On the topic of wendigos. As an indegipis person involved with my culture and cryptid communities
Ahem.
Skullies aren't even close to wendigos. The deer skullie motif, isn't something that actually wendigos have. That's a skinwalker. Learn to tell the difference.
Wendigos are a type of ghoul, they are tall skinny creatures that grow taller with every meal they consume, never growing satisfied, only growing taller. Slenderman is closer to a wendigo than any skullie deer like creature or any skullie creature. In some cases, wendigo are also described in such a way that puts them closer to the yeti.
Skinwalkers, are shapeshifters who are also former humans. Specifically former medicine (hence why some call them witches, which is also inaccurate but close-ish I guess???) Who started using their healing gifts to perform acts of malice and harm rather than the healing and wisdom medicine men are associated with, eventually being kicked or leaving themselves from their tribes to pray on passerbys from the shadows.
They aren't technically called skinwalkers, skinwalkers being a description based name to avoid saying the actual name as whether you need say the true name of the "species" to attract is attention or speak of it at all varies from telling to telling. The nickname comes from like walking in other shoes they literally wear the skin of their victims, though reports of them suggest it's less literal and more like how some types of doppelgangers "steal their victims face". Besides humans, their most commonly reported disguises are deer and coyote.
It's not unheard of for their disguised form to be injured or decaying, and generally mauled, and some are said to use this hurt state to their advantage as another power they have is to mimic the last words of their victims, or their victims voice in general, as those words tend to be cries of help and calling out for others to find them. Though it will sound like a prerecording, the last words repeated in the same tone and pitch as they were originally spoken.
Skinwalkers aren't technically exclusive to native American culture either, as similar beings have been reported both as creatures from other cultures (including white people's cultures such as Norse and Welsh mythos) as monsters from stories, or as cryptids from those living in the area. These nonAmerican skinwalkers are called fleshgait in cryptid enthusiast circles. (Flesh is like skin, gait is a type of walk)
Apologies for this being so long, but I'm just tired as a native of the Americas of white people speaking on behalf and getting what a wendigo is wrong. Skullie animals are NOT offensive to native culture at all, with even skinwalkers often not going full skullie most of the time that's a very rare scenario! Skullies are a subtype of zombie or ghost, and skinwalkers and wendigos aren't zombies. The ONLY thing I'd argue that bothers me in such a situation is the mislabeling and misunderstanding of what those monsters are.
Additionally the "skullie wendigo" thing originated from actual racist people like HP lovecraft, and I generally do NOT want to enable that image of the wendigo ingrained into pop media what so ever.
You can have your skullie cat kalon or whatever, just don't call it a wendigo, because wendigos aren't skullies.
(and yes Alastar from Hazbin hotel is a skinwalker, I don't care that Vivziepop thinks she based him off a wendigo, she is misinformed and generally racist anyways)
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