11-02-2015, 09:42 AM
Just saw this, and sorry for the late reply. I just got back from a couple of weeks in French Polynesia (Tuamotus, Marquesas, Society Islands), and this came up on several of the educational talks we had aboard the cruise ship. This also came up on several of the island tours. Everything I heard on this subject was entirely consistent. So with the caveat that I have not scrupulously fact-checked this (not sure how I would for something that occurred in societies that didn't write down or keep records aside from oral histories, but anyway), here's my understanding:
There was human sacrifice, but it was not "cannibalism" as that term is commonly understood in our 21st century Western Culture. Here's the distinction - certain body parts (usually the head) was consumed in an effort to get the "mana" from the deceased. Most of the time the sacrificed individuals were rival chiefs that had a great amount of power, and the captors wanted to obtain that power, and they believed that by consuming the head the mana would flow through into the people consuming the body parts.
I realize that this seems like splitting hairs and isn't a real distinction, but here's the best analogy I can think of - some people eat certain mushrooms not for the taste, or even care that they're eating a mushroom, they just want the "energy" that flows from eating the mushroom. (Hopefully you follow what I'm getting at in the above example, let me know if that was too opaque).
There was human sacrifice, but it was not "cannibalism" as that term is commonly understood in our 21st century Western Culture. Here's the distinction - certain body parts (usually the head) was consumed in an effort to get the "mana" from the deceased. Most of the time the sacrificed individuals were rival chiefs that had a great amount of power, and the captors wanted to obtain that power, and they believed that by consuming the head the mana would flow through into the people consuming the body parts.
I realize that this seems like splitting hairs and isn't a real distinction, but here's the best analogy I can think of - some people eat certain mushrooms not for the taste, or even care that they're eating a mushroom, they just want the "energy" that flows from eating the mushroom. (Hopefully you follow what I'm getting at in the above example, let me know if that was too opaque).
Leilani Estates, 2011 to Present