Jordan Davis
Jared Daniels
Ryne Duran
Jake Koskondy
Cannibalism: A Fight for Survival vs Ritualistic Practices
One side of the debate will be about how many cannibalistic people killed and ate someone for survival and for the pleasure of it. Many situations like the Richard Parker case, the Starving time, Donner Party and some other cases are historical proof that people have been in such dire situations that they have resorted into killing someone and eating their flesh and organs to sustain and preserve their wellbeing. The case of Richard Parker had ended up making a law called the Bloomberg law stating that, “killing an innocent life to save one’s own does not justify murder even if it under extreme necessity of hunger.” The law came into effect in 1884 when the yacht Mignonette sunk in a storm and 4 crew members were a drift at sea, dying of starvation slowly. It is said that Richard Parker – age 17- drank seawater because he was so thirsty, which made him weak and ill. The “captain” of the ship named Dudley and one of his crew members named Stephens believed it was “only sensible” to kill the boy since he was sick and didn’t have any family connections than forfeit one of their own lives. The other crew member, Brooks took no part in the killing of Parker. When they were rescued, Dudley and Stephens were charged with murder and sentenced to death and Brooks was acquitted from any involvement in the ordeal. The picture below shows the crew of the Mignonette and the fate of Richard Parker.
In 16th and 17th century, some people turned to eating corpse flesh and drinking blood to “cure” themselves from diseases and to make medicines for things that ranged from headaches to epilepsy. Evidence shows that gravediggers and robbers would sell body parts and have stolen mummies from the Egyptian tombs and Irish burial sites. A skull perhaps, would be grounded up into powder and put into a drink and would miraculously cure nosebleeds and epilepsy. It was all a mind game and in thinking that it helped, somehow made everything go away for them. If someone was in a state of depression back then, they would have what was called a “The King’s Drops” which is alcohol and human-skull mixed in. However, it was probably the alcohol that made their depression go away but, for people back then they believed in anything. Romans used to drink the blood from a slain gladiator, believing that they would “absorb the vitality of strong young men.” The picture below shows early Egyptians embalming a corpse. They would use
corpse blood and flesh to heal whatever diseases they suspected having.
During the early 1600s in Jamestown, Virginia, there was a period called the “starving time.” It led to more than 200 deaths of men, women and children because of sickness, starvation and Indian invasions at James Fort. The town ended up living off of the people who died first to stay alive. The link below shows a video clip of CNN news on how archaeologists discovered how Jamestown survived the harsh winter with little food and resorted into the consumption of corpse flesh. They dug up evidence of a human skull that is believed to be a 14 year old girl that came over seas from England and was deemed Jane by archaeologists. The skull has precise cut marks that would have been from the removal of tissues and flesh. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/01/us/jamestown-cannibalism/
The Donner Party has been suspected to result into cannibalism for survival. A report done by Daniel Lewis about the forensics of the Donner Party stated this, “However one account involves cannibalism just after the Forlorn Hope left the lake, stating the Donners partook of the remains of Sam. Shoemaker. However, some consider the accounts of Alder Creek shady, as many of the informants were very young children at the time, and few adults who stayed at Alder Creek survived. We know the Forlorn Hope, the Breens, Graves and Donners at Starved Camp, and those who were at the lake after the first relief, esp. the Murphys and Lewis Keseberg survived by cannibalism. It is possible those at the lake and perhaps Alder Creek who left with the First Relief never ate the dead. When William Eddy discovered that the bodies of his family had been mutilated by Keseberg, he threatened to kill Keseberg if they ever met again. The bodies were mutilated but identifiable, not bad considering people had survived on them for long over a month. Furthermore, most were careful to avoid eating the bodies of their family. Not nearly as morbid as many people believed the story of the Donner party to be. To know who cannibalized is hard, as few were brave enough to admit the grotesque act, and our knowledge of cannibalism mostly comes of the accounts of others who "didn't" cannibalize and the discovery of terribly mutilated corpses by the rescuers. Some supposedly found it too hard to eat of the others, though this could be an exaggeration.The only characters that have been known to have avoided cannibalism are those who died in or before December, as well as James Reed and William McCutchen. The two Indians, Luis and Salvadore, are also said to have avoided eating the bodies of the dead with the Forlorn Hope. A fair estimate said that at least half the Donner Party survived by cannibalism, however most of the survivors were in this half. (Only about half of the Donner Party survived.)
Mortality: There were 91 in the Donner Party, including those who died before the winter, e.g. Sarah Keyes; and those who joined the party later, e.g., Luis & Salvadore. Of the 91, 44 died, and 47 survived. Ages taken from July 31, 1846.
(D)=Died (S)=Survived
Age Mortality:
Infants: Isabella Breen (S), Margaret Eddy (D), George Foster (D), Elizabeth Graves ([D] after reaching Sutter's Fort), Harriet McCutchen (D), Louis Keseberg, Jr. (D) Survival: 1/6 (-5)
Seniors (over 55) George Donner, age 60/62 (D) Jacob Donner, 56 (D) Franklin Ward Graves, 57 (D) Hardkoop, 60? (D) Sarah Keyes, 70 (D) Survival: 0/5
Gender Mortality:Total: 55 men/36 women, 91 persons.33 men died and 11 women died.
With lack of food, the men became exhausted with the burden of physical labor. As they became skinnier and weaker, it became harder to fight the coldness of winter.
The exact origin of cannibalism is a mystery and will most likely remain so. Some anthropologists believe that cannibalism began in earliest human history and proliferated with man’s increasing attempt to appease the gods, survive famine, or exact revenge on or control his enemies. To date, archeological evidence suggests that cannibalism was practiced as far back as the Neolithic Period and Bronze Age in what is now Europe and the Americas.
Even so, it compels us to ponder why the flesh of the dead can provoke such overpowering cannibalistic urges; why many believe the dead can be transformed literally and symbolically into ritual gifts for the living, and why a cannibalistic equation seems to characterize many death rituals around the world--both past and present-day.
Ritual cannibalism has been ethnographically documented among numerous modern-day tribes including the Gimi of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, the Wari tribesmen of western Brazil, and several indigenous groups of the Congo, Indonesia, and even certain sects of Japan. The perpetuation of this ancient practice has spawned a number of theories as to why it persists.
Oral traditions and world literature are brimming with fascinating accounts of headhunting cannibals of the African jungles, heart-devouring tribes of the Amazonian rainforest, highly elaborate ceremonies surrounding the consumption of human flesh among Papua New Guinea aborigine, and dining on the dead among the Anasazi of Chaco Canyon in the Four Corners region of the U. S. Southwest.
Cannibalism is, in fact, deeply embedded in the romantic lore of mankind’s evolution--tied to mythology, religion, witchcraft, vampirism, and strangely perhaps, to heroism.
Among the Gimi of Papua New Guinea, for example, cannibalism is rooted in ancient mythology where the “mother” figure is depicted as a punishing deity.
The Gimi commonly attribute such problems as male impotence, lack of milk in new mothers, and female infertility to the “mother” robbing vital energy from the dead--thus leaving less for the living. Accordingly, Gimi cannibalism is primarily a female ritual whereby women eat the bodies of their own children, husbands, and parents as a way to counteract the life-draining powers of the mother deity.
Similarly, following the death of a Wari tribesman of Brazil, family members will mourn and wail inconsolably over the corpse for several days until it begins to putrefy.
Then it is ritualistically cut into small pieces--initially, the brains, heart, and liver--then roasted, placed on clean ceremonial mats, then distributed among the relatives--the choicest pieces going to the parents and elders. The Wari believe they consume the animal essence of their loved ones, which in turn contributes to their own inner strength.
Unlike most Hindu sects, which are vegetarians and never partake of alcohol, the Aghori frequently consume meat and routinely include alcohol in their daily rituals. It is their belief that eating the dead will give them a direct pathway to god, avoiding reincarnation.
There are many views pertaining to cannibalism, some view it as a life generating food source, to others it is a way to conquer death and some simply believe that it separates followers from leaders.
Exocannibalism is defined as a culture in which a group or tribes consume the peoples of another group or tribe. This act is for the purpose of tribal power as well as to simply scare off other tribes, a tribe will use murder and aggression and even used captured enemies and slaves for their cannibalistic purposes. These tribes believe that consuming the flesh of one’s enemy would grant them the spirit and skills of the victim.
Endocannibalism is the practice of consuming members of one’s own tribe or culture. Typically this is associated with burial rituals in which it is called compassionate cannibalism and focuses mainly on the deceased and corpses. For example, according to anthropologist Beth Conklin in article by Ellie Shick mortuary cannibalism amongst the Wari tribe of the Amazon rainforest had a socially integrative dimension. Upon consumption of the deceased group member, the spirit of the dead was believed to be absorbed by the entire tribe and was considered by them to be one of the most respectful ways to treat a human body.
Throughout the world there are some tribes who practice both endo and exo-cannibalism as well as epicurean cannibalism, which is the consumption of flesh for more nutritional reasons. The Ancient Aztecs of Mexico (13th century) practiced almost all forms of cannibalism annually to create a balance in the universe between the world and the cosmos. Aztecs held a firm belief that sacrifice and cannibalism would appease the gods and if they did not continue these rituals that it would mark the end of their own being. It was also practiced as a way for humans to get closer to the gods and even communicate with them.
Other cultures participated in endo- and exo-cannibalism for similar reasons, such as The North American Indians, known as the Iroquoian (1838). They believed that sacrificing and consuming the bodies of their enemies would satisfy their war god and lead to their spirit being transferred and absorbed into their own bodies. The absorbed spirit was believed to empower the cannibal with the attributes of the dead person.
Tribes in Papua, New Guinea, known to have practiced endo- and exo-cannibalism up until the 1960s for ritualistic purposes. They held the belief that the consumption of human flesh, typically deceased relatives, was seen as a sign of respect.
The oldest and most sacred ritual in honor of cannibalism- the consumption of a victim’s flesh and blood, to consume their spirit and essence is the ritual of the Sacred Eucharist of Osiris.
Two and a half thousand years before the ritual was introduced into the ceremonies of Krishnianity, the ceremony of the sacred eucharist of Osiris was well established the origin of both the concept, the ritual and almost word for word the description used by the Roman Catholic Church today.
There are two streams of cannibalism concerning the Fertility Goddesses of the ancient world- the literal cannibalism associated with the frenzied death associated with Osiris in which the initiates in a frenzied state called Omophagia meaning “Eating-into-the-belly” eat the flesh and blood of a human victim raw. The other was the "more refined" ritual of the Sacred Eucharist in which blood of a victim was intermingled in unleavened bread to form the Eucharist.
Of the two, the physical eating of flesh and blood of a dying person was rarely ever practiced and became most common during the demonic reigns of the dynastic Popes, climaxing in the years of the 12th to 14th Centuries when the Vatican ceased all pretense of being a place of sacredness and became the most open example of human sacrifice and demon worship not seen in Europe since late Neolithic times.
In Papua New Guinea, the Fore tribe passed down the cannibalistic funeral rite over many generations, placing a heavy focus on women and children consuming the flesh of Fore males. Those who consumed had to follow certain protocol; for example, a woman had to eat her brother’s brain or the hands of her brother-in-law. Of course, the consumption of each body part symbolized a different attribute the consumer could take on. In India, for example, certain tribes were known to consume human flesh in an attempt to gain supernatural powers and immortality. Some Native American tribes, while they didn’t consume flesh, ingested small bones and ashes from loved ones as a way to mourn their loss.