior, they were occupied by both French and British colonialists simultaneously and subjected to abject barbarism of a truly appalling nature. The Americans that passed through treated them with a sort of relative decency, for the sake of keeping the peace, that redefined the white man. Combine that impression with their visitors' ability to fly, communicate with people beyond the island and offer Marlboro cigarettes, and it soon appears you have merciful deities on your doorstep! Tanna never had it as good as when the Americans were in town.
All this is swept under the carpet somewhat. Vanuatu as a nation is embarrassed by the cult's apparently hysterical adulation for America and it's 30/40/50s artifacts. Tanna has one of the most active volcanos in the world and its tourist industry prefers to champion that as the island's offering to the world. It's a great shame as this rich and fascinating culture is lost to obscurity as it denies the islanders a great segment of their national identity in post-colonial history.
There is little to no decent footage of the cult. There are photos in circulation, and some rather fustity anthropological articles that mention it but otherwise it's only one in 10 people who have heard of it and even they assume that it's all but died out. Mike Daisy is currently touring with a monologue based on his experiences there, put in the context of the current international financial crisis, in what I assume is an exploration of different conceptions of the success and failure of the "American way."
So, anyone up for a trip to America land?
