The John Frum movement has its own political party, Nagriamel led by Song Keaspai. They objected to a centralised government they feared would favor Western modernity and Christianity that would be detrimental to local customs. In the late 1970s, John Frum followers opposed the imminent creation of an independent united nation of Vanuatu. This parade takes place every year on February 15, the date on which followers believe John Frum will return, and which is observed as "John Frum Day" in Vanuatu. In 1957, a leader of the John Frum movement, Nakomaha, created the "Tanna Army", a non-violent ritualistic society that organised military-style parades of men with faces painted in ritual colours and wearing white T-shirts with the letters "T-A USA" (Tanna Army USA). Versions of the cult emphasizing the American connection interpret "John Frum" as a corruption of "John from (America)" (although it could mean "John from" anywhere not of Vanuatan origin). Īfter the war and the departure of the Americans, followers of John Frum built symbolic landing strips to encourage American airplanes to land and bring them "cargo". The mass participation of Ni-Vanuatu men in the Labor Corps had a significant effect on the John Frum movement, giving it the characteristics of a cargo cult. They provided logistical support to the Allied war effort during the Guadalcanal Campaign. During the war, approximately 10,000 Ni-Vanuatu men served in the Vanuatu Labor Corps, a labor battalion of the United States Armed Forces. ĭespite this effort, the movement gained popularity in the early 1940s after 50,000 American troops were stationed in New Hebrides during World War II, bringing with them an enormous amount of supplies (or "cargo"). European colonial authorities sought to suppress the movement, at one point arresting a Tannese man calling himself John Frum, humiliating him publicly, imprisoning and ultimately exiling him along with other leaders of the cult to another island in the archipelago. Most followers had come from the Presbyterian church. In 1941, followers of John Frum rid themselves of their money in a frenzy of spending, left the missionary churches, schools, villages and plantations, and moved inland to participate in traditional feasts, dances and rituals. For this to happen, however, the people of Tanna had to reject all aspects of European society including money, Western education, Christianity and work on copra plantations, and they had to return to traditional kastom (the Bislama language word for customs). Said to be a manifestation of Keraperamun, this John Frum promised the dawn of a new age in which all White people, including missionaries, would depart the New Hebrides, leaving behind their goods and property for the native Melanesians. Others contend that John Frum was a kava-induced spirit vision. In some versions of the story, a native man named Manehivi, using the alias "John Frum", began appearing among the native people of Tanna dressed in a Western-style coat, assuring the people he would bring them houses, clothes, food, and transport. In one analysis of the cult, the figure was first known as John Broom, who was believed by followers to one day return from a distant land to sweep away the White colonials and return riches to the islands. The movement was influenced by existing religious practice in the Sulphur Bay area of Tanna, particularly the worship of Keraperamun, a god associated with Mount Tukosmera. The religion centering on John Frum arose in the late 1930s, when Vanuatu was known as the New Hebrides, although there was a claim in 1949 that it had started in the 1910s. It is rare to encounter a lone Cute, they are a tribal culture, and will usually travel together unless they have staked a claim in one of the many outposts on Atys.A John Frum cargo cult ceremonial flag-raising They are intelligent and can be negotiated with if they do not attack immediately - some may even befriend homin adventurers or ask for small favors. Similarities can be drawn between the Gibba¿ and the Zora¿, the Cute and the Tryker, the Frahar and the Fyros, and the now extinct Momos and the Matis.Ĭute Believed to be related to the Tryker, the primitive Cute are even more agile and mischievous than their cousins. Only the Matis have exterminated the primitive tribe that is closely associated with them, the Momos. The primitive tribes are closely related to three of the four homin races of Atys. Living in organized communities, they control and ferociously defend their hunting grounds from anything they see as a threat. Primative Tribes The Gibba¿, the Cute, and the Frahar are three species of semi-intelligent primates that make their home in Atys.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |