# Cannibalism **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 12, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism/418905 "2007-09-12T14:58:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism/418905/61 "2007-09-18T13:30:55Z")
One of your cites does not establish what you claim it does - > [@](#): > > The truth, however, is that while Inuit believed the Athapaskan and Algonkian Indians to be cannibalistic, the real cannibalism occurred instead **as aberrations** that cropped up among Inuit themselves…it seems far more likely that the real cannibals were individuals born of madness and starvation. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Universal? Well, no. No one claims that. > [@Blake](#): > > as far as we can tell it was universal If it were universal, one would expect it to be documented in accounts, as claimed earlier. However, > [@](#): > > Inuit accounts do not describe cannibalism The claim has been made that non-ritual, culinary cannibalism was the norm, and that a taboo against it never arose until the start of agriculture. That’s an awfully big claim, and therefore any culture without clear evidence of cannibalism of other members of the group as an everyday practice is a piece of evidence against it. > [@Blake](#): > > In the meantime an alternative might be for people denying this to try to name a pre-agricultural group that didn’t practice cannibalism. Well, here is a cite that says that > [@](#): > > None of the other 1200 Native American cultures engaged in culturally sanctioned cannibalism at the time of European contact. … Cannibalism should not be considered part of American Indian culture on this account any more than it would be considered part of European or American culture–it was culturally unacceptable behavior. The Sioux considered cannibalism a sin, the Cree considered it a mental illness, the Algonquin and Ojibwe considered it a sign of possession by an evil spirit. In almost all cases, American Indian cannibals–just like European or American cannibals–were put to death as soon as they were discovered. It should also be pointed out that accusations by the conquistadors that New World Indians were cannibals could be motivated in part by the fact that > [@](#): > > Queen Isabella had forbidden her subjects from selling Africans, or Indians, as slaves unless they were cannibals [Here is the cite.](http://www.native-languages.org/iaq13.htm) If you simply assume that cannibalism was universal, then the examples provided are evidence. If you don’t… Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism/418905/62 "2007-09-18T18:52:25Z")
[QUOTE=Blake] I’ll see what I can dig up. In the meantime an alternative might be for people denying this to try to name a pre-agricultural group that _didn’t_ practice cannibalism. For example we’ve had a claim in this thread, based on a commercial website selling Inuit art, the Inuit never praticed cannibalism. From somewhat more reliable sources we find: [/QUOTE] Your cite refers to inter-group cannibalism after violent battles. I don’t think anyone disagrees with the notion that ritual cannibalism after warfare was common. However, nowhere in your cite does it say or even suggest that any of these groups ate humans for their protein content. **Shodan** covered the second cite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism/418905.md?page=3)