Maffacius and Molina bear testimony to the fact that the Brazilian Indians were cannibals, and they often declared that the flesh of the higher caste had a better flavor than had the flesh of plebeians. The races on the Amazon known under the name of Tapuyos have been represented as devouring every prisoner they could capture, as a sacred duty, and a sacrifice acceptable to the manes of their fallen brethren. Indeed, they practiced a refined cruelty in cherishing and fattening their victims until an appointed day, when they were put to death by a single blow inflicted by a club viewed as sacred. The remote tribes, though leading a more independent life, still retain however much of their former ferocity; they defend their territories, and allow no strangers to enter them under pain of being made a meal of; cannibalism existing among them in all its pristine rigor.
In Mexico, a country as old in its geologic formation as any known to science, with mountains higher than any peaks of the Alps, with a climate always equable, and a sky in which the southern cross shines resplendently; even in this land the man-eater has been found. According to Prescott, the Mexicans were not cannibals in a certain acceptation of the term, as they did not feed on human flesh to gratify the appetite. Cannibalism with them in its origin and professed purpose was distinctly religious. That the primary meaning of human sacrifice among them was to present victims to their deities is shown, by the manner in which the sacrificing priest, having torn out the heart, offered it to the sun, and afterwards went through the ceremonies of feeding the idol with the heart and blood. According to the Aztec worship one of their war gods demanded the sacrifice of such prisoners as came into the hands of their captors. In order therefore to meet the needed supplies for the required service, war was frequently engaged in.
Thwing states that within a comparatively recent period, a tribe of Indians inhabiting Texas has indulged in man-eating.
The Carronkowas on Mattagorda Bay greatly harrassed early American settlers by their keen relish for human flesh. There was also a cognate tribe, a remnant of which still exists under the name of Tonkowas, which practiced cannibalism as late as 1854. It is affirmed also by a competent authority, Mr. Walker, a resident of this State and formerly an officer in the United States Army, that he had recently seen a returning party of the tribe bring in the remains of a Comanche whom they had slain, and the night was made hideous by the orgies that followed. Ere they separated, the entire remains of the Comanche were eaten.
Knight is said to have found “man-eaters” on the coast of Labrador, where the natives are reported to be mild and inoffensive; they offered to the crews of vessels stopping there human skulls, hands and feet with the flesh hanging upon them, by way of barter, with the same indifference that they would have proffered the flesh of birds or beasts.
Mr. Duncan (who has spent much time on the northern coast of British Columbia) thus describes a scene witnessed by him among a tribe of Indians bearing the name of Tsimpsheans: “An old chief had killed a female, and the body was thrown into the sea. Crowds of people were seen to run where the corpse was thrown, when presently two bands of furious wretches appeared and gave vent to the most unearthly sounds. When they came where the body lay, they rushed at it like so many angry wolves. Finally they seized it, dragged it out of the water, laid it on the beach and a couple of the fiends commenced to tear it in pieces with their teeth. The two bands of men surrounded them and hid their frightful work. In a few minutes the crowd dispersed, when each of the naked cannibals appeared with half of the body in his hands. Separating a few steps from each other, the two men finished amid horrid yells their still more horrid feast.”
It is common history that the North American Indians frequently banqueted on the hapless human being who came within the reach of their scalping knives; yet it is well understood that they did not rely wholly upon this kind of food.
Hon. G. W. Schuyler, in his “Colonial New York, (Philip Schuyler and His Family)” makes mention of the following incident related by Colden: “Major (Peter) Schuyler going among the Indians was invited to eat broth with them, which he did with much enjoyment, until he saw one of them draw out from the kettle with a ladle the hand of a dead Frenchman.”
Parkman, in his admirable narratives of the Indians, describes an island on the St. Lawrence which, when visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1610, was swarming with clamorous savages. On the main land the Algonquins of the north and Iroquois of the region now called New York State were engaged in a fierce and deadly conflict, and their yells could plainly be heard in the distance. Heading a band of friendly redskins, composed of the Hurons and a neighboring tribe, Champlain with his brave followers crossed the river to the rescue. The mysterious and terrible assailants, clad in steel and armed with portable thunderbolts, dealt death and destruction around them. The firearms of the whites gave them great advantage, and the defeat of the Iroquois was soon accomplished. As they fled they were shot down by French riflemen; and the only survivors, fifteen in number, were made prisoners. That night scalp-locks were abundant, and torture fires blazed along the shore. The same night the Algonquins had a feast, and the bodies of their defunct enemies furnished food for the banquet. A belief existed among these savages that by devouring the flesh and blood of fallen foes, the eaters became possessed of their bravery. Sometimes the practice was indulged in by reason of religious superstition, but in the opinion of Bancroft it is difficult to determine what religious ideas were connected with this almost universal custom among the Indians of North America.
The Iroquois, as all testimony seems to prove, were also cannibals, but they were quite discriminating, and only gratified their appetites with certain qualities of the “genus homo.” Young and tender children, whom they used to geld and fatten, were chosen in preference to tough old pioneers; the most delicate portions were considered to be the hands, feet, arms, neck, and head.