“Sudden and Entire”: Investigating the Accusation of Cannibalism in The
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“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 2 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. 3 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 anthropology 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 5 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 famine 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 wendigo 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.