Angie, Helen, Leanne and Tiffany
 It is an unconventional funeral process
 Endocannibalism is often undertaken in villages along
the border between Venezuela and Brazil in South
America.
 Taboo in most cultures.
 Different forms all over south America.
 Most stringent form is held by the Yanomami Tribe.
 Eating of a part or an entire corpse, and can be
executed in numerous ways - some examples include
the eating of raw flesh and organs or the drinking of
blood.
 In the case of the Yanomami tribe, only the bone is
consumed.
 When a member of the tribe has passed away, the flesh
of the human body is burned in a firepit until it is all
completely seared away and only the bone is left.
 The bones are then crushed.
 Finally, the symbolic element of the Yanomami tribe’s
death ritual is where the powdered bones are mixed
into food and eaten by the most proximate family.
 As the Yanomami tribe believe in spirits and the spirits
of the dead, eating of the bone keeps the spirit alive
and dwelling within the people of the tribe.
 Some believe that when part of the dead is eaten, then
the core traits and skills will be passed on.
 The tribe believes that there is a ‘circle of life’, in which
a life is renewed and recycled.
 Another belief is that life is reabsorbed into the living,
and when they too pass, the spirits will be passed on in
an endless cycle of life and death.
 Consumption of tobacco also eases the acceptance
process of losing a loved one. In a semi-lucid state, the
brain will be numbed from the pain.
 They also believe that by consuming tabacco, they are
taken into a spiritual world in which they can contact
the spirits of the deceased.
 The deceased will remain alongside their family for
eternity, and this certainty would give peace to the
mourning family members.