Insatiable Appetites: Imperial Encounters with Cannibals in the North Atlantic World

257 Pages·2015·2.855 MB·English

by  Kelly L. Watson

Insatiable Appetites
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Early American Places is a collaborative project of the
University of Georgia Press, New York University Press,
Northern Illinois University Press, and the University of
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Advisory Board
Vincent Brown, Duke University
Stephanie M. H. Camp, University of Washington
Andrew Cayton, Miami University
Cornelia Hughes Dayton, University of Connecticut
Nicole Eustace, New York University
Amy S. Greenberg, Pennsylvania State University
Ramón A. Gutiérrez, University of Chicago
Peter Charles Hoffer, University of Georgia
Karen Ordahl Kupperman, New York University
Joshua Piker, University of Oklahoma
Mark M. Smith, University of South Carolina
Rosemarie Zagarri, George Mason University
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Insatiable Appetites
Imperial Encounters with Cannibals in the
North Atlantic World
kelly l. watson
a
New York University Press
new york and london
NeW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
©2015 by New York University
All rights reserved
For Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data,
please contact the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-8147-6347-6 (hardback)
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author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or
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Also available as an ebook
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 Inventing Cannibals: Classical and Medieval Traditions 23
2 Discovering Cannibals: Europeans, Caribs,
and Arawaks in the Caribbean 49
3 Conquering Cannibals: Spaniards, Mayas,
and Aztecs in Mexico 87
4 Converting Cannibals: Jesuits and Iroquois in New France 119
5 Living with Cannibals: Englishmen and the Wilderness 149
6 Understanding Cannibals: Conclusions and Questions 178
Notes 187
Bibliography 211
Index 235
About the Author 241
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Figures
I.1 Allegorical image of America 17
1.1 Dog-headed cannibals on a Caribbean island 43
2.1 Early German woodcut of a New World scene 80
2.2 America 82
3.1 Brazilian cannibals dressed in Moorish fashion 93
4.1 Martyrdom of Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant 141
5.1 Native Americans threaten Europeans 164