Road Belong Cargo: A Study of the Cargo Movement in the Southern Madang District, New Guinea

328 Pages·1964·345.443 MB·English

by  Peter Lawrence

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https://archive.org/details/roadbelongcargos00lawr0

ROAD BELONG CARGO
FOR
THE TANGALOOMA
ROAD BELONG CARGO
A study of the Cargo Movement
in the Southern Madang District
New Guinea
by
PETER'LAWRENCE
MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS
© 1964 PETER LAWRENCE
Published by the University of Manchester at
THE UN1VERSITY PRESS
316-324 Oxford Road, Manchester 13
Distributed in the U.S.A. by
HumMmaniTies Press, Inc.
303 Fourth Avenue, New York 10, N.Y.
Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd, Frome and London
FOREWORD
IN New Guinea nature divided the land with almost insurmountable
barriers. There were the broken ranges, the deep forests, the malarial
swamps, the swift torrents, and the sea that separated the great island
from the many small. As if following the design of nature the people
of the land were divided also—divided by hatred and mistrust that
expressed themselves in the practice and fear of sorcery, and in inter-
necine war that could split even tribes into palisaded communities.
The languages numbered hundreds; the dialects tens of hundreds.
How could such a people possess a common philosophy?
* * *
To a tremendous degree the basic philosophy of the New Guineans
remains a mystery to the non-native and it is true to say that until
recent years no general serious thought was ever given that such a
philosophy, embracing principles common to all, ever existed among
them. There is a mass of documentary evidence about their ways of
life and traditional beliefs. Most of it has been recorded by way of
factual reporting and with comparatively little attempt on the part
of the writers to show how the age-old thinking influences present
behaviour. For many years I have thought that an understanding of
the cargo cult might reveal the foundations upon which a common
philosophy may lie. We might learn if we could get deeper.
My friend, Peter Lawrence, has dug deep indeed. His assiduous
digging has taken him far beneath the surface; his trained skill and
acceptance by the people have done the rest. The result is this book.
It tells of the religious beliefs of the people of the southern Madang
District prior to the coming of the first European, the courageous
Baron Miklouho-Maclay, in 1871. Then there are the changes when the
people are confronted with harsh, foreign domination. Physical rebel-
lion is ruthlessly crushed. The white man’s God and knowledge, with
strict demarcation between sacred and secular, are incomprehensible.
Again the aid of the old gods is sought but the magic is of no avail
and new ways have to be found.
The story is brought to the present day and still the eternal question
is asked, ‘Where is the road that leads to cargor” Although unan-
swered, there is no loss of faith in the world of gods and spirits; it is
a matter of discovering the right method of approach—a matter of
Vv
vi FOREWORD
trial and error until at last the gods and spirits will listen and so bring
the black man equality with the white.
All through, the strong thread of cargo is ever present.
* * *
The cult of cargo, occurring as it does in widely separated parts
of Papua and New Guinea—among people who have no physical com-
munication with each other—and in varying manifestations, has an
underlying basic principle: that the intruding white man has prevented
the material betterment of the native people. Western goods and
knowledge originate in the world of gods and spirits (this despite the
existence of the white man’s factories and schools) and the European
withholds them from the people of New Guinea by keeping for himself
the religious secrets by which they are obtained. The ever-arising
prophets of the cult constantly seek to find new ways in order to
succeed where the old leaders have failed. Their aim is to release the
gods and spirits held in bondage by the white man so that they will
send goods to the people.
Dr Lawrence’s book is aptly named for it follows the devious road
with all its false trails, hardships, and pitfalls that the prophets of
Madang have travelled—and, be it remarked, are still travelling, for
there is hardly a month that passes without, somewhere in the vast-
ness of New Guinea, another prophet arising among its two million
souls to preach the cult of cargo.
As District Officer, I was the Senior Government official at Madang
when I met Peter Lawrence there in 1949. I had then served over
twenty years in New Guinea and had known many of the men who
had tried to lead their people to better things by way of the cargo
doctrine. Some of them, like Batari of Talasea, New Britain, claimed
that they were reincarnated spirits in human form. (Batari claimed a
like transformation in myself so that I was a spirit in rather bulky
human shape.) Most of them had lost their power when the promised
cargo failed to arrive.
I have long known Yali of the Rai Coast and I hope I have kept
his friendship. Dr Lawrence records the sad history of the man: Yali’s
simple and rather naive plans, based on what he had observed in
Australia, to lead the people to betterment; his initial support by the
Government; and the gradual and subtle infiltration of the old beliefs
into his teachings. Poor Yali! Reluctantly he allowed himself to be-
come a messiah. The power of cargo was too much for him and at the
height of his career he was tempted and fell.