Prince Philip of Tanna
He never made it. The man whose return the villagers awaited was Prince Philip, who died on Friday at the age of 99 without setting foot on Tanna. The origins of the so-called Prince Philip Movement are murky, though Philip’s divine status was likely bolstered by his royal visit to the New Hebrides in 1974. Soon after the visit, the villagers sent Philip a ceremonial club called a nalnal; in 1980, Philip sent them back a photo of him holding it, which remains on the island. Over the years, Buckingham Palace sent letters, though Philip never visited. Still, Yakel leader Nako Nikien, who goes by Jimmy Joseph, said recently that “The movement will always continue. And from my opinion, from what we believe, the spirit in Prince Philip won’t die.”
Philip may not have traveled to the island, but in 2007, a reality show called Meet the Natives brought five men, including Jimmy Joseph, from Tanna to the UK. They go to pubs and pig farms, throw darts and clean dishes, witness morning commuting and late-night dancing. But “the main aim of our visit to England,” explains one of the men in the third episode, “is to find out if the time is right for Prince Philip to return to his homeland of Tanna.” Later, he elaborates: “I will ask him what the chiefs of Tanna have asked. What we will ask him is very short: Is the pawpaw ripe yet or not? Then we will know.” At the end of the episode, they finally get an audience with the Prince (off-camera, of course), and are thrilled to return home with Philip’s message.
The Prince Philip Movement is often considered a cargo cult, one of several millenarian religious practices scattered across Melanesia. Many seem to have arisen, at least in part, due to the sudden and massive influx of soldiers, technology, and goods into the Pacific during WWII. Peter Worsley wrote that American soldiers in the Guadalcanal campaign “found the natives furiously at work preparing airfields, roads and docks for the magic ships and planes that they believed were coming from ‘Rusefel’ (Roosevelt), the friendly king of America.” Japanese troops encountered similar scenes. The John Frum Movement, which also originated in Vanuatu, takes its name from a spirit who appeared dressed as an American serviceman and told the people to abandon Christianity and return to the old customs. Today they await Frum’s return by flying the US flag and performing rituals that resemble military drills. A red cross, likely inspired by American medical vehicles, figures prominently in their symbology.
In his book Man Belong Mrs Queen, journalist Matthew Baylis recounts his journey to Tanna to learn more about the Prince Philip Movement. One man tries to explain it to him:
‘We don’t sing songs to Prince Philip. We don’t go into a special house. We don’t have … sticks like this’ – he made the sign of the cross with his hands – ‘or dances or anything like that. You know why?’
‘No.’
‘Christians do that. John Frum people do it, with their American flags and their wooden rifles and marching. And what happens? Has Jesus Christ come yet? Has John? Everything they do to bring them here – it just blocks the road.’
‘So what do you do?’
‘We walk slowly. We work in the gardens. We drink kava. We keep it in our hearts. And what happens? Prince Philip sends us photographs and letters. We have built a road, and because we continue to do it our way, the kastom way, and not the way of the Christians and the John people, one day men from Tanna will meet him.’
Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, also died on Friday. On the final track of his 1998 album Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood, he raps:
I'm ready to meet him 'cause where I'm living ain't right
Black hate white, white hate black, it's right back to the same fight
They got us suspecting a war
But the real war is to follow the law of the Lord
I'm ready to meet him
I'm ready to meet him
I'm ready to meet him
I'm ready to meet him
I'm ready to meet him
ben tapeworm