The Wendigo

Origins of the Wendigo

The Wendigo is part of the traditional belief system of a number of Algonquian-speaking peoples, like the Cree, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Innu, Saulteaux, and Algonquin. Descriptions and names vary between nations, Wiindigoo, Witiko, Wihtikow, but the central theme remains:  It is an evil spirit of insatiable hunger, corruption, starvation and it may possess a human who breaks the ultimate taboo by consuming human flesh, transforming them into something monstrous. In some stories Wendigos are described as giants that are many times larger than human beings, in others the Wendigo is just slightly larger than a human male. 

The Wendigo is not just a spiritual being, it's also a moral guide to let people now it's not okay to munch on your next door neighbour. Not even your neighbouring tribes, next door neighbour. Like, don't eat other humans. At all. 

No one really knows the actual beginning of the Wendigo lore, or if it's a lore at all. Many people swear by the true existance of the Wendigo, and I'm inclined to believe that we humans do not know everything that exists in this world, people have seen stuff. However, Western anthropologists and sociologists claim that the Wendigo is an "symbol" of desperation, greed, and also a warning to not consume other humans (cannibalism). 

In real life, the Wendigo is a lurking, evil spirit just waiting to corrupt your soul.

Descriptions

Witnesses and oral traditions describe the Wendigo in chilling detail, though depictions shift across time and culture.

The Wendigo is often described as impossibly tall, towering 12–15 feet. It's emaciated, skeletal body with tight skin stretched over bones, reeks of decay and death. In it's "face" you'll see sunken eyes-holes, and an evil grin. In some stories the Wendigo is described to have antlers and a skeleton face, in some they just have an awful, nearly-human-like face. The air around the Wendigo is cold, and it calls on humans with a mournful wail or whispers in the wind, doing its best to lure people deeper into the forest.

Sightings and Reports

Though primarily mythological, Wendigo encounters have been recorded by explorers, missionaries, and settlers from the 17th century onward. French missionaries wrote of Algonquian stories of “a man-eating spirit who freezes the heart of those it seizes.” Reports of “Wendigo psychosis” emerged during the 19th-20th Century Canada. It was cases where individuals believed themselves possessed by a Wendigo, leading to madness, cannibalism, or murder. A Cree shaman namned Jack Fiddler (1907), famous for claiming to have killed fourteen Wendigos during his life. He was later arrested by Canadian authorities after strangling a woman he believed to be transforming into one. Even in modern times, locals in Northern Ontario and Minnesota still report eerie sightings, tall figures moving between trees, bone-chilling cries echoing across frozen lakes. And one glimpse at Reddit, show that people still encounter something bone-chilling in the woods. If it's a Wendigo or something else, I don't know, but people are witnessing something. 

Cultural Context 

To the First Nations, the Wendigo is far more than a “monster story.” It embodies deep cultural truths regarding survival and cooperation in societies. The Wendigo is a reminder of the sacredness of life and the dangers of cannibalism, greed, selfishness and recklessness. The Wendigo warns against taking more than one needs from the earth. To hoard food or resources while others starve is itself a form of Wendigo behavior. Some Ojibwe elders even describe colonialism and capitalism as Wendigo-like forces, and I can see why. The selfish way many countries endlessly consuming land, resources, and kills nature, animals and whole ecosystems, without ever being satisfied, as well as being greedy, reckless and extremely corrupt, yeah, I'd say most "modern" societies today are Wendigo-based. 

Parallels in Sámi, Finnish and Icelandic Folklore

The Wendigo may be unique to Algonquian cultures, but there are parallells across northern folklore, where cold, famine, and isolation shaped terrifying beings. In the Sámi mythology we have Ruotta, a figure associated with sickness and decay. In some stories, he rides in a sled pulled by wolves. His presence, like the Wendigo, carries connotations of death and spiritual corruption. We also have Stállu (among the first blog-topics), a fearsome ogre-like creature, who is greedy, stupid, and often violent, living in the wilderness and preying on humans. Some traditions describe him as a cannibal, kidnapping children or eating the unwary. While not exactly the Wendigo, his hunger and danger during winter nights make him spiritually similar.

Finland and Karelia (in Russia) also have chilling beings tied to winter, hunger, and death. Among them Kalma: the goddess of death and decay (her name literally means “corpse stench”), is the closest resemblance to the Wendigo. She is she personified the corruption of flesh and the inevitability of death. In Iceland there's the Draugr, a restless undead, bloated or skeletal creature, preying on the living out of greed. 

These beings all express a universal fear in the regions where there's winter, famine and harsh living conditions: hunger, cold can lead to the breakdown of community if there's no cooperation. Just as the Wendigo is a warning against cannibalism and greed, the Stállu or Draugr is a warning of isolation and selfishness during the long dark winters.

So, sharing is caring.

Unless you have a virus infection, then sharing is not caring.

Keep your colds to yourself (*wink-wink to my coworker who shared her cold with me...)