the legend of...

the wendigo

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The wendigo Is a supernatural, malefic and cannibal creature, born of the mythology of the Algonquian Native Americans of Canada, which has spread to all the folklore of North America. This legend is shared by several Indian tribes and can refer to the physical transformation of a human after consumption of human meat as a spiritual possession. The wendigo also reinforced the taboo around the practice of cannibalism among these peoples. The wendigowak (wendigos) live in the depths of the forest and appear in tales where the supernatural side of things inhumane and atrocious. Among the stories that circulate, they are firmly anchored in Amerindian legends where they hold an important place. Mythology of the Algonquins The wendigo originated from the traditional beliefs of Algonquian-speaking tribes in the northern United States and Canada, particularly the Saulteaux / Ojibwa, the Cree and the Innu. Although descriptions vary somewhat, all these cultures have in common the description of wendigowak as malicious and cannibalistic, and as supernatural beings (manitous) possessing great spiritual strength, who live preferably in the forest. They are associated with winter, northern and frost and starvation. Description The Wendigo was emaciated to an extreme point, his dried skin pulled and stretched on his bones. With her bones pushing against her skin, even the color of the gray ashes of death, and her eyes pushed back into their sockets, the Wendigo resembled a skeleton recently dug up from her grave. His lips were tattered ... soiled with blood and suffering and suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo emitted a strange and disturbing odor of degradation and decomposition, death and corruption. " The wendigo is associated with sins of greed, greed or excess of any kind. He is never satisfied after killing a person to devour him, and is constantly in search of new victims. In some traditions, the man who is dominated by greed could turn into a wendigo, the myth thus becoming a way of advocating co-operation and moderation. One can compare the wendigo to the ogres or giants of European traditions. Among the Ojibwa, the Eastern cries and the Innu, the wendigowak are described as giants several times larger than human beings, a feature absent from the Algonquin myth in other cultures. Each time a wendigo eats another person, it grows in proportion to what it has just swallowed and feels hunger again, so that it is never satisfied, so the Wendigowak (Wendigos) are constantly Both fed and starved. How to become wendigo? The legends change in detail, but their outline has remained the same. The most frequent cause of a transformation into wendigo is the use of cannibalism, the consumption of the body of a human person. Hunters or lost people who have remained too long in famine (especially in winter) turn to this practice as a last resort and become wendigowak (wendigos). The second frequently mentioned cause is possession by the demonic spirit of a wendigo, often in a dream where the person sees a wendigo or is called by a wendigo spirit, or then encountering a spirit of wendigo in the forest during the night. Once inhabited by his mind, these people become violent and obsessed with the desire to eat human flesh. Their characters undergo profound transformations and these become associate and violent, seeing themselves gradually controlled by the spirit and the horrible appetite of the wendigo that lives in them. The wendigo is always supposed to have been human once. Transformed into horrible beasts, they haunt forests in search of humans to devour. This transformation can also precede the curse of a shaman or be the result of a ritual of transformation.     Fight against the wendigos The wendigowak (wendigos) are not immortal and can be killed in various ways, including a silver ball, as related by many Indian tales and legends. The body of its host may also be burnt in ashes. A wendigo can be killed if its heart of ice melts. For this, it can be destroyed by fire or pouring tallow burning on it.