In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. and our I would agree, only I am more likely to not care much even what an Algonquin cares about my monster character. I read some stuff yesterday saying that teepees are cultural appropriation and there was a long post about how wendigos arent cryptids and how stories about them are cultural appropriation. Differing thinking is one of the cherished assets of democratic cultural pluralism. creators (a large majority being white) . It has no place in the world of Folklore and monsters. So yeah, if anyone could offer any insight/information, thatd be appreciated. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The idea of getting down to the nitty-gritty came from the 18th century English slave trade, when nitty-gritty referred to the worthless debris left at the ship's bottom compartment after slaves had been evacuatedand evolved to include the slaves themselves. Thats just asking for trouble.) My tongue and my brain do not speak the right language. If it's so vulgar and offensive that many hate it, well they can just not look at it lmao - it clearly wasn't made for them. Cultural appropriation is a bullshit term made up by people who feel some bizarre psychological need to make up reasons to punish themselves. 1. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) Apparently, wendigos are sacred creatures from several indigenous cultures. It really depends who you talk to. But I do notice that Eyre stopped short of saying colonialization is the origin for the Wendigo legend. In addition, for many Indigenous peoples and local communities, making traditional clothes is a source of income; as such, cultural appropriation can . Mexicans: Cultural Appropriation PragerU 3.01M subscribers Subscribe 85K Share 2.2M views 4 years ago What is cultural appropriation? How dare they? "Windigo Psychosis: A Study of Relationship between Belief and Behaviour among the Indians of Northeastern Canada." Those poor men (according to the report given us) were seized with an ailment unknown to us, but not very unusual among the people we were seeking. As a concept, the wendigo can apply to any person, idea, or movement infected by a corrosive drive toward self-aggrandizing greed and excessive consumption, traits that sow disharmony and destruction if left unchecked. 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. 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. I would advise anyone, however, who feels that way about my choice to create art or literature based on a wendigo, to simply avoid my gallery and writing. The game I will be going over in this is Until Dawn, a horror game made by Supermassive Games, made . This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. However, PCism taken to its extreme would say that neither Cooper, nor I, should be telling stories about Wendigos at all, since were not of aboriginal descent. The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation; its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. When first hearing this criticism, I, as a wannabe author of fiction (by the way, you can buy my debut novella here) rolled my eyes and whitesplained to myself why Rowling wasn't doing anything wrong. 11. Cookie Notice I do know some natives believe you should not say or write its name because that may make it come or you may be infected and become it. . 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. While Bieber's locs may be perceived . They are afflicted with neither lunacy, hypochondria, nor frenzy; but have a combination of all these species of disease, which affects their imaginations and causes them a more than canine hunger. The protection of minorities from the materialization of the majority's different thoughts is an asset of democratic constitutionalism. The wendigo is seen as the embodiment of gluttony, greed, and excess: never satisfied after killing and consuming one person, they are constantly searching for new victims. And they are worth considering including in ones classroom teaching. 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). In addition to characterizing individual people who exhibit destructive tendencies, the wendigo can also describe movements and events with similarly negative effects. If ANYTHING is disrespectful to woke (does not exist in the real world) culture then I say: DO IT - AND DO IT BIG!!! I'm all for respecting other people's cultures, but straight up trying to tell people they can't respectfully depict a fictional creature because it's ,,stealing" or ,,evoking the creature" or something is just way too overboard. "This isn't going to be the last time a story like this emerges about cultural appropriation, and what it emphasises is how much we need more diversity, in all components of the fashion industry," says Lewis. Is it okay for a white person to celebrate the culture. Those things, the predation on the Indians by Europeans, most certainly happened. We should talk about how Thor and Loki are cultural appropriation of Norwegian mythology. People don't get offended on scotland's behalf over the common depiction of their national animal as a rainbow farting fairy horse. Now why cant that be said to prudes lurking here. Cookie Notice The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. spellings (see Colombo 2) but is most commonly rendered as Windigo, Wendigo, or Witiko. [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. [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. 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. We enjoy liberties today that aren't even a freckle on the face of human history, and yet some individuals would go so far as to throw them all away because something offends them. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled. Wendigos specifically represent the very real threat of starvation and what moral depths a person will sink to to avoid starving to death in the hard, cold de Continue Reading More answers below KEY OOY 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. Lots of stories have aped Native American folklore before her, including some of mine. There's nothing wrong with drawing the popular concept of a wendigo monster, or drawing any monster with antlers, and calling it a wendigo. 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. MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Exactly!! 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. The beautiful maang tikka, or hair accessory falling down the part in the middle of the hair, marks a . Have you encountered wendigo stories in films, television shows, or books? [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]. When you comment on, Asian American and Pacific Islander History, Race and Membership in American History: Eugenics. When I got over my initial bout of self-defensiveness, I realized I was totally wrong. These bonnets are symbols of warrior achievements and are the equivalent of military medals. Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe. By Christian Chiakulas, Contributor Writer, musician, activist, single father from Chicago. Indigenous, Native Americans shouldn't be a "niche," and neither should women, LGBT people, or people of color. And were on the right side, thats what were working on but sometimes you get that cannibal tendency. (Anything that isnt outright vandalism isnt likely to harm the statue at all, but I wouldnt dare do anything disrespectful around it. Thank god I am not from USA, where this seems to be an issue. no actual cases of windigo psychosis have ever been studied, and Lou Marano's scathing critique in 1985 should have killed off the cannibal monster within the psychiatric annals. There's also Wendigo psychosis. Cultural appropriation means using a racial, religious, or social group's customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits without authority or right. I won't pretend I know everything about NA culture, but I believe that headresses and that kind of finery is only used on special occasions and was not how ordinary NAs dressed all the time. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. I know people who are absolutely terrified of them, branching out from their fear of deer. Chippewa author Louise Erdrich's novel The Round House, winner of the National Book Award, depicts a situation where an individual person becomes a wendigo. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. With teepees, Im not sure I get it. The "Dark Horse" singer . And they are worth considering including in one's classroom teaching. BTW, I love rainbow farting unicorns! 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. The Wendigo happens to be part of my own (Anishiinaabe) cultural heritage. As described by the Native American Cree legends, they were humans who have been mutated into cannibalistic monsters after being possessed by the Wendigo spirit, causing them to eat the flesh of other humans. 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. 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 my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. #QuickBooksVictoryPose #vtuber #culturalappropriation #nativeamerican #wendigo #folklore, justin bieber interview with ellen arranged marriage, Airplane ticket off at terminal five on 2023 on the 10th 2023, enriquecrespo habla de la hija de alexandra, Command too spawn in iron in a township tale. It's taking those cultural. Historically, deciding exactly what culture is hasn't been easy. It shouldn't be bad thing if you don't mock culture, make sure to have all information you can ( read books from culture or ask someone who grew up with said culture if they are willing to teach you) but then again they aren't from your culture and unlike creatures like vampires they are a bit more closed i don't know is it good to use them. Kaitlin Smith on November 30, 2021. Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge Sacred creatures? 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. The book's cul-tural importance granted it not one, but two movie adaptations, the first in 1989 and the second in 2019. 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. We should show proper respect to our Cryptids at all times, and Im rightfully righteously indignant at the thought of anyone doing otherwise with Mothman. Wendigo is a part of MCU, too. "Why is indigenous culture suddenly more sacred than any other culture?". 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. [49][50] In the 2021 film The Inhuman (L'Inhumain) the arrival of a wendigo symbolizes inner turmoil after a character turns his back on his Indigenous heritage in the pursuit of material success. It's a really cool beast that I personally would like to see more in fiction. I am so offended! Appreciation is honoring and respecting another culture and its practices, as a way to gain knowledge and understanding. Welcome to Facing Today, a Facing History blog. 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. For this screenshot controversy, I am actually going to go over a video game for this. 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. They are seen as malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural beings of great spiritual power . America is the symbol of inclusion, so as part of the American culture we embrace foreign influences in our society. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. wendigos originate from spiritual beliefs held by Algonquian Indigenous peoples, whom are from the north eastern part of north america. Truly insensitive cultural appropriation is when you're taking a part of another culture and portraying it in a deliberately insensitive or disrespectful manner. My intentions were pure, as were Rowling's, I imagine. This term only applies to a . Idiots have just made a religion out of being racist about culture and only allowing genetic descendants to participate in cultures. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Sentences like "The Native American wizarding community was particularly gifted in animal and plant magic" are cringe-worthy if you give them a little thought, and the notion that only European wizards were clever enough to invent wands, which make magic "more precise and more powerful" borders on horrific levels of cluelessness. Not only is it not offensive, I LOVE seeing references to wendigos in popular culture! Posted by "[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. [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. He said to the boy "Hurry up. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 Privacy Policy. It has become something else altogether. Watch popular content from the following creators: Thorn (@shr00mermaid), Thorn (@shr00mermaid), Nuoance(@nuoance), MattHatterPlays(@matthatterplays), Aidan Mattis(@theaidanmattis) . 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. One time long ago a big Windigo stole an Indian boy, but the boy was too thin, so the Windigo didn't eat him up right away, but he travelled with the Indian boy waiting for him till he'd get fat. Native Americans, Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. to tell a new tale. The Witherell House and the Cult of Weird, Movie Review: BIRDS OF PREY (And the Fantabulous Inclusion of Victor Zsasz and a Hyena). 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. Theres something else. Cultural appropriation, defined Culture refers to the traditions, customs, beliefs, and practices of any given ethnic, racial, or religious group. One does not need to delve very deeply into the annals of American film, television, and literature to find an array of caricatured depictions of Native American peoples and a distortion of their knowledge. The legend of the Wendigo stems from Native American folklore, primarily in Algonquian-speaking tribes located in south and southeastern Canada, the Great Lakes Region, and northeastern United States. In an as-yet unpublished urban fantasy novel of mine, I basically did the same thing; I made a supporting character an Acheri, completely bungling any semblance of folkloric accuracy in my attempt to come up with a "cool" and "unorthodox" monster. Now neither Christian culture is by any means endangered to become a minority (although some US Bible Belt hate preachers consistently claim so) nor is Chinese culture, so both are out of ansatz here. You dont have to be of Afro-Caribbean descent to talk about, write about, or make movies about zombies. A specimen of folk story collected in the early 20th century by Lottie Chicogquaw Marsden, an ethnographer of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, in which a wendigo also exhibits tool use, an ability to survive partial dismemberment, and autocannibalism, reads:[19]. In some traditions, humans overpowered by greed could turn into wendigos; the myth thus served as a method of encouraging cooperation and moderation. I'm just glad I learned this lesson from her before actually getting my book published. [42] In an early short story by Thomas Pynchon, "Mortality and Mercy in Vienna" (first published in 1959), the plot centers around a character developing Wendigo syndrome and going on a killing spree. I think people just need to chill out, no mater what their religion and culture is. [10], The Wechuge is a similar being that appears in the legends of the Athabaskan people of the Northwest Pacific Coast. Humans could also turn into wendigos by being in contact with them for too long. [17] Therefore, wendigos are portrayed as simultaneously gluttonous and extremely thin due to starvation. Don't miss a beat. 12. Other sources say wendigos were created when a human resorted to cannibalism to survive. [58] Several of these creatures also appear in the game's cover art.[59]. [13] They were strongly associated with winter, the north, coldness, famine, and starvation.[14]. This country is seeking to be whole Stretching out its arms and consuming all it can. 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! 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. In the 21st century, cultural appropriationlike globalizationisn't just inevitable; it's potentially positive. 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. In their most recent music video for 'How You Like That', fans spotted a Ganesha idol kept on the ground, in the background of the music video. He ultimately was granted a pardon but died three days later in jail before receiving the news of this pardon. cultural identity theft, many would argue that cultural appropriation is inevitable in a melting pot like the United States. 9 Neil Jamieson-Williams Science Fiction Writer (part-time/now full-time) at Self-Employment (1977-present) Author has 1.7K answers and 1.1M answer views Updated 6 mo Ah, another Mike Wilson question I wouldn't be offended if someone dressed as a stereotypical Scottish person whatever that looks like lol. teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. Europeans may well have behaved like Wendigos when they invaded the Americasthey didbut they didnt bring the Wendigo with them. Maybe I'm just not a math person. That borrowing and exchanging of cultural elements is what makes America the melting pot of the world. And whoever!). 8.1.2014. 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 PSA: These 11 Halloween "Costumes" Will Always Be Offensive. It springs from the well of the collective human unconscious, the communal soul. And unfortunately for them, this isn't the first time. However, when reading Magic in North America, it's hard not to get the sense that Rowling did not understand the thin ice she was treading on when it came to representation of Native Americans, nor did she make any effort to treat these themes with the weight they deserve. In 1661, The Jesuit Relations reported: LOL. 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. What is cultural appropriation vs. cultural appreciation? Return to Article Details Culturally Conceptualizing Trauma: The Windigo in Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road 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.