Origin: Algonquian Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Saulteaux, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu peoples
"The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation; its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash grey of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets; the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody. Its body was unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, giving off a strange and eerie odour of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption." — Basil Johnston, Ojibwe teacher and scholar, Ontario, Canada.
Though the creature has many names, each roughly translates to “the evil spirit that devours mankind.”
They have been described as giants, many times larger than human beings and as malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural beings strongly associated with winter, the north, coldness, famine, and starvation. Their association with winter extends to the locations these creatures are most likely to be found. They prefer areas where snowfall is regular and where natural shelter is easy to come by (i.e., dense forests and mountains).
The Algonquian legend describes the creature as “a giant with a heart of ice; sometimes, it is thought to be entirely made of ice. Its body is skeletal and deformed, with missing lips and toes.”
The Ojibwa legend claims “It was a large creature, as tall as a tree, with a lipless mouth and jagged teeth. Its breath was a strange hiss, its footprints full of blood, and it ate any man, woman, or child who ventured into its territory. And those were the lucky ones. Sometimes, the Wendigo chose to possess a person instead, and then the luckless individual became a Wendigo himself, hunting down those he had once loved and feasting upon their flesh.”
According to all legends, the creature is said to have several skills and powers, including stealth and speed. Due to their prior human lives, they are said to be near-perfect hunters, knowing and using every inch of their territories when trapping prey.
Several indigenous legends include the Wendigo, each noting that their creation is a result of cannibalism. Most cite warriors or hunters becoming lost in the woods during the winter months, running out of food and turning to human flesh as a means of survival. The spirit of the humans they consumed would become addicting and, upon consumption of enough, would transform them into a less-than-human beast. The Wendigo is, therefore, insatiable in regard to human meat - they are simultaneously gluttonous and emaciated from starvation - and so must constantly hunt for new humans to consume.
Unlike other natural carnivores, the Wendigo doesn’t pursue its prey in order to capture and eat it. Rather, they rely on their ability to mimic human voices; they lure people in and draw them far from civilisation, where they become lost and isolated. It is at this point that the Wendigo completes the hunt.
As punishment for their gluttony when human, the Wendigo are said to be cursed to wander the land for the rest of their existence, constantly in search of food. When they can find none, the Wendigo starves to death.
Though the legends speak of monsters, there are several lessons to be learnt from them. Besides the obvious warning against wandering off in the woods alone in winter, the tales of the Wendigo can also serve as a way of preventing real-life problems like insatiable greed, selfishness, and violence.
Basil Johnston has written, the idea of “turning Wendigo” is a very real possibility when the word refers to self-destruction, rather than literally becoming a monster in the forest.
