An Historical Oddity

 

                                 An Historical Oddity

05/04/2023

Note: This is really far afield from my usual political rant, but the current continuing dirge of right-wing drivel has left me numb this week. I wrote this wearing my history professor shirt, and I’m pretty sure this will take the reader’s mind far, far, away from our current political morass. And now:

There is an exclusively volcanic archipelago in the South Pacific east of New Guinea and southeast of the Solomon Islands. This island group as a whole, an independent Republic since 1980, is the nation of Vanuatu. One of those islands is Tanna, and several of its villages share an extremely unusual characteristic.

To understand what goes on, one first needs to understand the concept of the cargo cult. The myths of the cargo cult have their roots as far back as the very earliest myths that a European Christian, known as Prester John, actually ministered to people in South-East Asia. Some of the earliest accounts even allege that it was the apostle John. Of course, they never saw him, because the most reliable accounts have John spending his days on the Island of Patmos, with some having him living in Ephesus (Turkey) at the time of his death. The history of Prester John is the history of a man who never existed. Medieval legend recalled him into being when it was felt that his presence would be of help in the struggle between Christian Europe and the Islamic world.

        Over time, this morphed, in some indigenous and generally isolated groups, into the idea that there was this semi-divine individual named John who would, at some point in the future, come back and bring good things to these isolated communities. In later years, one of the names given to this “person” was John Frum. The “John Frum” of the people of Tanna may have been either a British or French or even American sailor who at some point came in contact with these people. He is sometimes even depicted as an American World War II serviceman who will bring wealth and prosperity to the people if they follow him. British Naturalist, David Attenborough reported an encounter with locals during which he was told, "'E look like you. 'E got white face. 'E tall man. 'E live 'long South America."

Either way the cargo cults, which still exist on a few other Pacific Islands, as well as among several tribes of New Guinea, believe that somebody, usually regarded as a semi-divinity, will come from the West, bringing technologically advanced goods to these people - hence the word “cargo.”

        What makes the two cargo cult villages on Tanna, (Yaohnanen and Yakel) unique is that they have actually identified a real person as that semi-divine individual. He has only been there once, and, being now deceased, never will be again.    According to ancient Yaohnanen tales, the son of a mountain spirit travelled over the volcanic mountains to them. He was sometimes said to be a brother to “John Frum”.

The people of the Yaohnanen and Takel area believe in the divinity of the recently deceased Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the late Prince Consort to the late Queen Elizabeth II. The Yaohnanen tribe believed him to be the pale-skinned son of an ancient mountain spirit. They had seen the respect accorded to Queen Elizabeth II by the colonial officials and concluded that her husband, Prince Philip, must be the son referred to in their legends. The origins of this belief are not known or at least openly discussed by believers, but ancient tales tell of the mountain spirit’s son travelling to a distant land, marrying a powerful lady and, in time, returning.

It gained real time traction in the 1950s or 1960s and was further strengthened by the royal couple's official visit to Vanuatu in 1974, when a few villagers had the opportunity to actually see Prince Philip from a distance. At the time, Vanuatu was still a British dependency as part of the New Hebrides.  The prince was not then aware of the sect, but it was brought to his attention several years later by a British Resident Commissioner in the New Hebrides.

In April 2021, the sect mourned Prince Philip's death. The Village Chief said that he was "terribly, terribly sorry" that the prince died and the tribal leader sent his formal condolences to the Royal Family and the people of the UK. A formal mourning period was declared, and many tribespeople gathered in a ceremony to remember the duke, where men took turns to speak and pay tribute to him. For the next few weeks, villagers met periodically to conduct rites for him. Referring to the Queen, Chief Jack Malia said that though the Duke is dead, they still “Have a connection with the 'mother' of the royal family.” Many of the tribesmen believe that while his body lies at rest, the duke’s soul will return to "its spiritual home, the island of Tanna. There are those who believe (hope) that the Mountain Prince spirit will transfer to the duke’s son, Prince Charles”. (Don’t hold your breath.)

I have seen nothing related to how the death of Queen Elizabeth has affected these communities.