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	Lawrie Williams: Cargo is Coming! Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 00:19:23 +1000 Subject: Cargo is Coming! Cargo is coming! "Soon our ancestors will come. They will bring plenty of cargo. We will be free from sickness and hunger. There will be no more fearof puri. Trust us, and prepare for the coming of the cargo." Thus spoke the mystics of Melanesia, assuring their followers thatsoon all would be well. Many movements sprang up in New Guinea believing this between the 1880's and the 1960's. They knew the cargo was there. Giant crates containing tables and chairs, telescopes and books, aeroplanes and medicines, food and liquor, nets and guns. All the cargo anyone could want! But it was being witheld from them by the white men. This seeming materialism was only part of the quest for something better than their existing lot. The Cargo promised great knowledge. Life in the tropics is hazardous and Cargo would bring the comfort and safety that the selfish colonials already enjoyed. Oh yes! The white men could not keep the Cargo from its rightful owners forever! "Masalai", the native word for "spirit" has two meanings. One means "spirit" - the ghosts re-born from out of the sea and the usual familiar nordic spirits. The other meaning applied simply to the assorted white-skinned mercenaries, missionaries and misfits that came and went from far over the seas. They looked the same, and one type was every bit as alien as the other. Sophisticated native people in the Europeanized centres knew that the talk of Cargo was inaccurate, but for many rural people the stories of Cargo had a compelling logic. Were the native people not as good as these white newcomers? Why then were they placed in the position of second rate citizens in their own land? Clearly the difference lay in the possession of Cargo, and it was evidently produced by very strong magic. The explanation was simple. The true ancestors from over the seas were preparing for the great day of Cargo by sending smaller batches of it to their living relatives. But the white people had strong magic and they wanted Cargo for themselves. So they always waited at the right places, stealing it for themselves. To prepare for Cargo great efforts were made. Jetties and landing strips were built and sometimes even full scale models of aircraft made out of cane were constructed. Those who had knowledge of this from the voices had to be especially cared for in order to please the Ancestors when they arrived. Down the years many dates of arrival were set. Leading up to these times the people celebrated and did not bother to hunt or tend their gardens. Why bother? Soon there would be plenty of Cargo! And whenever the arrival of Cargo failed, the instigators found excuses- the ancestors had been delayed by mishap, the followers had not prepared adequately, the white man's magic had proven too strong. In any human population there are believers and disbelievers. So when the cultists' dreams failed, the disappointed worshippers always had relatives to support them through the inevitible hard times. When the white patrol officers came around the predictions were confirmed. They would tell the native people the stories were nonsense and that they should get on with their lives. See? They did not want the people to prepare for the coming of Cargo. They wanted it all for themselves! They were part of the conspiracy! WWII shattered this world forever. The Japanese rolled down through Asia and were preparing for the final conquest of Australia from Papua. But the Australian troops held firm, fighting for every inch of jungle. In the end the lines of supply frayed away and American reinforcements arrived. When they did, Cargo, often misdirected,  rained in vast amounts from the skies! And amongst the troops were many black men, people who seemed to have the same powers and respect as their white comrades. Colonial Papua-New Guinea would never be the same, yet in some ironic way all the forecasts of the Cargo cult leaders were confirmed. It is easy to understand the wellsprings of the Cargo Cult movement. With the coming of rapid change some people become insecure and are prepared to cast in their lot with those who offer an easy way to attain the power and the prestige to which they feel they are properly entitled. All it takes is the catalyst of the "voices that deceiveth the whole world". New Guineans are now striving to build a modern society which only party follows the western model. Few people follow Cargo Cult myths any more. Fewer still listen any more to the generous but deceitful voices. At least, not in New Guinea. Lawrie Williams
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