Cannibalism Myths, Empire, and Identity in Colonial Sierra Leone

Download or read book Cannibalism Myths, Empire, and Identity in Colonial Sierra Leone written by Katrina HB Keefer and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2024-12-04 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1913, Sierra Leone bore witness to a Special Court convened to hear cases of cannibalism. Described as “Human Leopards,” those accused of ritually killing and eating others were associated with a criminal group, and in the wake of the cases, many accused and convicted Human Leopards were executed or exiled from the colony. Contemporary writers described these events in the rhetoric of the “civilized world” triumphing over the “barbaric,” and newspapers of the period wallowed in the lurid idea of shapeshifting cannibals lurking to murder and devour the innocent. Cannibalism Myths, Empire, and Identity in Colonial Sierra Leone by Katrina HB Keefer offers new perspectives on these trials, delving closely into the transcripts of the 1913 Human Leopard cases. Through careful analysis of evidence and modern scholarship, it’s clear that cannibalism was never at play in these murder cases, and Keefer presents a complex web of judicial overreach, colonial ambitions, xenophobic fears, socio-political turmoil, animals whose habitats were being encroached upon, and powerful initiation societies.