Niam Niam: the Cannibal Map of the World

(click on map to enlarge)

In this day and age, cases of cannibalism are quite rare (or medium, or well done – sorry couldn’t resist that one). The barrage of media attention unleashed whenever a case does occur speaks volumes of our fascination with this, one of the darker taboos of humanity. More often than not, these cases are enshrined in popular culture by the movies and books about them that are avariciously devoured by a sensation-hungry public.

Two instances immediately come to mind: the story of Armin Meiwes, the German internet cannibal, who in 2001 sollicited (and, incredibly, found) a victim online, prepared to be prepared into a meal by him; an example of collective cannibalism (and a case more inspired by necessity than depravity) was that of the Uruguayan plane that crashed high in the Andes somewhere in the 1970s, forcing its survivors to tuck into flesh of the deceased.

The word ‘cannibalism’ derives from a Spanish term for the inhabitants of  the Caribbean, whom they considered to be man-eating savages (the name of the bad guy in Shakespeare’s The Tempest also derives from the same root: Caliban). Another, less popular term is anthropophagy, Greek for ‘the eating of humans’.

Cannibalism is believed to have been practised by the Neanderthals and, in a more or less ritualistic context, by many ancient (modern) human cultures the world over. The object of the practice seems not to have been hunger so much as power – eating others is the ultimate way of establishing dominance over them, and/or acquiring their strength.

This map, from the German/Austrian publisher A. Hartleben, dating from the early 20^th century by the look of it, presents a map of the range of anthropophagy, both contemporary (in red) and historical (in yellow).

Remarkably, Europe is completely cannibal-free. Are there really no historical records of anthropophagy in Europe’s ancient history?

Africa is marked with some historically cannibalistic tribes (Basuto in Southern Africa, Kakongo in the Congo area, Ashanti and the enigmatically named Flups in Western Africa) as well as a few still active ones, mainly in what was then still deepest, darkest Africa: the Niam Niam (this sounds suspiciously onomatopeic), Kissama, Mangbattu and Manyonoa; further south are the Matabele of present-day Zimbabwe.

The whole of Asia is blighted only by the past sins of the Ostiaks, a Siberian tribe and – bet the Dalai Lama never brags about this – the Tibetans.

Indonesia, Micronesia and the rest of Oceania are marked by many contemporary instances of cannibalism, in Australia, New Guinea, Borneo (Dayaks) and Sumatra (Bataks). Maori cannibalism has been stamped out in New Zealand and many (but not all) of the archipelagos to its north.

Anthropophagy was shockingly widespread in North America (according to this map at least), with a continuous swathe of territory marked by the practice, ranging from the east coast (Algonquins, Iroquois) through the Midwest (Chippeway, Dakota) to the west coast (Oregon peoples). Other areas were to be found in Texas (Apache), Louisiane (Atacapa) and Florida.

Cannibalism also was a well-established practice in Mesoamerica (Aztecs, Mayas) and South America (Caribs, Quechua, Tupi) and still ongoing with some Brazilian tribes, notably the Guarani.

It should be remembered that cannibalism probably was over-reported – people in previous centuries being as fascinated by the taboo as we are – and often used as a propaganda tool: cannibalism providing the ultimate yardstick for barbarity, and the ideal excuse to subjugate the peoples accused of it.

Many thanks to Jeremy Schein for providing this map, found here on Wikipedia.

食人族的世界地图

    当今世界食人的事情已经很少发生了，但是一旦发生一起食人事件，媒体如同决堤的洪水般的关注充分说明了我们对它的着迷，这是人类黑暗的禁忌。更常见的是，食人事件被关于它们的电影和书籍带入流行文化中，并且被患有感官饥饿症的公众贪婪地享用。
    可以马上想到的两个案例是：第一，Armin Meiwes的故事。他是个德国因特网食人者，2001年，他在线征召受害者作为午餐，难以置信的是，他竟然找到了！第二个例子是集体食人事件，这件事缘起于求生必须而非堕落。在1970年代一架乌拉圭飞机撞上安第斯山的高处之后，失事的幸存者不得不去吃遇难者的尸体。
    “cannibalism”（食人）一词起源于西班牙语对于加勒比的称呼，西班牙人当时认为加勒比人是食人的野蛮人。另一个不那么流行的词汇是希腊语“anthropophagy”，意思是“食人”。
    大家认为穴居人是食人的实践者。另外，在或多或少的仪式中，全世界的很多古代（现代）人类文明都有过食人的历史。食人的看来不是饥饿的驱使，而是因为把他人吃掉是建立对他人的支配地位的终极手段，并且/或者可以通过吃掉他而获得他的力量。
    本地图出自德国/奥地利出版人 A. Hartleben之手。它展示出20世纪初期食人族的区域，包括当时分布（红色）和历史的分布（黄色）。
    值得一提的是，欧洲完全没有食人族。但是欧洲古代史中真的没有任何关于食人族的记录么？
    非洲被标记有一些成为历史的食人部落（南部非洲的Basuto人，刚果的Kakongo人，西部非洲的Ashanti人和神秘的Flugs）。还有一些当时活动的部落，主要位于当时仍然是最浓密、最黑暗的森林：Niam Niam，Kissama, Mangbattu和Manyonoa，更靠南的是今天的津巴布韦地区的Matabele。
    广阔的亚洲仅有两处曾经出现过这种罪恶，西伯利亚的奥斯加克（译者注：奥斯底亚克（Ostiak）原是一种生蕃、后来竟变成匈牙利的马奇夏（Magyar）贵族。）和西藏－－达赖喇嘛对此却箴口不言。
    在印度尼西亚、密克罗尼西亚和大洋洲的其它地区，当代的食人依然存在，还有澳大利亚、新几内亚和婆罗洲以及苏门答腊。而在新西兰和新西兰以北的很多（不是所有）群岛上，毛利人的食人陋习已被扑灭。
    至少根据本地图，在北美，食人的习惯曾经令人震惊得基本遍布整个大洲。从东海岸的易洛魁经中部地区直到西海岸。其它区域还有得克萨斯、路易斯安那和佛罗里达。
    食人在美索阿美利亚（阿兹特克和玛雅地区）和南美（加勒比、Quechua和图皮）也曾经司空见惯。而且，在巴西的一些部落仍然此传统，如著名的Guarani。
    应当指出的是，对于食人的报道也许过多了。上个世纪的人们对于toboo（禁忌）和我们一样地着迷。食人还常常被作为宣传工具来使用：食人是残暴的底线，而且对于被指控食人的民族，这是征服这些民族的最理想的借口。
    非常感谢Jeremy Schein提供此地图。