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The wendigo is a monster from Native American legend associated with harsh winter conditions and cannibalism. It has various attributes, including a heart of ice and lack of extremities. The wendigo has appeared in horror literature and films, but its portrayal often differs from the original legend. In cultures where the wendigo originated, a psychosis known as Windigo has been documented in cases dating back to the 19th century and earlier.
A wendigo is a monster from Native American legend, specifically the Anishinaabe people who live in modern day Canada and the United States in the Great Lakes region. Representations of the creature in literature and lore vary widely, but in general it is associated with high winds and cold, and usually reaps its victims during the night. The wendigo typically pursues hunters or travelers in the woods. Many of the monster’s behaviors and attributes suggest that it is a personification of harsh conditions in dangerously freezing winters.
In some stories, the wendigo was once human, while in others, it is purely supernatural. She is often said to eat human flesh, and some versions of the tale have it that humans who practice cannibalism, even in despair, will become wendigos. If human victims are unavailable, the creature eats nonfood items such as mosses and lichens, leading some to believe that the monster is a symbol of starvation and the horrors it can wreak upon the sick.
In various tales, the wendigo has other attributes that suggest the horrors of extreme winters. Sometimes it has a heart of ice or is made entirely of ice and can only be defeated when melted. The Wendigo is often said to lack extremities, such as the lips, nose, and feet, which are commonly lost to frostbite. It is sometimes said to be too thin to see from side view, again suggestive of hunger. The creature is also associated with madness, as those who survive its attack go insane, sometimes running naked through the snow.
The wendigo entered the world of horror fiction through Algernon Blackwood’s 1910 short story The Wendigo. In this story, the monster is never physically described. She calls her victim, the narrator’s French-Canadian guide, at night, and his voice is indistinguishable from the wind. Eventually, the victim is knocked unconscious and answers the call.
The monster then drags its victim away so fast that its feet are burned in the process and turned into feet like the wendigo’s. His cry of “Oh, my fiery feet!” it also has associations with freezing, which is accompanied by a burning sensation. The monster later makes an appearance in the supposed guise of the kidnapped guide, and at the end of Blackwood’s story, the guide’s corpse is found with frozen feet. Since Algernon Blackwood’s story, the wendigo has been a recurring character in horror literature and films, though it often bears little resemblance to the Native American original.
In cultures where the wendigo originated, a psychosis known as Windigo has been documented in cases dating back to the 19th century and earlier. The sufferers committed violent murders and often engaged in cannibalism. Treatment by traditional healers or Western medicine practitioners was sometimes said to be effective.
Little is known today about the real reason behind these apparent cases of psychosis. Legend and fact are inextricably linked in the records about the condition. Some cases may have simply been cannibalism due to starvation or a more universal type of psychosis culturally interpreted to fit the wendigo myth. Other documented cases, however, are less easily explained.
