Wendigo: Cannibalism In Native American Folklore Research - Phdessay I would agree, only I am more likely to not care much even what an Algonquin cares about my monster character. 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. Latvians have their own version of Thor, so I probably should be offended, as well. Indigenous, But, but, what if they're looking at something that erodes the moral fabric of civilization? Theyre revered spirits to the point where people wont speak their name so it must be frustrating when people are just like Oh yeah, I saw one of those, it was so spooky or have an aesthetic called wendigocore. Apparently, wendigos are sacred creatures from several indigenous cultures. 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. Wendigo) from its cultural conte xt and its movement by non-Indigenous . Is it Cultural Appropriation if I have a Wendigo character. Nitty gritty. It sounds like you did research which is more that J. K. Rowling so I think yes? 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. A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). It's also linked to the many cultural taboos against these negative actions and behaviors. [45] Wrist, the 2016 debut novel by First Nations horror fiction writer Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler (Lac Des Milles Lacs Anishinaabe),[46] combines the traditional Ojibwe legend with the author's ideas inspired by non-Indigenous writers like Anne Rice and Tim Powers. Learn how your comment data is processed. They're monsters. 5 Reasons Katy Perry Is Pop Music's Worst Cultural Appropriator I wouldn't be offended if someone dressed up as a stereotypical native american even though my great grandma was half blackfoot native american. I mentioned above that I was guilty of doing the same thing. "Why is indigenous culture suddenly more sacred than any other culture?". 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. Why Antlers Is Adapting Wendigo Mythology (& How It's Different) The novel describes its primary antagonist, a rapist whose violent crimes desecrate a sacred site, as a wendigo who must be killed because he threatens the reservation's safety. Why are wendigos seen as offensive? - Quora Send them to Marvel. It's taking those cultural. [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. Guillermo del Toro, producer of the film, developed the wendigo on the basis that the more the creature eats, the more it gets hungry and the more it gets hungry, the weaker it becomes. Kaitlin Smith on November 30, 2021. Magazine with fellow environmental thought leaders, LaDuke said: Theres this conflict between the cannibals and Mother Earth, and its going on everywhere. It first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #162 (April 1973), and again in the October 1974 issue. 11 Culturally Appropriative Halloween Costumes You Should - Bustle Wendigos: The Myth Of The Terrifying Beasts Explained - Grunge.com Funny how it's only creatures from certain culture's folklore people get pissy over and not others. No, I read your comment. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) 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. For Indigenous peoples in Canada, cultural appropriation is rooted in colonization and ongoing oppression. 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. Wendigo is a part of MCU, too. Representation in media is crucially important, something I have become very aware of as I've grown older and consumed more entertainment. It's a really cool beast that I personally would like to see more in fiction. BTW, I love rainbow farting unicorns! Political Correctness and the Wendigo | Werewolves It's fine for colonized Indians to incorporate European fitness . [25], One of the more famous cases of Wendigo psychosis reported involved a Plains Cree trapper from Alberta, named Swift Runner. 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. Jack committed suicide, but Joseph was tried and sentenced to life in prison. It also seems to me to be unacceptable for authors to be unable to use one (or more) of those characters/symbols/etc. . [18], A wendigo need not lose the human's powers of cognition or speech and in some depictions may clearly communicate with its prospective victims or even threaten or taunt them. Without really understanding the conflict here, it seems like the issue is not people illustrating the creature, but using it as a creepy Halloween themed prop. 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. And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. 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. 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. And they are worth considering including in one's classroom teaching. [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. I wouldn't be offended if someone dressed as a stereotypical Scottish person whatever that looks like lol. How to Recognize Cultural Appropriation and What to Do - Healthline By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Handle the characters and the story with respect. 17spaz 2 yr. ago As researchers, most of us are lost in a wilderness filled with Windigo, Skinwalkers and various other indigenous cosmological entities, and we need to recognize we have no idea what we are talking about. It can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. 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.). Create what you want; let the audience decide its fame. Ojibwe scholar Brady DeSanti asserts that the wendigo "can be understood as a marker indicating a person imbalanced both internally and toward the larger community of human and spiritual beings around them. To fully understand its consequences, though, we need to make sure we have a working definition of culture itself. So, thanks, Dave! He just gave the boy so much time to go there and back. This term only applies to a . Truly insensitive cultural appropriation is when you're taking a part of another culture and portraying it in a deliberately insensitive or disrespectful manner. Wendigos/Windigos/etc. In theory, art and other cultural products are created for the. [56], Various characters inspired by the legend, or named for it, appear in Role-playing video games, such as 2018's Fallout 76 by Bethesda Game Studios, where wendigos are featured as one of the cryptid enemies found in the area of Appalachia, mutated from people who consumed human flesh in isolation. Lipsitz, writing in the the 1990s, argued that cultural appreciation becomes cultural appropriation "when an element of culture is adopted from a marginalized group without respect for its . 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. I will draw whatever I feel like drawing. He was eating the juice (marrow) from the inside of the bones of his legs that were cut off. Why the Wendigo is Not My Monster - Mysterious Universe She annoys the hell out of me. 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. I hate that I am defending JKR but I think a lot of people don't really think about how the internet was in in the late 90s and what kind of content was on the internet. Copyright 2022 Facing History & Ourselves. Only those entitled to them should wear them. I know what cultural appropriation is but Ive not been as involved in social justice as I used to be and I guess its showing. 10 Examples of Cultural Appropriation You Never Thought About [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. For this screenshot controversy, I am actually going to go over a video game for this. It's like saying vampires are sacred. "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. 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 heroes of books I read, movies I watched, and games I played almost exclusively looked like me when I was growing up, people I could easily identify with. One recurring theme across these storytelling mediums is the use of the wendigoalso spelled wtikoa monstrous figure from Algonquian mythology who exhibits an insatiable greed along with a desire for human flesh. 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]. With the comments turned off on Dollightful's apology video, I thought that maybe we could have some discussion here(if anyone ever sees this, anyway). 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. 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. Some researchers argued that, essentially, Wendigo psychosis was a fabrication, the result of nave anthropologists taking stories related to them at face value without observation. identity. teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. You're just making up a story. Cultural appropriation: what does it mean and why is it such a I have to look! [57] In the 2018 first-person shooter video game Dusk, wendigos are enemies that remain invisible until they receive damage. You dont have to be French to love the Phantom of the Opera. C'est la maladie dont ces dputez furent atteints; et comme la mort est l'vnique remede parmy ces bonnes gens, pour arrester ces meurtres, ils ont est massacrez pour arrester le cours de leur manie. While Bieber's locs may be perceived . And whoever!). [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. Doing so is an honorable endeavorbut only if we actually do our homework first. Even before it went live, she was being criticized for her apparently blatant cultural appropriation of Native American folklore, and since publishing the criticism has only grown more pointed. What defines cultural appropriation? - BBC Culture In some traditions, humans overpowered by greed could turn into wendigos; the myth thus served as a method of encouraging cooperation and moderation. [12] Although descriptions can vary somewhat, common to all these cultures is the view that the wendigo is a malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being. PDF Windigo manitou - Portland State University In addition to denoting a cannibalistic monster from certain traditional folklore, some Native Americans also understand the wendigo conceptually. He said, "You bet there is, I have eaten lots of Indians, no wonder they are fat." So yeah, if anyone could offer any insight/information, thatd be appreciated. [10], The Wechuge is a similar being that appears in the legends of the Athabaskan people of the Northwest Pacific Coast. I know people who are absolutely terrified of them, branching out from their fear of deer. DeSanti points to the 1999 horror film Ravenous as an illustration of this argument equating "the cannibal monster" to "American colonialism and manifest destiny". I would refuse to be shackled by political correctness. The "Dark Horse" singer . Discover short videos related to wendigo cultural appropriation on TikTok. 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. Thank god I am not from USA, where this seems to be an issue. [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]. As a result, in 1907, Fiddler and his brother Joseph were arrested by the Canadian authorities for homicide. And some natives don't care at all. Cultural appropriation can be defined as the "cherry picking" or selecting of certain aspects of a culture, and ignoring their original significance for the purpose of belittling it as a trend. Not only is it not offensive, I LOVE seeing references to wendigos in popular culture! Posted by MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! In addition, for many Indigenous peoples and local communities, making traditional clothes is a source of income; as such, cultural appropriation can . People don't get offended on scotland's behalf over the common depiction of their national animal as a rainbow farting fairy horse. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Beyond Forbes, other Native American thinkers have also used wendigo stories to present critical perspectives on various social problems and call for their resolution.
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