By Christian Chiakulas, Contributor Writer, musician, activist, single father from Chicago. stream Windigo is a malevolent manitou or spirit whose insatiable appetite for human flesh can never be satisfied. Political correctness started out as one thing, a good thing. The question of how to challenge the wtiko psychosis as described by Forbes and Wendigo Economics as described by LaDuke is a difficult one, but the mythic force of the concept of the wendigo helps to underscore the urgency of these questions. 0000000974 00000 n This articlescross-media analysiscovers television, film and game media;Teen Wolf(201117),Supernatural(200520), Bruce WemplesThe Retreat(2020) and SuperMassive GamesUntil Dawn(2015). Cookie Notice Have you encountered wendigo stories in films, television shows, or books? Topics: You dont have to be French to love the Phantom of the Opera. If you were to look around the world about other religions, anything that is associated with death and disease is regarded upon. 0000020040 00000 n 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. That is why we know about the wendigo today, it is an oral tradition like all the . :)Looking to buy some stickers or look at some pictures of my art or my other things? The windigo is a Native American spirit belonging to the Algonquian tribes of North America and Canada. Now that I have a major problem with. As a creator, I believe it is my responsibility, the responsibility of any creator, if using characters that belong to a culture other than mine and exploring themes from that culture, to be accurate. 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. For artists, writers, gamemasters, musicians, programmers, philosophers and scientists alike! Cookie Notice It may be used to justify calling. i love the videos uploaded to youtube and try to keep up with posts, so this is by no means a bash at Wendigoon. The windigo is a Native American spirit belonging to the Algonquian tribes of North America and Canada. As a concept, wendigo can apply to situations other than some Native American-European relations. startxref I read some stuff yesterday saying that teepees are cultural appropriation and there was a long post about how wendigos arent cryptids and how stories about them are cultural appropriation. 0000005304 00000 n These new narratives that white people make fail to acknowledge that the wendigo, and the Indi. Usually, the appropriating culture is in a relation of domination to the appropriated culture. This construction is problematic in the horror genre as it presents an Indigenous antagonist that poses a threat to white culture for its otherness and indigeneity while at the same time, misappropriating, discarding and demonising the Indigenous culture the myth comes from, at whim. 0000007477 00000 n +9*]aty``mZm/[= ${2R{!g=b{B,L0R2"T]IDa. Although well-documented in Western literature, the windigo spirit of stories like . (Anything that isnt outright vandalism isnt likely to harm the statue at all, but I wouldnt dare do anything disrespectful around it. It can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. Magazine with fellow environmental thought leaders, LaDuke said: Theres this conflict between the cannibals and Mother Earth, and its going on everywhere. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. In contrast to modern horror stories that appropriate the wendigo as a plot device, Forbes implies that what actually ought to be terrifying to us is that we live in societies enveloped in violence and exploitation that we struggle to identify as such. Theres something else. l Ca#!LzH{t+8W5 !2*_{)rgx-`]CTXSH($g Tell us about it in the comments. 0000003465 00000 n spellings (see Colombo 2) but is most commonly rendered as Windigo, Wendigo, or Witiko. He writes: Wtiko is a Cree termwhich refers to a cannibal or, more specifically, to an evil person or spirit who terrorizes other creatures by means of terrible evil acts, including cannibalism I have come to the conclusion that imperialism and exploitation are forms of cannibalism and, in fact, are precisely those forms of cannibalism which are most diabolical or evil It should be understood that wtikos do not eat other humans only in a symbolic sense. media has really misconstrued the original lore and importance of the w*ndigo to Indigenous culture. i don't know if anyone has talked about this, but i have a special interest in Native American culture, history, etc. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. U%.CI$ FKe{CiV/\Lg1DD$A!=FHD6 EInw^9qkCh&1rvR'`{7X wEB7Az~q0n8 t)$xh1rQJ,p>O/$-J)'OTk|m9(k|6U g/-JU;WM}7d5)V.yX=Qu,TDI+CA_5U|nH$WK7G3-aYaqeV2jWQV6C6OY"W5?x;f_27j3Y)/G`j|e9NHCp+-r4g7D? c! And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. %PDF-1.7 wendigo cultural appropriation [26][27] During the winter of 1878, Swift Runner and his family were starving, and his eldest son died. The creation of new worlds and new universes has long been a key element of speculative fiction, from the fantasy works of Tolkien and Le Guin, to the science-fiction universes of Delany and Asimov, to the tabletop realm of Gygax and Barker, and beyond. 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. Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge As I mentioned during our latest episode of the NYMG podcast, I've been playing Until Dawn, and the game has got me thinking about a few different things that I'd like to spend some time parsing through, like the game's representation of things like gender and race, how it is that the idea of choice seems to influence the way we think about these representations, and the manner in which . and our 3. This article's cross-media analysis covers television, film and game media; Teen Wolf (2011-17), Supernatural (2005-20), Bruce Wemple's The Retreat (2020) and SuperMassive Games' Until Dawn . 0000009596 00000 n Native Americans, Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. 0000010971 00000 n If so, what did you think about it? 0000013308 00000 n She is Native American. 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. hb```b``Ub`e``s`g@ ~+ a1fm{s/K5N9MHd@*2Ey]#B}>x,&ucrnhm:HkN=_B }Wzp.S#WCXi;dRa ,.0H*. That's just pulling a potential explanation out of my ass, though, I have no idea if its accurate or not. 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. 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. I dont know who originally posted it, or where. Ojibwe scholar Dr. Brady Santi has developed this guide for teachers who would like to teach students about her communitys unique belief systems with an emphasis on the wendigo as it appears in popular films. It's taboo to the Anishaabe people, but the common depiction of it in media is no where near the original frozen cannibal spirit that the legends are based off of. 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. 0000008020 00000 n If you do go as a specific person, avoid figures of religious or cultural significance to a particular group to which you do not belong. The windigo is a per-sonal spirit that still belongs to the Native American cultures from which it has been taken, and the appropriation of this spirit harms Native American communities by poorly representing their beliefs for a marketable gain. By looking at the depictions of windigo in these specific Western stories and in Native American beliefs, it is possible to see how stripping spirits of their original contexts is harmful to Native communities. 0000003862 00000 n the origins don't even depict the w*ndigo with deer antlers, but a human with bitten off lips. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 0000005554 00000 n 0000005961 00000 n Although this article is specifically observing the Wendigo, I argue that it is one of many caveless creatures, and the treatment of them by creators of non-Indigenous horror genre should be analysed in the future. 0000010400 00000 n Im just struggling to understand the significance of it. And you know what? Scan this QR code to download the app now. The latest addition to this lineup of wendigo tales is Scott Cooper and Guillermo del Toros horror film Antlers (2021) in which a Native American character provides some brief exposition before the story centered around a white community contending with the monster begins in earnest. Posts and comments should be substantive, and assertions backed in fact or personal lived experience. In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. %PDF-1.4 % Scan this QR code to download the app now. The Windigo also has the power to turn humans into cannibals who suffer the same . You dont have to be of Afro-Caribbean descent to talk about, write about, or make movies about zombies. <>/ExtGState<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 595.32 841.92] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> With the comments turned off on Dollightful's apology video, I thought that maybe we could have some discussion here(if anyone ever sees this, anyway). You must be here to either learn more about social justice or answer questions from a social justice viewpoint. The wendigo is intended to embody hunger, particularly as refracted through the icy cold of winter and the monstrous things that people do when their appetites overwhelm them. Turning on I have this character in a webcomic I want to write who is a Wendigo. During a panel at YES! 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. My Thoughts and Questions OllieOnyx 845 subscribers Subscribe 4.5K 119K views 2 years ago I just posted a new video talking. Hunchman, K. N. (2020). o&g( Scan this QR code to download the app now. To Helheimr with it! 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).There, he uses the cannibalistic wendigo as a metaphor for the behaviors and attitudes central to patterns of social domination . In the course of the transformation from human to wendigo, the person exhibits increasing selfishness, violence, hunger, and greed particularly for human flesh. Rules: And whoever!). I believe that the Wendigo is far older than that, far more primal. And they are worth considering including in ones classroom teaching. Europeans may well have behaved like Wendigos when they invaded the Americasthey didbut they didnt bring the Wendigo with them. 246 0 obj <> endobj No one can try to stake a singular claim to it. 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. Just as the vampire and werewolf do not belong exclusively to people of European descent and the Mummy doesnt belong to Egyptians. Privacy Policy. Here's some links:Website - https://thesierramistify.wixsite.com/thesierramistifyEtsy - https://www.etsy.com/shop/thesierramistify?ref=simple-shop-header-name\u0026listing_id=736195213Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesierramistify/Art Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesierramistify.art/- Music used in this video -Prime Beatz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkG3r3-ODOw 0000015547 00000 n New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Abstract. In this paper, I document the depictions of windigo in Native American mythology, those of Western literature, and the effects of appropriation and misrepresentation on Native communities. Be supportive, this is a place for growth, not hostility. 0000012791 00000 n How stupid to think otherwise. i enjoy his content, but the w*ndigo is part of a closed religion and is supposed to be a lesson about human greed and selfishness, not a cannibal monster story. The concept of cultural appropriation began well enough, but just like everything else woke culture political correctness, it's gone way too far. One example is Ojibwe activist Winona LaDuke who has called for a decisive shift away from what she has termed Wendigo Economics for the sake of the health of the natural world. ])yB\}OIZyY8 aA6Vo !C_D#!MYik.1>%'5ryZ*>fb=n#_dr;j5 { 4 0 obj George warns those who are leaving about the Wendigo myth: anyone who consumes the flesh of their enemies takes their strength but becomes a demon cursed by an insatiable hunger for more human flesh. And besides that, it never hurts to include your sources. arent cryptids thing. Its incredibly validating to know that other people have heard about it and enjoy the story enough to make reference to the name and concept. so im sort of clueless how reddit works and made an account for this, so bare with me. The paper concludes that employing the Wendigo as a caveless creature is a common practice within horror as it easily creates a villain for white protagonists to defeat repeatedly. 0000004651 00000 n The Wendigo is a 'terrifying cannibal ice monster that has its genesis in stories of people forced into cannibalism by the long winter' (Smith and Fiore, 2010: 68). and our Answer (1 of 8): Yes, unless actively researched with proper resources and talked to with First Nation folks as proof-readers. Cultural appropriation is the co-optation of elements, customs, or practices of one culture by another culture without acknowledgment or consent. 3 0 obj However, it never provents for people of that tribe to share this and that story. This is a place to learn more bout Social Justice His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 s\&|5T!JN04hy'I0 1pv=~0-K$k}xSK"g:O*ox&zGa13(YXzy_{v-N^!c@[H For more information, please see our As a creator, I believe it is my responsibility, the responsibility of any creator, if using characters that belong to a culture other than mine and exploring themes from that culture, to be accurate. But as far as cultural appropriation and the Wendigo goes, dont you daredont you DAREtry to take our monsters away from us, PC wankers! 1. 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. 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. A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). Early folklore described them as tall and impossibly emaciated humanoids with sharp incisors and a heart of ice. Im glad, because I dont believe that it is. Finally, it's just not that hard to do two minutes of. That taste of human flesh, which out of that rose the wendigo.. She's part of a group of young adults created in a lab (she's the only one who wasn't) who have these special abilities. they've been stripped of cultural context. (A friend sent this screenshot to me, along with the info, because he knows how much PC-ism pisses me off. Kaitlin Smith on November 30, 2021. <<410561E535828C4ABA4EA5627C70A225>]/Prev 78716/XRefStm 1365>> He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. Ill admit, my initial reaction was very dismissive. it's just something thats been bothering me so i thought it'd come to reddit to see what other people thought. It has no place in the world of Folklore and monsters. Copyright 2022 Facing History & Ourselves. Beyond Forbes, other Native American thinkers have also used wendigo stories to present critical perspectives on various social problems and call for their resolution. On top of that, the wendigo is a part of death. Film, Appropriating the Wendigo As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. 0000000016 00000 n Only those entitled to them should wear them. Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe. 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. endobj Not only is it not offensive, I LOVE seeing references to wendigos in popular culture! 0000009484 00000 n 278 0 obj <>stream 0000007047 00000 n 0000011489 00000 n There's nothing wrong with drawing the popular concept of a wendigo monster, or drawing any monster with antlers, and calling it a wendigo. Answer (1 of 6): First and foremost, I'm not telling you this because I personally have a problem with you dressing as a wendigo for a cryptid fair, but we are living in an age of cancel culture where a costume you sported ten years ago might be used against you. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. My basic rule is simple: be respectful. 7 (2020): Ghosts and Cultural Hauntings. 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 deaths of tens of millions of Jews, Slavs, etc., at the hands of the Nazis, the deaths of tens of millions of blacks in slavery days, the deaths of up to 30 million or more Indians in the 1500s, the terribly short life spans of Mexican Indian farm workers in the US, and of Native Americans generally today, the high death rates in the early industrial centers among factory workers, and so on, all clearly attest to the fact that the wealthy and exploitative literally consume the lives of those that they exploit. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. trailer Archived post. We do the same thing with a lot of mythological creatures. Handle the characters and the story with respect. Stolen Spirits: The Appropriation of the Windigo Spirit in Horror Literature. however, the w*ndigo originates from spiritual beliefs held by Indigenous peoples. <>/Metadata 266 0 R/ViewerPreferences 267 0 R>> His line of questioning effectively asks what if the monstrosity we face is actually not an otherworldly presence but our all too human selves?. From Stephen Kings Pet Sematary to the television series Hanibal, the flesh-eating image of the wendigo is often presented apart from its original cultural contexts where it carries deep moral significance. Check it out here:https://youtu.be/fHE4fkvUpWMI really just made this video to express how I am currently feeling about the wendigo doll situation and the questions I have about it. 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. Vol. xref 0000002723 00000 n I analyze the way the windigo are represented in Western literature and argue that Native American spirits should belong to the cultures they originate from. Marvel Comics pay tribute to classic Monsters. 0000023412 00000 n 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. Cooper and del Toro made the conscious decision to tell the story of the wendigo in a way that is respectful to its Native American roots, which in turn helps make Antlers a more authentic horror film. 4. endobj Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it. Participate in good faith. So yeah, if anyone could offer any insight/information, thatd be appreciated. When you comment on, Asian American and Pacific Islander History, Race and Membership in American History: Eugenics. 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. After thinking about it some more, I understand that its a kind of It was okay for these kids to pretend to be Indians but not for these kids to actually be Indians thing but I saw someone claim that it was contributing to colonisation and the death of death of their culture and that felt a bit strong. 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). symL,JyvCq;[H~! 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. After thinking about it more, I think I get it about the wendigos. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. So, thanks, Dave! The Witherell House and the Cult of Weird, Movie Review: BIRDS OF PREY (And the Fantabulous Inclusion of Victor Zsasz and a Hyena). MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! Wendigos, teepees and cultural appropriation I read some stuff yesterday saying that teepees are cultural appropriation and there was a long post about how wendigos aren't cryptids and how stories about them are cultural appropriation. Copyright (c) 2022 Francesca Amee Johnson, https://doi.org/10.31273/reinvention.v15iS1.906, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, Accepts submissions from any undergraduate student, worldwide, including student-staff collaborations (student must be lead author), Edited by students and staff at the University of Warwick and Monash University. With teepees, Im not sure I get it. For more information, please see our Even in the face of ongoing cultural appropriation and erasure, wendigo stories are but one reflection of the survivance, wisdom, and brilliance of Native peoples. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(443401, 'c61f3219-a9f3-4b0c-95ea-f614a80c184b', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Pictured above: A portion of the poster for the film Antlers (Fox Searchlight, 2021). It was already here. Indigenous, a lot of Natives and people in general don't even like saying the word itself. When she was brought to the lab she already had the curse of the Wendigo but after she was "updated" she had visible antlers and could change her shape. Thats just asking for trouble.) It has become something else altogether. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. This analysis will trace the process of these media, made by non-Indigenous white creators, removing the Wendigos indigeneity and placing it within fictional settings as an antagonist. However, PCism taken to its extreme would say that neither Cooper, nor I, should be telling stories about Wendigos at all, since were not of aboriginal descent. <> 0000001705 00000 n 1 0 obj In this paper, I document the depictions of windigo in Native American mythology, those of Western literature, and the effects of appropriation and misrepresentation on Native communities. This article analyses prominent examples of the Wendigo myth in modern North American horror media and the implications of misappropriation by non-Indigenous creators for non-Indigenous audiences. 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. T[,%q5 This is a story shared not merely for entertainment but to reinforce the communal values that allow the communities in which this practice occurs to live well with one another and within their environments. %%EOF I really just want to learn about how to appreciate aspects of cultures that I am not included in respectfully. % It was intended to be a lesson on human greed and the damage it can cause. 0000008549 00000 n The Wendigo happens to be part of my own (Anishiinaabe) cultural heritage. Although well-documented in Western literature, the windigo spirit of stories like Pet Sematary by Stephen King and The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood are stripped of their original context and are mere stereotypes of the cultures they originate from. And were on the right side, thats what were working on but sometimes you get that cannibal tendency. 0000009954 00000 n Driving down a dark quiet highway in Southern Manitoba, a man sees someone bent over on the side of the road. 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. Basically, the wendigo was supposed to be a creature you didn't even say the name of or else you could draw the attention of one. Western appropriation has long-lasting effects on the perceptions of Native American cultures by the average consumer and even scientific communities. Western appropriation has long-lasting effects on the perceptions of Native American cultures by the average consumer and even scientific communities. teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. 17spaz 2 yr. ago I have always felt a distinct emotional connection to it, in fact. It springs from the well of the collective human unconscious, the communal soul. As much as I would love to tell everyone to just read her sources and then be able to understand everything better, I just don't think that's realistic for most people(because they are not easily accessible to most, and I don't think that was her intention by including these in her description. 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?
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