wendigo cultural appropriation
[30], Fascination with Wendigo psychosis among Western ethnographers, psychologists, and anthropologists led to a hotly debated controversy in the 1980s over the historicity of this phenomenon. I agree with some of it to a point, but disagree with most of it. It really depends who you talk to. It sounds like you did research which is more that J. K. Rowling so I think yes? The protection of minorities from the materialization of the majority's different thoughts is an asset of democratic constitutionalism. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. I have to look! Jack committed suicide, but Joseph was tried and sentenced to life in prison. 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). [57] In the 2018 first-person shooter video game Dusk, wendigos are enemies that remain invisible until they receive damage. In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. [40][41] Joe Nazare wrote that Blackwood's "subtly-demonizing rhetoric transforms the Wendigo from a native myth into a descriptive template for the Indian savage."[42]. minority cultures deserve a higher level of protection from being put on display than mainstream cultures," Nah, https://forum.deviantart.com/community/complaints/2612415/, https://www.deviantart.com/comments/18/2611618/4878314665, (, literally "goat-sucker") is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas, with the first sightings reported in Puerto Rico. Differing thinking is one of the cherished assets of democratic cultural pluralism. Basically, the word wendigo can also function as a symbol for gluttony and the image of excess. 12. :)Looking to buy some stickers or look at some pictures of my art or my other things? They heard the Windigo calling the boy. For example, dressing up as a Native American while using redface and using the gaudiest, most elaborate costume you can think of (using the stereotypical feathered headress, tribal print tan clothing, holding a spear, etc.). 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 can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. Handle the characters and the story with respect. [26][27] During the winter of 1878, Swift Runner and his family were starving, and his eldest son died. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. [16] Whenever a wendigo ate another person, it would grow in proportion to the meal it had just eaten, so it could never be full. Thank god I am not from USA, where this seems to be an issue. The line between what differentiates cultural appropriation from cultural appreciation can be razor-thin, not to mention highly . I just posted a new video talking about cultural appropriation and art! Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled. Native Americans shouldn't be a "niche," and neither should women, LGBT people, or people of color. The horror film Antlers adopts an old monster for its story, which serves as both a benefit and a hindrance. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) No one can try to stake a singular claim to it. 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. Cultural appropriation refers to the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression and doesn't respect their original meaning or give credit to their source. . It just looks like a human that may be bigger than normal. Doing so is an honorable endeavorbut only if we actually do our homework first. Blackwood's work has influenced many of the subsequent portrayals in mainstream horror fiction,[42][43] such as August Derleth's "The Thing that Walked on the Wind" and "Ithaqua" (1933 and 1941),[41] which in turn inspired the character in Stephen King's novel Pet Sematary,[42] where it is a personification of evil, an ugly grinning creature with yellow-grey eyes, ears replaced by ram's horns, white vapor coming from its nostrils, and a pointed, decaying yellow tongue. The game I will be going over in this is Until Dawn, a horror game made by Supermassive Games, made . Created by the writer Steve Englehart and artist Herb Trimpe, the monster is the result of a curse that afflicts those who commit acts of cannibalism. Discover short videos related to wendigo cultural appropriation on TikTok. DeSanti points to the 1999 horror film Ravenous as an illustration of this argument equating "the cannibal monster" to "American colonialism and manifest destiny". Climbing the totem pole. The boy told the Indians that the Windigo was near them, and showed them his hand where the Windigo cut him to see if he was fat enough to eat. I dont know who originally posted it, or where. No they fucking aren't. Apparently, wendigos are sacred creatures from several indigenous cultures. ". So it seems to me like the objection might have something to do with an inappropriate mixing of religious contexts from two different belief systems. Ten years later, "cultural appropriation" is no longer an obscure academic term . 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 My tongue and my brain do not speak the right language. And some natives don't care at all. In addition, for many Indigenous peoples and local communities, making traditional clothes is a source of income; as such, cultural appropriation can . Cultural appropriation takes place when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way. I mentioned above that I was guilty of doing the same thing. 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. And they are worth considering including in one's classroom teaching. Appreciation is honoring and respecting another culture and its practices, as a way to gain knowledge and understanding. Magazine with fellow environmental thought leaders, LaDuke said: Theres this conflict between the cannibals and Mother Earth, and its going on everywhere. It has become something else altogether. That will depend on who you ask. [43] These works set the template for later portrayals in popular culture, at times even replacing the Native American lore. The Wendigo happens to be part of my own (Anishiinaabe) cultural heritage. So some of it may be that natives don't want people to be waking this monster. "Windigo Psychosis: A Study of Relationship between Belief and Behaviour among the Indians of Northeastern Canada." Wendigos, teepees and cultural appropriation I read some stuff yesterday saying that teepees are cultural appropriation and there was a long post about how wendigos aren't cryptids and how stories about them are cultural appropriation. 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. The Wendigo may be a figure from American Indian mythology, but it belongs to all of humankind. In some cases, this entailed killing people with Wendigo psychosis. He just gave the boy so much time to go there and back. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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. [28] Given that he resorted to cannibalism so near to food supplies, and that he killed and consumed the remains of all those present, it was revealed that Swift Runner's was not a case of pure cannibalism as a last resort to avoid starvation, but rather of a man with Wendigo psychosis. Nitty gritty. and our By the mid-1990s, it had gained a solid place in academic discourse, particularly in the field of sociology. But as far as cultural appropriation and the Wendigo goes, dont you daredont you DAREtry to take our monsters away from us, PC wankers! There's too much variety of opinion on the question to obtain a consensus. Most sensible thing said ever. A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). As a concept, wendigo can apply to situations other than some Native American-European relations. You're absolutively spot on! I think it's okay because you're not trying to rewrite actual history or actual legend. There's also Wendigo psychosis. This country is seeking to be whole Stretching out its arms and consuming all it can. I would agree, only I am more likely to not care much even what an Algonquin cares about my monster character. 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. Theres something else. 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. It's also linked to the many cultural taboos against these negative actions and behaviors. My intentions were pure, as were Rowling's, I imagine. These bonnets are symbols of warrior achievements and are the equivalent of military medals. [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. (A friend sent this screenshot to me, along with the info, because he knows how much PC-ism pisses me off. I can't say for sure how much research Rowling did when writing her series, but others have pointed out that it doesn't seem like much. For other uses, see, Graham, John Russell; John Coates; Barbara Swartzentruber; Brian Ouellette; ", harvcoltxt error: no target: CITEREFSchwarz1969 (, International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, descriptive template for the Indian savage, corporate voracity, exploitation, and power, "Windigo: The Flesh-Eating Monster of Native American Legend", International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, "Windigo, the Ice Cannibal (Wendigo, Wiindigoo, Windgo, Windego)", "Relations des Jsuites contenant ce qui s'est pass de plus remarquable dans les missions des Pres de la Compagnie de Jsus dans la Nouvelle-France", "The Jesuit Relations: Travels and Expectations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 16101791", "Love, and Death in Stephen King's 'Pet Sematary', "The In Character Interview with Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler", "Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler on writing an Indigenous horror story", "ANTLERS: GUILLERMO DEL TORO E SCOTT COOPER SVELANO IL SIGNIFICATO DEL WENDIGO", "Supernatural - Season 1, Episode 2: Wendigo", "Fallout 76 Creatures: Bethesda Tells Tales of the Wendigo", "The Wiitiko Psychosis in the Context of Ojibwa Personality and Culture", Seeing Wetiko: on Capitalism, Mind Viruses, and Antidotes for a World in Transition, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wendigo&oldid=1139431905, Legendary creatures of the indigenous peoples of North America, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism, Articles with text in Algonquian languages, Articles containing Proto-Algonquian-language text, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2022, All articles with vague or ambiguous time, Articles with failed verification from August 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Teicher, Morton I. 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? She states that the wendigo symbolically represents three major concepts: it is the incarnation of winter, the embodiment of hunger, and the personification of selfishness. Cultural appropriation consists of borrowing something from another culture in mockery or thoughtless misuse. Is it okay for a white person to celebrate the culture. In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. 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. Humans could also turn into wendigos by being in contact with them for too long. In most traditions, the wendigo is human in origin and becomes a monster through a process that results either from acts of starvation-induced cannibalism or from possession by a spirit. If I don't, I'll never know what it is I'm so angry about! "[37] This application allows Native Americans to describe colonialism and its agents as wendigos since the process of colonialism ejected natives from their land and threw the natural world out of balance. Further, cultural appropriation often occurs as the backwash of colonization, and contributes to widening existing divisions and perpetuating patterns of historic dispossession and oppression. 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. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Thats just asking for trouble.) Cultural appropriation is the use of a people's traditional dress, music, cuisine, knowledge and other aspects of their culture, without their approval, by members of a different culture. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. I have drawn my own version of golems too, and that is Jewish mythology. wendigo appropriationplymouth township mi police scanner. 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. New replies are no longer allowed. Not so for anyone who isn't a straight, white male, and this trend in entertainment forces many people to seek out "niche" markets to find characters who look like them and are portrayed honestly and realistically. In theory, art and other cultural products are created for the. It's a really cool beast that I personally would like to see more in fiction. Oh yeah, Marvel. 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. The cannibalistic forest creature is known for allegedly . arent cryptids thing. Dont look at it! [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. How stupid to think otherwise. Let's stop dancing around this ugly truth: Right now, Katy Perry is pop culture's most prominent purveyor of racist cultural appropriation. The Indians asked the Windigo if there was any fat on them. [5], In his 2004 treatise Revenge of the Windigo on disorders and treatments of the behavioral health industry in the United States and Canada that are peculiar to indigenous people, James B. Waldram wrote,[34]. Now time to go back and make some changes. The appropriation, and reclamation, of Native American mythology', Journal of . This form of cultural appropriation is deeply intertwined with systemic and institutionalized racism rooted in capitalism. Your culture and entertainment cheat-sheet. How dare they? And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. An uncontrollable craving for consuming human flesh, even if a plenty of other food is available. Welcome to Facing Today, a Facing History blog. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Return to Article Details Culturally Conceptualizing Trauma: The Windigo in Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road In Algonquian traditions, the wendigo monster emerges not randomly or in violent response to colonialism as it often does in popular media but through a specific set of circumstances that are unique to different tribal groupings. They are seen as malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural beings of great spiritual power . 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. The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. I would not care much about what a statistically likely personally unrelated "woke" thinks about what Algonquin descendants may think about it, but only what Algonquin descendants. It was forbidden to resort to this practice, even out of desperation. I'm not skilled enough to draw these (")> lolz. I think every idea can be taken to an extreme and distorted to the point where it is ridiculous. White authors should be able to write about non-white people. What I do think is not so great was it could have been something that was corrected for the films, where they do have access to people and the internet was more developed in the mid 2000s. Windigo is a malevolent manitou or spirit whose insatiable appetite for human flesh can never be satisfied. (1961). He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. One day they came to an Indian village and the Windigo sent the boy to the Indian village to get some things for him to eat. Appropriating the Wendigo As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. [17] Therefore, wendigos are portrayed as simultaneously gluttonous and extremely thin due to starvation. The Cambridge Dictionary, defines it as "the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture."And a lot of times, it is marked by a dominant culture taking from one that has been colonized and oppressed . 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. 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. [24], Although in many recorded cases of Wendigo psychosis the individual has been killed to prevent cannibalism from resulting, some Cree folklore recommends treatment by ingestion of fatty animal meats or drinking animal grease; those treated may sometimes vomit ice as part of the curing process. Film, Clunky prose aside, this is the "noble savage" trope repurposed for Rowling's universe, with just a pinch of Magical Negro thrown in for good measure. The reason I chose this game is due to how this game has story in it, and I think it would fit this meme well for an analysis and review. The Wendigo (Also known as windigo, weendigo, windago, waindigo, windiga, witiko, wihtikow, and various other names including manaha) originates from Native-American legend, and is said to be a demonic half-beast as told by the Algonquian peoples along the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada. Contents 1 History 2 Gallery 3 Trivia 4 Navigation History All of these Indians went to where the Windigo was and cut off his legs. The Wendigos are the ultimate antagonists of Until Dawn. Other sources say wendigos were created when a human resorted to cannibalism to survive. 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. Privacy Policy. J.K is weird for using name like that, it isn't hard to google names, i know she wrote books before internet was as "popular" as now, but i honestly doubt that she couldn't find name and surname of east asian person, she could of used names from either celebrity ( use surname of one and name of other or something like that), she could of used name from character from some book, there were ways of finding name that isn't bad as Cho-Chang, also i find it a bit weird that said character is in "smart" house, feels way to stereotypical for me. 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. 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. For more information, please see our Cultural appropriation, feel like a real blur to me but I never worry about it I feel it can dampen the creative process. The idea that diversity and representation can be addressed simply through a "balance between four guys and four girls" or through the removal of "traditional phallic stabbing" troubles me. Representation in media is crucially important, something I have become very aware of as I've grown older and consumed more entertainment. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 [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. There, he uses the cannibalistic wendigo as a metaphor for the behaviors and attitudes central to patterns of social domination visited upon his own people in the Americas and subjugated peoples everywhere. 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? 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? Cultural appropriation is perhaps the stupidest example of the stupidest concept , political correctness , that has ever been argued. 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. 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, a characteristic absent from myths in other Algonquian cultures. I'm just glad I learned this lesson from her before actually getting my book published. 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. In 1973 a character inspired by the wendigo appeared in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. [10], The Wechuge is a similar being that appears in the legends of the Athabaskan people of the Northwest Pacific Coast. What is cultural appropriation vs. cultural appreciation? Indigenous peoples have seen culturally . It never occurred to me that what I was doing might be offensive, because I've never even met a Native American person in real life. Lots of stories have aped Native American folklore before her, including some of mine. MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! I always thought these are what cannibals are turning into. What makes the wendigo any different from other culturally important mythological creatures like unicorns? Part of HuffPost Entertainment. I wouldn't be offended if someone dressed as a stereotypical Scottish person whatever that looks like lol. They're monsters. Anyone who lives in a place that is exposed to more than . (Anything that isnt outright vandalism isnt likely to harm the statue at all, but I wouldnt dare do anything disrespectful around it. To fully understand its consequences, though, we need to make sure we have a working definition of culture itself. 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. The wendigo is a terrifying presence that feeds on negative energy and human flesh, making it a natural addition to the horror genre. Posted by Some of this critique was rightly directed at literal cultural theft . The e-book is here, and you can get a paperback copy here.). [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. No one said it were exceptional that way. 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! Dollightful's Wendigo Doll - Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation; its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. Though these misrepresentations of the wendigo beg for critical interrogation, the wendigo stories of Algonquian peoples offer a window into the endurance of cultural resources used to transmit significant moral values, and underscore the power of Native people using these stories to engage in social critique. In, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 02:58. [23], What caused us greater concern was the news that met us upon entering the Lake, namely, that the men deputed by our Conductor for the purpose of summoning the Nations to the North Sea, and assigning them a rendezvous, where they were to await our coming, had met their death the previous Winter in a very strange manner. [44], Contemporary Indigenous works that explore the legend include the 1995 novel Solar Storms by author and poet Linda K. Hogan (Chickasaw), which explores the stories of the wendigo and incorporates the creatures as a device to interrogate issues of independence, spirituality, politics, an individual's relationship to the family, and as a metaphor for corporate voracity, exploitation, and power - all viewed as a form of cannibalism. According to Professor Chris Schedler, the figure of the wendigo represents "consuming forms of exclusion and assimilation" through which groups dominate other groups. And FWIW, I've read stories that disturbed me & even disgusted me but the author has the right to tell their story whether I like it or don't. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. This ailment attacked our deputies; and, as death is the sole remedy among those simple people for checking such acts of murder, they were slain in order to stay the course of their madness. Mythical being in Native American folklore, "Windigo" redirects here. It springs from the well of the collective human unconscious, the communal soul. [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. Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge They went back again to see if he was dead. Wendigo Cannibalism in Native American Folklore. When I got over my initial bout of self-defensiveness, I realized I was totally wrong. Why is indigenous culture suddenly more sacred than any other culture?
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