wendigo appropriation
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. 0000008549 00000 n Tell us about it in the comments. Driving down a dark quiet highway in Southern Manitoba, a man sees someone bent over on the side of the road. Participate in good faith. 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). Please report rule violations. 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. <>/ExtGState<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 595.32 841.92] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> But as far as cultural appropriation and the Wendigo goes, dont you daredont you DAREtry to take our monsters away from us, PC wankers! This is a place to learn more bout Social Justice 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. 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. %PDF-1.7 9'b_X~~@0CKYO~8yOK9I$^I>t This articlescross-media analysiscovers television, film and game media;Teen Wolf(201117),Supernatural(200520), Bruce WemplesThe Retreat(2020) and SuperMassive GamesUntil Dawn(2015). 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. 0000003862 00000 n 0000003465 00000 n To Helheimr with it! And besides that, it never hurts to include your sources. 0000001365 00000 n and our 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. How stupid to think otherwise. and our If you were to look around the world about other religions, anything that is associated with death and disease is regarded upon. 0000002723 00000 n 0000005554 00000 n 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). Posted by You dont have to be of Afro-Caribbean descent to talk about, write about, or make movies about zombies. 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. Sponsored by Ball State University Libraries. 0000005961 00000 n Welcome to Facing Today, a Facing History blog. xref Marvel Comics pay tribute to classic Monsters. 3 0 obj This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The windigo is a Native American spirit belonging to the Algonquian tribes of North America and Canada. 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). 2 0 obj Only assholes think thats offensive. :)Looking to buy some stickers or look at some pictures of my art or my other things? stream And whoever!). 7 (2020): Ghosts and Cultural Hauntings. A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). Privacy Policy. It has become something else altogether. You dont have to be French to love the Phantom of the Opera. 0000004651 00000 n So, thanks, Dave! %PDF-1.4 % 0000011489 00000 n If so, what did you think about it? In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. In the course of the transformation from human to wendigo, the person exhibits increasing selfishness, violence, hunger, and greed particularly for human flesh. "@TheThiccholas @realcoolJAY They can't say Issa wendigo cus of cultural appropriation props to them buuuuuut also WENDIGO type energy sooo " Western appropriation has long-lasting effects on the perceptions of Native American cultures by the average consumer and even scientific communities. We do the same thing with a lot of mythological creatures. As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. She is Native American. I just posted a new video talking about cultural appropriation and art! Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe. After thinking about it more, I think I get it about the wendigos. It was already here. %%EOF 0000007477 00000 n 0000010971 00000 n He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. That's just pulling a potential explanation out of my ass, though, I have no idea if its accurate or not. This space is not for debate. For more information, please see our 0 Film, spellings (see Colombo 2) but is most commonly rendered as Windigo, Wendigo, or Witiko. 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. 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. 0000009056 00000 n (A friend sent this screenshot to me, along with the info, because he knows how much PC-ism pisses me off. 4. 17spaz 2 yr. ago During a panel at YES! Indigenous, On top of that, the wendigo is a part of death. 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. they've been stripped of cultural context. 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. Usually, the appropriating culture is in a relation of domination to the appropriated culture. MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! 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. 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. 0000010400 00000 n I'm just struggling to understand the significance of it. 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. l Ca#!LzH{t+8W5 !2*_{)rgx-`]CTXSH($g (Anything that isnt outright vandalism isnt likely to harm the statue at all, but I wouldnt dare do anything disrespectful around it. Just as the vampire and werewolf do not belong exclusively to people of European descent and the Mummy doesnt belong to Egyptians. 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. 0000012791 00000 n 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. Native Americans, Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. But I do notice that Eyre stopped short of saying colonialization is the origin for the Wendigo legend. These new narratives that white people make fail to acknowledge that the wendigo, and the Indi. Early folklore described them as tall and impossibly emaciated humanoids with sharp incisors and a heart of ice. These bonnets are symbols of warrior achievements and are the equivalent of military medals. And you know what? HeyYaIQ 21 days ago. 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. 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. 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. Hunchman, K. N. (2020). Beyond Forbes, other Native American thinkers have also used wendigo stories to present critical perspectives on various social problems and call for their resolution. Now that I have a major problem with. Handle the characters and the story with respect. startxref 2. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 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 . Windigo is a malevolent manitou or spirit whose insatiable appetite for human flesh can never be satisfied. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. Not only is it not offensive, I LOVE seeing references to wendigos in popular culture! symL,JyvCq;[H~! The Wendigo may be a figure from American Indian mythology, but it belongs to all of humankind. Learn how your comment data is processed. Im just struggling to understand the significance of 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. Cookie Notice 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. 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). It was intended to be a lesson on human greed and the damage it can cause. it's just something thats been bothering me so i thought it'd come to reddit to see what other people thought. My Thoughts and Questions OllieOnyx 845 subscribers Subscribe 4.5K 119K views 2 years ago I just posted a new video talking. Vol. 0000004071 00000 n I have this character in a webcomic I want to write who is a Wendigo. When you comment on, Asian American and Pacific Islander History, Race and Membership in American History: Eugenics. 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. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 0000009484 00000 n 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. It springs from the well of the collective human unconscious, the communal soul.
