On the basis of detailed ethnographic analyses, the present article reflects on the significance of death and cannibalism among the Wari' (Pakaa Nova) of Rondonia, Brazil, specifically through consideration of the notion that the body, as the center of one's worldview, is the basis of differentiating between categories of beings. It is concluded that ingestion of the body through ritual endocannibalism is a means of dehumanizing the dead and simbolically transforming them into prey, as thus differentiates them from the living who, as predators, are perceived as human. Through the Wari' etnhographic material, several recurrent interpretations regarding ritual endocannibalism in South America are criticized, particularly insofar as they ignore one of its most essential characteristics: its classificatory potential.
canibalism; death; Wari'