PJ Vogt

Were the Arawaks making this up to get Columbus to go after their enemies?

Like, there's just a lot of debate here even today.

But what's important is Columbus told people that on these islands, some of the locals were dangerous and that they would eat his men.

I think it was just sort of like...

a particularly bad way to die in their minds?

Because I agree.

Like for me, I'm like, I'd prefer not to be killed.

After being killed, being eaten would be like a tertiary concern probably.

I think there's a lot of evidence that that is what is going on here.

Because what ends up happening is Queen Isabella, who has, like, sent Columbus on this journey, when she gets the reports back that some of these people eat people, she says that he's allowed to treat the cannibals differently from the other locals.

Ooh, I see.

So the incentive structure gets all messed up.

Exactly.

So she writes—this is the letter she sends—

Amen.

Amen.

So basically, the queen appears to be giving Columbus and his fellow colonizers special permission to subjugate and enslave cannibals in a way that he wouldn't be able to with other people.

Because cannibal is sort of linked with a kind of a maximum cruelty or a definition of quote-unquote savagery.

Yes.

And so what ends up happening, he shows up trying to find gold because, again, he thinks you find gold in hot places.