wendigo appropriation

The windigo is a Native American spirit belonging to the Algonquian tribes of North America and Canada. Still though, Im not sure I fully get the Native American spirits(?) 0000001546 00000 n Theres something else. And you know what? PDF Windigo manitou - Portland State University A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). Answer (1 of 8): Yes, unless actively researched with proper resources and talked to with First Nation folks as proof-readers. teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. 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. Posts and comments should be substantive, and assertions backed in fact or personal lived experience. Now that I have a major problem with. 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. Archived post. 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. Privacy Policy. Just as the vampire and werewolf do not belong exclusively to people of European descent and the Mummy doesnt belong to Egyptians. These bonnets are symbols of warrior achievements and are the equivalent of military medals. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 0000005554 00000 n <> 0000001705 00000 n 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. Privacy Policy. they've been stripped of cultural context. Im glad, because I dont believe that it is. o&g( It may be used to justify calling. Early folklore described them as tall and impossibly emaciated humanoids with sharp incisors and a heart of ice. 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. It was intended to be a lesson on human greed and the damage it can cause. 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. <<410561E535828C4ABA4EA5627C70A225>]/Prev 78716/XRefStm 1365>> 0000000974 00000 n ])yB\}OIZyY8 aA6Vo !C_D#!MYik.1>%'5ryZ*>fb=n#_dr;j5 { 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). This space is not for debate. She is Native American. 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. 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. Cultural appropriation is the co-optation of elements, customs, or practices of one culture by another culture without acknowledgment or consent. So, thanks, Dave! 0000005304 00000 n Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it. His line of questioning effectively asks what if the monstrosity we face is actually not an otherworldly presence but our all too human selves?. 0000010400 00000 n 0000000016 00000 n Those things, the predation on the Indians by Europeans, most certainly happened. Dollightful's Wendigo Doll - Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? My Posted by Welcome to Facing Today, a Facing History blog. T[,%q5 Scan this QR code to download the app now. Thats just asking for trouble.) 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. Driving down a dark quiet highway in Southern Manitoba, a man sees someone bent over on the side of the road. And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. 0000009056 00000 n 0000001365 00000 n The Windigo also has the power to turn humans into cannibals who suffer the same . Cultural appropriation consists of borrowing something from another culture in mockery or thoughtless misuse. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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 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. +9*]aty``mZm/[= ${2R{!g=b{B,L0R2"T]IDa. and our 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. 0000009954 00000 n I have always felt a distinct emotional connection to it, in fact. Until Dawn: On Representation, the Horror Genre, and the Illusion of Political Correctness and the Wendigo | Werewolves 0000009484 00000 n 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. 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. Western appropriation has long-lasting effects on the perceptions of Native American cultures by the average consumer and even scientific communities. 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. It has become something else altogether. Not only is it not offensive, I LOVE seeing references to wendigos in popular culture! however, the w*ndigo originates from spiritual beliefs held by Indigenous peoples. Is it offensive to wear a wendigo costume? For context I'm - Quora That is why we know about the wendigo today, it is an oral tradition like all the . The Wendigo happens to be part of my own (Anishiinaabe) cultural heritage. Film, It was already here. I have this character in a webcomic I want to write who is a Wendigo. <> That taste of human flesh, which out of that rose the wendigo.. The concept of cultural appropriation began well enough, but just like everything else woke culture political correctness, it's gone way too far. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 0000007047 00000 n I dont know who originally posted it, or where. Magazine with fellow environmental thought leaders, LaDuke said: Theres this conflict between the cannibals and Mother Earth, and its going on everywhere. HeyYaIQ 21 days ago. 0000012030 00000 n Marvel Comics pay tribute to classic Monsters. l Ca#!LzH{t+8W5 !2*_{)rgx-`]CTXSH($g Beyond Forbes, other Native American thinkers have also used wendigo stories to present critical perspectives on various social problems and call for their resolution. Appropriating the Wendigo | Werewolves 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. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. 0000009596 00000 n Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 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. And were on the right side, thats what were working on but sometimes you get that cannibal tendency. Learn how your comment data is processed. 0000004071 00000 n Halloween Costumes That Are Actually Racist, Even if You Might - Bustle Why the Wendigo is Not My Monster - Mysterious Universe 0000015547 00000 n Digital Literature Review 1 Stolen Spirits: The Appropriation of the When you comment on, Asian American and Pacific Islander History, Race and Membership in American History: Eugenics. 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. Indigenous, 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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). I believe that the Wendigo is far older than that, far more primal. Big Dan on Twitter 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. 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. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 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? 0000010971 00000 n i don't think there should be any 'canceling' of Wendigoon or whatever, but definitely something should be said. symL,JyvCq;[H~! I'm just struggling to understand the significance of it. 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 Stolen Spirits | Digital Literature Review - Ball State University Stolen Spirits: The Appropriation of the Windigo Spirit in Horror Literature. Tell us about it in the comments. wendigo cultural appropriation [26][27] During the winter of 1878, Swift Runner and his family were starving, and his eldest son died. w*ndigo stuff : r/wendigoon - Reddit Please report rule violations. 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. 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. 0000002723 00000 n Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe. 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 . Political correctness started out as one thing, a good thing. On top of that, the wendigo is a part of death. 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. Cultural appropriation of Native American culture | Plaid Line 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. But I do notice that Eyre stopped short of saying colonialization is the origin for the Wendigo legend. 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 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. 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. These new narratives that white people make fail to acknowledge that the wendigo, and the Indi. Europeans may well have behaved like Wendigos when they invaded the Americasthey didbut they didnt bring the Wendigo with them. Although well-documented in Western literature, the windigo spirit of stories like . 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. Appropriating the Wendigo As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. 13 Cultural Appropriation Examples (2023) - Helpful Professor 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. spellings (see Colombo 2) but is most commonly rendered as Windigo, Wendigo, or Witiko. Cookie Notice 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 can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. %PDF-1.4 % My basic rule is simple: be respectful. 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. it's just something thats been bothering me so i thought it'd come to reddit to see what other people thought. 0 media has really misconstrued the original lore and importance of the w*ndigo to Indigenous culture. Finally, it's just not that hard to do two minutes of. 4. A Creature Without a Cave: Abstraction and (Mis)Appropriation of the 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. stream 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. To Helheimr with it! Only assholes think thats offensive. the origins don't even depict the w*ndigo with deer antlers, but a human with bitten off lips. This is a place to learn more bout Social Justice endobj There's nothing wrong with drawing the popular concept of a wendigo monster, or drawing any monster with antlers, and calling it a wendigo. That's just pulling a potential explanation out of my ass, though, I have no idea if its accurate or not. For more information, please see 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. 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. Rules: wendigo cultural appropriation 9'b_X~~@0CKYO~8yOK9I$^I>t 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. You dont have to be of Afro-Caribbean descent to talk about, write about, or make movies about zombies. Dollightful's Wendigo Doll - Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? During a panel at YES! I just posted a new video talking about cultural appropriation and art! 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. 0000003465 00000 n Im just struggling to understand the significance of it. More Than Monsters: The Deeper Significance of Wendigo Stories Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. 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. U%.CI$ FKe{CiV/\Lg1DD$A!=FHD6 EInw^9qkCh&1rvR'`{7X wEB7Az~q0n8 t)$xh1rQJ,p>O/$-J)'OTk|m9(k|6U g/-JU;WM}7d5)V.yX=Qu,TDI+CA_5U|nH$WK7G3-aYaqeV2jWQV6C6OY"W5?x;f_27j3Y)/G`j|e9NHCp+-r4g7D? c! arent cryptids thing. Hunchman, K. N. (2020). His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 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. If you were to look around the world about other religions, anything that is associated with death and disease is regarded upon. 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). 2 0 obj 3. The Wendigo may be a figure from American Indian mythology, but it belongs to all of humankind. xref 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. 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. Have you encountered wendigo stories in films, television shows, or books? <>/ExtGState<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 595.32 841.92] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> 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. 0000005961 00000 n New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. 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. 246 33 %PDF-1.7 The Witherell House and the Cult of Weird, Movie Review: BIRDS OF PREY (And the Fantabulous Inclusion of Victor Zsasz and a Hyena). 0000003976 00000 n 0000006529 00000 n J.K. Rowling's Cultural Appropriation Should Be A Lesson To - HuffPost Antlers: The Wendigo Monster's History, Explained - CBR For more information, please see our As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. 0000004651 00000 n Ravenous (1999 film) - Wikipedia 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. % Why are wendigos seen as offensive? : r/NoStupidQuestions - Reddit I have named this observation of the Wendigothe Caveless Creature phenomenon. (Anything that isnt outright vandalism isnt likely to harm the statue at all, but I wouldnt dare do anything disrespectful around it. 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 . 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. 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). Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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 . 278 0 obj <>stream And whoever!). Only those entitled to them should wear them. 4 0 obj 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. Sponsored by Ball State University Libraries. 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. Ojibwe scholar Dr. Brady Santi has developed this guide for teachers who would like to teach students about her communitys unique belief systems with an emphasis on the wendigo as it appears in popular films. 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. "@TheThiccholas @realcoolJAY They can't say Issa wendigo cus of cultural appropriation props to them buuuuuut also WENDIGO type energy sooo " My Thoughts and Questions OllieOnyx 845 subscribers Subscribe 4.5K 119K views 2 years ago I just posted a new video talking. So yeah, if anyone could offer any insight/information, thatd be appreciated. 246 0 obj <> endobj 1. But as far as cultural appropriation and the Wendigo goes, dont you daredont you DAREtry to take our monsters away from us, PC wankers!
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