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Handout #250 |
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A kind of syncretism: The cargo myth in New Guinea |
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The cargo myth has developed from the
end of the nineteenth century to our day. The text which follows reflects
the way in which it was expressed in the 1930's.
In the beginning Anut (God) created the heaven and the earth. On the earth he gave birth to all the flora and fauna and then to Adam and Eve. He gave these power overall things of earth and established a paradise for them to live in. He completed his beneficial work by creating and giving them cargo: canned meat, steel utensils, sacks of rice, thins of tobacco, matches, but not cotton clothing. For a time they were content with that, but finally they offended God by having sexual relations. In anger God chased them out of paradise and condemned them to wander in the bush. He took the cargo away from them and decreed that they were to spend the rest of their existence being content with the minimum needed to live. God showed Noah how to build the ark - which was a steamship like those one sees at the Port of Madang. He gave him a peaked cap, a white shirt, shorts, socks and shoes ... When the flood ended, God gave Noah and his family cargo as a proof of his renewed goodness towards the human race ... Shem and Japheth continued to respect God and Noah and as a result continued also to benefit from the resources of cargo. They became the ancestors of the white races who have profited from their good sense. But Ham was stupid. He uncovered his father's nakedness... God took the cargo away from him and sent him to New Guinea, where he become the ancestors of the natives. God had said to the missionaries; "Yours brothers in New Guinea and plunged into utter darkness. They have no cargo because of the folly of Ham. But now I have pity on them and want to help them. That is why you missionaries must go to New Guinea and remedy the error of Ham. You must put his descendants on the right way. When they again follow me, I will send them cargo, just as today I send it to white people... ' |
