Insatiable appetites : imperial encounters with cannibals in the North Atlantic world

__Cannibalism__, for medieval and early modern Europeans, was synonymous with __savagery__. Humans who ate other humans, they believed, were little better than animals. The European colonizers who encountered Native Americans described them as cannibals as a matter of course, and they wrote extensively about the lurid cannibal rituals they claim to have witnessed.In this unique, comparative history of cross-cultural encounters in the early north Atlantic world, Kelly L. Watson argues that the persistent rumors of cannibalism surrounding Native Americans served a specific and practical purpose for European settlers. These colonizers had to forge new identities for themselves in the Americas and find ways to not only subdue but also co-exist with native peoples. They established hierarchical categories of European superiority and Indian inferiority upon which imperial power in the Americas was predicated.In her close read of letters, travel accounts, artistic... Cannibalism , for medieval and early modern Europeans, was synonymous with savagery . Humans who ate other humans, they believed, were little better than animals. The European colonizers who encountered Native Americans described them as cannibals as a matter of course, and they wrote extensively about the lurid cannibal rituals they claim to have witnessed. In this unique, comparative history of cross-cultural encounters in the early north Atlantic world, Kelly L. Watson argues that the persistent rumors of cannibalism surrounding Native Americans served a specific and practical purpose for European settlers. These colonizers had to forge new identities for themselves in the Americas and find ways to not only subdue but also co-exist with native peoples. They established hierarchical categories of European superiority and Indian inferiority upon which imperial power in the Americas was predicated. In her close read of letters, travel accounts, artistic... Contents List of Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1 Inventing Cannibals: Classical and Medieval Traditions 23 2 Discovering Cannibals: Europeans, Caribs, and Arawaks in the Caribbean 49 3 Conquering Cannibals: Spaniards, Mayas, and Aztecs in Mexico 87 4 Converting Cannibals: Jesuits and Iroquois in New France 119 5 Living with Cannibals: Englishmen and the Wilderness 149 6 Understanding Cannibals: Conclusions and Questions 178 Notes 187 Bibliography 211 Index 235 About the Author 241 "In this comparative history of cross-cultural encounters in the early North Atlantic world, Kelly L. Watson argues that the persistent rumours of cannibalism surrounding Native Americans served a specific and practical purpose for European settlers. As they forged new identities and found ways to not only subdue but also co-exist with native peoples, the cannibal narrative helped to establish hierarchical categories of European superiority and Native inferiority upon which imperial power in the Americas was predicated."--Cover