ANT302 – Death, Ritual, and Meaning: The Fore People and the Practice of Transumption

Explore how the Fore people of Papua New Guinea transformed death into an act of love, healing, and spiritual continuity through their sacred funerary practice known as transumption—the ritual eating of deceased family members to free their spirits and keep their souls within the lineage. Rooted in compassion rather than savagery, this ritual reflects the Fore’s belief that the body must be cared for after death, or else worms and maggots will consume it without meaning. By participating, especially the women, who were most vulnerable to kuru, the Fore showed devotion and solidarity, strengthening community bonds and ensuring that the ancestors (amani) would assist the living. Through ritual purification—such as walking through steam and chewing cleansing leaves—participants restored balance between the physical and spiritual worlds. These practices reveal deep respect for life, death, and the cyclical connection between body and spirit, challenging Western moral judgments about cannibalism and demonstrating that even in grief, the Fore exercised control over fate by recycling souls within the family and maintaining harmony between the living and the dead.