Behind the palisade stood the houses of the residents, covered with thatch. The main building of the village was the marae - the Meeting House, which was the spiritual center. These houses were considered living beings. Their interior was called the belly, the beams were called the spine, and the mask above the roof ridge was the head. These houses were decorated with carvings depicting gods, leaders and events of the past. Near the marae, leaders were buried, magical rites were performed and sacrifices were made. The latter were headed by a leader (arik), who performed the functions of the high priest. In general, the figure of the leader was sacred for the Maori; he was treated like a demigod. After death, the spirit of the deceased leader became a real object of veneration. The leader had a special mana, i.e. a power that is given to people from above, by spirits. The concept of taboo is inextricably linked with the figure of the leader.
Taboo is a concept that means something separated from others, sacred, which they have no right to encroach on. The figure of the leader is taboo for everyone, because he is a demigod. Moreover, everything that came into contact with the leader became taboo. For example, if the chief touched someone's property, it no longer belonged to its previous owners. The latter could lose their housing if the leader entered it. The leader could impose a taboo on fishing and then no one dared to catch it until the ban was lifted. Violation of the taboo entailed immediate and sometimes terrible death. The fear of him was so great that, at times, people died (!) only when they accidentally found out that they had unwittingly broken a taboo. “The taboo covers life... peoples in such a depressing form that from here comes a general oppression, which the priests and leaders knew how to skillfully use for political purposes.” The Maori also had priests, who were divided into two main classes: the first - the tohunga or official priest located at the sanctuary, and the second - the taura, simple fortune-tellers and sorcerers not associated with the sanctuary. After the leaders the priests played main role in the tribe. The Maori believed that after death the souls of leaders and priests, becoming deities or demigods, lived forever, but the souls ordinary people die forever. This unusual doctrine of immortality also reveals the unlimited power that the leaders and priests possessed. New Zealanders had a large pantheon of gods, the main of which were: Tangaroa (god of the sea), Tane (god of the sun), Rongo (god of the moon), Tu (god of war). The main thing in the worship of the gods was sacrifices.
The sinister feature of Maori sacrifices was their cannibalistic nature. Until the 18th century, the concept of cannibal peoples was perceived as nothing more than a fairy tale. However, when Europeans discovered New Zealand, they were convinced that cannibal peoples were not a myth, but a terrible reality, a terrible example of what deviation from the True God leads to. The first European to visit New Zealand was Abel Tasman, who landed on its shores on December 13, 1642. The boats he sent on reconnaissance were attacked by the Maoris, as a result of which four sailors were killed.
The next European to set foot on its shores was the Frenchman Jacques Surville (December 12, 1769), whose sailors also had a conflict with the aborigines. Almost simultaneously with Surville, it was visited by D. Cook, who stayed here for five months and left very valuable information about the aborigines, with whom he managed not to get involved in a conflict. He also wrote one of their first descriptions: “The inhabitants of this country are strong, thin, well-built, agile, usually above average height, especially men. Their skin is dark brown, their hair is black, their beards are thin and also black, their teeth are white. Those whose faces are not disfigured by tattoos have rather pleasant features. In men usually long hair, combed up and tied at the crown. Some women have their hair loose over their shoulders (especially the older ones), others have it cut short... The locals seem to enjoy excellent health and longevity. Many old people and some middle-aged natives... tattoo their faces with black paint, but we saw several people with tattoos on other parts of the body: thighs, buttocks. Usually intertwined spirals are applied to the body, and the design is very subtle and beautiful... Women inject black paint under the skin on their lips. Both men and women sometimes paint their faces and bodies with red ocher mixed with fish oil... the food is not varied: fern roots, dog meat, fish, wild fowl are its main types, because yams, thaw and sweet potatoes are not grown here. Local residents prepare food in the same way as the natives of the islands of the southern seas: they fry dogs and large fish in holes dug in the ground, while small fish, poultry, and shellfish are boiled over a fire.”
Only on his second trip did Cook find out exactly what the main and favorite meal of the aborigines was. Description of Captain Cook's second voyage around the world in 1772-1775. left by one of its participants, the wonderful and thoughtful scientist Georg Forster. His book “A Voyage Around the World” is distinguished by deep analysis, truthfulness and objectivity, even when he writes about the clashes between the Aborigines and the British. Let us give the floor to Forster, one of the first Europeans to witness a cannibal meal: “In the afternoon, the captain, along with Mr. Walls and my father, decided to cross to Motu Aro to inspect the garden and collect plants for the ship. Several lieutenants meanwhile went to Indian Cove to trade with the natives. The first thing that caught their eye was human entrails, piled in a heap near the water. They had scarcely recovered from this spectacle when the Indians showed them various parts of the body itself, and explained by signs and words that the rest they had eaten. Among these remaining parts was the head; as far as one could judge from it, the murdered man was a young man of fifteen or sixteen years old... 
While we were standing around looking at it, several New Zealanders approached us from the source. Seeing the head, they made it clear with signs that they would like to eat meat and that it was very tasty... they did not eat the meat raw, but first decided to cook it right there in front of us; They fried it a little over the fire, after which they ate it with great appetite...
Philosophers who studied humanity from their study arrogantly claimed that, despite the information of the authors, cannibals never existed. Even among our companions there were several people who still doubted this, not wanting to believe the unanimous testimony of so many people... Now that we saw everything with our own eyes, there was not the slightest doubt about it.
Oparin A.A. In the kingdom of pygmies and cannibals. Archaeological study of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Part II. In the kingdom of pygmies and cannibals
In the 21st century, it is difficult to believe that anyone is capable of cannibalism. For a long time now, guidebooks have not informed about dangers of this kind, although in fact they should. Some tribes abandon civilization and live by old rules, which include cannibalism.
South East Papua New Guinea
The Korowai tribe is one of the endangered tribes where they feed on human flesh. They live next to a river where tourists come. In 1961, the son of Governor Nelson Rockefeller disappeared there. This tribe believes that if a person dies due to illness, then he is devoured from the inside by the sorcerer Hakua. In order to protect others from harm, they must repay the favor - eat the person who died due to the fault of Haqua.
Congo
Cannibalism in the Congo reached its peak during the civil war (1998-2002). The rebels believed that the heart of enemies should be cooked with special herbs and eaten. They still believe that the heart gives a special power that scares away enemies. In 2012, an official case of cannibalism was recorded.
Fiji
If the first two settlements are not dangerous for tourists, then the one located on the island of Fiji should be avoided. Ancient traditions have been preserved on this island: tribes fight among themselves and eat only enemy people, considering this a ritual of revenge. The interesting thing is that they eat not like animals, but using cutlery. They also collect rare items left by victims.
Aghori sect, Varanasi
Varanasi is a city where the dead are burned on the Ganges River. At night, the Aghori religious sect comes to this river. They are smeared with cremation ashes, wear necklaces made of bones, and wear black, inconspicuous clothing. They need the dead to perform rituals. Sometimes they eat volunteers who donate their entrails. This is necessary in order to prevent aging of the body.
The last cannibals are known to live in Papua New Guinea. People still live here according to the rules adopted 5 thousand years ago: men go naked, and women cut off their fingers. There are only three tribes that still engage in cannibalism, these are the Yali, Vanuatu and Karafai. Karafai (or tree people) are the most cruel tribe. They eat not only warriors of foreign tribes, lost locals or tourists, but also all their dead relatives. The name “tree people” came from their houses, which stand incredibly high (see the last 3 photos). The Vanuatu tribe is peaceful enough that the photographer is not eaten; several pigs are brought to the leader. Yali are formidable warriors (photos of Yali start with photo 9). The phalanges of the fingers of a woman of the Yali tribe are cut off with a hatchet as a sign of grief for a deceased or deceased relative.
The most important holiday of Yali is the holiday of death. Women and men paint their bodies in the form of a skeleton. On the holiday of death before, perhaps they still do it now, they killed a shaman and the leader of the tribe ate his warm brain. This was done in order to satisfy Death and absorb the knowledge of the shaman to the leader. Now Yali people are killed less often than usual, mainly if there was a crop failure or for some other “important” reasons.
Hungry cannibalism, which is preceded by murder, is regarded in psychiatry as a manifestation of the so-called hunger insanity.
Domestic cannibalism is also known, not dictated by the need for survival and not provoked by hunger insanity. IN judicial practice such cases are not classified as intentional murder with particular cruelty.
Apart from these not very common cases, the word "cannibalism" often brings to mind crazy ritual feasts, during which victorious tribes devour parts of the bodies of their enemies in order to gain their strength; or another well-known useful "application" of this phenomenon: the heirs treat the bodies of their fathers in this way in the pious hope that they will be reborn in the body of the eaters of their flesh.
The most "cannibalistic" strange modern world is Indonesia. This state has two famous centers of mass cannibalism - the Indonesian part of the island New Guinea and the island of Kalimantan (Borneo). The jungles of Kalimantan are inhabited by 7-8 million Dayaks, famous skull hunters and cannibals.
The most delicious parts of their body are considered to be the head - the tongue, cheeks, skin from the chin, the brain removed through the nasal cavity or ear hole, meat from the thighs and calves, heart, palms. The initiators of crowded campaigns for skulls among the Dayaks are women.
The latest surge in cannibalism in Borneo occurred at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, when the Indonesian government tried to organize the colonization of the interior of the island by civilized immigrants from Java and Madura. The unfortunate peasant settlers and the soldiers accompanying them were mostly slaughtered and eaten. Until recently, cannibalism persisted on the island of Sumatra, where the Batak tribes ate criminals sentenced to death and incapacitated old people.
A major role in practically complete elimination The activities of the “father of Indonesian independence” Sukarno and the military dictator Suharto played a role in cannibalism in Sumatra and some other islands. But even they could not improve the situation in Irian Jaya, Indonesian New Guinea, one iota. The Papuan ethnic groups living there, according to missionaries, are obsessed with a passion for human meat and are characterized by unprecedented cruelty.
They especially prefer human liver with medicinal herbs, penises, noses, tongues, meat from thighs, feet, and mammary glands. In the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, in the independent state of Papua New Guinea, much less evidence of cannibalism is recorded.
How many mysterious and unknown things the mysterious Africa hides within itself!
Its rich fabulous nature, amazing fauna and to this day are of great interest to scientists and excite the inquisitive minds of travelers. Inexplicable admiration, along with animal fear, is caused by the customs and morals of the local aborigines, belonging to the most diverse tribes that inhabit the black continent everywhere. Africa itself is quite contrasting, and behind the façade of the civilized world often hides the unprecedented savagery of the primitive communal system.
Wild Africa. Tribes of cannibals
One of the most mystical secrets tropical Africa, of course, is cannibalism.
Cannibalism, that is, people eating their own kind, in many African tribes, constantly at war with each other, was originally based on the belief in the miraculous effect of human blood and flesh on such qualities of warriors as courage, masculinity, heroism and bravery. Some tribes of cannibals widely used various potions made from burnt and powdered human hearts. It was believed that such a black ointment based on the resulting ash and human fat could strengthen the body and raise the spirit of a warrior before battle, as well as protect against enemy spells. The true scale of all kinds of ritual murders is unknown; all rituals, as a rule, were performed in deep secrecy.
Wild tribes. Reluctant cannibals
Cannibalism was in no way connected with the level of development of a particular Aboriginal tribe or with its moral principles. It was just that it was very widespread throughout the continent, there was an acute shortage of food, and besides, it was much easier to kill a person than to shoot a wild animal while hunting. Although there were tribes that specialized, for example, in cattle breeding, which had enough animal meat, they did not engage in cannibalism. At the beginning of the 20th century, in the territory of modern Zaire, there were huge slave markets where slaves were sold or exchanged for ivory exclusively for food. On them one could see slaves of different sexes and ages, these could even be women with babies in their arms, although men were in great demand for food, since women could be useful in the household.
Cruelty of morals
The cannibal tribes openly declared that they liked it because of its juiciness; fingers and toes, as well as female breasts, were considered a delicacy.
A special ritual was associated with eating the head. Only the most noble of the elders received the flesh torn from the head. The skull was carefully stored in special pots, in front of which rituals of sacrifice were subsequently performed and prayers were recited. Perhaps the most inhumane ritual among the natives was the ritual of tearing off pieces of human flesh from a still living victim, and some Nigerian tribes of cannibals, distinguished by their special, ferocious cruelty, used a pumpkin used as an enema to pour boiling palm oil into the throat or anus of the captive. . According to these cannibals, corpse meat that had lain for some time and was completely soaked in oil was much juicier and more tender in taste. In ancient times, food was mainly consumed from the flesh of foreigners, primarily captives. Nowadays, fellow tribesmen often become victims.
Tribes of cannibals. Creepy hospitality
Interestingly, according to the cannibal customs of hospitality, refusal to taste the delicacy offered to guests was perceived as a mortal insult and insult.
Therefore, without a doubt, in order not to be eaten and to move freely across the continent from tribe to tribe, as well as as a sign of friendship and respect, African travelers probably had to taste this food.
Amasanga scoured the Internet and found a pop article about historical and modern cannibalism in Africa. And I decided to post it in order to shock the reader with a fine mental organization.
PS
I saw interesting photographs from Angola in the late 80s - early 90s of the 20th century.
P.P.S.
About cannibalism among the Indian peoples of the Amazon (in historical period) Amasanga wrote
No other continent hides as many mysteries, mysteries, and unknowns as Africa. The fabulous, rich nature and amazing fauna of the “dark continent” with the many-sided, diverse world of African aborigines has always aroused and arouses admiration, surprise, fear and inexplicable undying interest in the soul of an inquisitive person.
Africa is a continent of contrasts. Here you can see the centers of the modern, so-called civilized world and immediately plunge into the depths of the primitive communal system. They don't know wheels here yet. Shaman healers rule. Polygamy prevails. The population is divided along tribal lines. Separatism, black racism and tribalism are present. People are monstrously superstitious. Behind the outer façade of the white-stone capitals, primitive wildness reigns.
One of the dark, black secrets of tropical and southern Africa is cannibalism - cannibalism. Eating your own kind.
Belief in the effective influence of human flesh and blood is characteristic of many African tribes. Civil wars and fierce tribal clashes have always provoked the production of courage-stimulating potions from human flesh. Often it became widespread.
In the languages of African aborigines, this drug is called “diretlo” or “ditlo” and, according to ancient customs, is prepared from the heart (sometimes the liver) of the enemy, in order to thereby adopt his courage, courage and heroism.
The heart was ground into powder, from which potions were prepared. Pieces human meat burned over a fire with medicinal herbs and other ingredients until the result was a charred mass, which was churned and mixed with animal or human fat. It turned out something like a black ointment. This substance, called lenaka, was placed in a hollow goat's horn. It was used to strengthen the body and spirit of warriors before battle, to protect native village, to counter the spells of enemy magicians.
In past times, this drug was prepared mainly from the flesh of foreigners, especially captives. Nowadays, to obtain a special drug called “diretlo”, it is necessary to cut the flesh of a living person in a certain order, and the victim is selected from among his fellow tribesmen by the healer of this tribe, who discerned in this person the necessary magical abilities necessary to prepare a powerful drug.
Sometimes even a relative of one of the ritual participants may be chosen. No details regarding the chosen victim are ever given to anyone. This is decided by the healer - omurodi. The entire ritual is performed in deep secrecy.
To prepare "diretlo" it is necessary not only to cut off the flesh of a living person, but then to kill him and the corpse to first be hidden in a secret place, and then moved somewhere away from the village.
Here is one example of such a ritual. A group of blacks led by Omurudi came to the hut of the one chosen for ritual murder. He, not knowing anything, went outside with them. He was immediately captured. The protesters remained deathly silent. The unfortunate man shouted that he would give everything he had if only he would be released. He was quickly gagged and dragged away from the village.
Having found a more secluded place, the blacks quickly stripped the doomed man naked and laid him on the ground. An oil lamp immediately appeared, by the light of which the executioners, deftly wielding knives, cut off several pieces of meat from the victim’s body. One chose the calf of the leg, the second - the biceps on right hand, the third cut a piece from the right breast, and the fourth from the groin. They laid out all these pieces on a white rag in front of the omurodi, who was to prepare the necessary potion. One of the group collected the blood flowing from the wounds into a pot. Another, pulling out a knife, tore off all the flesh from the face to the bones - from the forehead to the throat, cut out the tongue and gouged out the eyes.
But their victim died only after she was slashed in the throat with a sharp knife.
At present, all Africans understand that a magic potion prepared from human flesh is not capable of ensuring victory in civil war, but nevertheless it is widely used as a way to enhance intrigue and behind-the-scenes maneuvers.
Instead of enemy captives, the victims are now members of the same tribe - a rather rare form of human sacrifice, which previously required only strangers, slaves, captives, and in no case fellow tribesmen.
The scale of such ritual killings is unknown. Everything happens in the deepest secrecy, even from the residents of the villages where they are carried out. Currently, there is already an opinion among African aborigines that ritual killings are not “ritual” to the end, and therefore are not real human sacrifices. However, the choice of victim, the method of killing and disposal of the corpse convince us that a carefully developed ritual accompanies each stage of the preparation of the drug.
Belief in the effective influence of human flesh and blood in tropical and south africa common to many tribes. For them, human meat turned into a spell not only gives the desired privileges to representatives of the highest African nobility, but also influences the gods, encouraging them not to skimp on the fat harvest.
This is how the anthropologist and ethnographer Herbert Ward, who studied this region well, described the slave markets on the tributaries of the Lualaba River.
Probably the most inhumane practice among native tribes should be considered the tearing of pieces of flesh from a living victim. Cannibals become like a hawk pecking out the flesh of its prey.
As incredible as it may seem, captives are usually led from one place to another in front of those hungry for their meat, who, in turn, mark with special signs those tasty morsels that they would like to buy. This is usually done either with clay or with strips of fat glued to the body.
The stoicism of these unfortunate victims, in front of whose eyes there is a brisk trade in their body parts, is amazing! It can only be compared with the doom with which they meet their fate."
- Do you eat human flesh here? - Ward asked in one of the villages, pointing to long spits strewn with meat over smoking fires.
“We’re eating, aren’t you?” - came the answer.
A few minutes later the leader of the tribe came out and offered a whole dish of large fried pieces meat that was undoubtedly human. He was terribly upset when he received Ward's refusal.
Once in a large forest, when Ward's expedition settled down for the night with a group of captured slave warriors and their fellow tribesmen, the whites were forced to change place, as they were bothered by the sickening smell of roasted human meat, which was being cooked everywhere on fires.
The leader explained to the whites that the conditions for devouring a human victim depended on what it was. If it was a captive, then only the leader ate the corpse, and if it was a slave, then the corpse was divided among the members of his tribe.
As for mass ritual killings in Africa, they were the exception rather than the generally accepted rule. The essence of Zimbabwean ritual human sacrifice was that it required the death of one person, rather than the mass destruction of people.
Cannibalism is far from dead in Africa. In our time, the ruler of Uganda, educated in the West, turned out to be a “civilized” cannibal who ate more than fifty of his fellow tribesmen.
It is absolutely impossible to exercise any control over the aborigines in the deep jungle. Because of false modesty and a reluctance to appear savage, the authorities hide the true picture of cannibalism.
In the north of Angola, on the border with Zaire, such an incident occurred. One provincial policeman (chief), standing on the threshold of his house and listening in the night to the booming long voice of a tom-tom, remarked: “They are probably cutting someone up there.” - “Why aren’t you doing anything?” - we asked. - “If I send one of my assistants there, he will only pretend that he has been there. He will not stick his nose there, fearing that he himself will end up on a spit. We can do something if we have evidence on our hands and we will discover human bones. But they know how to get rid of them too."
In the seventies of the twentieth century, during liberation struggle movement (later party) for the liberation of Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands from the Portuguese colonialists, the rebels had to escape from the attacks of Portuguese troops to the north, to Senegal. In order not to lose mobility, they left the wounded in the settlements of friendly tribes. But, returning again to Guinea-Bissau, they did not find the wounded soldiers left behind. There were many such cases.
And then the leader of Paigk Amilcar Cabral ordered to dig up the places where, according to the aborigines, they buried the dead. They found nothing there. The Africans admitted that “they ate them.” Bones and skulls were found outside the settlement boundaries. The rebels shot the cannibals with machine guns and burned all the settlements.
The authorities have to fight cannibalism, but despite all efforts, some tribes continue this monstrous practice. Some blacks have sharpened teeth - a sign of cannibalism. This was also pointed out by 19th century anthropologists who explored the Lualaba basin. Where the “sharp-toothed ones” live, it was not possible to find at least one grave anywhere nearby - very eloquent proof of this.
The custom of eating the dead was widespread among all the clans of the large Bogesu tribe (region of the Ubangi River). Eating was carried out during the period intended for mourning the dead.
The deceased remains in the house until evening. Relatives called for this occasion gather to mourn him. In some special cases, such gatherings took a day or even two, but usually they got by with one day. At sunset, the corpse was carried to the nearest vacant lot and laid on the ground. At this time, the clan members hid around in the bushes, and when the darkness deepened, they began to blow their gourd horns, creating a noise similar to the howls of jackals. Villagers were warned about the appearance of “jackals,” and young people were strictly forbidden to leave their homes. With the onset of complete darkness, a group of old women, relatives of the deceased, approached the corpse and dismembered it, taking the best pieces with them and leaving the inedible parts to be torn to pieces by wild animals.
Over the next three to four hours, relatives mourned the deceased. After this, all participants in the ceremony cooked his meat and ate it, after which they burned his bones at the stake, leaving no traces of him.
Widows, however, burned their grass loincloths and either went naked or covered themselves with the small aprons they usually wore. unmarried girls. After this ceremony, widows again became free, able to get married. Such a ceremony was observed in one of the settlements in northern Angola. Very similar story Cubans who fought as part of an expeditionary force against Zairean troops in the north and northeast of Angola spoke about cannibal rituals. Members of the tribe explained the custom of eating their dead as follows. If, they said, you bury a dead person in the ground and, as is usually done, allow him to decompose, then his spirit will annoy everyone in the area: it will take revenge for the fact that the corpse is allowed to rot in peace.
And this is how the burial of a dead African goes. The deceased's legs were bent, and the crossed arms were extended along the body in front of him, which was done even before death. The corpse was tied in such a position that it would not straighten, and with the onset of rigor, all its members would harden. All jewelry was removed from the deceased. The grave was usually dug here, in the hut, and the body was lowered into it on an old mat or skin, and in a sitting position. The grave was then filled up. Women were buried outside the hut. The corpse was laid on its back, its legs were bent, and its arms were pulled from both sides to the head.
The brother of the deceased immediately took all his widows to him, but left one of them in the hut so that she would look after the fresh grave for a month (lunar), and everyone else had to carry out daily program to mourn the deceased with screams and heartbreaking cries. The mourners ate meat, then washed, shaved their heads and cut their nails. The hair and nails of each participant in the ceremony were placed in a bundle, which was hung from the roof of the hut. At this point the mourning ceremony ended, and no one else paid any attention to this place, although, of course, everyone was sure that the spirit of the dead man was wandering somewhere nearby.
A dug grave inside the hut, which was then collapsed on it, can, of course, to some extent explain the phenomenon of why no burial sites can be discovered. Travelers have also encountered this in the past, from which they drew a completely reasonable conclusion: African tribes supported ancient custom, obliging one to eat one’s deceased relatives on the spot.
The practice of cannibalism in some regions of Africa was secretive and secret, while in others, on the contrary, it was open and amazing. Anthropologists managed to collect huge amount facts. Here are some examples.
The aborigines of the Ganavuri tribe (Blue Mountains region), for example, tore the meat from the bodies of their defeated enemies, leaving only the entrails and bones. They returned home with pieces of human meat on the tips of their spears, where they handed the booty into the hands of the priests, who were supposed to fairly divide it among the old people. The most noble of the elders received the flesh torn from his head. To do this, the hair of the victim was cut off from the head, then the stripped meat, cut into strips, was cooked and eaten near the sacred stone.
But no matter how the young members of the tribe showed themselves in battle, they were strictly forbidden to take part in such a feast.
The Ganavuri tribe usually limited themselves to eating the dead bodies of enemies killed on the battlefield. These savages never intentionally killed their women. However, the neighboring Ataka tribe did not disdain the female flesh of their enemies; another tribe, the Tantales, engaged in “skull hunting,” “specialized” in consuming meat cut from women’s heads.
Cannibals from the Kohleri tribe tried to eat as many corpses of their enemies as possible. They were so bloodthirsty that they killed and immediately ate any stranger, both white and black, if he suddenly found himself on their territory.
The cannibals from the Gorgum tribe usually waited two days after their warriors returned with the spoils and only then began their cannibalistic feast. The heads were always boiled separately from the rest of the body, and no warrior was allowed to eat the flesh from the head unless he personally killed the enemy himself during the battle. The rest of human flesh did not have this of great importance, and all fellow tribesmen - men, women and children - could feast on it. In this tribe, even the entrails were eaten after they were separated from the body, washed, and cleaned with a mixture of ash and herbs in water.
The cannibals of the Sura tribe (Aruvimi River) added salt and vegetable oil to the meat of their victims when boiling and more widely used the age limit of their victims. They did not allow any woman of their tribe to even look at human flesh, but they fed boys and young men, even by force, if they refused to eat, since, according to the elders, this instilled in them more courage and courage.
The Anga tribe refused to eat the meat of boys and young men, because, in their opinion, they had not yet developed any special virtues suitable for passing on to others. They didn’t eat old people either, for the reason that if they mature years and were brave and courageous people, skilled trackers, then with age all of them best qualities were clearly falling into disrepair.
Some of these cannibalistic tribes had a fairly well-developed "penal code" associated with their cannibalistic practices. In the Anga tribe, it was allowed to eat the flesh of a fellow tribesman if he was recognized as a criminal and sentenced to death penalty. The cannibals of the Sura tribe ate the flesh of their fellow tribeswoman if she committed adultery.
The Warawa tribe were ready to sacrifice any member of the clan who in any way violated the law, and such punishment was accompanied by an elaborate ritual. The culprit was not just killed, but sacrificed. Blood was pumped out of him for a kind of Eucharist (communion), and only after that his flesh was transferred for consumption to members of the tribe.
Some tribes had a slightly different motivation, not as “ignoble” in nature as a brutal passion for human flesh. They had deeply rooted superstitions: by eating the head and other parts of the body, they supposedly destroyed the spirit of the victim, depriving her of the opportunity to take retribution, to return from other world to harm those who are still here. Although it was believed that the victim's spirit resided in her head, there were suspicions that it could, if necessary, move from one part of the body to another. Hence the desire to destroy the entire victim without a trace.
But there was another belief. Members of the Anga tribe usually ate their old people, who had not yet reached senile dementia and were showing their physical and physical abilities to the proper extent. mental abilities. The family that made the fatal decision turned to a man living on the outskirts of the settlement with a request to take upon himself the execution of the unspoken sentence and even offered him payment for this.
After killing a person, his body was eaten, but the head was carefully kept in a pot, in front of which various sacrifices were subsequently made, prayers were said, and all this was done quite often.
The Jorgum and Tangale tribes (Niger River) practiced the most primitive form of cannibalism. An unquenchable passion for human flesh, coupled with no less strong passion retribution played an important role. The people of this tribe even had a ritual prayer in which they expressed their hatred of their enemies and shameful passion for human flesh, which excited them even more.
Cannibalism is in no way connected with the level of development of a particular tribe or with its “moral standards”. It was widespread even among those tribes that had the most high level development. (Tribes such as the Herero and Maasai never engaged in cannibalism, as they were pastoralists. They had enough meat from livestock)
Cannibals stated that they ate human flesh only because they liked to eat meat, with the African aborigine preferring human flesh because of its greater juiciness. The biggest delicacy was considered to be the palms of the hands, fingers and toes, and the woman's breasts. The younger the victim, the softer its meat. Human meat is the most delicious, followed by monkey meat.
Some Nigerian tribes were distinguished by their ferocious cruelty. The cannibals of the Bafum-Banso tribe often tortured captives before death. They boiled palm oil and, using a gourd used as an enema, poured the boiling contents either down the unfortunate man's throat into his stomach, or through the anus into his intestines. In their opinion, after this the meat of the captives became even more tender, even juicier. The bodies of the dead lay for a long time until they were soaked through with oil, after which they were dismembered and greedily eaten.
In the heart of equatorial Africa lies a swimming pool great river Congo (Lualaba). Many, many travelers, missionaries, anthropologists, and ethnographers devoted themselves to exploring this area. One of them, James Dennis, said in his Travel Notes: “In central Africa, from the east to the west coasts, especially up and down the numerous tributaries of the Congo River, cannibalism is still practiced, which is accompanied by brutal cruelty. Almost all tribes in the Congo Basin are either cannibals or until recently were, and among some the disgusting practice is on the rise.
Those tribes that had never been cannibals until that time, as a result of constantly growing conflicts with the cannibals around them, also learned to eat human flesh.
It is interesting to note the predilections of various tribes for various parts human body. Some cut long, strip-like pieces from the victim's thigh, legs or arms; others prefer the hands and feet, and although the majority do not eat the head, I have not met a single tribe that disdains this part of the human body. Many people also use the innards, believing that they contain a lot of fat.
A person with eyes will surely see terrible human remains either on the road or on the battlefield, with the difference, however, that on the battlefield the remains are waiting for jackals, and on the road where the tribal camps are located with their smoking fires, there are a lot of white broken , cracked bones - all that remains from the monstrous feasts.
During my travels through this country, what struck me most was the enormous number of partially mutilated bodies. Some corpses were missing arms and legs, others had strips of meat cut from their thighs, and still others had their entrails removed. No one could escape such a fate - neither a young man, nor women, nor children. All of them indiscriminately became victims and food for their conquerors or neighbors."
The cannibals of the Bambala tribe considered human meat a special delicacy if it had lain buried in the ground for several days, as well as human blood mixed with cassava flour. Women of the tribe were forbidden to touch human flesh, but they still found many ways to get around such a “taboo”, and carrion extracted from graves, especially those that reached high degree decomposition.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Catholic missionaries who spent many years in the Congo told how cannibals many times turned to the captains of ships plying along the river from the mouth of the right tributary of Mobangi (Ubangi) to Stanley Falls, so that they would sell them their sailors or those , who constantly worked on the ocean coast.
“You eat chickens, other poultry, goats, and we eat people, why not?”
One of the leaders of the Liboko tribe, when asked about the consumption of human flesh, exclaimed:
- Ay! If it were up to me, I would devour every last one on this earth!
In the Mobangi River basin, cannibals organize surprise raids on settlements scattered on both banks of the river, capturing the inhabitants and enslaving them. The captives are fed for slaughter, like cattle, and then transported up the river in several canoes. There, cannibals exchanged live goods for ivory.
The new owners, resellers, kept their slaves so that they had a decent, “marketable appearance”, after which they killed them, dismembered the corpses and sold the meat by weight. If the market was oversaturated, they kept some of the meat for themselves, smoked it over the fire, or buried it to the depth of a spade bayonet near a small fire. After this treatment, the meat could be stored for several weeks and sold without any haste. The cannibal bought a leg or other part separately, cut it into pieces and fed them to his wives, children and slaves."
This is a picture everyday life thousands and thousands of people in black Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. The missionaries who spread the new faith among the natives of Africa claimed that the newly converted cannibals began to lead a righteous, quiet Christian life.
But there were few of them. One talkative savage, when asked why he eats human flesh, answered indignantly:
“You white people think pork is the most delicious meat, but it can be quite compared to human flesh. Human meat tastes better, and why can’t you eat what you especially like? Well, why are you attached to us? We also buy our live meat and kill it. What do you care about this?
In a conversation with the missionary, a local resident admitted that he had recently killed and eaten one of his seven wives: “She, a scoundrel, violated the law of the family and tribe!” And he feasted gloriously with the rest of the wives, filling himself with her meat for edification.
In East Africa, cannibalism existed until recently, as the authorities of the countries of this region say, but it was accompanied by much less cruelty and atrocities compared to cannibalism in equatorial Africa, especially in its western part.
Cannibal customs in eastern Africa are characterized by some kind of “domestic” economy. The flesh of old people, sick people, incapable of anything, was dried and stored with almost religious reverence in the family pantry. She was offered as a sign special attention as a delicacy for guests. Refusal to eat was perceived as a mortal insult, and agreement to accept the offer meant an intention to further strengthen the friendship.
No doubt, many travelers to East Africa, for the above reasons, had to try this food. And here you shouldn’t be a hypocrite. How else can one explain the fact that expeditions consisting of several whites could freely cover vast distances across eastern and equatorial Africa, inhabited by savage, bloodthirsty tribes who ate their own kind as a matter of course?
How to explain all this? During their travels, they were actively helped by the indigenous population. What was their friendship based on? On strict implementation local traditions and customs. Anyone who has been lucky enough to visit the African outback knows this firsthand.
In their memoirs, the great travelers to eastern, western and equatorial Africa did not say a word about the fact that, due to certain circumstances, they had to violate the commandments of Christianity. Morals and ethics did not allow them to write this.
The same cannot be said about the legendary African explorer Henry Morton Stanley. He made his way through the jungles of Africa, arms in hand, not alone, but as part of armed firearms detachments numbering from 150 to 300 or more people.
Stanley carried with him the morality of "the present" white man. He went down in the history of exploration of the African continent as a cruel, unyielding white colonialist who stopped at nothing to achieve his goals.
Man is carnivorous by nature. For many hundreds and hundreds of thousands of years he adhered to traditions of their ancestors- eating their own kind. This is evidenced by bones and skulls discovered in Switzerland and other countries. And later, at the end of the Bronze Age, while processing metals, man ate human flesh. Evidence of this is the judgment and point of view of Diogenes. Polemicizing about the benefits of labor as the most terrible and invincible opponents of lazy people, he proposed subjecting the latter to “purification rites, or better yet, killing them, cutting them into meat and eating them, as they do with large fish.”
Based on information collected in the 19th and 20th centuries, it can be assumed that the practice of eating human flesh existed on all continents, except Europe .
Back in the 17th century, the great French philosopher and the moralist Michel Montaigne suggested leaving the cannibals alone, for the customs of the Europeans, although different in many ways, were, in essence, even more cruel and misanthropic than those of the cannibals.