The name Tanna, first cited by James Cook, is derived from the word tana in the Kwamera language, meaning "earth".

Many have died out, but the John Frum cult remains strong on Tanna today, especially at Sulphur Bay in the southeast and Green Point in the southwest of the Island.

While the British were more open to allowing its holdings in Vanuatu to achieve independence, it was opposed by the French colonists and finally suppressed by the Anglo-French Condominium authorities on 29 June 1974.

British forces intervened on 26 May 1980, allowing the island to become part of the newly independent nation of Vanuatu on 30 July 1980.

Tanna and nearby Erromango were devastated by Cyclone Pam in March 2015, with reports of an unknown number of deaths, complete destruction of the island’s infrastructure and permanent shelters, and no drinking water.

According to anthropologist Joël Bonnemaison, author of "The Tree and the Canoe: history and ethnography of Tanna," their resistance to change derives from their traditional worldview and how they "perceive, internalise, and account for the dual concepts of space and time.

"[9] The island is the centre of the John Frum religious movement,[10] which attracts tourist interest as a cargo cult.

The first John appeared at night as a spirit at a place called Green Point beach and told the people to return to their traditional way of life, or kastom.

The cult is examined by British writer Matthew Baylis in his 2013 book Man Belong Mrs Queen: Adventures with the Philip Worshippers.

[11] Five men from the cargo cult were brought to the United Kingdom as part of the Channel 4 reality show Meet the Natives in 2007.

In 2009 the Travel Channel aired Meet the Natives: USA, which brought five men from another group from Tanna to the United States.

[16] Their tribe reveres John Frum, an American World War II sailor who generations ago had taught the inhabitants to live in peace.