Posted on 08/16/2007 2:12:55 PM PDT by blam
Cannibal tribe apologises for eating Methodists
By Nick Squires in Sydney
Last Updated: 3:29pm BST 16/08/2007
A tribe in Papua New Guinea has apologised for killing and eating four 19th century missionaries under the command of a doughty British clergyman.
Sorcery and witchcraft are still common in some Papuan tribes
The four Fijian missionaries were on a proselytising mission on the island of New Britain when they were massacred by Tolai tribesmen in 1878.
They were murdered on the orders of a local warrior chief, Taleli, and were then cooked and eaten.
The Fijians - a minister and three teachers - were under the leadership of the Reverend George Brown, an adventurous Wesleyan missionary who was born in Durham but spent most of his life spreading the word of God in the South Seas.
Thousands of villagers attended a reconciliation ceremony near Rabaul, the capital of East New Britain province, once notorious for the ferocity of its cannibals.
Their leaders apologised for their forefather's taste for human flesh to Fiji's high commissioner to Papua New Guinea.
"We at this juncture are deeply touched and wish you the greatest joy of forgiveness as we finally end this record disagreement," said Ratu Isoa Tikoca, the high commissioner.
Cannibalism was common in many parts of the South Pacific - Fiji was formerly known as the Cannibal Isles - and dozens of missionaries were killed by hostile islanders.
Born at Barnard Castle, Durham, Rev Brown emigrated to New Zealand as a young man and served as a missionary in Samoa before moving with his wife and children to New Guinea.
He was familiar with the cannibalistic traditions of the region and once described a visit to a village in which he counted 35 smoke-blackened human jaw bones dangling from the rafters of a hut.
"A human hand, smoke-dried, was hanging in the same house. And outside I counted 76 notches in a coconut tree, each notch of which, the natives told us, represented a human body which had been cooked and eaten there," he told the Royal Geographical Society.
Even so, he was shocked when told that four of his staff had been cannibalised.
"They were killed simply because they were foreigners, and the natives who killed them did so for no other reason than their desire to eat them, and to get the little property they had with them," he wrote.
He reluctantly agreed to launch a punitive expedition, ordering his men to burn down villages implicated in the murders and destroy wooden canoes.
At least 10 tribe members blamed for the attack were killed in an area known as Blanche Bay. Rev Brown claimed the raids made the region safe for Europeans.
In a letter to the general secretary of the London Missionary Society he wrote: "The natives respect us more than they did, and as they all acknowledge the justice of our cause they bear us no ill will."
But the reprisals attracted fierce criticism from the press, particularly in Australia.
The Australian newspaper said: "If missionary enterprise in such an island as this leads to wars of vengeance, which may readily develop into wars of extermination, the question may be raised whether it may not be better to withdraw the mission from savages who show so little appreciation of its benefits."
However, an official investigation by British colonial authorities a year later exonerated Rev Brown.
“It’s always rib night on Papua!”
Roast of the time, these cannibal topics bring out the wurst in all of us.
I know it’s hard for me to stomach these stories.
Some of us are just natural born archaeo-musicians. ;)
Ditto...LOL
Chief: You bloody idiots! I said, “the Misionaries are good cooks,” not, “the misionaries are good, cooked!”
:-)
Sitting shiva, or just guarding the remains, until the authorities could arrive? LOL
Once the tribe had eaten a Baptist, a Catholic as well as a Methodist, and later they had an ecumenical movement.
Did you hear about the tribe of cannibals that decided to raise their own meat, rather than hunt for it?
It turned out so well, that they they had a surplus of haunches to sell to surrounding tribes.
It didn’t really catch on though until they wrote all their favorite rump roast recipes down in “The Fanny Farmer’s Cook Book”, and included a free copy with every sale.
It is a very well-written book...a lot of interesting info on the economics of the whaling industry in the early 1800’s and the incredible hardships the sailors indured for oftentimes large financial gain. You will enjoy it.
That completely slipped by me... descendants
On vacation...and two time zones east, making it earlier yet.
Unlike at home, I can't afford to waste time & money sleeping in, rather than 'enjoying myself'.
+ Broiled Missionary: $10.00
+ Fried Explorer: $15.00
+ Grilled Republican: $20.00
+ Baked Democrat: $100.00
The cannibal called the waiter over and asked, 'Why such a price difference for the Democrat?'
The cook replied, "Have you ever tried to clean one? They're so full of sh!t, it takes all morning."
Baptist ping
Ouch!
Don’t say that. I live in a dry county. Baptists are delicious. Pass the Word.
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