Athena Review Image Archive ™
A feast of the Tupinamba (1552)
Tupinamba feast (Hans Staden, True History, 1557).
Hans
Staden was a German gunner at a fort in southeast Brazil who was
captured in 1552 by Tupinamba warriors. From the outset, Staden had to
exercise all his wits to avoid the fate of others perceived to be
enemies of the Tupinamba, which sometimes included being killed and
disposed of at cannibalistic feasts. Those cooked and eaten seemed to
include both an occasional European (especially Portuguese), and
members of rival tribal groups.
Staden somehow managed to
survive for several months among the Tupinamba before finally escaping
and returning to Germany. His book Hans Staden: The True History of his Captivity,
published in 1557, included a number of woodcut illustrations of
Tupinamba culture, including this view of a cannibalistic feast, and
another of a palisaded village with human skulls on the main gate.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Rust Family Foundtion (All Rights Reserved).