Christopher Columbus's first meeting with Caribbean Indigenous populations (Source: National Institute of Health)
Cannibalism. A stomach twisting phrase that refers to the consumption of the flesh and body parts of individuals within one’s own species. By and large, cannibalism is a universal taboo. Most societies and cultures agree that eating other humans is an aberration. As previously discussed on this blog there has been a long history of cannibalism within human societies, starting among our hominid ancestors (e.g., Paranthropus boisei and Homo antecessor) and being commonplace among early human groups (e.g., Paleolithic cultures) and contemporary cultures (e.g., the Fore). Despite this long history of the act the term cannibalism is relatively new, which is the purpose of this blog post.
The original term for the consumption of members of one’s own species was anthrophagy, a Greek term that is a bit of a mouthful and a lot to chew on if you think about it. This term was used academically, medically, and professionally for centuries but never really caught on in popular language. A new term, cannibalism, did and has been used since the 1490s. Cannibalism was coined by Christopher Columbus after Columbus and his crew shipwrecked on the shores of a Caribbean Island inhabited by various Indigenous populations, including the Taino (commonly known as the Arawak, another Columbus term). Columbus reported this particular Indigenous population told him about the other Indigenous populations on the island, who they referred to as Caribs or Canibs. The Caribs/Canibs were characterized as man eaters, meaning they were individuals who literally ate their enemies (the Tainos), and it was in this storytelling that Columbus ultimately became inspired and created the term cannibal.
Now, it is important to state that Columbus and the Taino Indians had no translators, so there was more than likely some misunderstandings by Columbus and his crew of what was actually communicated to them by the Tainos. Today linguists and historical scholars claim that there may not have been any literal consumption of human flesh. Instead the Tainos may have been explaining the capture of fellows Tainos who were never returned to their home group (as is often the case with prisoners of war throughout history). It is believed Columbus exaggerated the ferocity of the Caribbean Indigenous populations to justify his mistakes (in not locating a new route to Asia) and subsequent actions (the mass genocide of Amerindians throughout the Caribbean as he searched for nonexistent gold). This is supported by the actions of Queen Isabella of Spain, who was funding Columbus’s voyages and campaigns. In her correspondence with Columbus and her crew she said that any Indigenous populations who did not eat other humans should be left free and not be enslaved, but those who cannibals, as Columbus stated, should be enslaved because they were nothing more than animals that needed to be controlled. Conveniently for Columbus, his crew, and the Spanish monarchy, every Indigenous individual on the island was considered a cannibal at some point and thereby enslaved, justifying the enslavement and cruel treatment of the Caribbean Indigenous populations. It also led the popular use of the term cannibalism and its continued use against groups of people viewed as “the other” or deviant outsiders by those in power.
References
Lukaschek, K. (2000/2001). The History of Cannibalism. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.
Schutt, B. (2017). Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books.
