Who Were the “Cannibalism People”? And Do Any of Them Still Exist?
A deeply human story about tradition, misunderstanding, and the shared humanity behind the world’s most feared word
When you hear the word cannibalism, it sends a small shiver down the spine. It’s one of those words that has lived in our collective imagination for centuries, a word whispered in old adventure books and shouted dramatically in films. It’s a word used to frighten children, to create villains, or to paint certain communities as mysterious and dangerous.
But behind that one heavy word lies a story that is almost never told, a story of love, survival, belief, and, above all, human beings.
This article is not about horror.
It is about understanding.
It is about taking a step closer to the people history once labelled “cannibals” and seeing them as they truly were families, communities, mothers, fathers, elders, children, each with their own stories, dreams, rituals, and fears.
Let’s walk gently into this story.
1. The Word That Changed How We Saw Entire Cultures
The world has always been afraid of what it doesn’t understand.
When early explorers travelled to distant islands or deep jungles, they met communities who lived very differently new languages, new customs, new ceremonies.
Instead of trying to understand these cultures patiently, many explorers wrote frightening stories because frightening stories were exciting.
They sold more books.
They gave explorers fame.
They made foreign lands sound wild.
Almost any ritual that looked unusual became labelled as “cannibalism.”
And once the label was used, it stuck like glue, even if it wasn’t true.
The unfortunate truth is that many people were misunderstood, judged by outsiders who saw only one moment of their culture and did not understand the meaning behind it.
2. The Fore People: A Story of Love Mistaken for Horror
If there is one group whose story touches the heart the most, it is the Fore people of Papua New Guinea. They were once described in sensational ways, but when anthropologists actually lived among them, a completely different picture emerged.
For the Fore, honouring the dead was deeply emotional.
When someone in the family passed away, they believed the spirit needed comfort, closeness, and warmth, not a lonely burial where the body would rot in the cold earth.
In their belief system, the kindest thing to do was to keep a part of the loved one close to the family.
It wasn’t something done out of hunger or cruelty.
It was done out of affection a final act of care.
This was known as funerary cannibalism, and it existed in only a few families, not the entire population. When scientists later explained that this ritual was spreading a dangerous brain disease called kuru, the Fore people were heartbroken. But without hesitation, they stopped the practice because keeping their families safe mattered more than tradition.
Today, the Fore are like any modern rural community raising children, farming, working, and learning. The old ritual is gone.
Yet their story teaches us something beautiful:
What outsiders saw as “horror” was actually love expressed in a way that was meaningful to them.
3. When Cannibalism Appeared in Different Places, It Had Different Meanings
Many cultures across the world have been connected with cannibalism at some point, but the reasons were extremely varied.
In the Amazon
Certain tribes believed that brave warriors carried a powerful spirit. During warfare rituals, consuming a very small piece of an enemy was a symbolic act not for pleasure, not for regular food, but as a way to “take the strength” of the warrior.
It was ritualistic, rare, and tightly controlled.
Among early Māori groups
Historical accounts mention that in certain conflicts, small acts of cannibalism were used to insult or defeat an enemy spiritually. It wasn’t normal daily life; it was a powerful and symbolic act, understood deeply within their social context.
In parts of ancient Asia, Europe, and Africa
Cannibalism happened during starvation, extreme famines, shipwrecks and sieges in war. These weren’t cultural traditions; they were decisions made in desperation by people who simply wanted to live.
Imagine a family trapped without food for weeks.
Imagine parents trying to keep their children alive.
These situations break human hearts and sometimes push people into unimaginable decisions.
When we look through the lens of compassion, instead of judgment, we realise that these were human beings struggling for survival, not “cannibal people.”
4. The Myths Created by Colonisers and Storytellers
A big part of the “cannibal people” legend came from colonial times.
When Europeans began travelling to Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific, they often claimed the people they met were cannibals, even when they weren’t. Why?
To portray the lands as dangerous
To justify taking over territories
To show themselves as “civilisers”
To make their stories exciting and dramatic
In many cases, the so-called “cannibal tribes” were simply performing normal rituals:
Painting their bodies, singing, dancing, praying, honouring ancestors.
But explorers misunderstood them or deliberately twisted the truth.
So the world inherited stories that were exaggerated, inaccurate, or completely false.
5. Are Any Cannibalism-Practising People Still Alive Today?
This is the question many people wonder about:
Do any groups still eat humans today?
The answer, with complete clarity, is:
No. No community in the world today practices cannibalism as part of its culture.
However…
Yes, the people whose ancestors once practised it are still alive, living completely ordinary lives.
They are not “cannibal people.”
They are simply people, farmers, teachers, mothers, children, and elders carrying rich cultural traditions, languages, and identities.
The rituals of the past disappeared for many reasons:
Education
Awareness of disease
Influence of religion
Cultural change
Modernization
Integration with national laws
But the communities themselves continue to thrive and grow.
6. What Does Cannibalism Teach Us About Humanity?
Cannibalism is one of those topics that makes people uneasy. But when we look deeper, it teaches us profound truths about human beings:
1. Humans do unusual things when facing extreme hunger.
No culture is exempt from this. History shows cannibalism during starvation on almost every continent.
2. Humans express love differently.
What feels strange to one culture may feel deeply respectful to another.
3. Humans ritualise life and death in unique ways.
Funeral customs vary wildly, burying, cremating, mummifying, preserving, or honouring the dead in many symbolic forms.
4. Humans are quick to judge what we don’t understand.
Many communities were unfairly branded as “dangerous” because outsiders didn’t take the time to understand their beliefs.
5. Cultures evolve.
Practices come and go. What was meaningful once may no longer exist today, and that is a natural part of human history.
6. The Real “Cannibal People”: Humans, Not Monsters
If we remove fear and replace it with empathy, we can finally see the truth:
The people once linked with cannibalism were not villains.
They were not savages.
They were not what movies made them out to be.
They were communities shaped by:
Their environment
Their spiritual beliefs
Their battles and struggles
Their hopes for survival
Their love for their families
They were humans trying to make sense of life and death in their own unique way.
And the stories written about them, often by outsiders who didn’t understand their culture, left a mark that these communities never deserved.
8. A More Human Way to Remember Them
Instead of imagining mysterious tribes in dark forests, imagine this instead:
A mother in Papua New Guinea is singing softly to her child.
A warrior in the Amazon painting his face with pride before a ceremony.
A family in New Zealand shares food during a ritual gathering.
A village elder telling stories under a thatched roof.
A small community growing crops, laughing, celebrating festivals, dancing, and mourning their dead.
These are the real lives, the real souls behind the old stories.
They were not “cannibal people.”
They were simply people.
People with stories, emotions, mistakes, and growth just like everyone of us.
Conclusion: Beyond Judgement, Toward Understanding
Cannibalism did exist in human history, but:
It was not widespread
It was often misunderstood
It vanished long ago
It was sometimes rooted in love or belief
It came from human circumstances, not evil intentions
And the communities once associated with it?
They are alive, living peaceful, modern lives, far from the myths that once surrounded them.
When we look at them with compassion rather than fear, we discover something beautiful: every culture, no matter how different, deserves understanding, dignity, and humanity.