This horrid practice
Subtitle: the myth and reality of traditional Maori cannibalism
By: Paul Moon.
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Rosedale, N.Z; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 303
ISBN-13: 9780143006718
Subjects: Cannibalism -- New Zealand; Maori (New Zealand people) -- Social life and customs; Maori (New Zealand people) -- History; Kōrero nehe; New Zealand -- History
Description: This Horrid Practice uncovers an unexplored taboo of New Zealand history - the widespread practice of cannibalism in pre-European Maori society. Until now, many historians have tried to avoid it and many Maori have considered it a subject best kept quiet about in public. Paul Moon brings together an impressive array of sources from a variety of disciplines to produce this frequently contentious but always stimulating exploration of how and why Maori ate other human beings, and why the practice shuddered to a halt just a few decades after the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand. The book includes a comprehensive survey of cannibalism practices among traditional Maori, carefully assessing the evidence and concluding it was widespread. Other chapters look at how explorers and missionaries saw the practice; the role of missionaries and Christianity in its end; and, in the final chapter, why there has been so much denial on the subject and why some academics still deny that it ever happened.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 273-295) and index.