Wendigo

The wendigo is a mythological evil spirit from Algonquian folklore, often depicted as a malevolent creature with human-like characteristics. It is believed to cause insatiable hunger, the desire to eat other humans, and the propensity to commit murder. In modern psychiatry, "Wendigo psychosis" is characterized by symptoms such as intense craving for human flesh and fear of becoming a cannibal. This culture-bound syndrome is also seen in First Nations communities, where symptoms include insatiable greed and environmental destruction.
==Background==
The wendigo is a traditional belief system among Algonquin-speaking peoples, including the Ojibwe, Saulteaux, Cree, Naskapi, and Innu, associated with malevolent, cannibalistic, and supernatural beings associated with winter, the north, coldness, famine, and starvation.
In Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu lore, wendigos are depicted as giants larger than humans, exhibiting gluttony, greed, and excess. They constantly search for new victims after killing and consuming one person, never being satisfied. Wendigos can communicate with their prospective victims or even threaten them. Ethnographer Lottie Chicogquaw Marsden collected folk story from the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, revealing they can survive partial dismemberment and autocannibalism.
===Human cannibalism===
In some traditions, humans overpowered by greed could turn into wendigos; the myth thus served as a method of encouraging cooperation and moderation. Other sources say wendigos were created when a human resorted to cannibalism to survive. Humans could also turn into wendigos by being in contact with them for too long.
===Taboo reinforcement ceremony===
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. The ceremony, known as wiindigookaanzhimowin, was performed during times of famine, and involved wearing masks and dancing backward around a drum. The last known wendigo ceremony conducted in the United States was at Lake Windigo of Star Island of Cass Lake, within the Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.
==History==
The word wendigo appears in many Native American languages, and has many alternative translations. The source of the English word is the Ojibwe word wiindigoo. In the Cree language it is wīhtikow, also transliterated wetiko. Other transliterations include Wiindigoo, Weendigo, Windego, Wiindgoo, Windgo, Windago, Windiga, Wendego, Windagoo, Widjigo, Wiijigoo, Wijigo, Weejigo, Wìdjigò, Wintigo, Wentigo, Wehndigo, Wentiko, Windgoe, Wītikō, and Wintsigo. The Proto-Algonquian term has been reconstructed as *wi·nteko·wa, which may have meant “owl”.
The wendigo is part of the traditional belief system of a number of Algonquian-speaking peoples, including the Ojibwe, the Saulteaux, the Cree, the Naskapi, and the Innu. Although descriptions can vary somewhat, common to all these cultures is the view that the wendigo is a malevolent spirit that possesses human beings and turns them into cannibals.
The legend of the wendigo may have originated as a way to explain cases of cannibalism among people who were driven to extreme hunger by harsh winters or famine. It may also have served as a warning against greed and selfishness.
Some anthropologists and psychologists have suggested that there is a form of psychosis known as “Wendigo psychosis”, which is characterized by symptoms such as an intense craving for human flesh and an intense fear of becoming a cannibal. Wendigo psychosis is described as a culture-bound syndrome that occurs only among certain Native American groups. However, some scholars have disputed the existence and validity of this diagnosis.
Category:Supernatural
Category:Monster
Category:Creatures
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