“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue”
Most of us learned this rhyme in elementary school. What we didn’t learn is what came next: Columbus and other European explorers claimed they discovered cannibals.
Creating the Cannibal
European “explorers” often described indigenous peoples as “man-eaters”in travel journals and missionary accounts. These stories spread rapidly in Europe and justified conquest. If the people you were colonizing were supposedly barbaric, then taking their land seemed to be a moral duty.
The issue is that most of this information is unreliable. Anthropologist William Arens argues in The Man Eating Myth that there is no solid first-hand proof of widespread customary cannibalism anywhere in the world. He claims most accounts were second-hand, exaggerated, or imagined in their entirety.
By the 19th century, cannibalism had become what scholar Patrick Brantlinger calls a “central metaphor for savergery.” western authors used it to draw a boundary between civilization and barbarism. The cannibal was violent, irrational, and childlike–the opposite of how Europeans viewed themselves. This justified racial hierarchies and empires.
The logic of othering
This process fits what Edward said describes Orientalism: the west creating images of other cultures to define itself as superior. Said writes that the “orient” was largely a European invention –a place imagined as exotic and dangerous.
The cannibal functions in the same way. Cannibalism was never just about eating human flesh; it was about creating an enemy. By depicting natives as cannibal, colonial narratives suggested they were ru;ed by impulse over reason.thus framing the colonization as “civilizing”
Indigenous perspectives
While colonial narratives portrait cannibalism as a pure brutality. Indigenous practices–when they existed– often having spiritual or symbolic meaning. In some cultures, ritual consumption was connected to mourning or honoring the dead, not violence.
These perspectives were rarely included. Indigenous reality was filtered through missionaries, translations, and colonial officials. Victorians audiences wanted evidence of their own superiority, they created some–afterall, they possessed the power to narrate.
Why this matters
The label of cannibalism shows how deeply colonialism relies on storytelling. By labeling others as cannibals. Colonizers justified conquest and reinforced racial hierarchies. When indigenous voices are restored, a different picture emerges–one of ritual meaning, cultural complexity, and humanity.
The real question isn’t who ate who, but who continues to consume others–culturally, financially, and narratively.
