Wendigo facts for kids

Wendigo is an evil spirit and monster that appears in many Native American stories. The character originated from the folklore of Plains and Great Lakes Natives as well as some First Nations. The wendigo is often said to be a malevolent spirit, sometimes depicted as a creature with human-like characteristics, which possesses human beings.

The wendigo is said to invoke feelings of insatiable greed/hunger and the propensity to commit murder in those that fall under its influence.

In some representations the wendigo is described as a giant humanoid with a heart of ice; a foul stench or sudden, unseasonable chill might precede its approach. Possibly because of longtime identification by European-Americans with their own myths about werewolves, for example as mentioned in The Jesuit Relations below, Hollywood film representations often label human/beast hybrids featuring antlers or horns with the "wendigo" name, but such animal features do not appear in the original indigenous stories.

Name

The word Wendigo can be spelled in many ways.

The creature is called Wìdjigò in the Algonquin language and wīhtikōw in the Cree language.

Many Wendigo are called Windigoag.

Description

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. Although descriptions can vary somewhat, common to all these cultures is the view that the wendigo is an ugly and evil supernatural being. They were strongly associated with winter, the north, coldness, famine, and starvation.

Saying the word Wendigo is believed to make it appear, so people do not say it aloud or they censor it so that the full word is not written out (like wend*go)

In Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu lore, wendigos are often described as giants that are many times larger than human beings. Whenever a wendigo ate another person, it would grow in proportion to the meal it had just eaten, so it could never be full. Therefore, wendigos are portrayed as simultaneously gluttonous and extremely thin due to starvation.

Use of the word

The word wendigo is also used to describe greedy people who are never satisfied with what they have and just consume more and more. The wendigo is seen as the embodiment of greed and excess.Therefore, it has been used to describe European colonization and its effects on Native people and the land.

Pop culture

The wendigo has appeared in many comics and shows.

See also

In Spanish: Wendigo para niños