Minnesota Legends: Wendigo, the Carnivore of the Woods (Spanish Translation)

Minnesota Native Legends

MINNESOTA LEGENDS: Wendigo, Flescheater of the Forests (In English in the Original)

“The Wendigo was stark to the point of wasting, his dried skin stretched tightly over his bones. With the bones pushing out of the skin, the complexion of the ash-colored death, and the eyes receding deeply into the orbits, the Wendigo looked like a stark skeleton just unearthed from the grave. Those lips were tattered and bloody. His body was dirty and suffered suppurations in the flesh, emanating a strange and mysterious stench of decay and decay, death and corruption. ”

Basil Johnston, professor and scholar from Ojibwe, Ontario, Canada

In the forests of northern Minnesota, the forests of the Great Lakes Region, and in the central regions of Canada, it is said that there lives an evil being called Wendigo (also spelled as Windigo ). This creature can appear as a monster with some human characteristics, or as a spirit that has possessed a human being turning it into something monstrous. Historically it is associated with cannibalism, murder, insatiable greed, and cultural taboos against such behaviors.

Known by several names - Windigo, Witigo, Witiko and Wee-t ee - Go - each of them could be translated as " the evil spirit that devours mankind ."

This creature has long been known among the Ojibwe Algonquins, the Eastern Cree, the Saulteaux, the Western Swamp Cree, the N askapi, and the I nnu tribes, who have described them as giants, many times larger than humans. Although the descriptions may vary in some aspect, what is common to all these cultures is the opinion that the Wendigo is an evil, cannibal, and supernatural being that is strongly associated with winter, the north, the cold, hunger and starvation. .

The legend A lgonquina describes the creature as “ a giant with a heart of ice; sometimes it is believed to be made entirely of ice. His body is skeletal and deformed, lacking his lips and toes . " The Ojibwa legend says: “It was a large creature, as tall as a tree, with a mouth without lips and jagged teeth. His breathing was a strange whistle, his tracks were full of blood, and he ate any man, woman or child he ventured into. his territory. And those were the lucky ones. Sometimes, the Wendigo chose to possess a person in his place, and then the disgraceful individual became He himself in a Wendigo, hunting those who once loved and delighted in his flesh .

According to legends, a Wendigo is created every time a human resorts to cannibalism to survive. In the past, this happened more frequently when Indians and settlers were trapped in bitter snow and ice in the northern forests. Sometimes, trapped for days, survivors may have been forced to cannibalize the dead in order to survive. Other versions of the legend cite that human beings who show extreme greed, gluttony, and excess, can also be possessed by a Wendigo; therefore the myth served as a method to foster cooperation and moderation .

The Native American versions of the creature spoke of a gigantic spirit, more than fifteen feet high, which was once human but was transformed into a monster by the use of magic.

Although all descriptions of the creature may vary slightly, it is said that the Wendigo generally has bright eyes, long yellowed fangs, terrible claws and an extraordinarily long tongue. Sometimes how cetrino is described, with yellowish skin, and other times it is depicted covered with tangled hair. They say that the creature has a series of abilities and powers, including stealth, is an almost perfect hunter, knows and uses every inch of its territory, and can control time through the use of dark magic.

They are also portrayed at the same time as gluttons and emaciated by hunger.
It is said that the Wendigos are condemned to wander the earth, eternally seeking to satisfy their voracious appetite for human flesh and if there is nothing to eat, they end up starving.

The legend gives its name to a modern medical term called “ P sicosis del Wendigo ”, considered by some psychiatrists as a syndrome that creates an intense desire for human flesh and at the same time an uncontrollable fear of becoming a cannibal.

Ironically, it is said that this psychosis happens to people who live around the Great Lakes of Canada and the United States .

" Wendigo psychosis " usually develops during winter in individuals who are isolated by snow for long periods of time.

Initial symptoms are lack of appetite, nausea and vomiting. Subsequently, the individual develops the false illusion of having been transformed into a Wendigo monster.

People who suffer from " Wendigo Psychosis " begin to see others as edible beings. At the same time, they have an exaggerated fear of becoming cannibals.

In the past, the most common response when a person showed signs of " Wendigo's psychosis " was a healing attempt by going to traditional native healers. If those attempts failed and if the possessed people began to threaten those around them, or to act violently or anti-socially, they were executed.

There are reports regarding this psychosis dating back hundreds of years.

Some real cases

A 1661 document from the Jesuit Relations stated:

“ What caused us the greatest concern it was the intelligence that received us upon entering the Aug, namely, that the men delegated by our Conductor in order to summon the Nations to the North Sea, and assigning them a meeting place, where they were at the awaiting our arrival, they had found death during the previous winter in a very strange way. Those poor men, (according to the report they have given us) were attacked for a disease unknown to us, but that is not very unusual among the people we were looking for. They are not affected by any madness, hypochondria, or frenzy; but they have a combination of all those types of disease, which damages their imagination and causes canine hunger. This makes them so voracious for human flesh that they throw themselves on women, children, and even other men, as true werewolves , and devour them voraciously without being able to appease or quench their appetite - always looking for new prey, and the more their greed grows, the more they eat. This disease attacked our deputies; and, since death is the only means among simple people to control such acts of murder, they were executed in order to stop the course of their madness. ”

Another documented case occurred in 1878, when an Alberta Cre e trapper, called Swift Runner, suffered one of the worst known cases. Swift Runner, who traded with the Hudson Bay Company, was married and was the father of six children. In 1875, it was used as a guide for the Northwest Mounted Police .

During the winter of 1878 to 1879, Swift Runner and his family were starving, along with numerous other Cree families . His eldest son was the first to die of starvation and at some point Swift Runner succumbed to the " Wendigo Psycho ." Although emergency food supplies were available at the Hudson Bay Company, about 25 miles away, he did not try to travel there. Instead he killed the remaining members of his family and ate them. Finally he confessed, and was executed by the authorities in Fort Saskatchewan .

Supposedly a Wendigo made a series of appearances near a city called Rosesu in northern Minnesota ; It began to be seen in the late 1800s and the reports continued until the 20s . Each time a sighting was reported, an unexpected death followed, until finally he was not seen again.

Another well-known case involving the Wendigo Psychosis was that of Jack Fiddler, a chief and the Oji-Cree healer known for his powers against W endigos . Fidd l er claimed to have defeated 14 W endigos during his lifetime. Some of these creatures are said to have been sent by enemy shamans and others were members of their own tribe who were cursed with the insatiable and incurable desire to eat human flesh. In the latter case, Fiddler was usually required by family members, to kill a sick loved one before he became Wendigo . Fiddler's own brother, Peter Flett, died after transforming himself into W when the meal was finished during a commercial expedition.

The merchants of the Hudson Bay Company, the C Ree Indians and the missionaries took the legend of the W endigo very seriously, even though it was often explained c like a mental illness or pure superstition.

In any case, several incidents of affected people who ate human flesh are documented in the records of the Company .

In 1907, Fiddler and his brother Jos eph were arrested by Canadian authorities accused of murder. Jack committed suicide, but Josh was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was eventually granted a pardon, but he died in his cell three days before receiving the news of that pardon.

Between the Assiniboine, the Cree and the Ojibwe, a satirical ceremonial dance is sometimes performed during times of famine, to reinforce the gravity of the Wendigo tab .

The frequency of cases of P sicosis of Wendigo decreased drastically in the twentieth century , when Native Americans came into greater contact with Western ideologies .

However, Sightings of the Wendigo creature are still reported, especially in northern Ontario, near Wendigo Cave, and around the city of Kenora, where their footprints have allegedly been discovered by merchants, trackers and hunters for decades.

There are many who still believe that Wendigo roams the forests and grasslands of northern Minnesota and Canada .

Kenora, in Ontario, Canada, is considered by many world capital of Wendigo . The creature is still seen in this area, even well into the new millennium.

AUTHOR: Kathy Weiser / Legends of America

ENGLISH-SPANISH TRANSLATION: Eva Villa. Editor in the big family hermandadblanca.org

More information in:

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/mn-wendigo.html