Only assholes think thats offensive. As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. And whoever!). 0000015547 00000 n 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. If you were to look around the world about other religions, anything that is associated with death and disease is regarded upon. 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. Rules: As a concept, wendigo can apply to situations other than some Native American-European relations. 3. 0000006529 00000 n 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. 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. Topics: 1. This subreddit is about sharing your worlds, discovering the creations of others, and discussing the many aspects of creating new universes. J.K. Rowling's Cultural Appropriation Should Be A Lesson To White Writers Native Americans shouldn't be a "niche," and neither should women, LGBT people, or people of color. 0000007477 00000 n 0000009954 00000 n 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 We do the same thing with a lot of mythological creatures. % 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 . they've been stripped of cultural context. 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. 246 33 In the course of the transformation from human to wendigo, the person exhibits increasing selfishness, violence, hunger, and greed particularly for human flesh. 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). And they are worth considering including in ones classroom teaching. 2 0 obj It has no place in the world of Folklore and monsters. During a panel at YES! Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. %PDF-1.4 % Ill admit, my initial reaction was very dismissive. 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. 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. It can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. No one can try to stake a singular claim to it. 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. 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? <> Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 0000011489 00000 n 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. 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. Appropriating the Wendigo As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. 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. 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. l Ca#!LzH{t+8W5 !2*_{)rgx-`]CTXSH($g Okay, dont anybody get me wrong. 0000003976 00000 n It springs from the well of the collective human unconscious, the communal soul. %%EOF His line of questioning effectively asks what if the monstrosity we face is actually not an otherworldly presence but our all too human selves?. Still though, Im not sure I fully get the Native American spirits(?) 0000013308 00000 n How stupid to think otherwise. The windigo is a Native American spirit belonging to the Algonquian tribes of North America and Canada. This space is not for debate. For artists, writers, gamemasters, musicians, programmers, philosophers and scientists alike! teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. Europeans may well have behaved like Wendigos when they invaded the Americasthey didbut they didnt bring the Wendigo with them. 0000002723 00000 n This article analyses prominent examples of the Wendigo myth in modern North American horror media and the implications of misappropriation by non-Indigenous creators for non-Indigenous audiences. The concept of cultural appropriation began well enough, but just like everything else woke culture political correctness, it's gone way too far. P\^$'$@YWSB;Td54BD?YH"'kh::a;Vqz&4|:>)xP2n |94NrOqE'6 Scan this QR code to download the app now. And you know what? 0000005304 00000 n 0000005961 00000 n Cultural appropriation is the co-optation of elements, customs, or practices of one culture by another culture without acknowledgment or consent. Those things, the predation on the Indians by Europeans, most certainly happened. hb```b``Ub`e``s`g@ ~+ a1fm{s/K5N9MHd@*2Ey]#B}>x,&ucrnhm:HkN=_B }Wzp.S#WCXi;dRa ,.0H*. <>/Metadata 266 0 R/ViewerPreferences 267 0 R>> (A friend sent this screenshot to me, along with the info, because he knows how much PC-ism pisses me off. 0000010971 00000 n 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. stream In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. 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. Indigenous, 0000009484 00000 n Finally, it's just not that hard to do two minutes of. Stolen Spirits: The Appropriation of the Windigo Spirit in Horror Literature. 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. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. 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. 0000004651 00000 n After thinking about it more, I think I get it about the wendigos. 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. MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! 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. 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. Privacy Policy. and our x\o7a_h ss+yHL$eW}gfw)$/D !;n*+v}}uSU|.&-y Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it. Copyright 2022 Facing History & Ourselves. 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. So, thanks, Dave! 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. Early folklore described them as tall and impossibly emaciated humanoids with sharp incisors and a heart of ice. It has become something else altogether. However, it never provents for people of that tribe to share this and that story. 0000004071 00000 n When you comment on, Asian American and Pacific Islander History, Race and Membership in American History: Eugenics. 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. Hunchman, K. N. (2020). 17spaz 2 yr. ago Learn how your comment data is processed. Abstract. 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. (Anything that isnt outright vandalism isnt likely to harm the statue at all, but I wouldnt dare do anything disrespectful around it. Im glad, because I dont believe that it is. 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. The Windigo also has the power to turn humans into cannibals who suffer the same . That's just pulling a potential explanation out of my ass, though, I have no idea if its accurate or not. <>/ExtGState<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 595.32 841.92] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. I have always felt a distinct emotional connection to it, in fact. 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. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. You dont have to be French to love the Phantom of the Opera. 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. Dollightful's Wendigo Doll - Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? 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. wendigo cultural appropriation [26][27] During the winter of 1878, Swift Runner and his family were starving, and his eldest son died. 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. 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. 0000001365 00000 n 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). appropriation that has troubled the exchange between Indigenous . You dont have to be of Afro-Caribbean descent to talk about, write about, or make movies about zombies. 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. With teepees, Im not sure I get it. 0000010400 00000 n For more information, please see our Participate in good faith. These bonnets are symbols of warrior achievements and are the equivalent of military medals. 0000009056 00000 n Western appropriation has long-lasting effects on the perceptions of Native American cultures by the average consumer and even scientific communities. 0000012030 00000 n It was intended to be a lesson on human greed and the damage it can cause. 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. Just as the vampire and werewolf do not belong exclusively to people of European descent and the Mummy doesnt belong to Egyptians. 0000003465 00000 n But I do notice that Eyre stopped short of saying colonialization is the origin for the Wendigo legend. 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. One recurring theme across these storytelling mediums is the use of the wendigoalso spelled wtikoa monstrous figure from Algonquian mythology who exhibits an insatiable greed along with a desire for human flesh. 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. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 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. 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. By Christian Chiakulas, Contributor Writer, musician, activist, single father from Chicago. That taste of human flesh, which out of that rose the wendigo.. Posted by And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. 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. Only those entitled to them should wear them. That is why we know about the wendigo today, it is an oral tradition like all the . I just posted a new video talking about cultural appropriation and art! 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). 0000001546 00000 n The windigo is a Native American spirit belonging to the Algonquian tribes of North America and Canada. I'm just struggling to understand the significance of it. Native Americans, Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. 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. 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. 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. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 7 (2020): Ghosts and Cultural Hauntings. The Wendigo may be a figure from American Indian mythology, but it belongs to all of humankind. 0000008020 00000 n media has really misconstrued the original lore and importance of the w*ndigo to Indigenous culture. Political correctness started out as one thing, a good thing. spellings (see Colombo 2) but is most commonly rendered as Windigo, Wendigo, or Witiko. 0000007047 00000 n 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. startxref 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. 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. Beyond Forbes, other Native American thinkers have also used wendigo stories to present critical perspectives on various social problems and call for their resolution. i don't know if anyone has talked about this, but i have a special interest in Native American culture, history, etc. But as far as cultural appropriation and the Wendigo goes, dont you daredont you DAREtry to take our monsters away from us, PC wankers! The Wendigo happens to be part of my own (Anishiinaabe) cultural heritage. 0000000016 00000 n I have this character in a webcomic I want to write who is a Wendigo. Im just struggling to understand the significance of it. so im sort of clueless how reddit works and made an account for this, so bare with me. however, the w*ndigo originates from spiritual beliefs held by Indigenous peoples. 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). endobj 0 246 0 obj <> endobj 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. Welcome to Facing Today, a Facing History blog. Vol. 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). 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. Kaitlin Smith on November 30, 2021. 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. 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. <<410561E535828C4ABA4EA5627C70A225>]/Prev 78716/XRefStm 1365>> HeyYaIQ 21 days ago. Archived post. a lot of Natives and people in general don't even like saying the word itself. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge ])yB\}OIZyY8 aA6Vo !C_D#!MYik.1>%'5ryZ*>fb=n#_dr;j5 { 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. 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. 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. endobj Cookie Notice it's just something thats been bothering me so i thought it'd come to reddit to see what other people thought. i love the videos uploaded to youtube and try to keep up with posts, so this is by no means a bash at Wendigoon. My basic rule is simple: be respectful. Thats just asking for trouble.) 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 . You must be here to either learn more about social justice or answer questions from a social justice viewpoint. There's nothing wrong with drawing the popular concept of a wendigo monster, or drawing any monster with antlers, and calling it a wendigo. 278 0 obj <>stream 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. 2. Now that I have a major problem with. 9'b_X~~@0CKYO~8yOK9I$^I>t 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. s\&|5T!JN04hy'I0 1pv=~0-K$k}xSK"g:O*ox&zGa13(YXzy_{v-N^!c@[H My Thoughts and Questions OllieOnyx 845 subscribers Subscribe 4.5K 119K views 2 years ago I just posted a new video talking. Driving down a dark quiet highway in Southern Manitoba, a man sees someone bent over on the side of the road. For more information, please see our 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. Have you encountered wendigo stories in films, television shows, or books? If so, what did you think about it? I dont know who originally posted it, or where. 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. 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. o&g( 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. In the course of the transformation from human to wendigo, the person exhibits increasing selfishness, violence, hunger, and greedparticularly for human flesh. She is Native American. These new narratives that white people make fail to acknowledge that the wendigo, and the Indi. (Think Noah from . 4 0 obj A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). 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. 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.