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Existence of Cannibalism
Sagan defines cannibalism as the consumption of whole or part of human flesh by fellow human beings. Although very controversial and associated with non western countries according to Barker, Hulme and Iversen , its history dates a long time back . However, from research, it is evident that it has been a popular part of the American culture evidenced from “Cannibal Jokes” where it’s used to tell jokes as in the case of the humorous story “Cannibalism in the cars” by Mark Twain where prominent train travelers are forced to engage in cannibalism when stranded due to a snowstorm (Ngo 132). Testimonies in form of diaries and interviews from the survivors of the snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains which took five months as revealed by Hart are also an indication of cannibalism in the history of America (133).
The variation in beliefs and traditions among the numerous cultural communities in the world, make a common practice among certain groups of people in order to obtain particular benefits. The human flesh is normally consumed from dead bodies. At times it is applied for survival, diet and religious or ritualistic performance by some communities based on tradition. The existence of cannibalism today will be discussed s well as the various forms with which it is exhibited.
As Poole portrays, cannibalism is still a current practice. Human beings can be trapped and bought for food in some cultures like in the Miyanmin society in west Sepik Papua in New Guinea where the villagers value the life of pigs and marsupials over humans who form part of their normal diet. Without differences in gender, ritual status, kinship or bodily substance, anyone even their dead are eaten. In order to get a continuous supply of human flesh they raid and drag neighboring villages to their village to be eaten. This occurred following a onetime shortage of wild animals where human beings became more hence appropriate for food acquiring dietary cannibalism (Ngo 133).
Leopard people and the alligator societies of South America also eat human flesh as their traditional culture. They practice dietary exocannibalism in hunting groups with a member concealing the face with Leopard skin while as MacCormarick describes, the alligator people uses alligator-like submarines (134).
This is different from religious or ritual cannibalism practiced for ceremonial purpose and not nourishment. One or more victims may be sacrificed at a time to honor the dead during funeral rituals. For example, a chief or leader in the Bangala tribe around Congo River in Central Africa is honored by the number of slaves sacrificed for feasting (134). In South America however, it is performed as a revenge for the highly honored dead while Indians sacrifice a single victim per ritual .For instance, a victim is forced to take the part of a killed warrior, marry his wife then later killed. The children soak their hands in the victim’s blood to symbolize avenge for the dead warrior while elderly women drink his blood, roast and eat his body.
Among the Bimin-Kuskusmin tribe in Africa, the capacity of a woman to bear children is highly value. Only a small part especially from the genitals is used for ritual with the supervision of elders. Poole expresses how a widow eats raw flesh obtained from the penis of her dead husband, to increase her future capacity of fertility and reproduction. Moreover, a widower in the hope to make the fertility of his deceased wife’s daughters enhanced may eat the flesh from a piece of her vagina and a piece of bone marrow to represent his honor for her capacity to reproduce. Other women who hope to benefit from the reproductive power of a dead elderly woman who possessed a great capacity in reproduction eat her uterus along her inner vaginal parts (135).
Besides cultural influence, some people who under normal circumstances do not practice cannibalism may do it when compelled by circumstances. These include extreme hunger or starvation due to either drought or being in locations without any source of food as in the case of the fifty-five refugees from Vietnam who were escaping to Malaysia. According to Ngo, they were forced to eat the flesh of their relatives and companions due to desperation and the need to keep alive therefore survive (132). This is in turn known as survival cannibalism .Another form is evidenced by Tuzin in the case where Japanese troops sacrificed the Arapesh people in northeastern Guinea as food so as to survive. As shipman describes, it is possible to divide cannibalism into two major categories based on the above illustrations. These are exocannibalism which refers to outsiders or foreigners being eaten and endocannibalism members of the same social group are eaten (133).
With the possibility of survival cannibalism human beings are cannibals in nature since we are all descendants of the same ancestors as the Miyanmin, Alligator as well as the Leorpard people. In addition, it is evident that our ancestors were cannibals; a practice that has changed over the ages. It can therefore be concluded that cannibalism is still widely practiced in the world by particular communities as well as individuals depending on their traditions and beliefs.
Works Cited
Ngo, L. “Cannibalism: It Still Exists.” Axelford, B.R. and C. R. Cooper. The St. Martin’s Guide
to Writing. Boston: Bedford, 2010: pp. 132-135.
