People who eat other people, or creatures that eat members of their own species.
From Spanish 'caníbal,' derived from 'Carib,' the name of a Caribbean people. Early colonizers used this term (often inaccurately) to describe indigenous groups, and the word became loaded with racist misconceptions.
The word's history is troubling: European colonizers exaggerated or invented cannibalism claims about indigenous peoples to justify conquest, making 'cannibal' one of language's most weaponized false stereotypes.
Colonial powers applied 'cannibal' (from Carib) selectively to non-European peoples, particularly women, to justify enslavement and territorial conquest. The term carried racialized and dehumanizing connotations that disproportionately affected indigenous and African women.
Use only in historical, ethnographic, or fictional contexts with precise language. Avoid when describing actual practices of any group without evidence.
["indigenous peoples (when accurate)","specific cultural practices (with context)","historical accounts (with source)"]
Indigenous women's knowledge systems and social structures were systematized and maligned by colonial narratives. Recognizing their agency and actual cultural practices corrects historical erasure.
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