num_pages: 322
description: The mysterious disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in New Guinea in 1961 has kept the world and his powerful influential family guessing for years. Now Carl Hoffman uncovers startling new evidence that finally tells the full astonishing story.Despite exhaustive searches no trace of Rockefeller was ever found. Soon after his disappearance rumors surfaced that he'd been killed and ceremonially eaten by the local Asmata native tribe of warriors whose complex culture was built around sacred reciprocal violence head hunting and ritual cannibalism. The Dutch government and the Rockefeller family denied the story and Michael's death was officially ruled a drowning. Yet doubts lingered. Sensational rumors and stories circulated fueling speculation and intrigue for decades. The real story has long waited to be tolduntil now.Retracing Rockefeller's steps award-winning journalist Carl Hoffman traveled to the jungles of New Guinea immersing himself in a world of headhunters and cannibals secret spirits and customs and getting to know generations of Asmat. Through exhaustive archival research he uncovered never-before-seen original documents and located witnesses willing to speak publically after fifty years.In Savage Harvest he finally solves this decades-old mystery and illuminates a culture transformed by years of colonial rule whose people continue to be shaped by ancient customs and lore. Combining history art colonialism adventure and ethnography Savage Harvest is a mesmerizing whodunit and a fascinating portrait of the clash between two civilizations that resulted in the death of one of America's richest and most powerful scions.
language: English
title: Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art
publisher: William Morrow