Hamatsa: The Enigma of Cannibalism on the Pacific NW Coast

by Jim McDowell

The first book-length study of whether cannibalism existed on the Pacific Northwest coast. McDowell shows how a "cannibal complex" among Westerners coloured many early accounts of "man-eating," and how this perception obscured the importance of ritual cannibalism in the secret Hamatsa ceremony—a crucial feature of Native spirituality.

Genres: Canada, History

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1997

Reviews

[Remus Mars · Rating 3 out of 5]

One would expect from first picking up this book that it would be an analysis of the Hamatsa secret society but only two short chapters near the end actually describe the rituals and explain its significance. The first half is an exhaustive study on all surviving European accounts of cannibalism on the Pacific Northwest coast. The second half gets extremely preachy. Starting from a historical and anthropological approach then devolving to the author’s philosophizing and moral proscriptions. The last two chapters can certainly be skipped as they can only leave the reader puzzled as to what kind of book this is supposed to be.
That being said I did learn a lot about the history and cultural meaning of cannibalism on the Northwest coast. Jim McDowell clearly knows almost everything that can be known about the subject. This book is a compilation of that research. To absorb this information one must drag themselves through the author’s almost insufferable attitude towards European outlook and seemingly apologist arguments for certain aspects of native history.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those history books that would have read better as a magazine article. The premise is simple: Yes, some Pacific Northwest Indian tribes did engage in cannibalism as part of a cultural practice that became highly ritualized by the time white people entered the picture. The history of this is indeed interesting, but to get to it, you have to wade through McDowell's rather tedious review of the existing testimony of white imperialists who were part of the first wave of contact between the two cultures. The book ends with McDowell's boring treatise on how modern man must reject technology and return to our spiritual roots.

There's a good book to be written on this subject matter if a better writer wants to take it up.

[Eilidh Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives divulges the history of the hamatsa and some of the cultural practices of the Pacific Northwest Natives and explains the basis and misinterpretation that could have potentially occured between colonial individuals and Natives.
An interesting perspective showing the importance of rituals and the teachings behind the rituals that cultures hold.