The Effect of Cannibalism in Colonial Brazil

This research paper will delve into the topic of cannibalism in native tribes of Brazil during the Portuguese colonization of the South American country. My research only the topic yielded very interesting results. Some scholars suggest that cannibalism (in the instances involving the Tupinamba tribe and their ritualistic practices) didn't even occur. This isn't to say, however, that cannibalism was completely nonexistent in Brazil, but arguing that it did not occur in the “savage” ways often described. I could easily sum up the accounts of various witnesses of cannibalism, but I will focus on the material that will mostly discuss the effect that cannibalism had on colonization in Brazil.

One could claim that cannibalism was one of the most important aspects of colonization, "cannibalism provided perhaps the most potent weapon for European control. From the earliest voyages of Christopher Columbus, reports that American Indians practiced cannibalism provided the invaders with easy arguments to legitimize their conquest. The moral imperative to stamp out cannibalism could rebut any objections that might be raised about the brutalities of death, disease, misery, violence, and imprisonment that Europeans inflicted on native peoples.1

the argument could be made that historians most important tool in understanding the interactions through cannibalism is quite possibly Hans Staden. While this paper is not meant to dissect his claims nor is it solely about him, he is regarded as at least a semi-truthful primary source and is one of the very few, so his name will appear often.

Hans Staden was often mentioned in our classroom discussions because his work on the subject of cannibalism is widely regarded as the only relia...

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... cannibalism will be left unanswered, but the effect of cannibalism in Brazil can still be felt to this day and it's importance in colonization is irrefutable.

Works Cited

Conklin, Beth. "CONSUMING IMAGES: REPRESENTAIONS OF CANNIBALISM ON THE AMOZONIAN FRONTIER." Anthropological Quarterly. 70. no. 2 (1997): 68-78.

Martel, H.E. "Hans Staden's Captive Soul: Identity, Imperialism, and Rumors of Cannibalism in Sixteenth-Century Brazil." Journal of World History. 17. no. 1 (2006): 51-69.

Forsyth, Donald. "THREE CHEERS FOR HANS STADEN: THE CASE FOR BRAZILIAN CANNIBALISM." Ethnohistory. 32. no. 1 (1985).

Carroll, Patrick. Ethnic Transgression and Hybridity in Northeastern South America and the Caribbean. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005.

Metcalf, Alida. Go-Betweens and the Colonization of Brazil. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005.