Cargo Cults
History
Discussions of cargo cults usually begin with a series of movements that
occurred in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.
The earliest cargo cult was the 'Tuka Movement' that began in Fiji in 1885. Other
early movements occurred mostly in Papua New Guinea, including the Taro Cult in
Northern Papua, and the Vailala Madness documented by F.E. Williams, one
of the first anthropologists to conduct fieldwork in Papua New Guinea.
The classic period of cargo cult activity, however, was in the years during
and after World War II.
The vast amounts of war
matériel that were air-dropped into these islands during the Pacific campaign against the Empire of Japan
necessarily meant drastic changes to the lifestyle of the islanders.
Manufactured clothing, canned food, tents, weapons and other useful goods
arrived in vast quantities to equip soldiers-and also the islanders who were
their guides and hosts. By the end of the war the airbases were abandoned, and
"cargo" was no longer being dropped.
In attempts to get cargo to fall by parachute or land in planes or ships
again, islanders imitated the same practices they had seen the soldiers, sailors and airmen use. They carved headphones from
wood, and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the
landing signals while standing on the runways. They lit signal fires and torches
to light up runways and lighthouses. The cultists thought that the foreigners
had some special connection to their own ancestors, who were the only beings
powerful enough to produce such riches.
In a form of sympathetic magic, many built life-size
mockups of airplanes out of straw, and created new military style landing
strips, hoping to attract more airplanes. Ultimately, though these practices did
not bring about the return of the god-like airplanes that brought such marvelous
cargo during the war, they did serve to eradicate the religious practices that
had existed prior to the war.
Eventually the cargo cults petered out. But, from time to time, the term
"cargo cult" is invoked as an English language idiom, to mean any group of people who imitate the
superficial exterior of a process or system without having any understanding of
the underlying substance.
The term is perhaps best known because of a speech by physicist Richard Feynman at a Caltech commencement, which became a
chapter in the book " What Do You Care What
Other People Think?". In the speech, Feynman pointed out that cargo cultists
create all the appearance of an airport-right down to headsets with bamboo
"antennas"-yet the airplanes don't come. Feynman argued that some scientists
often produce studies with all the trappings of real science, but which are
nonetheless pseudoscience
and unworthy of either respect or support.
Discussions of cargo cults usually begin with a series of movements that
occurred in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.
The earliest cargo cult was the 'Tuka Movement' that began in Fiji in 1885. Other
early movements occurred mostly in Papua New Guinea, including the Taro Cult in
Northern Papua, and the Vailala Madness documented by F.E. Williams, one
of the first anthropologists to conduct fieldwork in Papua New Guinea.
The classic period of cargo cult activity, however, was in the years during
and after World War II.
The vast amounts of war
matériel that were air-dropped into these islands during the Pacific campaign against the Empire of Japan
necessarily meant drastic changes to the lifestyle of the islanders.
Manufactured clothing, canned food, tents, weapons and other useful goods
arrived in vast quantities to equip soldiers-and also the islanders who were
their guides and hosts. By the end of the war the airbases were abandoned, and
"cargo" was no longer being dropped.
In attempts to get cargo to fall by parachute or land in planes or ships
again, islanders imitated the same practices they had seen the soldiers, sailors and airmen use. They carved headphones from
wood, and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the
landing signals while standing on the runways. They lit signal fires and torches
to light up runways and lighthouses. The cultists thought that the foreigners
had some special connection to their own ancestors, who were the only beings
powerful enough to produce such riches.
In a form of sympathetic magic, many built life-size
mockups of airplanes out of straw, and created new military style landing
strips, hoping to attract more airplanes. Ultimately, though these practices did
not bring about the return of the god-like airplanes that brought such marvelous
cargo during the war, they did serve to eradicate the religious practices that
had existed prior to the war.
Eventually the cargo cults petered out. But, from time to time, the term
"cargo cult" is invoked as an English language idiom, to mean any group of people who imitate the
superficial exterior of a process or system without having any understanding of
the underlying substance.
The term is perhaps best known because of a speech by physicist Richard Feynman at a Caltech commencement, which became a
chapter in the book " What Do You Care What
Other People Think?". In the speech, Feynman pointed out that cargo cultists
create all the appearance of an airport-right down to headsets with bamboo
"antennas"-yet the airplanes don't come. Feynman argued that some scientists
often produce studies with all the trappings of real science, but which are
nonetheless pseudoscience
and unworthy of either respect or support.