“Sudden and Entire”:

Investigating the Accusation of Cannibalism in the Early Chippewa Tribes

Shelby Miller

History 489: Research Seminar

December 20, 2016

Contents

Abstract 3

Introduction 4

Historiography 5

Caution against Cultural Relativism 9

William Warren 11

Wendigo Psychosis 13

Jesuit Relations 17

Conclusion 19

Illustrations 21

Works Cited 22

Works Consulted 23

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Abstract

This essay aims to investigate and disprove the claims that the Lake Superior Chippewa

tribe was subjected to forced cannibalism by their medicine men on Madeline Island in the early

17th century. This research will use the primary source of William Warren’s book History of the

Ojibways; which states the secondary claim that because of this cannibalism, the Chippewa tribe fled the location due to the beliefs of evil spirits residing where acts of consuming humans took place. In conjunction with Warren this essay will use the Jesuit Relations to examine the time

period, as well as several other secondary sources including anthropological essays on the

subject of Midwestern American Indian cannibalism, and the religious beliefs that accompany

these actions.

Thus, this paper will take a different stance on the early Midwest American history to

prove that the stories of forced cannibalism were statements taken by questionable means, and to

which even the author does not fully know if they were truthful. In order to completely

investigate this topic this paper will look at the mythology and theological beliefs surrounding

cannibalism in this location. It will also inspect other American Indian tribes for this taboo in the

time period, as well as briefly state how this type of cannibalism fits in with other parts of the

world that practiced this. In total, this paper will also give depth to the action of cannibalism and

acknowledge the humanity behind the taboo.

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Introduction

In Wisconsin schools we are taught from an early age to have deep respect for the

American Indians that first settled in this land. Each class in their own way is taught to separate stereotypes from realities. This is also where our blind patriotism is forced to look at the atrocities that settling this land did to those who called it home before the European exploration and western expansion. As much good as this type of early education does to combat xenophobia, there are holes in a lot of the general teaching. In particular, I believe there is an excess amount of lessons about what happened after the American Indians met the Europeans, and very little about what was going on before this time. In this paper, I want to explore the notion that cannibalism was prevalent in early tribes. Specifically I would like to acknowledge the Lake Superior Chippewa tribe and discuss the truth and overall falsehood of these claims.

To narrow this topic I will discuss the instance of alleged cannibalism that took place in present day La Pointe on Madeline Island, and how incredibly lacking in sources this apparent fact has. To investigate this claim and find out how this one rumored act of cannibalism became historical fact I will begin by looking at the taboo of cannibalism in order to get a basis understanding for why historians shy away from cannibalism topics and how this disinterest played a part in continuing the falsehood. I will then look at the actual source and delve into why the primary source is so questionable, as well as why it is difficult to find other primary evidence from this time period. Following that will be a section on the true acts of cannibalism that were going on in the time period with other American Indian tribes. This is necessary to understand that although this paper is claiming that the source is incorrect, the entire act of cannibalism in the Early Americas is not a false assertion. The cannibal mythology will also be explored to fully

4 understand the beliefs and stories that created this tale, and why it must be separated but still touched on in order to comprehend the logical side.

In total, this essay will attempt to inform the reader about a side of society that is most often shunned and unspoken, and why a taboo of this magnitude needs to be spoken about subjectively and correctly. This false allegation of the Chippewa tribe cannot continue for reasons of academic and research integrity. That is why this paper is important, to separate beliefs and fact, and to compel the reader to fully understand how harmful an incorrect theory can be to a large audience.

Historiography

The most difficult part of this research is that there are no major writers or historians that are doing sufficient work on the main topic of early Chippewa cannibalism. Even early

American Indian cannibalism is, in general, an untouched subject. However, there are a plethora of historians that are looking at either Lake Superior Chippewa, or the Great Lakes tribes. There is also a large group of anthropologists that are looking into cannibalism, but very few are looking in historical cannibalism, opting instead to do field research with tribes and groups in the present period. Although there are several books about general cannibalism throughout history.

When they do involve the Chippewa tribe the work is quite often in conjunction with the myth of the windigo, which is a spiritual cannibal disease that will be spoken about in depth later in this essay.

This lack of research can be daunting, especially since many of the sources cite their primary source as William Warren and this only adds to the complex nature of disproving the

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usefulness of this source. However, these is a secondary source that is mentioned in multiple

books and journals, William Arens, The Man Eating Myth. This has become a common

juxtaposition for many cannibalistic stories since Arens’ research was made to disprove and de-

stigmatize cannibalism. This makes it the perfect source for this paper.

Arens’ argues from the beginning that the reason the man-eating myth exists is from the very foundation of meetings between the Europeans and American Indians. He believes that many cases of cannibalism, especially historic ones, are rooted in racism and xenophobia. This is followed by the claim that since almost all reports of early exploration cannibalism were recorded only by the European explorers, and any other sources are more often than not hearsay.1

This is exactly what I believe the primary source of William Warren is, nothing more than

rumors.

Although Arens’ specifically talks about the Central American indigenous people, it is

easy to see how this can be transferred to other histories and anthropology beliefs. This history of

cannibalism will also be discussed later in the next section. For now, it is imperative to

understand why there are so many reviews of Arens’ work, and why this continues to be a highly

debated book. This book is most often contested as being simply a wrong hypothesis, for the fact that Arens’ is stating that very little historic cannibalism actually happened, that other than those instances of or great need of survival, things like ceremonial cannibalism did not exist.

There are several reviews of his work since publication that gather from time to time, most being published in anthropological journals. In 1980, right after Arens’ publication, James

Springer wrote a review that at first praised Arens for both tackling a subject that is more often put out of the way, as well as showed that when looking at these kind of taboo subjects viewers

1 Williams Arens, The Man Eating Myth: Anthropology and Anthropophagy. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979), 3-10.

6 must see and read them with a grain of salt. However, these compliments are right before

Springer spends the rest of his review attacking Arens’ research methodology. “The difficulty with this book is that Arens is almost certainly wrong. His methods of evaluation are faulty and his critical attitude amount to little more than a refusal to believe any statement of the existence of cannibalism.”2 This is a popular opinion and other reviews are along the same lines. And however wrong Arens was in assuming that cannibalism did not exist, I fully believe his thought process and reasoning that cannibalism was reported falsely for reasons of European expansion hold true.

After Arens’ controversial book, the next most helpful secondary sources would be the anthropological studies, several follow the Chippewa tribe and some are just surrounding the psychosis. This psychosis will be explained later, but simply stated is the most recent recording of Chippewa cannibalism. This cannibalistic action has a religious background associated with it including medicine men, and it is specific to the multiple Great Lakes tribes.

All of these anthropological studies are helpful, however, many of them use only other studies, almost none look at the history, and if they do it is fairly brief. For example, Thomas Abler did an ethnographic study about the Iroquois tribe. In the beginning it mentioned the historical implications of cannibalism as an act of wartime aggression. However, Abler then goes on to use his own thoughts and it becomes more of an opinion peace.

In 1893 a German book published a map of cannibal peoples around the word, both those people who were still doing it, and those groups that stopped (Figure. 1).The most interesting thing to take from the map is that in the in the US portion there is the word Chippeways written

2 James W. Springer, “Review Work: The Man Eating Myth: Anthropology and Anthropophagy by William E. Arens,” Anthropological Quarterly 53, no. 2 (Apr., 1980): 148-150, accessed December 10, 2016, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3317738?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.

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where the tribe would be, and colored in the way to show that they were cannibals and stopped

doing it. This can be used to show that cannibalism was something worldwide, as well as

something that those in Europe wanted to keep as knowledge. This could possibly be for those

individuals who would go to the areas in the map, or those who studied the areas and the

anthropology of the people in it.

The last work that was used a lot in this research was an edited book by Victor Barnouw

who wrote Wisconsin Chippewa Myths and Tales. This was another collection of oral history that

involved only the stories of the tribes. These were used in this research to uncover the cultural

beliefs that an entire tribe shared. These conclusions were made by looking at the stories side by

side and understanding what was the same about them. Especially the stories about the

cannibalistic . This will be spoken of at more length later in the essay.

In total, there is very little about both the Chippewa tribe and cannibalism in the same historical book or anthropology setting. On the flip side, there is a great deal written about

William Warren’s book about the Chippewa for the main reason being that it is the first book about that singular tribe. And since it is an oral history made by someone who could speak the

Algonquin language it is extremely useful to many different historians. Not only the ones writing for American Indian Studies, but also for greater information about the Chippewa tribe and what their life was like.

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Caution against Cultural Relativism

“Our biases in this matter are inescapable. As much as we fancy ourselves open-minded, we are still imprisoned by our cultural beliefs.”3 One of the many problems involved in writing

about cannibalism is the intrinsic cultural taboo. Specifically, the act of eating humans must be

viewed under the most indifferent lens in order to realistically research the people and events

involved; otherwise every non-western culture that is studied would fall under the term of

savage. At the present time there is a conflict between how this taboo should be regarded, this is

explicitly based on righting the wrongs of early explorers. This section is important because it

highlights that the beliefs created by cultural norms cannot be used to judge or explain

cannibalism within other societies. And more importantly, there is good reason that the

anthropophagy (the act of eating humans) in historical essays should be accepted with skepticism

before knowing the ways in which the information was gathered.

In the late 15th century when North American exploration and documentation was high,

there began to be several lengthy reports sent back to Spain about cannibalistic behavior in

Central and South America, specifically what is now Honduras and the Arawak and Carib tribes

that lived there. For the chief reason of economic need, early enslavement of native peoples was

illegal since those populations were necessary in order to learn and survive in the foreign land.

However, the pacification of the land by Spanish settlers lead to extensive deaths as a result of

aggression by both sides. At this time the cause for so many deaths was reasoned to be the

accused cannibals that lived there. Thus, in 1503 a royal proclamation by Queen Isabella of

Castile was sent out stating that all enslavement of native peoples was illegal, unless those

3 Caitlin Doughty, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory. (New York: Norton & Company, 2014), 68.

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peoples were found to be anthropophagic.4 As one can imagine, this law was one of the ways

that opened the doors to the Caribbean slave trade. Thousands were found to be guilty of eating

human meat and were subsequently shipped where work was needed, all in the hopes of

eradicating the cannibalistic savages. However, there seems to be little evidence of Caribbean

cannibals other than the stories and papers of Christopher Columbus. Bartolomé de Las Casas,

another Spanish explorer and later advocate for the indigenous races rightly denies ever

witnessing this “barbaric” activity.5 For this reason, present day research must be carefully sifted

through in order to factually answer questions regarding the cannibal taboo.

Unfortunately, the caution of the terminology has also become a hindrance to the

examination of this topic. There appears to be present day terror of the word itself, and how

offending this term can be, even when factually used in an academic section. This stems from

historical treatment of those persons such named “cannibals” and especially with the

simultaneous usage of the term savage. This is even more important when noting that many authors decline to research cannibalism when looking at Native American populations and jump over such large topics, electing instead to call it simple rumors6.

Thus so, this paper sets out to call anthropophagy as it appears. Be it mortuary (ritualistic

eating of deceased community members), survival (eating humans only for the purpose of

staying alive), endo (eating members within a community), or exocannibalism (eating those

people outside of a community). In all cases there were defined reasons for the consumption of

flesh. It must then be stated by this author that cannibalistic behavior does not state the naming

4 Williams Arens, The Man Eating Myth: Anthropology and Anthropophagy. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979), 48-53.

5 Arens, 148

6 Ibid.,, 150-151

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of those involved as savage or uncivilized. It is this author’s greatest wish that these terms can be separated enough for further academic research and without the stigma that a history of immoral cultural relative behavior has instilled within these idioms.

William Warren

For the minority who call Northwest Wisconsin their home, or who have spent the better part of their lives in it, it can be sensibly assumed that they are aware that the Chippewa and

Ojibway tribes are the same group. The names are from the same Algonkian word, the only variance is that the pronunciation and spelling is different depending on where the documentation or story originates, south or north of the Canadian-US border. This is pertinent to know when studying this tribe, less hours be given to understanding that the two tribes being researched, are actually the same people. Included in this group is also the term Sauterus, or

Saulters. This one comes from the Jesuit Relations and is the first mention of the people known

now as the Chippewa tribe. "They are called sauteurs by the French, because their abode is

the sault [rapids] by which Lake Tracy empties into the Lake of the Hurons. They speak the

common Algonquin, and are easily understood.”7

From this point on this paper will use “Chippewa” since many of the sources examined

use this term, as well as the US department of the internal Indian Affairs.8 As well as

acknowledging that this paper is being written below the Canadian border.

7 Reuben Thwaites, ed., The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. (Cleveland: Burrow Bros. Co.), 1895-1901, Vol. LI, XIIII, 62.

8 Victor Barnouw, Wisconsin Chippewa Myths & Tales and their relation to the Chippewa Life (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1977), 3.

11

With this fact decided it is pertinent to begin the history of Chippewa and their rumored

cannibalism with the man who wrote the book, specifically, William Whipple Warren. Before

getting to his book, however, it is important to know the life of this man, and why, for all

accounts, he was the most qualified to write about this tribe at the time.

Warren was born in 1825 on Madeline Island, Wisconsin, to an American fur-trading father and a Chippewa mother. His early life consisted of living with his mother and grandmother and going to the Protestant Mission School with other mixed-blood children. This upbringing led to Warren being bilingual in English and Chippewa, and more importantly, this was where he became fascinated with the stories and tales his matrilineal line taught him. This line also had a long history of high powered Chippewa tribal members. His mother, Mary

Cadotte, was the daughter of Madeleine Cadott, sometimes called Ikwesewe. In turn,

Madeleine’s grandfather was Chief White Crane, who held a lot of power among the Indians of

Northern and Milwaukee. Madeline Island was also named after Madeleine Cadott.

This just shows how far back Warren’s ancestral line goes, and how much influence his mother and her family were to Warren’s book. 9

However, the Chippewa are a patrilineal society and thus so, in 1836 Warren spent time

with his grandfather in New York attending Clackson Academy and later the Oneida Institute

where Warren was able to hone his English literature and general academic skills. In 1842

Warren was hired back in the Chippewa village of La Pointe as an interpreter,10 this became the

fuel for Warren to begin recording the oral history of the Chippewa peoples.

9 Frederick Hodge, Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, (VA: University of Virginia, 1912), 8-10.

10 William Warren, History of the Ojibway People, Based upon Tradition and Oral Statements, 2nd ed. (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1885), 4-5.

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What came out of this interest and comfort with the Chippewa tribe was a History of the

Ojibway People, Based upon Traditions and Oral Statements. Warren describes his methodology

of collecting these stories in the introductory statement. “To obtain of the Indians reliable

information, a person must be as one of them in interest, speak their language perfectly, and be

well acquainted with the character and the customs of the tribe generally, and personally of those

to whom he applies for the information.”11 This process echoes those of the best long-term field research anthropologists of the modern decade. Warren was never able to publish the book himself, but it was given to a doctor before his death. This doctor brought the manuscript to the

Minnesota Historical Society who in turn published it 30 years after Warren died in 1853.12 This

primary source was one of the leading authorities on Chippewa life at the time, and is still used

today as general knowledge.

From the book itself, an especially jarring chapter comes while Warren is describing the

reason for the Chippewa Indians leaving their native land of La Pointe, Wisconsin.

“The dispersion of the Ojibways from the island of their refuge, was sudden and entire. The Evil Spirit had found a strong foothold amongst them, during the latter years of their residence on this island. Evil practices became in vogue.—Horrid feasts on human flesh became a custom. It is said by my informants, that the medicine men of this period had come to a knowledge of the most subtle poisons, and they revenged the least affront with certain death. When the dead body of a victim had been interred, the murderer proceeded at night to the grave, disinterred it, and taking it to his lodge he made a feast of it, to the relatives, which was eaten during the darkness of midnight, and if any of the invited guests became aware of the nature of the feast, and refused to eat, he was sure to fall under the ill-will of the feaster, and become the next victim.”13

11 Warren, 6-7.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid., 109.

13

This passage not only points to cannibalistic behavior, but to a group of medicine men who practice this activity outside of the greater population of the tribe. Warren is pointing out that not only were these men eating human flesh, but they were doing it for purposes other than simple survival, and under a cloak of mystery; suggesting that this activity was still taboo to the whole of the tribe and they would have been ostracized if the rest of the Chippewa tribe knew.

It is also important to note how central the role of medicine man was. This was a person chosen by spiritual means. They had the innate ability talk to the spirits and for that reason were used as the intermediary between both worlds. These medicine men were not only great religious figures but were also most often connected to social politics. This meant that these people had enough power over the tribe and were seen as a dynamic force, being able to effectively control the beliefs and customs of the Chippewa tribe.14

One of the largest problems associated with Warren’s text is that he never records a date that cannibalism was supposedly happening, or even when the tribe left the island to settle in a different location. The only time period associated with these actions is this sentence by Warren.

“For the space of three generations, or one hundred and twenty years, the Ojibways remained congregated on the island of La Pointe, in one extensive town.”15 These is also the problem that much of what is being said was only as recorded oral histories, passed down through families until finally being written down by Warren.

Other secondary sources have used Warren in much of their writing, and have also made mention that there were cannibalistic shamans. But when I searched their own works cited pages

14 Kathleen Tigerman, Wisconsin Indian Literature: Anthology of Native Voices (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2006) 30.

15 Warren, 109.

14 they always led back to Warren, taking it as the only real source. Other than Arens’ work there is almost no one who disputes these claims, but also almost no one to look into them. Even

Warrens himself says that these were stories, and does not know the full truth behind them.

I vividly recollect in my childhood while residing on the very spot where the scenes had occurred, that my mother often stilled my importunities for a story, with tales of this period which would fairly make my hair stand on end, and which she had learned from an old woman who was then still living, and who considered to be at least one hundred and twenty years of age, from the fact that her relating events which had occurred a century past, when she was a young woman.16

Warren obviously knows that these stories are far older than anyone still living, but the

Chippewa tribe still tells them like they were there for it, including an old woman who talks about them like she was still living. There is then barely any solid knowledge that this happened other than passed down stories.

Wendigo Psychosis

To check this oral history it is imperative to understand the mythology of the Chippewa Indians and, even further, the Algonquian stories that covered the area and other neighbor tribes.

Particularly, the myth of the Wendigo (sometimes windigo, or wiitiko) and the accused real ailment of wendigo psychosis. In mythology, the Wendigo was a cannibalistic giant that terrorized the tribal community. Any person could become a wendigo through eating human flesh, because it was believed that if someone were to do it once, they would not be able to quench their appetite of the meat. Again, cannibalism is not seen as a typical activity and in all of the mythology these creatures become the antagonists. However, many of these stories also offer

16 Warren, 112-113.

15

a cure of the turned person drinking hot tallow (rendered fat) to melt the bad spirits out.17 Could

the accounts of medicine men cannibals that Warren recorded be simply that, embellished

stories?

With a layer of skepticism it becomes vital to then look at the Wendigo Psychosis,

anthropologically described as “an acute anxiety state marked first by melancholy, then by a

distaste for ordinary food, and finally by an obsessive desire for human flesh that ends in

homicidal cannibalism.”18 This is an especially interesting mental illness since all of those

inflicted are from the same general area, and thus so much research has gone into the physical

and mental reasons for this strange phenomena. Most understood and believed is that the

afflicted suffered from extreme depression. “It will be noted that the symptoms… melancholia,

anorexia, insomnia, and hallucinations, are all symptoms of depressive disorders and the desire

to eat human flesh is common in psychotic depression.”19 However, since most of the stories are

set in the middle of winter there is another theory that mental health was deteriorating so much

because of a deficiency in protein. “Fatty meat is essential to the diet of Eskimos and northern

Algonquian Indians. Fat deficiency leads to headaches and may ultimately lead to death.

Nervous ailments caused by hypoglycemia can be corrected by diets of fat and protein.”20 This

latter reasoning makes even more sense given the stories that the cure for a Wendigo spirit is

drinking hot tallow, which is incredibly high in fats and proteins needed for survival in the harsh

17 Barnouw, 120.

18 Reay Tannahill, Flesh and Blood: A History of the Cannibal Complex (New York: Stein and Day, 1975), 170.

19 Thomas H. Hay, “The Windigo Psychosis: Psychodynamic, Cultural, and Social Factors in Behavior.” 73, no. 1 (February 1971): 1-5, accessed November 6, 2016, http://www.jstor.org/stable/671808?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText

20 Barnouw, 130.

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winters. This may point to the reason that the Chippewa tribe would have resorted to cannibalism

for survival purposes.

Looking at the phrase itself can also be helpful in determining what could have been

going on. This paper has already described what a wendigo was, but we can also look at the term

psychosis. A psychosis is a type of mental disorder characterized by seeing or hearing things that

can lead to a disillusion with reality. This can happen naturally when a person is left alone for

long periods of time, especially in the winter months when there is little to do and not a lot to eat.

So, if someone was so alone and was experiencing a psychotic episode, they may look back to

the stories of their culture for reasoning to help them explain their taste for any food, even

human.

In total, the story of the Wendigo is only a story made up to feel more comfortable with

the idea of cannibalism, and the need for human flesh is necessary during a time of utter

starvation.21

Jesuit Relations

The Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France (Jesuit Relations of New-France) are a

collections of reports written and sent by missionaries between 1632 and 1673 that were working

in the Native American tribal communities in what is now the northern Midwest, especially

around the Great Lakes. Many believe these to be some of the first ethnographic studies of the

native North American population22 since the missionaries would have to stay in the community for years, learning the language and becoming personal with the people. This firsthand account

21 Eli Sagan, Cannibalism: Human Aggression and Cultural Form (New York: Harper and Row, 1974), 114.

22 Paul Lauter, The Heath Anthology of American Literature. (Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press), 2006, 36

17 of the indigenous population has also helped to understand the French belief that religious work was the key to reconnecting the French fur trade that had been unsettled by English invading and waring with the tribes. “By 1640, although the French population in remained under four hundred, the Jesuits had amassed large landholdings and had sponsored the construction in

Quebec of a college to educate the sons of French settlers, a hospital, and a convent for Ursuline nuns.”23

This section is used to explain that with the amount of time the Jesuit missionaries spent with the Chippewa tribe they would have reported there being instances of cannibalism. The missionaries even set up a center of work in the Sault Saint Marie area, where it has already been stated that this was the central area for the Chippewa tribe. This center was mainly set up to talk to other tribes who came to the area for catching fish, or passing through because of nomadic lifestyles.

This convenience of having fish in such quantities that one has only to go and draw them out of the water, attracts the surrounding Nations to the spot during the summer. […] Therefore we have been obliged to establish here a permanent Mission, which we call Sainte Marie du Sault, which is the center for the others, as we are here surrounded by different Nations, of which following are those which sustain relations to the place, repairing hither to live on its fish. The principal and native inhabitants of this district are those who call themselves Pahouitingwach Irini, and whom the French call Saulteurs, because it is they who live at the Sault as in their own Country, the others being there only as borrowers.24

If the Jesuits spent so much time at a permanent mission with the Chippewa tribe then cannibalism would be sure to come up at least once. Even if they were not cannibalistic during this time, it would have been spoken about. To do their work the Jesuit missionaries had to learn the larger Algonquin language, which the Chippewa tribe spoke. The Jesuits would be learning

23 Lauter., 36.

24 Thwaites, LIV, 131-132.

18 from these people through oral stories, much in the same way Warren was. But the difference is that the Chippewa would have no reason to tell the missionaries tales and legends.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Chippewa tribe of North America may have been cannibals for survival, but there is no sure evidence that they were cannibals for ceremony or were forced to eat human by medicine men. The only evidence of this latter cannibalism is from the oral histories of William Warren, who does not singularly know how true the stories are.

These claims do not seem accurate for several reasons, first, is the time period. Warren says no dates in his book for these claims. This leads to the end idea that these stories have been passed down from the very first tribes that settled in the area. Most likely caused by adverse reactions to consuming human flesh for survival and then feeling guilt and disgust. This would manifest into fear, and then into an actual story and to be afraid of. The other reason these claims of vindictive cannibalistic leaders is not true is that there are zero instances of continuation of these feasts. If this activity became a cultural norm there would have been papers written about how they were stopped, or at least primary source records of the activity, of which there are none.

There is also the problem that this kind of cannibalism is so unique. That fact in itself does not make it false, but the idea that there is so little writing on this fact makes it highly suspicious that these are embellished stories and nothing more but fear. This terror, however, also infected the next generation of Chippewa and therefore started the stories of Madeline Island cannibals that were then passed down through oral storytelling, arriving finally in the book of

William Warren. The taboo of cannibalism is still prevalent in the western social society, this

19 essay has attempted to dispose of myths involving at least one group in the larger hope that future research will happen to get rid of more stories born of fear and disgust.

20

Illustrations

Fig 1. The Spread of Anthropology. “Deutsche Rundschau für Geographie und Statistik”. 1893. Designed by Dr. Fr. Umlauft. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bd4NAQAAIAAJ.

21

Works Cited

Primary Sources

Thwaites, Reuben Gold, ed. The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. Cleveland: Burrows

Bros. Co., 1896-1901. http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/relations/

Warren, William W. History of the Ojibway People, Based upon Tradition and Oral Statements.

2nd ed. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1885.

Secondary Sources

Arens, William. The Man-Eating Myth: Anthropology & Anthropophagy. New York: Oxford

University Press, 1979.

Barnouw, Victor, ed. Wisconsin Chippewa Myths & Tales and their relation to Chippewa life.

Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1977.

Doughty, Caitlin. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory. New York:

Norton & Company, 2014.

Hay, Thomas H. “The Windigo Psychosis: Psychodynamic, Cultural, and Social Factors in

Aberrant Behavior.” American Anthropologist 73, no. 1 (February 1971): 1-19. Accessed

November 6, 2016.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/671808?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText="win

digo psychosis"seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents

Hodge, Frederick W, ed. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Vol. 1. VA:

University of Virginia, 1912.

Lauter, Paul. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Pennsylvania: University of

Pennsylvania Press, 2006.

22

Sagan, Eli. Cannibalism: Human Aggression and Cultural Form. New York: Harper and Row,

1974.

Springer, James W. “Review Work: The Man-Eating Myth: Anthrpology and Anthropophagy by

William E. Arens.” Anthropological Quarterly 53, no. 2 (April 1980): 148-160. Accessed

December 10, 2016.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3317738?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.

Tannahill, Reay. Flesh and Blood: A History of the Cannibal Complex. New York: Stein and

Day, 1975.

Tigerman, Kathleen, ed. Wisconsin Indian Literature: Anthology of Native Voices. Madison, WI:

The University of Wisconsin Press, 2006.

Works Consulted

Abler, Thomas S. “Iroquois Cannibalism: Fact not Fiction.” Ethnohistory 27, no. 4. (Fall, 1980):

309-316. Accessed September 19, 2016.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=a4d67e41-56f1-4dc0-b34c-

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