Cargo Cult The People of Paradise

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VOLCANO RUMBLES

VENT EXPLODES

VENT EXPLODES

VENT EXPLODES

That cross on the top of a volcano wasn't a Christian cross.

It was the symbol of a strange pagan,

rather frightening, religion called a "cargo cult".

I first heard about cargo cults in New Guinea two or three years ago.

And then a missionary explained them to me. He put it like this.

He said, "Imagine that you are a New Guinea man

"and you've lived all your life in what is virtually the Stone Age.

"You've never seen metal,

"or any of the other strange things that Europeans have.

"Then one day, you meet a strange white-faced man,

"who has the most incredible things.

"He has jeeps, he has petrol lamps,

"he has...glasses, he has simple things...

"like a fountain pen.

"And you look at a thing like this, and the first thing that you say is,

"that whatever else this is,

"this couldn't possibly have been made by man.

"I mean, how could you chip this, or how could you weave it?

"And if it isn't made by man, then it must come from the gods.

"The ancestors.

"And if it comes from the gods, and it's come to your island,

"why has it come to these white-faced people?

"They've done nothing to deserve it.

"They don't make them themselves, you can see that.

"What's more, they don't even do any work.

"They don't fish in the lagoon, they don't sweat in the hot sun,

"digging their gardens and planting their yams.

"They don't cut coconuts. In fact, they do senseless, useless things.

"They put up great masts with wires on the top.

"And at the bottom, they have boxes,

"which they listen to, as they make funny noises.

"And then they dress up people in similar uniforms,

"and march them up and down in a senseless, useless way.

"They certainly aren't doing any good.

"And then it dawns on you - this is the secret.

"The white people are doing this as a sort of ritual, designed to make

"the gods, or the ancestors, send the goods to them -

"the 'cargo', as you call it in pidgin English.

"The cargo, to them. Therefore, if you want the cargo,

"you yourself must do these extraordinary things.

"So you put up a great mast out of bamboo

"and sit at the bottom to it and walk and put fences round it.

"And you clear great areas in the forest,

"like the white men do for their airstrips.

"And you dress up people in uniforms.

"And, at the same time, in many of these cargo cults, you believe that

"there is going to be one particular being, a sort of messiah, who,

"when the apocalypse comes, when the day of judgment comes, will bring

"all this cargo to you, in either a great white ship or an aeroplane

"when the day of judgment comes."

This would be strange enough, if it had happened just once.

But in New Guinea, alone, it has happened over 30 times

and, as far as we can see,

many of these uprisings are quite unconnected with any others.

And, in the Pacific, it happened in many different places.

It happened here, in Fiji.

It happened a thousand miles to the eastwards, that way, in Tahiti.

It's happened up in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, up there.

It's happened in the Solomons, up here.

And it's also happened here, in the New Hebrides.

And in the island of Tanna,

such a cargo cult is going on at this very moment.

Tanna is a place where missionaries have been working

for a very long time.

Over 100 years ago, they were there.

And, up to 30 years ago,

most of the natives of Tanna attended the Presbyterian church.

Now, nearly all the natives of Tanna believe in this strange man,

who will come and bring all the cargo.

They call him "John Frum".

And perhaps, because they have been so missionised for a long time,

they have adopted the cross as John Frum's symbol.

And they wear scarlet shirts, as John Frum's colour.

We went to Tanna, and I went to try and do two things.

First of all, to find out what John Frum looked like,

what they believed he looked like.

And secondly, to find out who were the people

who were spreading these stories about John Frum.

Tanna is a very fertile island,

and there are quite good dirt roads linking the plantations.

We travelled in a truck, lent to us by one of the traders.

But you can't go far in Tanna before you see signs that there's

something very curious indeed going on in the island.

These gates, the palisade, and the cross were all painted brilliant red.

The cross itself was decorated with pink flowers,

and the fact that they were newly cut and unfaded

proved that the worship of these crosses

was still very active.

The gates have no practical use, for you can just walk round them.

'Close by, I saw a man and two women eyeing me curiously.

'So I went across and had a talk with them.

'From the grimy pink shirt that he was wearing,

'I knew that he must be a follower of John Frum.

'So I asked him what the crosses meant,

'and what was he purpose of the gates?

'He said that they belonged to John Frum.

'So I said, "Have you ever seen John Frum?"

' "No," he said. "I never seen him. I don't know anything about him."

'I talked with this man for some time,

'but I could get no real information at all.'

It was clear that finding out anything about John Frum

from his followers was not going to be easy.

Everywhere we went on the island, we saw the scarlet crosses,

but they were by no means all the same.

Some were merely two small twigs.

Others were much larger,

and this one had its own peculiar decoration.

But what could have been in the minds of people who sought to increase

the significance of this cross

by nailing onto it an old European shaving brush

and a curious little wooden bird?

Just beyond lay a huge field

that had been cleared of bush by the local people.

In the centre of it stood this tall mast.

We later discovered that, when the John Frum people

first put it up,

they claimed that it was a special radio mast,

enabling them to talk with John Frum himself.

It was obviously still regarded as an important thing,

for, like the crosses, it was decorated with freshly cut

scarlet leaves and flowers.

'Once again, I tried to discover something about John Frum

'from the people in the little settlement nearby.

'But, once again,

'they professed total ignorance.

'They claimed they knew nothing whatsoever

'about John Frum,

'let alone the purpose of the mast in the middle of their village.

'It seemed to me

'that, perhaps, we were rushing things,

'that we were being too inquisitive, too early.

'So I decided to change my line of enquiry.

'On the north-western tip of the island

'lives an Australian copra planter and trader named Bob Paul.

'He's lived there for over ten years,

'and we have been told that he was one of the Europeans

'who had been on the island during the last active uprising,

'when John Frum's prophet

'organised the Tanna people into an army,

'and from all accounts, it looked, for a little time,

'as though there might be a full-scale revolt.

'Bob Paul's house is on the coast.

'I talked to him in his garden, by the sea.'

Bob, tell me about this famous Tanna Army.

Where did you first see it?

The first manifestation I saw...

I was down this particular area,

picking up copra - buying copra from natives.

I noticed them drilling, I noticed a party drilling...

..in the square near the village.

When I asked what was going on, they said, "This is the Tanna Army."

And what were they wearing?

Erm...caps...

imitation American caps.

And, erm...

a singlet...

with "TA", meaning "Tanna Army"...

and a big "USA"

across the chest.

Long trousers... Sand boots with long trousers tucked in

the sand boots.

Something after the style of puttees or gaiters.

And guns?

Yes, very well-made wooden guns.

Made mainly out of bamboo.

Carved to resemble an American carbine...

and they had quite a long bayonet on the end of them.

What did they do next?

They...got a bit adventuresome...

..and marched around the surrounding villages.

Scared the wits out of them.

The other villagers were really frightened?

Oh, my word, yes.

They were really scared.

Terrified.

And then, as...

As they noticed they weren't stopped at that,

they went farther and farther afield.

Finally, they did a grand march, right around the whole island.

Did they come round here?

Yes.

They didn't come through my place here,

but the Presbyterian mission has a plantation nearby.

I was coming down the road

which leads into there,

and I passed through the army, marching along there.

I had seen them before.

The only way they could go was through the mission,

if they continued on that road.

So...

..I dropped in and saw the missionary,

who was quite a plucky little fellow, actually.

He said, "No, they won't pass here, that's one thing."

It was... So, that was the finale of their march,

was to march through the Presbyterian mission...

and terrorise the boys who were enjoying the Presbyterian mission.

So we went up and stopped them.

How?

Told them to go to blazes!

THEY LAUGH Or words to that effect?

Yes, we actually stood in the road where they couldn't cross,

and told them they couldn't go through here...

And if they tried to go through, they'd be in trouble.

'After we had been in Tanna for a week,

'I felt that the people might have got used to our presence,

'and have realised that we were not government officials,

'and that, therefore, they might be more willing to talk about John Frum.

'So, one afternoon, I drove up to the large clearing,

'the namakal,

'which is found outside each village,

'where, every day, the men gather to drink kava.

'I had to be a little careful,

'for this is a semi-sacred ritual ground, forbidden to women,

'and anyone who goes there during kava drinking

'must walk very slowly and keep quiet

'if he's not to break the taboos.

'I was not entirely sure what sort of reception I would get.

'The men, however, though a little suspicious, slowly gathered round.

'I began, not by asking about John Frum,

'but about kava, which they showed me.

'Kava is the root of a pepper plant

'which is made into a drink and, here on Tanna,

'it's prepared by a young man, who chews it.

'This unhygienic custom

'was one of the first things forbidden by the missionaries,

'and the mere fact it was going on in the namakal

'was proof that these people

'no longer belonged to the mission,

'or "the school", as they call it.

'Kava is drunk all over

'the Southwest Pacific.

'But here in Tanna,

'it's prepared in a much more concentrated form

'than almost anywhere else.

'The resultant drink

'is extremely potent,

'and must be thrown back in one gulp.

'The drug it contains is so strong

'that it makes people moody and irritable when they've drunk it,

'which is one of the reasons why no-one shouts or dashes about

'on a namakal.

'When everyone had drunk their kava,

'I began talking to one of the few men in the village

'who spoke understandable English.'

How many people here

belong to John Frum?

Many people here, on this site?

Yes, all of us.

All of us.

What job did you have

before you...before John Frum came?

We were in school.

- Mission school? - Mission school.

Presbyterian church.

And you were what?

I'm a teacher.

- A teacher? - Yes.

Sam,

have you seen John Frum?

No.

I didn't see him, but my brother here, he saw him.

What did John Frum say to your brother?

He didn't talk to him,

but he just went there at the meeting.

What kind of man is John Frum? Is he man blong Tanna,

or is he yellow man, like a Tonganese,

a white man, or what?

He is a white man.

- He's a white man? - Yeah.

And where did he come from?

I don't know.

Is he a big man or a small man?

He's a big man. Tall.

- A big, tall man? - Yeah.

How many people have seen John Frum?

Oh, more than 20 men.

- More than 20 men? - Yes.

When they make a meeting,

and he came to meet them...

he was sitting in between them,

and they was talking with him.

And will John Frum come again soon?

I don't know.

He promised them that day he would come.

But now we don't know when he's going to come.

What will happen when he comes?

I don't know.

Will it be good?

Yes. He said when he comes,

it will be a good living.

The men will be happy and get everything they want.

When John Frum first came...

..what happened?

What did he tell the people to do?

He tell the people to throw all their money.

- All their money? - All their money.

And he...

..told them to leave the school.

But now...

John Frum has told you to throw away your money?

And to...to kill your cattle?

So now the people of Tanna have no money and no cattle.

How do you live, then?

He said, by and by, when you can,

we can get everything we want.

Hmm.

But how long ago was this?

I don't know.

How long ago was it that he came and said this?

About, eh...

19 years, now.

- 19? - Yes.

Sam...

..you say John Frum has not come for 19 years.

Isn't this a long time for you to wait?

I can wait.

There's you waiting for 2,000 years

for Christ to come.

And I must wait over 19 years.

'It was a good point,

'but nonetheless, it was clear from what Sam had said,

'that he himself really knew very little about the origin of the cult.

'He told us later

'that the real leaders

'had their headquarters in the south of the island,

'at a village called Sulphur Bay,

'which stood on the flanks of the great volcano,

'whose threatening rumbles

'could be heard for many miles around.

'So we set out southwards,

'to try and find this stronghold of the cult.'

We passed many crosses on the way,

both large and small.

But as we approached Sulphur Bay,

we found the most extraordinary monument we had seen so far.

Standing by itself,

under its own thatched shelter.

On the right-hand side, there was a scarlet aeroplane,

perhaps that which will bring the cargo.

And on the other side,

a cage containing an extraordinary winged rat.

And in the centre, John Frum himself,

with a scarlet coat and a white European face.

They were pathetically childish images,

yet somehow they seemed to have a very sinister quality.

Scarlet gates were now as common by the roadside,

as were the scarlet crosses.

We were nearing Sulphur Bay.

At last, we emerged from the bush,

and drove out onto the wide ash plain

which surrounds the volcano.

Here there were more gates, and sticks, stuck in lines

across the barren ash.

Bob Paul had told me that a scarlet cross

had been erected on the topmost lip of the crater,

so we decided to climb the ash cone

and have a look at it.

The slopes up which we trudged

were composed of dry, grey volcanic dust

which had been spewed out from the crater,

and which settled on us in a fine powder,

out of the pall of smoke

which rose high in the air above our heads.

But the ascent wasn't difficult,

even though it was steep,

for the ash was so soft

that we could easily dig our toes into it.

VOLCANO ROARS

'The cross had once been painted scarlet,

'but much of the paint had been worn off by the wind

'and the sulphurous smoke

'which belched up from the crater 500 feet below.

'There were nine separate vents,

'each of which exploded at different times

'with such titanic force that huge lumps of red-hot lava

'were sometimes thrown 600 feet into the air.'

VENT EXPLODES

VENT EXPLODES

VENT EXPLODES

VENT EXPLODES

VENT EXPLODES

VENT EXPLODES

On the southern side of the volcano,

overshadowed by the huge clouds from the eruption,

we came to the village of Sulphur Bay.

'This was the critical moment.

'How would they receive me?

'If they were suspicious,

'or thought I was from the police,

'then I should learn nothing.'

INAUDIBLE

'The initial greetings seemed cordial enough.'

'But this was the important man -

'the head man, Nambas.

'I knew that he was the leader

'of the whole cargo cult.

'I explained to him

'that I wanted to learn about John Frum.

'Would he tell me about him?

'At first, he was a little unwilling.

'But, finally, he agreed to sit down and talk.

'Everyone gathered round to listen.'

Nambas...

Men tell me

that you have a radio.

John Frum has a radio. Is that right?

HE SPEAKS BISLAMA

Yes.

You have a special radio belonging to John Frum?

Yes.

John Frum. Right here.

And what does he say on this radio?

He speak you.

John Frum tells you on the radio that we will come?

Yes, he speak on the radio. He got too many cam...

A fast plane come, he got too many camera on board.

Me and Master Geoffrey?

He speak to me first time.

How long ago he tell you that we will come?

He been telling me a long time - two weeks. Over.

- Two weeks ago? - Yes.

And did he say what we would look like?

He says...

he got too many cameras on...

come with you, or look anything.

Red Cross... anything.

That's what he told me.

How do you know it is us that he was talking about?

Maybe they're two other men.

He been speaking two men will come.

Come a long way...

Do you hear it every night, or once a week?

Every night, every day, every night, every summer days.

Long morning days.

Especially if you want to ask him anything.

- He speaking. - On the radio?

Mm - on the radio.

Is the radio here in this village?

He no got none. Why? No got anything.

You don't have, like, a white man's radio?

He does not have to have one?

No have like a white man's radio.

'I pressed him further about the radio,

'but he was very evasive,

'so I dropped the subject,

'but I brought it up again the next day.'

And where is the radio?

It's in my place.

- In your house? - Yeah!

Is it possible for me to see?

Can I see the radio?

You can't see.

Can I see the house where the radio is?

No.

Why not?

Because my order, he not liking the white people.

I see.

Can I hear the radio?

No.

Because my order, he said no.

- Your order says no? - Yes.

But I think I hear of some white men

who hear about the radio?

No. No white men hear of that.

- No white men hear of it? - No.

Nambas, what does John Frum look like?

He can speak American.

He's American?

Is he a white man?

Yes, white.

He is white.

You've seen him?

Yes, I see him.

Do you hear John talk?

- Yes, he's so kind. - You shake hands with him?

He tell me, he got thrown down in Sulphur Bay.

Nambas,

you heard John talk,

- and you shook hands with him? -Yes.

Was this during the daytime or during the night-time?

At night-time, about seven o'clock.

- Was it dark? - Yes.

- Could you see John? - Yes, I see.

What does he look like?

Look like you.

- He looks like me? - Yeah.

Does he speak about cargo?

He speak about cargo.

What does he say about cargo?

He says you follow for John...

and maybe some time the cargo will come.

Maybe a boat.

An aeroplane?

Aeroplane.

- And they will bring the cargo? - Yeah.

And what will the cargo be?

Cargo be American.

- American cargo? - Yeah.

What sort of things will there be in the cargo?

Bringing everything

for every man.

He bring food,

or he bring icebox,

- or he bring...? - Anything.

- He bring cars? - Yes.

All the same as the white men have now?

Yes.

And will the cargo John brings come to the white men?

Come to...native boys.

Will the white men get any?

I don't know. He can't say the white man get it too because the white man,

he got it.

White man's got it? I see.

'And then, on the last day of our visit,

'Nambas said something which showed quite clearly

'that he was either a rogue or a madman.'

I see you've put a cross on the volcano.

Why do you put a cross there?

He got a man inside the volcano.

I look, see he got man inside.

- There's a man inside the volcano? - Yes.

Just one man or many men?

Many man.

- Many men? - Many man.

Men blong John Frum?

Yes.

What kind of men?

Kind man.

He's like white people, but different colour.

What colour - dark or yellow, or...?

- Red. - Red?

Red and white.

Red - just like the shirts you wear?

Are they...

Are they...soldiers?

Many soldiers there.

Many soldiers inside the volcano?

Yes.

Any other kind?

Yes. Some red colour and black colour.

Any sailors or airmen?

Every kind, stuck inside.

And that was the nearest answer I got to my questions about John Frum.

Perhaps Nambas was deluded,

but if he was,

then the whole of the population of Tanna is deluded.

And, anyway,

"delusion" is a rather odd word to use

when you're talking about religions.

Perhaps, too,

Tanna isn't our idea of a South Seas paradise -

it isn't my idea, either -

but when we left the New Hebrides,

we travelled another 500 miles eastwards

towards Fiji.

There, we did find blue lagoons and palm trees,

and paradise - but I'll tell you about that next time.