Wendigo disease. The world of evil spirits of North American Indians

Our legend today is WENDIGO.

Wendigo is the curse of the North American continent, a cannibal monster that lives in forests and feeds on human flesh. The Wendigo can imitate a human voice and lure its prey into the forest; it moves very quickly and cannot be killed by a shot. Wendigos live a long, very long time and they have an amazing ability to self-heal - any wounds quickly heal, bones grow together and soon the forest cannibal goes hunting again. How many people disappear in the forest every year: mushroom pickers, tourists, hunters, foresters - where are they all? Where did you go? Did you die when you got lost in the thicket or became prey to a wendigo?
No one knows.
But if you like to go to the forest overnight, remember: do not leave the fire at night.
Fire is the only thing the Wendigo is afraid of.

The Ojibway Indians (as well as the Algonquins, Dakotas and Eskimos of Alaska) can tell you a legend about an evil cannibal spirit that lives in the forests and in the North. In their stories, this is not just a cannibal, but the embodiment of Hunger itself, which is capable of turning entire tribes of people into gatherings of cannibals devouring each other with one touch or even simple presence.
This is the Wendigo, which is said to be found today in the forests and mountains of the northern United States and Canada.
The Indians still associate the disappearance of their hunters and ordinary people of the forest states with the gluttony of the Wendigo.
Indian legends recorded by missionaries and explorers as early as the 17th century,
The Wendigo is described as a werewolf or a cannibalistic devil.
And there is some truth in this. The Indians themselves claim that the Wendigo spirit inhabits anyone who has at least once tasted human meat. But the Indian tribes starved more than once, really starved, and then it was difficult to resist saving one’s life at any cost - for example, in a moment of extreme hunger, eating one’s fellow tribesman.

Legends about the appearance of the Wendigo
The Indians themselves, speaking about the emergence of the Wendigo, admit that there are several versions.
The first of them has nothing to do with cannibalism, it is rather about self-sacrifice.
When the native tribe is pursued by enemies and the family is in mortal danger, the best warrior of the tribe voluntarily agrees to a terrible sacrifice: he gives his soul to the spirits of the forest. Having turned into a terrible monster, he helps the tribe win, but then, when the threat is eliminated, the monster warrior cannot become human again. His sacrifice is accepted - and he goes into the forest forever, where he finally turns into a wendigo, and his native tribe begins to hunt him: after all, a wendigo is a mortal danger to people.
There is another opinion. They say that a wendigo becomes a shaman who is overly keen on black magic. And, although they claim that shamans know how to be wendigos without becoming cannibals, nothing is known for certain about this.
But here is another version, no worse or better than others: an ordinary person can also become a wendigo - of his own free will.
You need to start with fasting. How long can you go without food: a day, two? A week? When hunger becomes unbearable, it's time to go to the forest.
Vedigo will find you himself, don’t even doubt it. Most likely, he uses the “volunteer” as food for the winter, but maybe - why not? - will make a wendigo out of you. After a meal of human flesh, the “volunteer’s” body will gradually become covered with hair, claws will grow, his eyes will learn to see in the dark, and raw human meat will become the most desired food.
And finally, the last, most likely version is cannibalism.
Winters in the north can be harsh. North American Indian tribes were often cut off from the rest of the world for months at a time. And when the food ran out, and spring was still far away, one simple question arose: how to survive? There were cases when a person ate his family or neighbors, but the retribution was terrible - gradually such a cannibal became a wendigo.

But not only Indians turned into wendigos.
Hunters, gold miners, travelers, settlers, seekers of a better life, vagabonds, everyone who poured into the North American continent at that time - many of them had no idea how fierce, merciless and hungry the local winter could be.
And there were cases when a company of gold miners, fleeing inevitable death by starvation, killed and ate one of them, justifying themselves by the fact that the fittest survive. And all of them, sooner or later, they were all doomed to turn into monsters and suffer from hunger, which can only be satisfied by human meat.
Be that as it may, the Indians still believe in the Wendigo and consider it one of the most dangerous creatures.

What do wendigos look like?
They are most often described as tall creatures with a lipless mouth, sharp teeth and eyes that glow in the dark. Despite their insatiability, wendigos are extremely thin. Sometimes they are covered with matted white fur, while some claim that wendigos are completely bald.
Important note: Vedigo is said to give off an unpleasant odor, reminiscent of a corpse in the advanced stages of decomposition.
The Wendigo lives in the forest and there are usually no animals there and there is always silence. Wendigos build dens underground, in caves, or climb into abandoned mines: they do not like bright light. Before winter, they always stock up: they hide pieces of meat on tree branches or in specially dug holes. Sometimes there are also prisoners in his lair - a strategic reserve in case of power failure.
When supplies run low, the wendigo goes hunting. Having discovered a traveler, he can stalk the trail for hours. Usually, sooner or later a person begins to suspect something, begins to listen, look around, but spotting a wendigo is not so easy. Then the cannibal begins to scare his victim: from time to time the traveler hears strange sounds, it seems to him that someone’s silhouette is flashing between the trees, he begins to suspect that there is someone else in the forest besides him and this “someone” moves like this so quickly that the human eye cannot notice it. Sometimes the victim hears a whistle, reminiscent of the rustling wind.
From all this, even a person with strong nerves panics and starts running, and then the wendigo gives chase.

Is it possible to kill a wendigo?
Let's think about it. The Wendigo is a living, not an otherworldly creature, which means it can be destroyed? At least theoretically.
But how to do that?
It cannot be taken by conventional weapons, including bullets.
There is an opinion that you can kill a wendigo with a silver weapon, but you probably shouldn’t rely too much on this: after all, a wendigo is not a vampire. It is also advised to pierce the monster’s heart with some sharp object, also preferably silver - a stake, an arrow, a knife, then dismember the body and bury it in consecrated ground. In fact, silver is not dangerous to wendigos and they are afraid of only one thing - fire. This is why experienced travelers, even those who consider the legends about wendigos to be fiction, try to keep the fire burning all night and why wendigo hunters always burn the body of a killed forest cannibal.
By the way, about hunters.
When settlers began to populate the North American continent, many of them took the Indian legend of the Wendigo very seriously. And how could it be otherwise: first, people who went hunting disappeared without a trace, and then the forest cannibal himself was seen several times, appearing near the town of Rosesu in Northern Minnesota. (Wendigos were regularly seen there from the late 1800s until 1920).
Among the local residents there were people who devoted their entire lives to hunting monsters, becoming professional wendigo hunters.
The most famous of them, named Jack Fielder, claimed to have killed at least 14 wendigos in his lifetime. He destroyed the last one when he was already 87 years old; his son helped him in the hunt.
In October 1907, hunter Fiedler and his son Joseph were convicted of murdering an Indian woman.
They both pleaded guilty to this crime, but in their defense they stated that the woman was infected with "Wendigo fever" and was only hours away from completely turning into a monster and had to be destroyed before she began to kill others.
They say that wendigos still live in Minnesota.

What is Wendigo Fever?
It happened that after an attack by a wendigo, people still managed to stay alive. But it’s too early to rejoice - they were struck by the so-called “Wendigo fever.” In modern medical language, these unfortunate people were in a peculiar clinical state, like psychosis. They spent night after night in nightmares, which were accompanied by unbearable pain in their legs and, in the end, the man ran into the forest screaming wildly.
The first sign of transformation into a wendigo, the first symptom of fever, is the appearance of a strange smell that only the future monster can smell. It is this smell that causes nightmares, from which a person wakes up in a cold sweat. Then the person begins to feel a burning pain in the legs and feet, which becomes so unbearable that no one can stand it. And the unfortunate person runs away into the forest, throwing off both his shoes and clothes - this is how the transformation into wendigo occurs not only of shamans or people who have broken tribal taboos, but also of those who have been cursed by the wendigo. Most of the damned never return from the forest, and those who do return will remain insane forever.

Reference
Pay attention to a small nuance. If we talk about mental illness, it would be more correct to use the term “indigo” or “windigo”. If you are talking about a real monster, then they usually call it “Wendigo”.
Indigo is a mental disorder among Canadian Indians: the sudden appearance of an attraction to cannibalism, a need for human meat. Detailed descriptions of the disease were made in the 18th century; modern research was carried out by J. M. Cooper (Cooper) in 1933. The word "windigo" (lit., "cannibal") originally denoted a mythical clan of cannibals mentioned among the Chippewa and Ottawa Indians and living on the Hudson Bay Islands. Over time, in the mythology of the Algonquin Indians, the name "windigo" spread to a tribe of evil spirits, as well as the devil (devils).
Perhaps this myth was used by the Indians as a remedy against cannibalism during the winter months of hunger.

And here is what the Indians themselves say about encounters with wendigos.
S.E. Schlosser
The story of an Ojibwe Indian about an encounter with a Wendigo.

The storm lasted so long that we thought we would die of hunger. Finally, when the gusts of wind died down, I remembered my father, who was a brave warrior and went out in any weather. Before the storm returns, they must find food, or the family will not survive.
Taking a spear and a knife, he went to the area, usually most of all, dotted with animal tracks. I’m standing, studying the signs in the snow. But the shimmering layer of ice and snow gave no sign of the presence of prey. In such bad weather, every intelligent creature was within its hole and slept. Not me. Knowing the desperate hunger the family was experiencing, I continued the hunt.
As I moved through the eerie silence, broken only by weak gusts of wind, I clearly heard a strange noise, a hiss. It came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He stopped, his heart pounding wildly. When I saw the blood-soaked tracks in front of me, I pulled out a knife, instantly realizing that a Wendigo was watching me somewhere nearby.
I knew about the Wendigo even when I sat on my father's lap. From his stories it followed that it was a large creature, tall as a tree, with a lipless mouth and a palisade of sharp teeth. Its breathing was accompanied by strange sounds like hissing, its tracks were full of blood, and this beast ate any man, woman or child who dared to enter its territory. And one could consider them lucky. Sometimes the Wendigo wanted to possess a person and, instead of killing him, he made the unfortunate person also become a Wendigo and hunt down those he once loved and devour their flesh.
The warrior knows that he has only one chance to defeat the Wendigo. If it doesn't work out, then death. Or... the thought was too terrible to complete.
Slowly I stepped back from the bloody trail, listening to the hissing sound. Was it stronger in one direction? Then he gripped the spear tightly with one hand and the knife with the other. Suddenly, the snowdrift on the left exploded with snow and a huge creature jumped out of it. I dodged to the side and drove through the snow so that my clothes were tightly covered with it. This could help me remain invisible in the white snow. Then, in the gray twilight, I noticed the approach of fury.
It was the Wendigo who rushed forward with his massive body, and only my spear stopped him. It hit the creature's chest, but the Wendigo simply shook it off like a toy. I quickly pulled back and hid behind a small tree, watching as the creature examined my broken trail in the snow. Perhaps I have another chance, but now I only have one knife in my hands...

The Wendigo was already peering with a sharp gaze in my direction, noticing a shadow next to the tree. The beast leaned forward, stretching forward its long arms with root-like fingers. And then I jumped out of cover as if I was going to grab the creature, and suddenly stuck the knife into its bottomless black eye. The Wendigo howled in pain as the knife blade penetrated its eye socket. The creature tried to throw me off its chest, but I grabbed onto the beast tightly and continued to strike blow after blow, again and again - to the eyes and head.
The Wendigo collapsed to the ground, bleeding, almost crushing me with its weight... As soon as I came to my senses, I began to examine the creature, which against the background of the snow would have been completely invisible if not for the blood pouring from its eyes, ears and wounds on the head. Then the contours of the creature began to blur, became foggy, and it completely disappeared, leaving only crimson footprints in the snow.
Shocked, with my heart beating in fear, tired from the stress of the struggle, I turned home. Weakened, I knew that the storm would soon end its break, and I would be in trouble if I did not find shelter or did not manage to return home.
At the edge of the forest I met a red fox. It was a well-fed and probably old animal, as evidenced by the gray stripes on its face. It was as if the fox had been brought to me as a reward for killing the Wendigo. With a prayer of thanksgiving I killed the fox. There was enough meat for several days until the storm blew itself away and I could safely go hunting again.

Wendigo in cinema and literature
It seems that Algernon Blackwood was the first to raise the topic of wendigo in the last century with his legendary “Wendigo” (1910). Lovecraft also added interest to this character, introducing Wendigo as one of the Ancients, whose real name is Ithaqua - the Running Wind, the God of cold white silence. S. King also partially used the wendigo theme.
In modern popular culture, the Wendigo is also not ignored. The second episode of the first season of the TV series "Supernatural" is dedicated to the Wendigo. The Wendigo was also mentioned in one of the episodes of the television series “Charmed,” but this creature was more like a werewolf with horned-hoofed elements. There are Wendigos in Marvel comics as well.

The story "Wendigo" by Algernon Henry Blackwood.
Download.

According to ancient legends, in the forests of the northern United States and central Canada there lives a terrible monster that feeds on human flesh. Even today, Indian tribes associate the disappearance of their hunters and ordinary tourists with the insatiable nature of a monster called the Wendigo. This creature can take the form of a person or an animal, change its voice in order to lure a traveler into the forest thicket. The first mentions of the cannibal are found in manuscripts of the 17th century, compiled by missionaries from the words of Indian leaders.

What does a wendigo look like?

Among the indigenous peoples of the North American continent, the image of a forest demon is associated with cold, hunger, and darkness. Descriptions of the monster's appearance may vary slightly, but they all agree on one thing: the Wendigo is a supernatural, evil creature that mercilessly deals with everyone who crosses its path.

In the minds of the Algonquin Indians living in the Great Lakes region, the monster's body is almost transparent, its skeleton and heart are made of ice. There are no fingers on the Wendigo's hands, and huge yellow fangs protrude from its lipless, bloody mouth. The monster moves very quickly and silently, it is difficult to notice until you come close to it.

Hunters of the Ojibwa tribe describe the appearance of the Wendigo this way: “This is a gigantic creature as tall as a tree. He has sharp teeth and long claws, glowing eyes and a huge tongue, and his whole body is covered with matted fur. Where the Wendigo passes, deep tracks filled with blood remain. His hissing breath can be heard for miles, and the stench emanating from his body is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposed corpse.”

Monster Habitats

Wendigo lives in deep forest thickets, where birds do not sing and animals do not live. The monster avoids bright light, so during the day it hides in underground caves. Since the wendigo is a demon of cold and darkness, the monster prefers to hunt its victims at dusk.

The cannibal has excellent orientation in the dark, knows every inch of his territory and can change the weather with the help of black magic. He is extremely gluttonous and insatiable, but sometimes he stores up supplies by hanging pieces of human meat on tree branches, or burying them in holes dug with sharp claws. The evil monster also takes living people prisoner, locking the unfortunate ones in his lair in case of power outages.

Where do wendigos come from?

One might not believe the legends. Indeed, from the point of view of a civilized person, who is a Wendigo? Just a fictional character existing in the imagination of poorly educated Indians. But the fact is that there are a lot of these creatures; they say that they still appear today in the forest and mountain areas of North America, capturing more and more new territories.

Wendigos are not born, they are made. The Wendigo spirit can inhabit any person if he, willingly or unwillingly, breaks the taboo of cannibalism. This happened more than once in the old days, when famine occurred in the villages of North American Indians caused by crop failure or harsh weather conditions. If one of his fellow tribesmen, trying to save his life, ate another person, a terrible reckoning occurred - the cannibal’s body became overgrown with hair, his teeth turned into fangs. Having brought upon himself the curse, the Wendigo was forced to go into the forest to continue doing his dark deeds.

The population of monsters also increased due to settlers, travelers, and gold miners who, in extreme situations, were forced to eat the bodies of their comrades in order to avoid starvation. Who knows, perhaps similar cases occur today, since the disappearances of tourists without a trace are recorded from time to time in local forests.

A deal with the devil as an act of self-sacrifice

There is another, more noble version of the appearance of the Wendigo. This happened during periods of protracted inter-tribal wars. To protect his family from mortal danger, one of the most courageous warriors entered into an agreement with forest demons and took on the image of a super-strong, invulnerable giant.

After defeating his enemies, the hero was unable to regain his human form and he joined the ranks of evil cannibals. His former fellow tribesmen began hunting for the Wendigo, because, having taken the form of a beast, he became very dangerous, sparing neither children, nor the elderly, nor women, in the name of whose salvation he committed a heroic act.

Voluntary transformation into a monster

The Indians believe that anyone who expresses such a desire can become a monster. To do this, you supposedly need to completely give up food for several days or weeks, and when hunger becomes unbearable, go to the darkest thicket of the forest. The Wendigo will definitely find a daredevil and, depending on his mood, will either feast on the exhausted body or turn the volunteer into one like himself.

There is also an opinion that some shamans, with an excessive passion for black magic, unwittingly or intentionally become wendigos. An evil spirit that has possessed the sorcerer drives the unfortunate man into the forest away from human eyes.

Is it possible to escape from a bloodthirsty monster?

It is almost impossible to escape from the monster. The giant moves faster than the wind and can catch up with its prey in the blink of an eye. There is an opinion that the Wendigo is like a zombie or a vampire, so it can easily be killed with a silver bullet or stabbed. Unfortunately, these methods do not work on the cannibal.

The only way to prevent a wendigo attack is to start a fire. Therefore, when locals go to the forest, they always take a large supply of matches with them. The monster never approaches a burning fire. Surely there are other secret methods of destroying monsters, since both Indians and white settlers periodically went out to fight them.

Hunters of the evil forest spirit

The Wendigo (demon of the forest) is known by several names - Windigo, Vitigo, Uichiko and Wee-Tee-Go, but each of them translates roughly the same: "an evil spirit that devours human flesh."

At the dawn of the exploration of the North American continent, many settlers took the Indians' stories about the Wendigo quite seriously. Moreover, there was every reason for this. People who went hunting periodically disappeared, and a wandering monster was seen more than once in the forests of Northern Minnesota. They say that isolated specimens of bloody monsters still live here, and in the period from 1800 to 1920 there were especially many of them.

Some brave souls declared a real war on the giants, calling themselves professional wendigo hunters. The most famous fighter against cannibals, Jack Fidler, according to his own statement, managed to destroy fourteen wendigos. He neutralized the last of them when he was already an 87-year-old man.

In 1907, Fiedler, along with his son, stood trial for murder. Without denying their guilt, the hunters said that they could not do otherwise, since the unfortunate woman was seized with “Wendigo fever.” In a short time, the woman would turn into a monster, endangering the lives of many people.

Symptoms of Wendigo fever infection

No matter how terrible and bloodthirsty the Wendigo was, in some cases people managed to survive after meeting it. But just as turning into a vampire occurs, a person bitten by a forest monster gradually began to take on the appearance of a monster. First of all, the psyche suffered. The unfortunate man was tormented by hallucinations and nightmares.

Wendigo psychosis could occur without contact with the monster, for example, against the background of prolonged fasting. The man was overcome by the fear of becoming a cannibal; it began to seem that no food could satisfy his hunger except human meat. And although these symptoms, as a rule, were false, in the Indian tribes such a possessed person was executed.

How does a person feel when turning into a wendigo?

Before becoming a monster, someone infected with “Wendigo fever” begins to smell a strange smell, his body shakes from severe chills, and every night he is afraid to fall asleep, fearing a repetition of nightmares. Then the unfortunate person develops unbearable pain in his legs, his feet burn as if scorched by fire. In the end, having gotten rid of clothes and shoes, the future monster runs away into the forest, where his final transformation takes place.

How it was possible to record the sensations of werewolves remains a mystery. It is obvious that, having turned into a monster, a person would not describe the intricacies of the process to his former fellow tribesmen or comrades. Probably, films about wendigos, of which many were made both in the past and in the present century, played an important role in the appearance of this information. Among the most popular films on this topic are Larry Fessenden's Wendigo (2001) and the horror film The Blair Witch Project: Coursework from the Other World, released by an independent American film studio in 1999.

Wendigo syndrome as a mental illness

An ancient Indian legend is reflected in the definition of the modern medical term “Wendigo psychosis.” Some experts find the existence of such a disease very controversial, while others believe that with certain changes in the psyche the patient has an intense desire to taste human flesh and a fear of becoming a cannibal.

Susceptibility to this psychosis is observed only among the Indian populations living in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. The disease usually develops in winter in people isolated by heavy snow for a long time.

Initial symptoms include loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting. Subsequently, the person develops the illusion of becoming a monster. Surprisingly, the frequency of cases of wendigo psychosis sharply decreased in the 20th century, when they began to actively join Western culture.

Modern ideas about the Wendigo

And these days, many seriously believe in the existence of an evil forest monster. It is reported that already in the new millennium, a wendigo was allegedly spotted in northwestern Ontario, near the city of Kenora. According to the testimony of hunters, traveling traders and travelers, the monster often appears on the shores of Lake Forest. According to legends, it is in these places that the lair of the evil cannibal is located. The town of Kenora has been given the unofficial title of Wendigo Capital of the World.

They say that a bloodthirsty monster, almost five meters tall, still roams the forests and prairies of the North American continent, terrifying not only local residents, but also visiting tourists. Despite all the efforts of those fighting the monster, we have to admit: the Wendigo cannot be killed, it is immortal.

If you look at it, the United States of America, despite all its gloss and imaginary civilization, still has many places over which the power and will of man has no power. Its dominance has not been proven in these strange, sometimes frightening places, filled with a variety of flora and fauna.

Yes, in truth, south Georgia is different from everything we have already seen. The most wonderful, creepy and beautiful place here, undoubtedly, is the swamp with the mysterious name Okefenokee Swamp.

The area occupied, almost all of two hundred hectares of watery and precarious land, was previously owned by the Simenoles, an American Indian tribe that has survived to this day only due to its original enormous numbers. This, and, perhaps, the proud, uncompromising spirit of the Indians allowed them to survive in the unequal struggle with the pale-faced ones. But that’s not what we’re talking about at all.

The swamp is called Okefenoke with the light hand of the Simenoles. In their language this word means “Shaking Earth.” Today, the entire swamp belongs to the “Swamp Park” - a National Nature Reserve, and there are even organized excursions here.

However, the Okefenokee is not easy to understand or even accept. The Indians have always respected this fragile land. After all, a swamp brings surprises, and where there was a dry area a day ago, a quagmire can easily arise and drag, for example, a building or a bridge, or a bivouac, along with sleeping people, into the depths.

The indigenous people believed that an evil spirit walked through these swamps, the embodiment of everything negative and bad, evil in its purest form, called Wendigo, dragging away the souls of random travelers, and even looking into the surroundings of the swamp. However, the Indians also believed in the highest justice, the one who is pure in heart, brave, honest and kind, could compete with the Wendigo in strength, and even come out of the trouble alive, having acquired new patrons, and at the same time, unlimited abilities.

What we see in reality, without going into esotericism and mysticism, also amazes the imagination. Huge centuries-old trees, sometimes growing straight from the water, bushes covered either with fragrant flowers, which, for some reason, are not pollinated by bees, or with bright fruits that animals do not eat. The vegetation here is lush, and animals and birds are not afraid of anything.

Those who were born and raised here, and such people call themselves “swamp people,” regardless of skin color or nationality, tell amazing stories about real thunderclaps coming from the swamp, about strange moans and screams. Modern scientists consider this to be the release of combustion products to the surface, but you and I know where the Wendigo walks...

In some parts of the swamp there are sufficiently dry spaces where you can set up a camp, but keep in mind that you are unlikely to be allowed to light an open fire due to safety reasons. Burning peat, and there is simply a colossal amount of it here, is a terrible disaster. Smoke from burning peat bogs, which spontaneously ignite from time to time, sometimes spreads over many thousands of kilometers.

In addition, it is full of alligators, ready to feast on unlucky travelers and blame it on the innocent Indian spirit. The red shadows of pumas move silently between the thickets, creeping up on the victim, terribly poisonous snakes sit on almost every hummock, and above all this, constantly buzzing, humming, and also biting, a great variety of insects, occasionally eaten birds.

Have you lost the desire to visit this amazing place? Well, great, then pack your backpacks and go, just prepare thoroughly for the trip.

You will have to fork out some money to visit and take a boat or canoe excursion, and to stay overnight, to the delight of mosquitoes and alligators, you have to pay even more, but it is 100% worth it!

Wendigo or Windigo (English: Wendigo or English: Windigo) is a cannibal spirit in Algonquin mythology. Initially perceived as a symbol of insatiable hunger and hungry winter, it later began to serve as a warning against any excesses of human behavior.

At the origins of the myth

The first stories about the Wendigo myth were told by explorers and missionaries - they date back to the 17th century. People described the Wendigo as more of a werewolf, a devil, or an ogre. Their wendigo stories can be divided into two categories. Some claim that the Wendigo was created when a brave warrior sold his soul to ward off a threat to his tribe. When the threat was eliminated, he went into the thicket, and since then nothing has been heard of him. According to other legends, the Wendigo gradually lost its human appearance due to the use of black magic, coupled with cannibalism. It was also possible to turn into a wendigo as a result of a healer’s curse. Be that as it may, the Wendigo should be considered one of the most dangerous mythological creatures. There is also a theory that the Wendigo is a creature that was once human. Having gotten lost in the forest, or during some cataclysm, on the verge of death from hunger, he decides to kill and eat his fellow traveler or friend. After this, within a few weeks he loses his appearance and finds himself at the mercy of hunger, which can only be satisfied by human meat, and he can no longer return to normal life.

Versions of origin

No one knows for sure how and where the wendigo comes from. However, there are several versions:

Heroic - in order to ward off the threat from the native tribe in difficult times of trials, the strongest warrior of the tribe sacrifices his soul to the spirits of the forest. So he turns into a terrible monster, capable of frightening any enemy. When the threat to the tribe is eliminated, the monster warrior goes into the deepest thicket, where his heart turns into an ice stone - the man becomes a wendigo.
Magical - they say that a shaman or sorcerer who is overly keen on black, harmful magic turns into a wendigo. Some, however, stipulate that for actual transformation into a Wendigo there is a small but very important condition - the sorcerer will not become a monster until he tastes human flesh. It seems that for those who purposefully seek such a metamorphosis, this is not the greatest test. The first symptom of transformation into a wendigo is the appearance of a strange smell that only the future monster can smell. After the appearance of this soul-disturbing smell, the victim wakes up at night from the horror of nightmares and his own crying. Next, the person begins to feel a burning pain in the legs and feet, which becomes so unbearable that the person runs into the forest, throwing off both his shoes and clothes. This is how not only sorcerers and shamans who transgressed tribal taboos are transformed into wendigos, but also those who have been cursed by the wendigo.
Accidentally infectious - it is believed that any random hunter who is simply unlucky enough to meet a real wendigo in the night forest, whose old body has worn out, can become a wendigo. In this case, the monster will not just kill the unlucky traveler, but will itself inhabit his body. Legend claims that the moment the spirit enters a person is marked by severe nausea and pain. Eventually, the person loses a huge amount of blood and inevitably dies. Meanwhile, the body undergoes a terrible transformation. The body grows in volume, a thick layer of white fur appears. The Wendigo spirit introduces purely animal components into the human body - powerful fangs and sharp teeth. Nails transform into sharp claws. The evil spirit then animates the body, not as a human, but as a bloodthirsty beast known as a wendigo.
Gastronomic - among North American Indians there are various stories related to the birth of the wendigo... These stories usually talk about a harsh winter, and about someone cut off from the outside world, left without food. Trying to survive, he eats his family or friends and thus becomes a wendigo, an insatiable cannibal doomed to constant hunger. But not only Indians turned into Wendigos. Hunters, gold miners, travelers, settlers, seekers of a better life, vagabonds, everyone who then poured into the North American continent - many of them had no idea how fierce, merciless and hungry the local winter could be.

There were cases when a company of gold miners, fleeing from inevitable death by starvation, killed and ate one of their own, justifying themselves by the fact that the fittest survive. And, sooner or later, they were all doomed to turn into monsters and suffer from hunger, which can only be satisfied by human meat.

Voluntary - there will always be people who want to become monsters themselves. Those who want to become a Wendigo start by fasting. It lasts several days, after which the person goes into the forest. There he offers his body to the Wendigo. He can accept his body, both as shelter and food. However, sometimes it happens that the wendigo seems to adopt such volunteers. Over time, their bodies become abundantly covered with hair, claws grow, their eyes become yellow and huge, a craving for raw human flesh develops, and various supernatural abilities begin to appear.

Rational confirmation of the “gastronomic” version: cannibalism among the Indians

Cannibalism is a violation of the greatest taboo among the Algonquins, who find it quite difficult to obtain food, especially during the long winter months. It so happens that hunger poses a constant threat to them. This assumption is based on the Wendigo's physical deformation, which resembles damage due to starvation and frostbite. The Wendigo is a myth based on the personification of the problem of winter and the taboo of cannibalism. Conscious or unconscious cannibalistic impulses can only be curbed through discipline and order.

Windigo is a term for a mental disorder among Canadian Indians: the sudden onset of an attraction to cannibalism, a need for human flesh. Detailed descriptions of the disease were made in the 18th century; modern research was carried out by J. M. Cooper in 1933.

Among Indian peoples, Windigo psychosis manifests itself in the belief that someone is possessed by the spirit of a forest monster. The reason for the obsession is considered to be the inability to get food for the family - for members of the tribe this is both a huge personal failure and an offense of social significance.

Like the Wendigo monster itself, psychotics experience a strong obsessive desire to eat human flesh. They usually satisfy their cannibalistic desires by attacking members of their own family. The Indians are quite capable of killing and eating their loved ones if they are not stopped. They believe that they have lost control of their actions and their only escape is death. According to Morton Teicher, who wrote a work on psychological anthropology, Windigo Psychosis, patients often ask to be killed and do not resist their own death.

To get rid of this disease, these peoples developed a ceremonial dance, which was organized by the Assiniboine, Cree and Ojibwe during famine to seriously strengthen the Wendigo taboo. This ritual dance is called wiindigookaanzhimowin by the Ojibwa. Now this dance is part of the ritual “Dance to the Sun”. This dance is performed wearing masks, with rhythmic movements to the rhythm of the drums. The last known such ceremony took place in the state of Minnesota, in the USA, on the island of Star Island, in Leech Lake, on the Cass River - in the northern Indian reservation. Pay attention to a small nuance. If you are talking about mental illness, then it would be more correct to use the term “windigo” or “windigo”. If you are talking about a real monster, then it is better to say “Wendigo”. In general, this monster has more than enough names.

This is what Monstropedia offers us: Wendigo, Windigo, Wiindigoo, Witiko, Weedigo, Weeghtako, Weeghteko, Weendigo, Wee-Tee-Go, Weetigo, Wehndigo, Wehtigo, Wendago, Wenigo, Wentigo, Wentiko, Wetigo, Whit-Te-Co, Whittico, Wiendigo, Wihtigo, Wiitiko, Windago, Windiga, Windagoe, Windagoo, Windego, Wi'ndigo, Windikouk, Wintego, Wintigo, Wi'ntsigo, Wintsigo, Wi'tigo, Wittako, Wittikka, Wihtikow, Atcen, Atschen, Cheno, Djenu, Ithaqua, Kokodje, Kokotsche, Outiko, and Vindiko. A rough translation of these names means "an evil spirit that devours mankind."

Appearance description

Based on the myth, these creatures are tall, with a lipless mouth and sharp teeth. Their bodies are translucent, consisting of ice, or animal-like, covered with thick fur. Despite their extreme thinness, Wendigos are insatiable. They lure their victims with a whistle that resembles the rustle of the wind.

In a cape of white matted wool, not much more than just a tall man, incredibly skinny and bony, sometimes without the tips of the ears, several fingers, nose or lips, completely bald or very, very shaggy - this is the Wendigo, the ice monster of the Algolquin tribes; a monster that was once a man, and is now a creature that feeds its insatiable hunger with human flesh. This is no ordinary monster. Wendigo is the physical embodiment of the metaphysical spirit of winter Cold and Hunger.

From a practical point of view, the Wendigo is primarily an exceptional cannibal hunter. It is difficult to determine who he is, first of all: a terrible cannibal or a hunter. On the one hand, the wendigo feeds exclusively on human flesh. In preparation for the long winter, the Wendigo will even stockpile tree branches in a large cauldron, filling it to the brim with human meat. In rare cases, the wendigo stores supplies in its den and in fresh form. On the other hand, it is well known that the Wendigo, like no other, is able to enjoy the hunt, receiving incredible pleasure. All these wendigos are the curse of the North American continent.

Features of hunting

They usually simply stalk their prey, but sometimes they take a different approach: witnesses claim that Wendigos enjoy the hunt. A lonely traveler who finds himself in the forest begins to hear strange sounds. He looks around for the source, but sees nothing except the flicker of something that moves too fast for the human eye to detect. After some time, the flickering will subside, and the Wendigo may roar quietly, because he likes active hunting. And when the traveler begins to run away in fear, the Wendigo attacks. He is powerful and strong like no other. There is no need for him to ambush his prey. He is faster and stronger than any person. It is believed that the Wendigo does not take conventional weapons, including bullets. The beast can only be killed by fire. Perhaps the image of the Wendigo has developed in the minds of local residents around the fact of unexplained disappearances of people. The anthropomorphism of this creature can be explained by the fact that no one has ever seen it or by the facts of real cases of cannibalism.

Wendigo psychosis

With Wendigo psychosis, there is a fear of turning into a cannibal monster, usually due to decreased nutrition. The patient has homicidal thoughts and an impulsive desire to eat human flesh. Some patients claim that they have been possessed by the evil Wendigo spirit. Typically, "possessed Wendigos" were killed by their fellow tribesmen. Some researchers denied the existence of this disorder, while they stated that this was just an attempt to justify murder.

Fighting the Wendigo

When settlers began to populate the North American continent, many of them took the Indian legend of the Wendigo very seriously. And how could it be otherwise: first, people who went hunting disappeared without a trace, and then the forest cannibal himself was seen several times, appearing near the town of Rosesu in Northern Minnesota (Wendigo was regularly seen there from the end of 1800 to 1920).

Among the local residents there were people who devoted their entire lives to hunting these monsters, becoming professional Wendigo hunters. The most famous of them, named Jack Fielder, claimed to have killed at least 14 Wendigos in his life. He destroyed the last one when he was already 87 years old. His son helped him in the hunt.

In October 1907, hunter Fiedler and his son Joseph were convicted of murdering an Indian woman. They both pleaded guilty to this crime, but in their defense stated that the woman was infected with "Windigo fever" and was only hours away from becoming a complete monster, and had to be destroyed before she began to kill others. They say that Wendigos still live in Minnesota.

An Indian's story about an encounter with a Wendigo

The Story of an Ojibwe Indian

Taking a spear and a knife, he went to the area, usually most of all, dotted with animal tracks. I’m standing, studying the signs in the snow. But the shimmering layer of ice and snow gave no sign of the presence of prey. In such bad weather, every intelligent creature was within its hole and slept. Not me. Knowing the desperate hunger the family was experiencing, I continued the hunt.

As I moved through the eerie silence, broken only by weak gusts of wind, I clearly heard a strange noise, a hiss. It came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He stopped, his heart pounding wildly. When I saw the blood-soaked tracks in front of me, I pulled out a knife, instantly realizing that a Wendigo was watching me somewhere nearby.

I knew about the Wendigo when I sat on my father's lap. From his stories it followed that it was a large creature, tall as a tree, with a lipless mouth and a palisade of sharp teeth. Its breathing was accompanied by strange sounds like hissing, its tracks were full of blood, and this beast ate any man, woman or child who dared to enter its territory. And one could consider them lucky. Sometimes the Wendigo wanted to possess a person and, instead of killing him, he made the unfortunate person also become a Wendigo and hunt down those he once loved and devour their flesh.

The warrior knows that he has only one chance to defeat the Wendigo. If it doesn't work out, then death. Or... the thought was too terrible to complete.

Slowly I stepped back from the bloody trail, listening to the hissing sound. Was it stronger in one direction? Then he gripped the spear tightly with one hand and the knife with the other. Suddenly, the snowdrift on the left exploded with snow and a huge creature jumped out of it. I dodged to the side and drove through the snow so that my clothes were tightly covered with it. This could help me remain invisible in the white snow. Then, in the gray twilight, I noticed the approach of fury.

It was the Wendigo who rushed forward with his massive body, and only my spear stopped him. It hit the creature's chest, but the Wendigo simply shook it off like a toy. I quickly pulled back and hid behind a small tree, watching as the creature examined my broken trail in the snow.

The Wendigo collapsed to the ground, bleeding, almost crushing me with its weight... As soon as I came to my senses, I began to examine the creature, which against the background of the snow would have been completely invisible if not for the blood pouring from its eyes, ears and wounds on its head . Then the contours of the creature began to blur, became foggy, and it completely disappeared, leaving only crimson footprints in the snow.

Shocked, with my heart beating in fear, tired from the stress of the struggle, I turned home. Weakened, I knew that the storm would soon end its break, and I would be in trouble if I did not find shelter or did not manage to return home. At the edge of the forest I met a red fox. It was a well-fed and probably old animal, as evidenced by the gray stripes on its face. It was as if the fox had been brought to me as a reward for killing the Wendigo. With a prayer of thanksgiving I killed the fox. There was enough meat for several days until the storm blew itself away and I could safely go hunting again.

The image of the Wendigo in art

Cinema

Cartoon series

The Wendigo appeared in the animated series The Incredible Hulk, voiced by Lisa Miller McGee. In this animated series, the Wendigo is a curse that has enveloped the Indian War. When Betty Ross was captured by the Wendigo, the Hulk and General "Thunderbolt" Ross had to work together to rescue her.
The Wendigo appeared in the animated series Wolverine and the X-Men, voiced by Frank Welker. He appears in the episode entitled "Wolverine vs. Hulk". Wendigos have horns, and their bite turns others into Wendigos.
The Wendigo appeared in the animated series Avengers Assemble, voiced by Frank Welker. He appears in the episode entitled "Avengers: Impossible!". He was among the villains summoned to Avengers Tower by a being called the Impossible Man.
The Wendigo appeared in the animated series The Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. He appears in the episode entitled "The Wendigo Apocalypse". The S.M.A.S.H. agents encounter Wolverine during his Canadian vacation, where he is bitten by a Wendigo.
The Wendigo King appeared in the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. He appears in the episode entitled "Contest of Champions Part 1". He appears as one of the battle participants and fights against Spider-Man's team.

Books

The English writer Algernon Blackwood has a story called “The Wendigo,” which tells about hunters’ encounters with this fantastic creature in the forests of Canada. The story is written based on the author's own hunting experience gained in the Canadian outback. The story, in turn, is an expanded version of an earlier story by the author (both versions were translated and published in Russia).
The Wendigo is mentioned in Stephen King's novel Pet Sematary.
Character in Maria Galina's novel "Malaya Glusha".
The Wendigo is mentioned in the X-Men comics by Marvel Comics (the Wendigo character).
In Andrei Martyanov's fantasy novel "Star of the West" there is an evil spirit of the forest named Wendigo.
Eduard Verkin has a book called Wendigo, Demon of the Forest.
Rick Yancey in the book “The Monsterologist: Curse of the Wendigo” appears as the main threat to the main characters.

Games

Wendigo appears in the following video games:

In the game Until Dawn, the Wendigo appears as an ogre that lives in the forest and mine.
Harvey's neue Augen.
Final Fantasy VII.
Warcraft series.
The Secret World.
Ghost Master.
Dementium II.
X2: Wolverine's Revenge (English)Russian..
Long night.
Terror in the Ice (Alpha Polaris).
6 nights in Chernavsky (Visual novel).
It is the “totem” and the eponymous name of the Garou (werewolf) tribe in the tabletop role-playing game “Werewolf: The Apocalypse”.

Comics

Wendigo (sometimes: Wen-Di-Go) is a fictional character, a monster that appears in the Marvel Comics universe. This character is based on the Wendigo legend of the Algonquin people. The monster first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #162 (April 1973), created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Herb Trimpe. The character fought the Incredible Hulk as well as Wolverine in his first comic book appearances.

According to the comic, the Wendigo is not one specific person, but a curse that affects various people over time if they commit acts of cannibalism in the northern parts of Canada. Initially, only one person can be a Wendigo while they can be cured if another person is afflicted with the curse. In subsequent years, it was discovered that a flock of Wendigs lived in the Bering Strait. One day, the Wendigo curse infected the Hulk, turning him into the Wendihulk, although he was later cured. While the Wendigo is typically portrayed as a wild animal without control, Wendigos have appeared as part of various villainous factions, showing a certain reserve when not fighting. The character has appeared in several Marvel animated series.

Character Abilities

The Wendigo possesses many superhuman physical abilities as a result of being transformed by an ancient mystical curse. A curse envelops any person who eats the flesh of another person while it occurs within the Canadian wilderness.
The Wendigo possesses superhuman physical strength of unknown limits. The Wendigo is known to be strong enough to hold its own against the Hulk.
In addition to his great strength, the Wendigo's body tissues are significantly stronger than those of a normal human. The Wendigo's body can withstand high caliber machine gun fire without being injured. If a Wendigo is injured, its wounds heal at an incredible speed. The dense fur that covers the Wendigo's body provides it with protection from the extreme cold weather common in the areas in which the Wendigo originated. Wendigos can recover from such severe injuries and injuries.
Despite the Wendigo's large size, it can run at great speeds, exceeding the speed of an Olympic-level athlete. The Wendigo's enhanced musculature produces less lactic acid than a normal human's, giving it superhuman levels of endurance.

North American Indians are known for their unique folklore and distinctive culture. Their life was based on constant interaction with the forces of nature: the Indians believed that various spirits, good and evil, lived near them and influenced their lives.

According to their beliefs, life itself and people were created by the Great Spirit, who was able to use the powers of animals. Sometimes it was depicted as a kind of paired object to show the duality of the human principle (good and evil). Many Spirits accompanied the Indians in everyday life; they worshiped them, asked for help and protection. And they asked the evil Spirits not to disturb them and not to cause harm. But these Demons continued to terrorize entire Indian settlements and peoples.

Wendigo. Evil spirit of North American Indians.
Wendigo, the terrifying spirit of Frost and Cold. The Wendigo took the form of a monster vaguely reminiscent of a human. According to some legends, the Wendigo is a former reborn person whose heart turned to ice. It is distinguished by terrible thinness and bones protruding from its body, the absence of a nose and lips, several fingers and ears, its back is covered with a cape of white wool, and this creature feeds exclusively on human flesh. According to one version, it stores human meat for the long winter, hiding it in cauldrons and on tree branches. According to another, the Wendigo is a skilled hunter who uses his abilities to scare his prey to death.

A demon spirit that takes the form of a little girl or the skeleton of a child. Wears children's clothes and has unnatural black eyes. This Spirit descends from the mountains at night and comes to villages, where he sings his ritual song. This Spirit brings illness and death to everyone who sees him or hears his singing, as well as children and old people. To protect themselves from Acheri, the Indians used a red thread, tying it around their necks.

Naitaka
A water monster, according to some beliefs reaching 15 meters in length. It lives in Lake Okanagan, Canada. According to the legends of the local Indians, on the shore of this lake one man killed a venerable old man, for which he was turned into a sea monster. They say that Naitaka often used human flesh for food, and therefore easily drowned ships crossing this lake with his tail.

Stikini
According to Indian beliefs, these are evil sorcerers or witches who have the ability to turn into a huge owl. In the form of an owl, they hunt for the hearts of people who help them prolong their lives. Stikini pull out the heart directly through a person's mouth to then prepare a rejuvenating potion from it. The cry of Stikini can be heard for many kilometers, and those who are unfortunate enough to hear the cry of Stikini face death.

Unktech
A huge underwater horned snake, found among different tribes under different names. According to various versions, people who tasted their meat or used dark magic could turn into these snakes. According to one legend of the Teton tribe, the first Unktehi became evil. Initially, it did not have a specific shape, only a head and one horn on it. Then fiery eyes became visible, burning with hunger and hatred, the body became long and covered with strong armor, and the fangs grew to a terrifying size.

Ji-ji-bon-da
Very little is known about this creature, but among North Americans there were legends that it was so scary and ugly that it was afraid of its own reflection in the water.