Indigenous people dealing with western consumerism.

"The most famous examples of cargo cult behavior have been the airstrips, airports, and radios made out of coconuts and straw. The cult members built them in the belief that the structures would attract transport aircraft full of cargo. Believers stage "drills" and "marches" with twigs for rifles and military-style insignia and "USA" painted on their bodies to make them look like soldiers."

"They carved headphones from wood, and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the landing signals while standing on the runways. They lit signal fires and torches to light up runways and lighthouses. The cultists thought that the foreigners had some special connection to their own ancestors, who were the only beings powerful enough to produce such riches."


From the jungle above the village, the army appears: 40 or so of the younger men, in jeans and bare torsos with 'USA' painted on their chests and backs in day-glo pink magic marker. The elders put the army through their paces with shouts and whistles, marching them back and forth under the now-baking sun and the volcano's plume of steam, each barked command to turn and shoulder arms applauded wildly by the crowd. Part military drill, part kastom dance, it's a performance like no other, genuinely stirring for islanders and visitors alike.