Kannibalismus als Krankheit: Das Verständnis von physischer und psychischer Gesundheit bei indigenen Völkern Nordamerikas.

Since the early stages of European colonisation, the indigenous peoples of the Americas have been stigmatized as consumers of human flesh. Both settler-invader cultures and academic research have been fascinated by a giant cannibal called Wetiko, originating in the Cree culture of the First Nations. This essay explores the »western« interpretation of cannibalism as a culturally bound psychosis, and consequently examines the responses of Native scholars who, on the one hand, stress that the stories of the cannibal monster contain underlying legal principles that form part of their laws and customs, and on the other, use the concept of the Wetiko to criticize »western« imperialism, seeing cannibalism as a form of greed in a pathological way. Finally, the paper discusses how healthy and unhealthy states of mind are connected to a specific indigenous worldview and its system of values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]