John Frum movement, Tanna

Around 1940 people on Tanna began following John Frum, a spirit figure said to promise wealth and freedom from missionaries and colonial rule; the movement holds an annual parade on 15 February.

1940 CE · -19.53, 169.44 · status: official

The account

The arrival of American troops in the New Hebrides during the war, with their abundant goods, reshaped the belief. Followers at Sulphur Bay, near the Yasur volcano, raise US flags and drill with bamboo 'rifles'. The movement has its own political party.

The sceptical view

Anthropologists stress that it is a religious and political response to colonialism, and that 'cargo cult' is an outsiders' label.

Connections in the atlas

• Prince Philip movement
• The 'Vailala Madness'
• Yali's cargo movement, Madang

Sources

1. Wikipedia: John Frum