On alpaca meat and cannibalism
June 3rd 2008 00:48
I read a book a few years ago “The Last Tribes on Earth” by Paul Raffaele, in which he journeys deep into the jungles of Papua to meet the Korowai people. They have been living happily in the jungles for thousands of years and they have no qualms about eating humans.
The forests where they live are being rapidly decimated by logging, so it’s inevitable that the Korowai’s will soon be living side by side with non-cannibals.
Will the Korowai simply give up their tradition and stop eating human meat? Will they all be dragged away and thrown into prison, or will they convince the non-cannibals to give it a go?
People eat just about every other animal. La viande is the fancy name given to alpaca meat here in Oz. It’s still a tiny market, compared to the meat industries of other animals, but the idea has been around for as long as alpacas have been in the country. After all, it’s the most commonly asked question (particularly from men) “can you eat them”.
Yes, of course you can, alpacas are made of meat (so are humans). It is just a matter of tradition and culture. Australians are used to eating sheep, cows and chickens - kangaroo is also moving up there. In other cultures, dogs, cats, whales and rats are considered food.
For the Korowai people, why waste all that good meat, the person is dead. (OK, they just put an arrow through him, but that’s another issue).
I guess the big question surrounding what we call “multiculturalism” is “where’s the line?” Maybe another blogger will run with that one.
We've been vegetarians here for around ten years (it was a very gradual change). There were a few reasons behind it, economic, animal welfare concerns and the mad cow thing in England (as we were holidaying there about that time), all had a part.
Anyway, I’ve discovered that my system prefers not having meat shoved through it and that suits me just fine. I’m healthier, I don’t need to worry about the Korowai trying to convert me and the alpacas know I’m not going to eat them. It’s a win-win all round.
Paul Raffaele has released another book "Among the Cannibals. Should be an interesting read. It's available from Amazon.com.
The Last Tribes on Earth - Paul Raffaele
The forests where they live are being rapidly decimated by logging, so it’s inevitable that the Korowai’s will soon be living side by side with non-cannibals.
Will the Korowai simply give up their tradition and stop eating human meat? Will they all be dragged away and thrown into prison, or will they convince the non-cannibals to give it a go?
People eat just about every other animal. La viande is the fancy name given to alpaca meat here in Oz. It’s still a tiny market, compared to the meat industries of other animals, but the idea has been around for as long as alpacas have been in the country. After all, it’s the most commonly asked question (particularly from men) “can you eat them”.
Yes, of course you can, alpacas are made of meat (so are humans). It is just a matter of tradition and culture. Australians are used to eating sheep, cows and chickens - kangaroo is also moving up there. In other cultures, dogs, cats, whales and rats are considered food.
For the Korowai people, why waste all that good meat, the person is dead. (OK, they just put an arrow through him, but that’s another issue).
I guess the big question surrounding what we call “multiculturalism” is “where’s the line?” Maybe another blogger will run with that one.
We've been vegetarians here for around ten years (it was a very gradual change). There were a few reasons behind it, economic, animal welfare concerns and the mad cow thing in England (as we were holidaying there about that time), all had a part.
Anyway, I’ve discovered that my system prefers not having meat shoved through it and that suits me just fine. I’m healthier, I don’t need to worry about the Korowai trying to convert me and the alpacas know I’m not going to eat them. It’s a win-win all round.
Among the Cannibals - Paul Raffaele
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Alpaca Notes - Tasmania
No idea. Cheers.