New Zealand—The Maero [Canibalism, until the 19th century]
New Zealand was very small. Too small to be aware of certain things. He needed an adult to explain the world to him. That was where England would step in, but since at that time no one knew what an england was, the Maero were the ones in charge of his education.
He called them Maero, as well as his babbling childish tongue allowed him, because he saw in them the mythical giants the old women told him stories about.
They taught him to respect his elders, to cooperate with everyone around him and be humble. Not to mention how to cook that delicious hāngī.
Knowing what he was, with everything that entailed, they also taught him a few things about war. Being a nation meant this little darling would have to spill or shed blood at many, many points of his life, whether he liked it or not. And he needed to fight, they would make sure he had the tools necessary to survive.
They taught him how to hold and use a weapon. Europeans would come with far more sophisticated ones, sticks which spit fire, no less, but, for the moment, a taiahana would do. Even at that point it seemed evident that he would grow up to become a pretty boy, almost too feminine to even pass as a man, so they also showed him how to earn people's respect. They painted tattoos all over his body and made him mimic their gestures and roars. This will scare the bad people away, they told him.
And the enemies...
"You will find lots of enemies in your life." A chief told him, taking him by the hand to a meadow near the shore. "They will try to enslave you, steal from you and kill you. For envy, for greed, or just to prove that they are stronger."
They had captured a group of enemies. They had them surrounded, sitting on the ground. New Zealand gazed at them for long, at their bleeding wounds.
"You won't let that happen, will you?" The chief asked.
New Zealand shook his spirals with energy.
"Sure not." The man smiled satisfied. "You are not dumb. You won't let them walk over you, I know. But I want you to promise me that you won't bow to anybody. You must make it clear for everyone you encounter that if they hit you, your vengeance will be terrible."
A gesture, and some of the soldiers cut the neck of the prisoners. But that was not the end of it. New Zealand watched wide-eyed as they didn't wait until they were surely dead to start cutting up their bodies.
"They must learn you've got the power to turn them all into nothing but excrement."
One of the soldiers presented a handful of flesh to his chief with a reverence. And he put it in his mouth without hesitation, licking the blood.
He saved a little for New Zealand. The child was well-mannered and ate it without complaining.