John Frum Cargo Cult
cargo cult
noun (sometimes initial capital letters
)
)
any of various native religious cults of a millenarian andmessianic character located in the southwestern Pacific islands,holding that spirits will bring large cargoes of modern goods for distribution among its adherents.
Notable examples of cargo cult activity include the setting up of mock airstrips, airports, offices, and dining rooms, as well as the fetishization and attempted construction of Western goods, such as radios made of coconuts and straw. Believers may stage “drills” and “marches” with sticks for rifles and use military-style insignia and national insignia painted on their bodies to make them look like soldiers, thereby treating the activities of Western military personnel as rituals to be performed for the purpose of attracting the cargo.
