Custom and cargo

 

“Waiting for John”, retitled “Waiting for John Frum: Cargo Cult of the South Pacific. When God is an American Soldier” by this YouTube account, is a low-budget documentary about the John Frum Movement at Tanna, an island in the New Hebrides. Previously a joint (!) British-French colony, since 1980 the New Hebrides are independent under the name Vanuatu. The film crew spent some time in the small settlement of Lamakara, the last hold out of the Movement. There, a couple of hundred people led by one Chief Isak still await the return of their mysterious savior figure. They also interviewed members of a breakaway faction at Sulphur Bay (the quitters are actually the larger group) and Christian missionaries from Port Resolution.

The beliefs of the John Frum Movement are an eclectic mix of pro-American “modernism” and Melanesian traditionalism. Indeed, the cult members seem to live a more traditional lifestyle than many other people in Vanuatu. Frankly, the Movement comes across as very weird. The inhabitants of Lamakara are self-sufficient, grow their own food, raise pigs and try to stay out of the money economy (not entirely successfully). Ecstatic dances and kava drinking also form part of Custom, as they call their traditional ways. Apparently, Christian missionaries and the colonial authorities attempted to stamp out Custom.

At the same time, the Movement has quasi-apocalyptic expectations and hopes that America will bring them “cargo” (modern products). The main rituals of the cult include the hoisting of an American flag and a mock US army drill, during which Chief Isak dress in fancy uniform. John Frum himself is a composite character. On the one hand, he is seen as an American soldier, neither White nor Black, who speaks all languages in the world. He supposedly appeared in 1940 and prophesized the coming of the US military to the New Hebrides. On the other hand, John is seen as a spirit-being who can be contacted through visionary trances. Isak “spoke” to John in a cave at the top of a high hill. The documentary doesn´t say, but it´s easy to suspect a connection to native shamanic practices.

Like virtually all other religious movements, the John Frum Movement has experienced at least one split, perhaps due to the delay of the Parousia. When based at Sulphur Bay, most adherents decided to follow a certain Prophet Fred, who claimed new revelations from the spirits. His movement, called Unity, no longer believes in the return of John Frum in the flesh, instead preaching concord between cargo cultists and Christians. The few remaining stalwarts were forced to leave Sulphur Bay and build the new village of Lamakara in the hinterland, Lamakara meaning “outcast”. The Movement is also under pressure from Christian missionaries (who are ethnically Melanesian) and modernity in the form of the national capital Vila and its money economy.

I can well understand why cargo cultists have fascinated Western anthropologists and scholars of religion. The parallels to Christianity are obvious. The Christians at Port Resolution resolutely proclaim the return of Jesus, who rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven, while insisting that John Frum is dead and won´t return. But, of course, the John Frum-ites insist that John is very much alive in mint spirit condition. The eagerly awaited American aid is clearly the apocalypse of the cargo cultists, and even the peculiar combination of nativist traditionalism and modernity could be a subconscious Christian borrowing. Think this-worldly asceticism leading to a pie-in-the-sky reward in the afterlife. The crisis when the Messiah doesn´t show up on schedule is a classic. To a Christian, this simply means that the John Frum Movement are a bunch of Anti-Christs, but from a more secular viewpoint, the Melanesian cargo cult raises questions about Christianity itself. Isn´t it strange that the sociological dynamic of both “true” and “false” religions are remarkably similar?

With that reflection, I end this little review.