This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. 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. Political correctness started out as one thing, a good thing. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. The Witherell House and the Cult of Weird, Movie Review: BIRDS OF PREY (And the Fantabulous Inclusion of Victor Zsasz and a Hyena). My basic rule is simple: be respectful. Just as the vampire and werewolf do not belong exclusively to people of European descent and the Mummy doesnt belong to Egyptians. media has really misconstrued the original lore and importance of the w*ndigo to Indigenous culture. Those things, the predation on the Indians by Europeans, most certainly happened. 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. 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. My Thoughts and Questions OllieOnyx 845 subscribers Subscribe 4.5K 119K views 2 years ago I just posted a new video talking. Until Dawn: On Representation, the Horror Genre, and the Illusion of 0000012532 00000 n
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Indigenous, 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. 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. 0000001705 00000 n
His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763
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And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. 3. Ravenous (1999 film) - Wikipedia When you comment on, Asian American and Pacific Islander History, Race and Membership in American History: Eugenics. 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. 0000003465 00000 n
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. And you know what? Vol. 0000002723 00000 n
Tell us about it in the comments. For resources: http://reddit.com/r/SRSDiscussion/wiki/required. Wendigo - Wikipedia It has become something else altogether. Native Americans, Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. Halloween Costumes That Are Actually Racist, Even if You Might - Bustle 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. Magazine with fellow environmental thought leaders, LaDuke said: Theres this conflict between the cannibals and Mother Earth, and its going on everywhere. 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. 0000006529 00000 n
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. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. Europeans may well have behaved like Wendigos when they invaded the Americasthey didbut they didnt bring the Wendigo with them. i don't know if anyone has talked about this, but i have a special interest in Native American culture, history, etc.
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. 0000012791 00000 n
I have this character in a webcomic I want to write who is a Wendigo. This is a place to learn more bout Social Justice By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 0
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Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge 0000009056 00000 n
Political Correctness and the Wendigo | Werewolves 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. 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. You dont have to be of Afro-Caribbean descent to talk about, write about, or make movies about zombies. Only those entitled to them should wear them. 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. 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. 0000010971 00000 n
Privacy Policy. Answer (1 of 8): Yes, unless actively researched with proper resources and talked to with First Nation folks as proof-readers. 246 33
But as far as cultural appropriation and the Wendigo goes, dont you daredont you DAREtry to take our monsters away from us, PC wankers! It was intended to be a lesson on human greed and the damage it can cause. Would getting a tattoo of the wendigo be cultural appropriation - Quora This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 0000013308 00000 n
It has no place in the world of Folklore and monsters. 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. 0000009954 00000 n
Western appropriation has long-lasting effects on the perceptions of Native American cultures by the average consumer and even scientific communities. 0000008549 00000 n
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. Abstract. 0000023412 00000 n
Im just struggling to understand the significance of it. 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. These bonnets are symbols of warrior achievements and are the equivalent of military medals. 0000005554 00000 n
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MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! 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 . Archived post. Is it cultural appropriation for a white author to use a Native wendigo cultural appropriation [26][27] During the winter of 1878, Swift Runner and his family were starving, and his eldest son died. Now that I have a major problem with. As a concept, wendigo can apply to situations other than some Native American-European relations. Although well-documented in Western literature, the windigo spirit of stories like . 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. 0000000016 00000 n
Finally, it's just not that hard to do two minutes of. In the course of the transformation from human to wendigo, the person exhibits increasing selfishness, violence, hunger, and greed particularly for human flesh. 0000020040 00000 n
During a panel at YES! His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763
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. i love the videos uploaded to youtube and try to keep up with posts, so this is by no means a bash at Wendigoon. U%.CI$ FKe{CiV/\Lg1DD$A!=FHD6
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c! 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. they've been stripped of cultural context. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. Dollightful's Wendigo Doll - Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? i don't think there should be any 'canceling' of Wendigoon or whatever, but definitely something should be said. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. w*ndigo stuff : r/wendigoon - Reddit hb```b``Ub`e``s`g@ ~+
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}Wzp.S#WCXi;dRa ,.0H*. Big Dan on Twitter 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? Stolen Spirits: The Appropriation of the Windigo Spirit in Horror Literature. For more information, please see our Why the Wendigo is Not My Monster - Mysterious Universe 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. Apparently it's wrong to draw wendigos for Halloween Sponsored by Ball State University Libraries. defence-cultural-appropriation Cultural appropriation is defined by Britannica.com as "When members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way." Cultural appropriation is a growing topic in this country that when it occurs, or is discussed, often creates controversy. Film, The concept of cultural appropriation began well enough, but just like everything else woke culture political correctness, it's gone way too far. 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 Antlers: The Wendigo Monster's History, Explained - CBR Have you encountered wendigo stories in films, television shows, or books?
I have always felt a distinct emotional connection to it, in fact. 0000004651 00000 n
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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. Is it offensive to wear a wendigo costume? For context I'm - Quora Topics: Theres something else. If you were to look around the world about other religions, anything that is associated with death and disease is regarded upon. How stupid to think otherwise. startxref
She is Native American. Dollightful's Wendigo Doll - Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? My 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. 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. Posted by 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. More Than Monsters: The Deeper Significance of Wendigo Stories 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. Thats just asking for trouble.) For artists, writers, gamemasters, musicians, programmers, philosophers and scientists alike! No one can try to stake a singular claim to it. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. It springs from the well of the collective human unconscious, the communal soul. 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. 246 0 obj
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You must be here to either learn more about social justice or answer questions from a social justice viewpoint. 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. 9'b_X~~@0CKYO~8yOK9I$^I>t 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. 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. Stolen Spirits | Digital Literature Review - Ball State University And were on the right side, thats what were working on but sometimes you get that cannibal tendency. 7 (2020): Ghosts and Cultural Hauntings. Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe. Only assholes think thats offensive. His line of questioning effectively asks what if the monstrosity we face is actually not an otherworldly presence but our all too human selves?. o&g( teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. Learn how your comment data is processed. A Creature Without a Cave | Reinvention: an International Journal of %
s\&|5T!JN04hy'I0 1pv=~0-K$k}xSK"g:O*ox&zGa13(YXzy_{v-N^!c@[H Rules: 17spaz 2 yr. ago The windigo is a Native American spirit belonging to the Algonquian tribes of North America and Canada. 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. Usually, the appropriating culture is in a relation of domination to the appropriated culture. 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. We do the same thing with a lot of mythological creatures. Handle the characters and the story with respect. And they are worth considering including in ones classroom teaching. <>
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. 0000015547 00000 n
4. 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'm just struggling to understand the significance of it. The Windigo also has the power to turn humans into cannibals who suffer the same . 1. 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. 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. 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. 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. For more information, please see our 0000009596 00000 n
To Helheimr with it! That taste of human flesh, which out of that rose the wendigo.. the origins don't even depict the w*ndigo with deer antlers, but a human with bitten off lips. appropriation that has troubled the exchange between Indigenous . 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. Western appropriation has long-lasting effects on the perceptions of Native American cultures by the average consumer and even scientific communities. In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. and our it's just something thats been bothering me so i thought it'd come to reddit to see what other people thought. 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). 0000003976 00000 n
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. 0000001365 00000 n
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. 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. (Anything that isnt outright vandalism isnt likely to harm the statue at all, but I wouldnt dare do anything disrespectful around it. After thinking about it more, I think I get it about the wendigos. 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. Scan this QR code to download the app now. (Think Noah from . Driving down a dark quiet highway in Southern Manitoba, a man sees someone bent over on the side of the road. However, it never provents for people of that tribe to share this and that story. Still though, Im not sure I fully get the Native American spirits(?) 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. Okay, dont anybody get me wrong. 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. PDF Windigo manitou - Portland State University Why are wendigos seen as offensive? : r/NoStupidQuestions - Reddit 3 0 obj
If so, what did you think about it? It can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. Digital Literature Review 1 Stolen Spirits: The Appropriation of the But I do notice that Eyre stopped short of saying colonialization is the origin for the Wendigo legend. A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). ])yB\}OIZyY8 aA6Vo !C_D#!MYik.1>%'5ryZ*>fb=n#_dr;j5 { The windigo is a Native American spirit belonging to the Algonquian tribes of North America and Canada. "@TheThiccholas @realcoolJAY They can't say Issa wendigo cus of cultural appropriation props to them buuuuuut also WENDIGO type energy sooo " Privacy Policy. HeyYaIQ 21 days ago. %PDF-1.4
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Turning on You dont have to be French to love the Phantom of the Opera. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Windigo is a malevolent manitou or spirit whose insatiable appetite for human flesh can never be satisfied. %%EOF
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. Cultural appropriation of Native American culture | Plaid Line 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. And besides that, it never hurts to include your sources. I believe that the Wendigo is far older than that, far more primal. so im sort of clueless how reddit works and made an account for this, so bare with me. 1 0 obj
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 . It was already here. 278 0 obj
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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). New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. l Ca#!LzH{t+8W5 !2*_{)rgx-`]CTXSH($g Welcome to Facing Today, a Facing History blog. 0000008020 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. (A friend sent this screenshot to me, along with the info, because he knows how much PC-ism pisses me off. arent cryptids thing. 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. 2. Not only is it not offensive, I LOVE seeing references to wendigos in popular culture! 0000000974 00000 n
Appropriating the Wendigo As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. 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.