Paliau Maloat

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Paliau Maloat (b. 1907). Leader of a development and religious movement on Manus (Admiralty Islands), Papua New Guinea. Stimulated by his experiences in the war with Japan, he returned to his native village in 1946, believing he was sponsored by Jesus to set up a New Way that would unite the area, with co-operatives and new villages, a fund for development, and a Western lifestyle. His version of Christianity was expressed in the Baluan Native Christian Church, modelled on the Roman Catholic mission. The expectations he aroused led to two cargo-cult outbreaks, the first called ‘The Noise’ in 1946–7, which he repudiated at the time, and the second in 1953–4; in effect these opened the way for Paliau's changes.