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Keywords
Maori, cannibalism, William E. Arens
Abstract
For our History 202 class, Professor Larsen assigned us to read excerpts from William E. Arens' book called The Man-Eating Myth. The premise of Arens' book is that all of the instances of one group accusing the other of cannibalism are fabricated. If one digs deeply enough, they will not find reliable first hand accounts of cannibalism. Professor Larsen encouraged us to pick a society that was accused of cannibalism and to investigate whether or not the accusations were valid or not. After researching our group came to the conclusion that Arens was wrong in the case of the Maori. There is so much evidence to support that the Maori were indeed cannibals. However we did come to find that Maori cannibalism had been grossly exaggerated and therefore believed to be more widespread and frequent than it probably was in reality. Our poster depicts that the practice of cannibalism did indeed occur amongst the Maori, but that it had been exaggerated by European missionaries and explorers.
Description
The Annual Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Research Conference showcases some of the best student research from the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences. The mentored learning program encourages undergraduate students to participate in hands-on and practical research under the direction of a faculty member. Students create these posters as an aide in presenting the results of their research to the public, faculty, and their peers.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Balli, Tyler A.; Cannon, Justin; Brailsford, Blake; Kartchner, Aubrey; and Johnson, Hallie, "Putting Arens to the Test" (2015). FHSS Mentored Research Conference. 266.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/fhssconference_studentpub/266
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
2015-03-31
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
History
Course
Hist 202
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