In the 21st century, it's hard to believe that someone is capable of cannibalism. The guidebooks have not been informing about the dangers of this kind for a long time, although in fact it would be worth it. Some tribes abandon civilization and live by the old rules, which include cannibalism.
South East Papua New Guinea
The Korowai tribe is one of the disappearing ones, where they feed on human flesh. They live near the river, where tourists come. In 1961, the son of Governor Nelson Rockefeller went missing there. This tribe believes that if a person dies due to illness, then the sorcerer Hakua devours him from the inside. In order to protect others from misfortune, they must repay the same - eat a person who died through the fault of Hakua.
Congo
Cannibalism in the Congo peaked during the civil war (1998-2002). The rebels believed that the heart of the enemy should be cooked with special herbs and eaten. They still believe that the heart gives a special power that scares off 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. It is interesting that they do not eat like animals, but using cutlery. They also collect rare items left over from the victims.
Aghori sect, Varanasi
Varanasi is the 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 ash, wear necklaces made of bones, dressed in 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.
In wild tribes even today it is unsafe. And not because the natives do not recognize the more developed half of humanity, but because an uninvited guest can easily become a gourmet dinner. From the South Seas to Vancouver, from the West Indies to the East Indies, in Polynesia, Melanesia, Australia and New Zealand, North, East, West and Central Africa, throughout South America Cannibalism is a fairly common phenomenon.
One of these cannibal tribes today is the Mambila, although, according to generally accepted law, such "feasts" are severely punished. The tribe resides small group in Nigeria it is West Africa. The first reports of mass eating of people began to come from members of charitable missions in the middle of the 20th century. After all, then cannibalism was strictly obligatory for the entire population, from young to old. According to legend, the bodies of enemies were eaten right at the battlefield. Meat cut off big knife. It was believed that the strength of the enemy would pass to the victors along with his flesh. 
“Until recently, all mambils without exception were cannibals and could remain so, if only it were not for fear of the authorities. They usually ate the meat of enemies killed in the war, and these included the inhabitants neighboring village with whom they married during the peace. Thus, such a case could well have occurred when a warrior devoured the corpse of his relative. There were cases when, during a skirmish between two villages, the Mambyls killed and ate their wives' brothers. However, they never ate their father-in-law, as this, in their opinion, could cause serious illness or even premature death. 
In the cannibalism of mambils religious performances did not play a significant role. When asked about this, the natives simply answered that they eat human flesh because it is meat. When they killed an enemy, they cut his body into pieces and usually ate it raw without any formalities. They brought individual pieces home for the elderly, who also ate them because of their irrepressible passion for such a product. They even ate the insides of a person, which they removed, washed and boiled before. 
The skulls of enemies, as a rule, were preserved. And when young people first went to war, they were forced to drink either beer or a special potion from the skull to give them more courage. Women, however, were not allowed to eat human flesh, as married men it was forbidden to eat the meat of women killed during the raid on the village. But unmarried old men could eat female meat to their heart’s content,” wrote anthropologist K.K. Mick. 
Similar traditions were followed by the Angu tribe, which lived in the mountainous regions in the southwest of New Guinea. This tribe is still considered one of the most warlike and bloodthirsty. But not only dead enemies were eaten. Parents who ate before they fell into senile dementia or lost their memory often also got on the table. For the ritual murder, a man from another family was invited. For a fee, he killed an old man. Often, the murder ritual was accompanied by a group homosexual rape of a boy under the age of 14. After that, the body was washed and eaten. Everything but the head. Before her, magical rituals were performed, they prayed, they consulted with her and asked her for help and protection. 
In New Guinea, human flesh was usually boiled, but it was much less common to stew it. The penis, considered a particularly revered food, was cut in half and fried on hot coals. The best parts of the body, real "delicacies", they called the tongue, hands, feet and breasts. The brain, extracted from the "big hole" in the boiled head, was cut into pieces, which were the most delicious treat. The intestines and other entrails were also eaten, as were the ovaries and female external genitalia, and many members of the tribe preferred to eat such meat raw. 
Not the best reception expected and uninvited guests. If two captives were delivered to the village at the same time, in these tribes one of them was immediately killed in front of the other and roasted so that the second victim could see the terrible death agony of the tribesman. Another manifestation of refined barbarism was the pointed splinters that were stuck into the body of the victim and then set on fire. 
The Bachesu (Uganda), Tukano, Kobene, Zhumano (Amazonia) tribes are considered somewhat more humane. They eat only the corpses of dead relatives. Moreover, this is a sign of true respect for the deceased. The meal starts in about a month. Then the half-decomposed corpse is placed in a huge metal vat and boiled until this whole “soup set” starts to stink terribly. Yes, the corpse is boiled without water, so by the time of "cooking" only coals remain in the vat. Later, the coals are ground into powder and used as spices, as well as one of the components of the "drink of courage." All warriors of the tribe should drink it. Claim that it helps them to be more 
courageous and wise. However, the hunt for "white meat" continues today. Naturally, now it is more hidden, and none of the modern cannibals will shout about their taste preferences. However, everyone knows that such wild habits are ineradicable, because human flesh is a kind of special drug.
The Yali tribe: the most cruel cannibals of our time February 25th, 2013
Yali is the wildest and dangerous tribe cannibals in the 21st century, numbering more than 20,000 people. In their opinion, cannibalism is a common thing and there is nothing special about it, eating the enemy is a virtue for them, and not the most cruel way of reprisal. Their leader says that this is the same as a fish eats a fish, the one who is stronger wins. For yali, this is to some extent a ritual, during which the power of the enemy he eats passes to the winner.
The government of New Guinea is trying to fight the inhuman addictions of its wild citizens. Yes, and their adoption of Christianity influenced their psychological perception- significantly reduced the number of cannibal feasts.
The most experienced warriors remember cooking recipes from enemies. With imperturbable calmness, one can even say with pleasure, they say that the buttocks of the enemy are the most delicious part of a person, for them this is a true delicacy!
Even now, the inhabitants of Yali believe that pieces of human flesh enrich them spiritually, eating the victim with the pronunciation of the name of the enemy gives special strength. Therefore, having visited the most terrible place on the planet, it is better not to pronounce your name to the savages, so as not to provoke them into the ritual of your eating.
IN Lately The Yali tribe believes in the existence of the savior of all mankind - Christ, therefore they do not eat people with white skin. The reason for this is also that White color associated in the inhabitants with the color of death. However, an incident recently occurred - a Japanese correspondent disappeared in Irian Jaya as a result of strange events. Probably, they do not consider people with yellow and black skin to be servants of an old woman with a scythe.
Since the time of colonization, the life of the tribe has not changed much, as well as the attire of these jet-black citizens of New Guinea. Yali women are almost completely naked, their daytime attire consists only of a skirt with vegetable fibers. Men, in turn, go naked, covering reproductive organ case (halim), which is made from dried bottle gourd. According to them, the process of making clothes for men requires great skills.
As the pumpkin grows, a weight in the form of a stone is tied to it, which is strengthened with threads of vines to give an interesting shape. At the final stage of cooking, the pumpkin is decorated with feathers and shells. It is worth noting that Halim also serves as a "purse" in which men store roots and tobacco. The inhabitants of the tribe also love decorations made of shells and beads. But the perception of beauty in them is peculiar. For example, they knock out the front two teeth of local beauties in order to make them even more attractive.
The noble, beloved and only occupation of men is hunting. And yet, in the villages of the tribe, you can find livestock - chickens, pigs and opossums, which are watched by women. It also happens that several clans hold large-scale meals at once, where everyone has his own place and is taken into account. social status every savage in terms of food distribution. Alcoholic drinks they do not take, but they use the bright red flesh of the batel nut - for them it is a local drug, so tourists can often see them with a red mouth and blurred eyes ...
During the period of joint meals, clans exchange gifts. Although the Yalis cannot be called very hospitable people, they will accept gifts from guests with great pleasure. In a special way, they appreciate bright shirts and shorts. The peculiarity is that they put shorts on their heads, and use a shirt as a skirt. This is due to the fact that they do not contain soap, the result of which will be that unwashed clothes can cause skin diseases over time.
Even though the Yalis have officially stopped feuding with neighboring tribes and eating victims, only the most "frostbitten" adventurers can go to these inhuman parts of the world. According to the stories of this area, savages still sometimes allow themselves to carry out barbaric acts of eating the flesh of enemies. But to justify their actions, they invent different stories about the fact that the victim either drowned or crashed from a cliff.
The government of New Guinea has developed a powerful program for bodybuilding and raising the standard of living of the inhabitants of the island, including this tribe. According to the plan hill tribes should be resettled in the valley, while the officials promised the settlers to give an adequate supply of rice and building materials and free TV in every house.
The citizens of the valley were forced to wear Western clothing in government buildings and schools. The government has even taken measures such as declaring the territory of the savages a national park where hunting is prohibited. Naturally, the Yalis began to oppose the resettlement, since out of the first 300 people, 18 died and this was in the very first month (from malaria).
An even greater disappointment to the surviving settlers was what they saw - they were allocated barren land, rotten houses. As a result, the government's strategy collapsed and the settlers returned to their beloved mountainous regions, where they still live, rejoicing in the "protection of the spirits of their ancestors."
Amasanga scoured the Internet and found a pop article about cannibalism, historical and modern in Africa. And I decided to post it in order to shock the reader with a fine mental organization.
PS
Interesting photographs had to be seen from Angola in the late 80s - early 90s of the XX century.
PPS
About cannibalism among the Indian peoples of the Amazon (in historical period) Amasanga wrote
No other continent hides as much mysterious, mysterious, unknown as Africa. Fabulous, richest nature and amazing animal world"black continent" with the many-sided, diverse world of African natives has always aroused and still 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. Wheels are not yet known here. Witch doctors rule. Polygamy prevails. The population is divided along tribal lines. Separatism, black racism and tribalism are present. People are terribly superstitious. Behind the outer facade of the white-stone capitals, primitive savagery reigns.
One of the dark, black mysteries of tropical and southern Africa is cannibalism. Eating your own kind.
Belief in the effective impact of human flesh and blood is characteristic of many African tribes. Civil wars and violent tribal clashes have always spurred the manufacture of courage-boosting potions from human flesh. It often became widespread.
In the languages of African natives, 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 courage, courage and heroism from him.
The heart was ground into powder, from which drugs were prepared. pieces human meat burned on 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 horn. It was used to strengthen the body and spirit of warriors before the battle, to protect native village, to counter the spells of mage enemies.
In past times, this drug was prepared mainly from the flesh of strangers, especially captives. In our time, to obtain a special drug called diretlo, it is required 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 saw in this person the necessary magical abilities necessary for the preparation of a potent drug.
Sometimes even a relative of one of the participants in the ceremony can be chosen. No details regarding the chosen victim are ever given to anyone. This is decided by the healer - Omurodi. The whole rite is performed in deep secrecy.
To prepare "diretlo" it is required not only to cut off the flesh from a living person, but then to kill him and first hide the corpse in a secret place, and then move it somewhere far away from the village.
Here is one example of such a ceremony. A group of blacks led by an omurodi came to the hut chosen for the ritual murder. He, without knowing anything, went outside with them. He was immediately grabbed. The participants of the action kept deathly silence. The unfortunate man shouted that he would give everything he had in order to be freed. 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. Immediately an oil lamp appeared, in the light of which the executioners, deftly wielding knives, cut off several pieces of meat from the body of the victim. 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 drug. One of the group collected the blood flowing from the wounds into a bowler hat. 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 being slashed across 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 increase 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, for which previously only strangers, slaves, captives were required, but by no means tribesmen.
The scale of such ritual killings is unknown. Everything happens in the deepest secrecy even from the inhabitants of the villages where they are carried out. At present, there is already an opinion among African natives that ritual killings are not "ritual" to the end, and therefore are not real human sacrifices. However, the choice of the victim, the method of killing and disposing of the corpse convinces that a carefully designed ritual accompanies each stage of the preparation of the drug.
Belief in the effective action of human flesh and blood in tropical and South Africa common to many tribes. For them, the human meat turned into a spell not only gives the desired privileges to the representatives of the highest African nobility, but also affects the gods, prompting them not to skimp on the fat harvest.
This is how the anthropologist and ethnographer Herbert Ward, who has studied this region well, described the slave markets on the tributaries of the Lualaba River.
Probably the most inhumane practice among the native tribes is to tear off pieces of flesh from a living victim. Cannibals become like a hawk pecking out the flesh of its prey.
Unbelievable as it may seem, captives are usually led from one place to another in front of those who are hungry for their meat, who, in turn, mark with special signs those tidbits that they would like to buy. This is usually done either with clay or with strips of fat glued to the body.
Striking is the stoicism of these unfortunate victims, in front of which there is a brisk trade in parts of their bodies! It can only be compared with the doom with which they meet their fate.
Do you eat human flesh here? asked Ward in one of the villages, pointing to long meat-studded skewers over smoking fires.
"We're eating, aren't you?" came the answer.
A few minutes later, the leader of the tribe came out to meet him and offered a whole dish of large fried pieces meat that was undoubtedly human. He was terribly upset when Ward refused.
Once upon a time big forest When Ward's expedition camped out with a group of captured warrior slaves and their compatriots, the whites were forced to change places because they were plagued by the nauseating smell of fried human meat, which was cooked everywhere on fires.
The leader explained to the whites that the conditions for devouring a human victim depended on what she was like. If it was a prisoner, then only the leader ate the corpse, and if it was a slave, then the members of his tribe divided the corpse among themselves.
As for the mass ritual killings in Africa, they were the exception rather than the generally accepted rule. The essence of Zimbabwean ritual human sacrifice was that the death of one person was required, and not the mass destruction of people.
Cannibalism in Africa is far from dead. In our time, the ruler of Uganda, who was 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 natives in the dense jungle. Due to false modesty and unwillingness to appear as savages, the authorities hide the true picture of cannibalism.
In the north of Angola, on the border with Zaire, there was such a case. One provincial policeman (chief), standing on the threshold of his house and listening in the night to the booming long voice of the tam-tom, remarked: "Surely they are cutting someone up there." "Why aren't you doing anything?" we asked. “If I send one of my assistants there, he will only pretend to have been there. He will not stick his nose in there, fearing that he himself will get on a spit. We can do something if we have evidence on hand and we'll find human bones, but they know how to get rid of them too."
In the seventies of the twentieth century, during the liberation struggle of the movement (later the party) for the liberation of Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands from the Portuguese colonizers, the rebels had to escape from the blows of the Portuguese troops to the north, to Senegal. The wounded, in order not to lose mobility, they left 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 Paigk Amilkar Cabral ordered to dig up the places where, according to the natives, they buried the dead. They didn't find anything there. The Africans confessed that "they used them for food." Bones and skulls were found outside the settlements. The rebels machine-gunned the cannibals and burned all the settlements.
The authorities have to deal with cannibalism, but despite all efforts, some tribes continue this monstrous practice. Some blacks can be seen sharpened teeth - a sign of cannibalism. This was also pointed out by 19th-century anthropologists who explored the Lualaba basin. Where the "sharp-toothed" live, it was not possible to find at least one grave anywhere nearby - a very eloquent proof of this.
The custom of eating the dead was widespread among all the clans of the large Bogesu tribe (Ubangi River region). Eating was carried out during the period intended for mourning the dead.
The deceased is in the house until the evening. Relatives called for this occasion gather to mourn him. In some special occasions such gatherings took a day, or even two, but usually they managed in one day. At sunset, the corpse was taken to the nearest wasteland and laid on the ground. At this time, the members of the clan hid around in the bushes, and when the darkness deepened, they began to blow on their gourds, making a noise similar to the howling of jackals. Villagers were warned about the appearance of "jackals", and young people were strictly forbidden to leave their homes. With the onset total 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.
For the next three to four hours, the relatives mourned the deceased. After that, all participants in the ceremony cooked his meat and ate, after which they burned his bones at the stake, leaving no traces of him.
The widows, however, burned their grass loincloths and either went about naked or covered themselves with the little aprons they usually wore. unmarried girls. After this ceremony, the widows became free again, able to marry. Such a ceremony was observed in one of the settlements in the north of Angola. A very similar story about cannibal rituals was told by Cubans who fought in the expeditionary corps against Zairian troops in the north and northeast of Angola. The members of the tribe explained the custom of eating their dead in the following way. If, they said, they buried the dead in the ground and, as is usually done, let him decompose, then his spirit would annoy everyone in the neighborhood: it would avenge the fact that the corpse was allowed to rot in peace.
And here is how the burial of the deceased African goes. The legs were bent to the deceased, and the crossed arms were stretched along the body in front of him, which was done even before death. The corpse was bound in such a position that it did not straighten up, and with the onset of rigor, all its members hardened. 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 covered up. The women were buried outside the hut. The corpse was laid on its back, legs were bent, and 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 a fresh grave for a month (lunar), and all the rest had to carry out the daily program of mourning the deceased with screams and heartbreaking cries. The mourners ate meat, then bathed, shaved their heads and cut their nails. The hair and nails of each participant in the ceremony were placed in a knot, which was hung from the roof of the hut. With this, 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 was wandering somewhere nearby.
The dug grave inside the hut, which was then brought down on it, can, of course, to some extent explain the phenomenon why it is impossible to find any burial places. In the past, travelers also encountered this, from which they drew a completely reasonable conclusion: African tribes supported ancient custom, obliging to eat on the spot of their deceased relatives.
The practice of cannibalism in some regions of Africa was secretive, secret, in others, on the contrary, open, amazing. Anthropologists managed to collect a huge amount of facts. Here are some examples.
The natives of the ganavuri tribe (the Blue Mountains region), for example, ripped off the meat from the body of their defeated enemies leaving only entrails and bones. With pieces of human meat on the tips of their peaks, they returned home, where they handed over the booty to the hands of the priests, who were to fairly distribute it among the old people. The most noble of the elders received the flesh stripped from the head. To do this, the victim's hair was cut off from the head, then the skinned 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 dead bodies enemies killed on the battlefield. These savages never deliberately killed their women. However, the neighboring tribe attack did not disdain the female flesh of enemies, another tribe, Tantale, engaged in "hunting for skulls", "specialized" in the consumption of meat cut from women's heads.
Cannibals from the Koleri 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 appeared on their territory.
Cannibals from the Gorgum tribe usually waited two days after returning with the booty of their warriors, and only after that they began their cannibal feast. 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 this enemy in the course of battle. The rest of human flesh had no such of great importance, and all fellow tribesmen - men, women and children could feast on it. In this tribe, even the insides were used as food, after they were separated from the body, washed, cleaned with a mixture of ash and herbs in water.
Cannibals of the Sura tribe (Aruvimi River) added salt and vegetable oil to the meat of their victims when cooking and more widely used the age limit of their victims. They did not allow a single woman of their tribe to even look at human meat, but they fed boys and young men, even by force, if they refused to eat, because, 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 transferring to another. They did not eat even old people for the reason that if they are in mature years and were brave and courageous people, skillful trackers, then with age all of them best qualities clearly fell into disrepair.
Some of these cannibalistic tribes had a fairly well developed "criminal code" associated with their cannibalistic practices. In the Anga tribe, it was allowed to eat the flesh of a tribesman if he was recognized as a criminal and sentenced to death penalty. The cannibals of the Sura tribe ate the flesh of a tribeswoman if she committed adultery.
The Variawa were ready to sacrifice any member of the clan who in any way broke 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 by members of the tribe.
In some tribes, the motivations were somewhat different, not so "ignoble" in nature, as a brutal passion for human flesh. They had deeply rooted superstitions: when they ate the head and other parts of the body, they allegedly destroyed the spirit of the victim, deprived her of the opportunity to make retribution, to return from the other world in order to harm those who still remained here. Although it was believed that the spirit of the victim lives in her head, on this account there were suspicions that he, if necessary, could 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 used to eat their old people, who had not yet reached senile dementia and were showing their physical and mental capacity. The family that adopted fatal decision, turned to a person living on the outskirts of the settlement with a request to take over the enforcement of the unspoken sentence and even offered him a fee for this.
After the death of a person, his body was eaten, but the head was carefully kept in a pot, before which various sacrifices were subsequently made, prayers were said, and all this was done quite often.
The Jorgum and Tangale (Niger River) tribes used the most primitive form cannibalism. An unquenchable passion for human meat, coupled with no less strong passion retribution played important role. The people of this tribe even had a ritual prayer in which they expressed their hatred for their enemies and their 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 the Masai never engaged in cannibalism, as they were pastoralists. They had enough meat from cattle)
Cannibals have claimed to eat human flesh only because they enjoy eating meat, with the African native having a preference for human meat due to its greater succulence. The biggest delicacy was considered to be the palms of the hands, fingers and toes, and the woman had her breasts. The younger the victim, the softer its meat. Human meat is the tastiest, followed by monkey meat.
Some Nigerian tribes were distinguished by ferocious cruelty. Cannibals of the Bafum Banso tribe often tortured captives before they died. They boiled palm oil and, using a gourd used as an enema, poured the boiling contents either down the unfortunate person's throat into his stomach or through the anus into his intestines. In their opinion, after that, 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 is the basin of the great Congo River (Lualaba). Many and many travelers, missionaries, anthropologists, ethnographers devoted themselves to the study of this area. One of them, James Dennis, told in his "Travel Notes": "In the central part of Africa, from east to west coast, especially up and down the many tributaries of the Congo River, cannibalism is still practiced, which is accompanied by brutal cruelty. Nearly all the tribes in the Congo Basin are either cannibals or until recently were cannibals, and among some such abominable practices are on the rise.
Those tribes that until that time had never been cannibals, as a result of ever-growing conflicts with the cannibals around them, also learned to eat human meat.
It is interesting to note the attachments of various tribes to various parts human body. Some cut long, like strips, pieces from the victim's thigh, legs or arms; others prefer the hands and feet, and although most do not eat the head, I have not met a single tribe that would disdain this part of the human body. Many also use the insides, believing that they have 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 camps of the tribes with their smoking fires are located, it is full of white broken , cracked bones - all that remains of the monstrous feasts.
During my travels in this country, I was most struck by the huge number of partially mutilated bodies. Some of the 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 the young man, nor the women, nor the children. All of them indiscriminately became victims and food for their conquerors or neighbors.
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. The women of the tribe were forbidden to touch human flesh, but they still found many ways to get around such a "taboo", and carrion removed from the graves was especially popular with them, especially reaching 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 cruising along the river from the mouth of the right tributary of the 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 are people, why not"
One of the leaders of the Liboco tribe, when asked about the use of human meat, exclaimed:
- Ai! If it were my will, I would devour every one on this earth!
In the Mobangui River basin, cannibals organize surprise raids on settlements scattered along both banks of the river, capture the inhabitants and enslave them. The captives are fed to the slaughter like cattle and then carried up the river in several canoes. There, cannibals exchanged live goods for ivory.
The new owners, dealers, kept their slaves in such a way that they had a decent, "tradeable appearance", after which they killed them, dismembered the corpses and sold the meat by weight. If the market was oversaturated, then they kept some of the meat at home, smoked it over the fire, or buried a shovel to the depth of a 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 separate leg or other part, chopped 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. Missionaries who distributed among the natives of Africa new faith, claimed that newly converted cannibals began to lead a righteous, quiet Christian life.
But these were few. One talkative savage, when asked why he eats human meat, answered indignantly:
“You white people consider pork the most delicious meat, but it can be quite compared with human flesh. Human meat is tastier, and why not 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 conversation with a missionary local confessed that he recently killed and ate one of his seven wives: "She, the scoundrel, violated the law of the family and tribe!" And he feasted gloriously with the rest of the wives, filling himself with meat for the edification of her.
In East Africa, cannibalism existed until recently, according to the authorities of the countries of this region, but it was accompanied by much less cruelty and atrocities compared to cannibalism in equatorial Africa, especially in its western part.
Cannibal customs in East Africa are characterized by some kind of "home" economy. The flesh of old, sick, incompetent fellow tribesmen was dried and stored with almost religious reverence in the family pantry. It was offered as a sign of special attention, as a delicacy, to guests. Refusing to eat was perceived as a deadly insult, and agreeing to accept the proposal meant the intention to continue to strengthen friendship.
No doubt, many travelers in East Africa, for the above reasons, had to taste this food. And here you should not be hypocritical. Otherwise, how can one explain the fact that expeditions consisting of several whites could freely travel vast distances in eastern and equatorial Africa, inhabited by wild, bloodthirsty tribes who ate their own kind in the order of things?
How to explain all this? During their travels, they were actively helped by the aboriginal population. What was the basis of their friendship? On strict execution local traditions and customs. Anyone who was lucky enough to visit the African outback knows this firsthand.
In their memoirs, the great travelers in 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. Morality and ethics did not allow them to write it.
The same cannot be said only about the legendary African explorer Henry Morton Stanley. He made his way through the jungles of Africa with weapons in his hands, 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 "real" white man. He entered the history of the study of the African continent as a cruel, adamant white colonizer who did not stop at nothing in achieving 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 the bones and skulls found in Switzerland and other countries. And later, at sunset bronze age, processing metals, a person ate human flesh. This is evidenced by the judgments and point of view of Diogenes. Arguing about the benefits of labor as the most terrible and invincible opponents of lazy people, he proposed subjecting the latter to "cleansing rites, or better - to kill, cut into meat and use in writing, as they do with large fish."
According to information collected in the 19th and 20th centuries, it can be assumed that the practice of eating human meat existed on all continents, excluding Europe .
Back in the 17th century, the great French philosopher and the moralist Michel Montaigne proposed that the cannibals be left alone, for the customs of the Europeans, though different in many respects, were essentially even more cruel and misanthropic than those of the cannibals.
How much mysterious and unknown hides the mysterious Africa!
Its richest fairy-tale nature, amazing fauna are of great interest to scientists and excite the inquisitive minds of travelers to this day. Inexplicable admiration, along with animal fear, is caused by the customs and customs of the local aborigines belonging to the most diverse tribes inhabiting the black continent everywhere. Africa itself is quite contrasting, and behind the facade civilized world often hides the unprecedented savagery of the primitive communal system.
Wild Africa. cannibal tribes
One of the most mystical secrets tropical Africa definitely is cannibalism.
Cannibalism, that is, the eating of people of 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 courage. Some tribes of cannibals widely used various drugs made from burnt and powdered human heart. It was believed that such a black ointment based on the resulting ash and human fat was able to strengthen the body and raise the spirit of a warrior before the 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. Cannibals reluctantly
Cannibalism was in no way connected with the level of development of a particular tribe of aborigines 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, and they did not engage in cannibalism. At the beginning of the 20th century, on the territory of modern Zaire, there were huge slave markets where slaves were sold or exchanged for ivory exclusively for food. On them you could see slaves of different sex and age, it could even be women with babies in their arms, although for food in great demand used by men, as women could be useful in the household.
Cruelty of morals
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. The flesh torn from the head was received only by the most noble of the elders. The skull was carefully kept in special pots, in front of which sacrificial rites were subsequently performed and prayers were read. Perhaps the most inhuman among the natives was the rite of tearing off pieces of human flesh from a still living victim, and some Nigerian tribes of cannibals, distinguished by their special, ferocious cruelty, with the help of a gourd used as an enema, poured boiling palm oil into the throat or anus of the captive . According to these cannibals, cadaveric meat that had lain for some time and was completely soaked with oil was much juicier and more tender in taste. In ancient times, the flesh of strangers was mainly eaten, first of all they were captives. At the same time, 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, no 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 must have tasted this food.
