Theyre revered spirits to the point where people wont speak their name so it must be frustrating when people are just like Oh yeah, I saw one of those, it was so spooky or have an aesthetic called wendigocore. America is the symbol of inclusion, so as part of the American culture we embrace foreign influences in our society. We should talk about how Thor and Loki are cultural appropriation of Norwegian mythology. I always thought these are what cannibals are turning into. I don't don't value cultural pluralism. Let's stop dancing around this ugly truth: Right now, Katy Perry is pop culture's most prominent purveyor of racist cultural appropriation. Don't miss a beat. I do not know whether Algonquin People indeed consider Wendigo depictions in mainstream media so culturally sensitive or taboo as the "woke" in your lead comment implied I would somehow doubt it but do not know for sure. In Algonquian traditions, the wendigo monster emerges not randomly or in violent response to colonialism as it often does in popular media but through a specific set of circumstances that are unique to different tribal groupings. [51], Television series employing the figure include Teen Wolf, Supernatural,[52] Blood Ties,[53] Charmed,[54] Grimm,[55] and Hannibal, where an FBI profiler has recurring dreams or visions of a wendigo that symbolizes the titular cannibalistic serial killer. I think people just need to chill out, no mater what their religion and culture is. When you comment on, Asian American and Pacific Islander History, Race and Membership in American History: Eugenics. That, I would affirm, is truly and literally cannibalism, and it is cannibalism accompanied by no spiritually meaningful ceremony or ritual., More than a commentary on the life of wendigo stories amongst his own people, Forbes deploys the metaphor of the wendigo to advance nothing less than a critique of civilization at large and describes the violence that he argues lies at its foundation as one driven by a kind of wendigo psychosis. There, he uses the cannibalistic wendigo as a metaphor for the behaviors and attitudes central to patterns of social domination visited upon his own people in the Americas and subjugated peoples everywhere. [57] In the 2018 first-person shooter video game Dusk, wendigos are enemies that remain invisible until they receive damage. Without really understanding the conflict here, it seems like the issue is not people illustrating the creature, but using it as a creepy Halloween themed prop. In 1973 a character inspired by the wendigo appeared in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Thus I support Scott Cooper, the director of the forthcoming (hopefully by next spring) ANTLERS, in his efforts to seek out consultation from Indian advisors when making his movie, which features a Wendigo. Their visitations speak to the inseparability of human experience National identity is irrelevant to this borderless horror. [31][32] Others have pointed to a number of credible eyewitness accounts, both by Algonquians and others, as evidence that Wendigo psychosis was a factual historical phenomenon. I dont know who originally posted it, or where. This makes them so ravenous for human flesh that they pounce upon women, children, and even upon men, like veritable werewolves, and devour them voraciously, without being able to appease or glut their appetiteever seeking fresh prey, and the more greedily the more they eat. Strictly speaking, cultural appropriation is the adoption of some element of another culture -- food, language, practices, fashion, etc. The legend of the Wendigo is, in fact, one of the oldest manifestations of a taboo peculiar to most human societies, and which was already widespread among Anglophone tribes: cannibalism. Topics: One does not need to delve very deeply into the annals of American film, television, and literature to find an array of caricatured depictions of Native American peoples and a distortion of their knowledge. Sentences like "The Native American wizarding community was particularly gifted in animal and plant magic" are cringe-worthy if you give them a little thought, and the notion that only European wizards were clever enough to invent wands, which make magic "more precise and more powerful" borders on horrific levels of cluelessness. This ailment attacked our deputies; and, as death is the sole remedy among those simple people for checking such acts of murder, they were slain in order to stay the course of their madness. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. The wendigo -- a creature from Native American myth -- carries powerful symbolism and is presumably sufficiently mysterious to keep enough audience members guessing at its motives and abilities. Those things, the predation on the Indians by Europeans, most certainly happened. If so, what did you think about it? Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The Wendigo happens to be part of my own (Anishiinaabe) cultural heritage. In some cases, this entailed killing people with Wendigo psychosis. More Than Monsters: The Deeper Significance of Wendigo Stories, often presented apart from its original cultural contexts, At Facing History and Ourselves, we value conversationin classrooms, in our professional development for educators, and online. The Wendigo (Also known as windigo, weendigo, windago, waindigo, windiga, witiko, wihtikow, and various other names including manaha) originates from Native-American legend, and is said to be a demonic half-beast as told by the Algonquian peoples along the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada. It shouldn't be bad thing if you don't mock culture, make sure to have all information you can ( read books from culture or ask someone who grew up with said culture if they are willing to teach you) but then again they aren't from your culture and unlike creatures like vampires they are a bit more closed i don't know is it good to use them. Guillermo del Toro, producer of the film, developed the wendigo on the basis that the more the creature eats, the more it gets hungry and the more it gets hungry, the weaker it becomes. I have always felt a distinct emotional connection to it, in fact. The protection of minorities from the materialization of the majority's different thoughts is an asset of democratic constitutionalism. In a report from the Contemporary Folklore conference covered in issue 388 of FORTEAN TIMES, the go-to magazine for all things paranormal, weird, or unexplained, a complaint is voiced about the cultural appropriation of the Wendigo, likening it to the sexualization of the Mothman statue in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The Windigo had a knife and he'd cut the boy on the hand to see if he was fat enough to eat, but the boy didn't get fat. The game I will be going over in this is Until Dawn, a horror game made by Supermassive Games, made . And whoever!). By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Wendigo Cannibalism in Native American Folklore. Native Americans, Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. This country is seeking to be whole Stretching out its arms and consuming all it can. cultural identity theft, many would argue that cultural appropriation is inevitable in a melting pot like the United States. Climbing the totem pole. It springs from the well of the collective human unconscious, the communal soul. Tell us about it in the comments. I know people who are absolutely terrified of them, branching out from their fear of deer. You're absolutively spot on! Though these misrepresentations of the wendigo beg for critical interrogation, the wendigo stories of Algonquian peoples offer a window into the endurance of cultural resources used to transmit significant moral values, and underscore the power of Native people using these stories to engage in social critique. The use of the creature in horror stories . Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. Learn how your comment data is processed. He was eating the juice (marrow) from the inside of the bones of his legs that were cut off. Since the concept of a wendigo stems from First Nations folklore, maybe someone making a cute little doll of this evil spirit figure was seen as inappropriate or making fun of their culture? But I do notice that Eyre stopped short of saying colonialization is the origin for the Wendigo legend. Mythologynote my use of the capital M to convey that it is far more than just some made-up stories; it is stories containing deeper spiritual truthsbelongs to all of humanity. 1. How dare they? Nitty gritty. One of those advisors I just mentioned, Chris Eyre, had this to say of the Wendigo: They [meaning Native peoples] truly, truly believe in it, because it represents greed and colonialism when we first came to the shores of what is now America, and pillaged all of their resources and forced them [into] cannibalism. On the other hand, "The Wendigo" is one of the first representations of the windigo by a Jack committed suicide, but Joseph was tried and sentenced to life in prison. Dont look at it! A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). BTW, I love rainbow farting unicorns! In some traditions, humans overpowered by greed could turn into wendigos; the myth thus served as a method of encouraging cooperation and moderation. It was forbidden to resort to this practice, even out of desperation. Unlike cultural appropriation, strategic anti-essentialism can be practiced by both minority cultures and majority cultures. We do the same thing with a lot of mythological creatures. No it isn't cultural appropriation, as long as it is researched and accurately presented in the story. I am just reacting to what I read in this ridiculous PSA journal out there on Deviantart. The legend of the wendigo has long been associated with real-life problems like insatiable greed, selfishness, and violence. Return to Article Details Culturally Conceptualizing Trauma: The Windigo in Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. wendigos originate from spiritual beliefs held by Algonquian Indigenous peoples, whom are from the north eastern part of north america. It will survive on it's own. Only assholes think thats offensive. I'm just glad I learned this lesson from her before actually getting my book published. Part of HuffPost Entertainment. In the course of the transformation from human to wendigo, the person exhibits increasing selfishness, violence, hunger, and greedparticularly for human flesh. I wouldn't be offended if someone dressed as a stereotypical Scottish person whatever that looks like lol. That taste of human flesh, which out of that rose the wendigo.. without permission. Cookie Notice Far from just being a monster in an escapist horror flick, Forbes and LaDuke demonstrate that the wendigo can help us grasp the horrors of our real world so we can be here now and, ultimately, work toward solutions. Doing so is an honorable endeavorbut only if we actually do our homework first. Key elements of culture include: language art,. They got Thor and Loki all wrong and what the hell? However, when reading Magic in North America, it's hard not to get the sense that Rowling did not understand the thin ice she was treading on when it came to representation of Native Americans, nor did she make any effort to treat these themes with the weight they deserve. [18], A wendigo need not lose the human's powers of cognition or speech and in some depictions may clearly communicate with its prospective victims or even threaten or taunt them. We should show proper respect to our Cryptids at all times, and Im rightfully righteously indignant at the thought of anyone doing otherwise with Mothman. "Today, many believe the crows to be . He said to the boy "Hurry up. Im glad, because I dont believe that it is. The legend of the Wendigo stems from Native American folklore, primarily in Algonquian-speaking tribes located in south and southeastern Canada, the Great Lakes Region, and northeastern United States. What makes the wendigo any different from other culturally important mythological creatures like unicorns? Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Second, he determines the relevant issues as "aesthetic" and "moral," and then discusses the most prominent arguments that surround each type of appropriation. I am so offended! Still though, Im not sure I fully get the Native American spirits(?) WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. spellings (see Colombo 2) but is most commonly rendered as Windigo, Wendigo, or Witiko. [17] Therefore, wendigos are portrayed as simultaneously gluttonous and extremely thin due to starvation. It's a term for what happens to people who for one reason or another turn to eating other people. I think she knew that her decision would be challenged and she wanted to let people know that she had valid reasons for doing what she did. Not only is it not offensive, I LOVE seeing references to wendigos in popular culture! Dollightful's Apology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW-KBzKWvrUTo clear up the addition that I made even more, I think that it would be pretty important for the information on this topic to be easily accessible to her viewers. And they are worth considering including in ones classroom teaching. LOL. I believe cultural appropriation is Only when someone of another 'race' or culture creates something and passes it off as if it is authentic. But as far as cultural appropriation and the Wendigo goes, dont you daredont you DAREtry to take our monsters away from us, PC wankers! no actual cases of windigo psychosis have ever been studied, and Lou Marano's scathing critique in 1985 should have killed off the cannibal monster within the psychiatric annals. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) Draw/write what you want, I say. The Cambridge Dictionary, defines it as "the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture."And a lot of times, it is marked by a dominant culture taking from one that has been colonized and oppressed . No, I read your comment. She states that the wendigo symbolically represents three major concepts: it is the incarnation of winter, the embodiment of hunger, and the personification of selfishness. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. So it seems to me like the objection might have something to do with an inappropriate mixing of religious contexts from two different belief systems. Wendigos/Windigos/etc. And FWIW, I've read stories that disturbed me & even disgusted me but the author has the right to tell their story whether I like it or don't. In most traditions, the wendigo is human in origin and becomes a monster through a process that results either from acts of starvation-induced cannibalism or from possession by a spirit. [45] Wrist, the 2016 debut novel by First Nations horror fiction writer Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler (Lac Des Milles Lacs Anishinaabe),[46] combines the traditional Ojibwe legend with the author's ideas inspired by non-Indigenous writers like Anne Rice and Tim Powers. We have to stop guarding cultures and subcultures in efforts to preserve them.. Differing thinking is one of the cherished assets of democratic cultural pluralism. The cultural appropriation police answer the yoga and banh mi objections with a familiar counter-argument: it's about power. Is it Cultural Appropriation if I have a Wendigo character. As a concept, wendigo can apply to situations other than some Native American-European relations. [29], Another well-known case involving Wendigo psychosis was that of Jack Fiddler, an Oji-Cree chief and medicine man known for his powers at defeating wendigos. But, but, what if they're looking at something that erodes the moral fabric of civilization? The moral lessons contained in wendigo stories are also used to support the task of social critique in the late Native American scholar Dr. Jack D. Forbes book Columbus and Other Cannibals: The Wtiko Disease of Exploitation, Imperialism, and Terrorism (1978). The Wendigo, also known as the Hollowed, was a type of Creature of Grimm that was proposed to appear in the animated webseries RWBY. I know what cultural appropriation is but Ive not been as involved in social justice as I used to be and I guess its showing. [20], Among the Assiniboine, the Cree, and the Ojibwe, a satirical ceremonial dance is sometimes performed during times of famine to reinforce the seriousness of the wendigo taboo. (Not to put too fine a point on it, but you should totally go buy my novella. The e-book is here, and you can get a paperback copy here.). In an as-yet unpublished urban fantasy novel of mine, I basically did the same thing; I made a supporting character an Acheri, completely bungling any semblance of folkloric accuracy in my attempt to come up with a "cool" and "unorthodox" monster. "Cultural appropriation refers to the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression and doesn't respect their original meaning or give credit to their source. Don't tell lies to those Indians."