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. 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. That taste of human flesh, which out of that rose the wendigo.. 0000008549 00000 n Thats just asking for trouble.) 0000000016 00000 n (A friend sent this screenshot to me, along with the info, because he knows how much PC-ism pisses me off. endobj 0000005961 00000 n 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. A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). 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. <>/Metadata 266 0 R/ViewerPreferences 267 0 R>> Smith and Fiore detail that, among the Cree and northernmost Ojibwa, it is a feared creature because it is understood as both a 'mythic character' and as a threat to humans (2010: 68). 0000003976 00000 n arent cryptids thing. However, it never provents for people of that tribe to share this and that story. 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. And were on the right side, thats what were working on but sometimes you get that cannibal tendency. Privacy Policy. 4 0 obj Just as the vampire and werewolf do not belong exclusively to people of European descent and the Mummy doesnt belong to Egyptians. 7 (2020): Ghosts and Cultural Hauntings. Learn how your comment data is processed. Is it offensive to wear a wendigo costume? For context I'm - Quora and our %PDF-1.4 % Stolen Spirits | Digital Literature Review - Ball State University Is it cultural appropriation for a white author to use a Native 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. Cookie Notice Until Dawn: On Representation, the Horror Genre, and the Illusion of Participate in good faith. 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. Scan this QR code to download the app now. Stolen Spirits: The Appropriation of the Windigo Spirit in Horror Literature. Kaitlin Smith on November 30, 2021. startxref xref o&g( 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. These bonnets are symbols of warrior achievements and are the equivalent of military medals. And whoever!). media has really misconstrued the original lore and importance of the w*ndigo to Indigenous culture. I'm just struggling to understand the significance of it. Posted by In the course of the transformation from human to wendigo, the person exhibits increasing selfishness, violence, hunger, and greedparticularly for human flesh. Finally, it's just not that hard to do two minutes of. 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. So yeah, if anyone could offer any insight/information, thatd be appreciated. endobj 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. endobj 0000005304 00000 n 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. 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. i don't know if anyone has talked about this, but i have a special interest in Native American culture, history, etc. 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). This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 0000001546 00000 n wendigo cultural appropriation The windigo is a Native American spirit belonging to the Algonquian tribes of North America and Canada. For more information, please see our Cookie Notice As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. PDF Windigo manitou - Portland State University Im glad, because I dont believe that it is. Archived post. 0000005554 00000 n It has no place in the world of Folklore and monsters. Abstract. How stupid to think otherwise. Halloween Costumes That Are Actually Racist, Even if You Might - Bustle Im just struggling to understand the significance of it. a lot of Natives and people in general don't even like saying the word itself. 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. Hunchman, K. N. (2020). l Ca#!LzH{t+8W5 !2*_{)rgx-`]CTXSH($g :)Looking to buy some stickers or look at some pictures of my art or my other things? Facing History and Ourselves invites educators to explore our case study Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools, particularly our reading "Culture, Stereotypes, and Identity" which features reflection questions surrounding some of the stereotypical media representations that we touch upon at the beginning of this essay. 3 0 obj 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. MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! T[,%q5 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? Early folklore described them as tall and impossibly emaciated humanoids with sharp incisors and a heart of ice. Western appropriation has long-lasting effects on the perceptions of Native American cultures by the average consumer and even scientific communities. 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. 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. 0000020040 00000 n To Helheimr with it! 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. hb```b``Ub`e``s`g@ ~+ a1fm{s/K5N9MHd@*2Ey]#B}>x,&ucrnhm:HkN=_B }Wzp.S#WCXi;dRa ,.0H*. 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. Ravenous (1999 film) - Wikipedia Appropriating the Wendigo | Werewolves appropriation that has troubled the exchange between Indigenous . Apparently it's wrong to draw wendigos for Halloween He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. Digital Literature Review 1 Stolen Spirits: The Appropriation of the I really just want to learn about how to appreciate aspects of cultures that I am not included in respectfully. In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. 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. 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. 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. With teepees, Im not sure I get it. So, thanks, Dave! 9'b_X~~@0CKYO~8yOK9I$^I>t 0000003465 00000 n And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. 0000007047 00000 n 0000012532 00000 n 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. Political correctness started out as one thing, a good thing. ])yB\}OIZyY8 aA6Vo !C_D#!MYik.1>%'5ryZ*>fb=n#_dr;j5 { 0000015547 00000 n so im sort of clueless how reddit works and made an account for this, so bare with me. I dont know who originally posted it, or where. The Windigo also has the power to turn humans into cannibals who suffer the same . <> i don't think there should be any 'canceling' of Wendigoon or whatever, but definitely something should be said. That's just pulling a potential explanation out of my ass, though, I have no idea if its accurate or not.

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