“What does human flesh taste like?” Has this question ever crept into your mind? While movies like ‘Silence of The Lambs’, ‘Bones and All’, and India’s critically acclaimed ‘Aamis’ have delved into the various layers and aspects of cannibalism, a travel vlogger has found out what human flesh tastes like straight from the horse’s mouth — that is a cannibal tribe’s mouth.
Travel vlogger Dheeraj Meena recently shared a video of his experience with the Korowai tribe of West Papua Island of Indonesia. Meena says in the video: “I spent three nights with the Korowai people and it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. They are good people.”
This tribe is believed to have practised cannibalism for a long time. However, Meena clarifies in the video, the Korowai people do not eat human flesh any more.
Meena interviews an elderly member of the tribe who says that the tribe used to eat human flesh, but only of its enemies who would kidnap their women and torture them. He says: “Human meat tastes like pork. It tastes good, but now we don’t eat it anymore.”
This is not the first time that the Korowai people have been filmed, though. Vloggers from all over the world visit the tribe from time to time. A year ago, American vlogger Drew ‘Blinsky’ Goldberg visited the tribe. He explained in his video that there are two ‘sister tribes’ on the island — Mamuna and Korowai — but only the latter “ate people”. His interview with a member of the Mamuna tribe corroborated Meena’s explanation of the Korowai “ate people only as a form of punishment for kidnapping or torture”.
A National Geographic interview with the Korowai tribe in 2011 showed a member of the tribe who actually ate human flesh. “Only the elders and I have eaten human meat. The younger ones haven’t.” Another member said: “I tasted human meat once. It tastes similar to pig meat.” Yet another member of the tribe claimed that he had “eaten two humans”.