Do Aborigines of Australia Cannibalize Their Murdered Children?

Yes, there are historical records of cannibalism involving murdered children among the Aborigines of Australia. According to anthropologist Carl Lumholtz, infanticide was ‘especially common… when there is a scarcity of food,’ and he reported that under these dire circumstances, the child might be consumed.

Lumholtz’s account from Western Queensland illustrates a horrific scene in which a three-week-old half-caste child was choked to death, then roasted and eaten by the community—despite their long contact with white settlers.

 

Furthermore, William Buckley witnessed the brutal killing of a deformed child; afterward, an older boy was forced to eat the remains to ward off evil, a practice linked to the mother’s mental state and the moon’s influence. Bennett also recorded a case where a ‘weak and sickly’ child was killed and eaten simply because the hungry parents found it too troublesome.

Links

Subscribe by email

Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Join our other subscribers.

Recent comments

    Fast fact tags

    "*" indicates required fields