I always thought these are what cannibals are turning into. The Wendigo happens to be part of my own (Anishiinaabe) cultural heritage. I think people just need to chill out, no mater what their religion and culture is. Draw/write what you want, I say. Learn how your comment data is processed. [49][50] In the 2021 film The Inhuman (L'Inhumain) the arrival of a wendigo symbolizes inner turmoil after a character turns his back on his Indigenous heritage in the pursuit of material success. The Windigo also has the power to turn humans into cannibals who suffer the same . 12. appropriation, or - as I argue - misappropriation, of the Wendigo as a Representation in media is crucially important, something I have become very aware of as I've grown older and consumed more entertainment. (1961). I do know some natives believe you should not say or write its name because that may make it come or you may be infected and become it. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Cultural appropriation means using a racial, religious, or social group's customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits without authority or right. There's too much variety of opinion on the question to obtain a consensus. In some artistic depictions, it looks similar to the pop-culture wendigo and even makes an appearance in The Witcher games but instead it's called a Leshen. teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. The wendigo -- a creature from Native American myth -- carries powerful symbolism and is presumably sufficiently mysterious to keep enough audience members guessing at its motives and abilities. 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. 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? It also seems to me to be unacceptable for authors to be unable to use one (or more) of those characters/symbols/etc. I would refuse to be shackled by political correctness. How stupid to think otherwise. wa, which may have meant "owl". Create what you want; let the audience decide its fame. [31][32] Others have pointed to a number of credible eyewitness accounts, both by Algonquians and others, as evidence that Wendigo psychosis was a factual historical phenomenon. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It's like saying vampires are sacred. Is it okay for a white person to celebrate the culture. I won't pretend I know everything about NA culture, but I believe that headresses and that kind of finery is only used on special occasions and was not how ordinary NAs dressed all the time. The horror film Antlers adopts an old monster for its story, which serves as both a benefit and a hindrance. Now time to go back and make some changes. Joe Lockhard, English professor at Arizona State University, argues that wendigos are agents of "social cannibalism" who know "no provincial or national borders; all human cultures have been visited by shape-shifting wendigos. It's also linked to the many cultural taboos against these negative actions and behaviors. Mistgod Edited Oct 11, 2020 Hobbyist Traditional Artist Apparently, wendigos are sacred creatures from several indigenous cultures. Copyright 2022 Facing History & Ourselves. By Christian Chiakulas, Contributor Writer, musician, activist, single father from Chicago. Cultural appropriation is a bullshit term made up by people who feel some bizarre psychological need to make up reasons to punish themselves. wendigos originate from spiritual beliefs held by Algonquian Indigenous peoples, whom are from the north eastern part of north america. In, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 02:58. Certainly Navajo "skin walkers" are one of the more common Native American legends that non-native writers reference (the only other example I can think of that comes close is the Algonquin Wendigo), but like I said, it would be presumptuous of me to guess at Rowling's research style. Ojibwe scholar Brady DeSanti asserts that the wendigo "can be understood as a marker indicating a person imbalanced both internally and toward the larger community of human and spiritual beings around them. Wendigos specifically represent the very real threat of starvation and what moral depths a person will sink to to avoid starving to death in the hard, cold de Continue Reading More answers below KEY OOY The Wendigo is a mythical creature that has been reported in many different forms. What makes the wendigo any different from other culturally important mythological creatures like unicorns? It only becomes cultural appropriation when an element of culture is adopted from a marginalized group without respect for its cultural meaning or significance or with the purpose of exploiting the culture Exactly!! The idea of getting down to the nitty-gritty came from the 18th century English slave trade, when nitty-gritty referred to the worthless debris left at the ship's bottom compartment after slaves had been evacuatedand evolved to include the slaves themselves. We have to stop guarding cultures and subcultures in efforts to preserve them.. (the proceeding statement may contain some levels of sarcasm.). But I do notice that Eyre stopped short of saying colonialization is the origin for the Wendigo legend. Second, he determines the relevant issues as "aesthetic" and "moral," and then discusses the most prominent arguments that surround each type of appropriation. It will survive on it's own. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. Humans could also turn into wendigos by being in contact with them for too long. I am so offended! [13] They were strongly associated with winter, the north, coldness, famine, and starvation.[14]. And whoever!). With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash-gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. I will draw whatever I feel like drawing. does not have antlers or have any wolf features. A specimen of folk story collected in the early 20th century by Lottie Chicogquaw Marsden, an ethnographer of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, in which a wendigo also exhibits tool use, an ability to survive partial dismemberment, and autocannibalism, reads:[19]. It turned its hunger on the Americas, a wendigo so hungry that it consumes its own lips if there is nothing else for it to eat. What is cultural appropriation vs. cultural appreciation? And how many would have known that in the past - and even now - the originators of the cornrows, the headdresses, the bindis, would have been persecuted for wearing them? I can't even think about bank without getting mad, why did she need to make them like that..EVERY name is filled with stereotypes , well every name from minority .I don't even want to talk about Fantastic Beasts problems. I wouldn't be offended if someone dressed as a stereotypical Scottish person whatever that looks like lol. I mentioned above that I was guilty of doing the same thing. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. It can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. I mean, I have native heritage, grew up with the culture and I even have a wendigo character in my own comic that's based on the pop-culture version with the elk skull and whatnot so I honestly don't see an issue with it but if you're really concerned then perhaps try a different monster called the Leshy from Slavic folklore? [33], The frequency of Wendigo psychosis cases decreased sharply in the 20th century as Boreal Algonquian people came into greater and greater contact with European ideologies and more sedentary, less rural, lifestyles. And we merely follow".[38]. [51], Television series employing the figure include Teen Wolf, Supernatural,[52] Blood Ties,[53] Charmed,[54] Grimm,[55] and Hannibal, where an FBI profiler has recurring dreams or visions of a wendigo that symbolizes the titular cannibalistic serial killer. All of these Indians went to where the Windigo was and cut off his legs. In addition to characterizing individual people who exhibit destructive tendencies, the wendigo can also describe movements and events with similarly negative effects. So yeah, if anyone could offer any insight/information, thatd be appreciated. Cookie Notice Marvel Comics pay tribute to classic Monsters. I don't don't value cultural pluralism. [11], This was the end of the wendigo is part of the traditional belief system of a number of Algonquin-speaking peoples, including the Ojibwe, the Saulteaux, the Cree, the Naskapi, and the Innu. The Wendigo may be a figure from American Indian mythology, but it belongs to all of humankind. Learn how your comment data is processed. Archived post. "Why is indigenous culture suddenly more sacred than any other culture?". But its none of your concern what turns someone on! They went back again to see if he was dead. Beyond Forbes, other Native American thinkers have also used wendigo stories to present critical perspectives on various social problems and call for their resolution. 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. In some cases, this entailed killing people with Wendigo psychosis. 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). 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 legend of the Wendigo is, in fact, one of the oldest manifestations of a taboo peculiar to most human societies, and which was already widespread among Anglophone tribes: cannibalism. Unlike cultural appropriation, strategic anti-essentialism can be practiced by both minority cultures and majority cultures. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) Cultural appropriation is perhaps the stupidest example of the stupidest concept , political correctness , that has ever been argued. Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe. I do not know whether Algonquin People indeed consider Wendigo depictions in mainstream media so culturally sensitive or taboo as the "woke" in your lead comment implied I would somehow doubt it but do not know for sure. It has become something else altogether. And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. The appropriation, and reclamation, of Native American mythology', Journal of . Romantic scholar and documentarian Emily Zarka, also a professor at Arizona State University, observes that two commonalities among the indigenous cultures of Algonquian language family speakers are that they are situated in climes where harsh winters are frequent and may be accompanied by starvation. First, he gives definitions of the key concepts of "appropriation" and "arts," and delimits his investigation as one concerned with "cultural" appropriation. When I got over my initial bout of self-defensiveness, I realized I was totally wrong. [29], Another well-known case involving Wendigo psychosis was that of Jack Fiddler, an Oji-Cree chief and medicine man known for his powers at defeating wendigos. spellings (see Colombo 2) but is most commonly rendered as Windigo, Wendigo, or Witiko. That's an easy solution and I still keep my freedom to create. 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. C'est la maladie dont ces dputez furent atteints; et comme la mort est l'vnique remede parmy ces bonnes gens, pour arrester ces meurtres, ils ont est massacrez pour arrester le cours de leur manie. 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. "[39] Lockhard's ideas explain that wendigos are an expression of a dark aspect of human nature: the drive toward greed, consumption, and disregard for other life in the pursuit of self-aggrandizement. Cultural appropriation takes place when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way. It was created by Mayuki . She annoys the hell out of me. Monsters like Wendigos often represent, in the imprecise language of emotion, a common cultural fear. Climbing the totem pole. ][22][failed verification], In historical accounts of retroactively diagnosed Wendigo psychosis, it has been reported that humans became possessed by the wendigo spirit, after being in a situation of needing food and having no other choice besides cannibalism. [20], 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. They got Thor and Loki all wrong and what the hell? We do the same thing with a lot of mythological creatures. In theory, art and other cultural products are created for the. The windigo, however, continues to seek revenge for this attempted scholarly execution by periodically duping unsuspecting passers-by, like psychiatrists, into believing that windigo psychosis not only exists but that a psychiatrist could conceivably encounter a patient suffering from this disorder in his or her practice today! 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. People don't get offended on scotland's behalf over the common depiction of their national animal as a rainbow farting fairy horse.