Hamasa Cannibalism - The Process of Sublimation

The hamasa is revered as the one who takes the sins of the community upon himself and then endures the period of penance required to purge it. European settlers came in and saw what was going on and forced the quakudl, against their will, to give up many of these barbaric practices. The entire society participates in hamatsa cannibalism, vicariously, by being somehow enlisted in one or another part of the ritual. They allow them to partially experience the act without taking on to themselves the dangerous taboo involved.