Vailala Madness - Source of These Beliefs

Source of These Beliefs

The source of the model of organization incorporating drills, curfews and tea was most likely observed by the leaders of the movement whilst working in plantations far away from the Papuan Gulf, where they also picked up Tok Pisin. It is likely that there they also learned about the war with Germany, since the glossolalia was described as "djaman". It has been suggested that ideas about 'cargo' - specifically, the belief that it was diverted from the ancestors by whites - emerged within the context of the plantation indigenous labour force.

It is clear that Christianity, which had been introduced by Rev. James Chalmers in the 1890s, had a profound effect on the people, and it is possible that many ideas in the moral code stemmed from it. The movement set out to "throw'em away bloody new guinea somethings", which should not be interpreted as the internalization of colonialist ideology. In fact, colonialist ideology in Papua demanded that indigenous society remain relatively stable within tradition and culture, and for this reason, the Vailala Madness was considered to be a troubling indicator that society might collapse under the pressure of change.