I’m researching the second half of my article on syncretism, and came across something that I had never heard of before, called “cargo cults”. It’s really interesting. Apparently, in Pacific Island places, like Melanesia, the native peoples saw the whites come in and build wharves and airstrips, and then ships and planes would come in and provide great wealth to the whites. So the people came to believe that if they built their own wharves and airstrips, they would be able to magically summon ships and planes to come and give them wealth too.

Here’s a little thing I found about cargo cults:

“For example, inhabitants of an island in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) believed that a white leader named Jon Frum will arrive, bringing ‘cargo’ in a huge scarlet airplane and will drive all other white people from the island helping the inhabitants to regain control. They also believe an army in waiting in a crater of a volcano to help him. There are magical rituals designed to summon him. Jon Frum is carved in wood and painted red, along side of a representation of his aircraft.”

And here’s another thing i found about the Jon Frum Movement. They are saying something about how he is a combination of Uncle Sam, Santa Claus and John the Baptist, and that some people call him the “King of America”.

Wow this cargo cult / Jon Frum stuff is really damn strange and interesting. I’ve never heard of anything like this - I wonder if there are any books about it? Well hm, I just found a passage from a book about cargo cults. It’s pretty worthwhile, cause it has the most information I’ve seen about the Jon Frum phenomenon so far.