🛖What are cargo cults?

How would humans respond if aliens landed on Earth and left behind seemingly impossible technology? 🛸

The fascinating history of “cargo cults” in the Indo-Pacific islands can provide insight into how people may react if that happens.

“Cargo cults” were religious movements that emerged among indigenous tribal groups on isolated islands after contact with Westerners in the 1800s and 1900s.

For many of these cults, the arrival of new technology—through “cargo” ships or planes—signaled the beginning of the end of the world.

Some of these cults imitated Westerners' behavior (see the image above) to bring about a new golden age in which their tribal ancestors would return.

Others would build imitations of Western technologies — like airplanes or radars — with the goal of bringing more Western technology to their island.

One cargo cult from the tiny nation of Vanuatu even believed that the late Prince Philip, the former husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, was a god. (see below)

What are Cargo Cults?

Many of the indigenous populations of the Melanesian islands (see below) lived in relative isolation throughout human history.

As a result, their first contact with Westerners during the 1800s and 1900s was a major shock.

The first cargo cults appeared in the late 1800s, but the most notable ones emerged during & after World War II.

During this period, American and Japanese forces rapidly transported troops and support personnel to these islands in a bid to control them. (see below)

This brought an unprecedented level of foreign activity to these Melanesian islands.

Imagine: you’re living on a remote Pacific island, and suddenly metal machines fall from the sky.

White-skinned people, which you’ve never seen before, exit these machines and start performing rituals — like waving signal lights, marching in formation, and building things like airstrips and bridges — that inexplicably lead to more metal machines falling out of the sky.

How would you respond in this situation?

It’s common for people to turn to religion when faced with inexplicable change.

Cargo cult members didn’t understand the technology that Westerners were using, so they believed that they were using magic to fly.

As a result, local peoples imitated the rituals they believed allowed the magic to happen.

The new cargo cults combined:

• traditional tribal religious practices

• with new Western-influenced behavior like marching in formation or building fake planes

Anthropology professor Nancy McDowell explained:

These “cargo cult” communities developed specialized practices and symbols to interact with—and attempt to control — forces that were otherwise unknowable and inaccessible to them.

Why are cargo cults important?

Cargo cults may seem bizarre or irrational to outsiders, but they offer profound insights into how humans deal with change.

Anthropologist Peter Lawrence said:

“What is most remarkable about cargo cults is not their irrationality, but rather their rationality - the logical conclusions drawn from limited information in an effort to make sense of dramatic social and technological change.”

When confronted with the unexplainable, we all try to construct meaningful explanations that fit within our existing worldviews.

“Cargo cults” show how quickly beliefs & rituals can arise to explain dramatic social and technological change. 

While cargo cults may have faded, we continue to see modern-day parallels in how people respond to the disruptive forces of globalization and technological progress.

Understanding these dynamics can help us appreciate the creativity and resilience of the human spirit — especially in the face of the unknown.

ART OF THE DAY

Indigenous people of Polynesia thinking that aviators are divine. Illustration in: Le Petit Journal, France, Nov, 18, 1923.