Hinanay, Grace Anne Nicole R.

INTFILO

Is Cannibalism a natural phenomenon for humans?

Our group discussed about Cannibalism, frowned upon all over the world. Most people
think that this is a disgusting and immoral act. We agree but we realized: is it really
wrong or are we conditioned by our beliefs that are why we were able to call it wrong?

Our group found out that anthropological data claims that the homo antecessor, the link
between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens were cannibalistic for nutritional reasons before
they discovered hunting techniques. The West Indies tribe encountered by Columbus
when he came to the Americas was ritually cannibalistic. During the 16th-18th century:
blood, ground bones and other body parts were used as medicine. In the 20th century,
cannibalism survives and it is known to have occurred in China and North Korea. With
these facts, our group presumed that Cannibalism has been a natural occurrence. Before,
in ancient times, cannibalism is prevalent because there was no knowledge on how to
garner food. But with the discovery of techniques, tools up to the invention of technology
and globalization, we are offered now with more resources. So why do we have to resort
to cannibalism when we can have better tasting food? Our point here is that cannibalism
should not be looked at negatively as disgusting because the first humans resorted to this
due to scarcity of resources at the early period.

What about those who are cannibals in observance to their culture? The Korowai tribe
living in a jungle of New Guinea along the Ndeiram Kabur River is the last group
confirmed to be practicing cannibalism. To them, it is not cannibalism- its the revenge
consumption of a demon that has taken the skin of a human and eaten another. The victim
is almost entirely consumed by the tribes adults, save for bones, teeth, hair, genitals,
fingernails and toenails. Bones are left as a warning but the man who killed the victims
gets the skull. The cannibalism that they practice is a ritual crucial to keeping the
members of their tribe safe from a demon called the khakhura which is a male witch that
disguises itself as a close friend or family member of its chosen victim. Our argument is
that it is important to distinguish here that to the Korowai, they do not believe they are
eating the khakuha but they are just avenging their loved ones. They are doing to the
witch what that witch did to one of their tribesmen. To them, cannibalism is justice and it
will be served no matter who the person was. Our say here is: we should respect the
culture of others as long as they do not cross their boundaries and start disrespecting
other culture or people belonging to a different belief. We realized that to understand
these people, we have to learn their culture first before making assumptions because
culture differs, it is diverse and each culture has a different conception of things.

Brown, L. (2012, May 31). 10 Things You Always Wondered About

Cannibalism. Business Insider. Retrieved June 25, 2014, from
http://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-you-always-wondered-about-
cannibalism-2012-5?op=1

Kelly, D. (n.d.). The Culture That Still Practices Cannibalism -

KnowledgeNuts. KnowledgeNuts. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from
http://knowledgenuts.com/2013/10/28/the-culture-that-still-practices-
cannibalism/

Pleiotropy: Why is cannibalism taboo?. (n.d.). Pleiotropy: Why is cannibalism

taboo?. Retrieved June 25, 2014, from
http://pleiotropy.fieldofscience.com/2008/12/why-is-cannibalism-taboo.html