[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]. Anyone who lives in a place that is exposed to more than . To fully understand its consequences, though, we need to make sure we have a working definition of culture itself. 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. I won't pretend I know everything about NA culture, but I believe that headresses and that kind of finery is only used on special occasions and was not how ordinary NAs dressed all the time. One does not need to delve very deeply into the annals of American film, television, and literature to find an array of caricatured depictions of Native American peoples and a distortion of their knowledge. The deaths of tens of millions of Jews, Slavs, etc., at the hands of the Nazis, the deaths of tens of millions of blacks in slavery days, the deaths of up to 30 million or more Indians in the 1500s, the terribly short life spans of Mexican Indian farm workers in the US, and of Native Americans generally today, the high death rates in the early industrial centers among factory workers, and so on, all clearly attest to the fact that the wealthy and exploitative literally consume the lives of those that they exploit. I don't don't value cultural pluralism.
wendigos originate from spiritual beliefs held by Algonquian Indigenous peoples, whom are from the north eastern part of north america. (Not to put too fine a point on it, but you should totally go buy my novella. ". This country is seeking to be whole Stretching out its arms and consuming all it can. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. It can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. The legend of the Wendigo stems from Native American folklore, primarily in Algonquian-speaking tribes located in south and southeastern Canada, the Great Lakes Region, and northeastern United States. Basil H. Johnston, an Ojibwe teacher and scholar from Ontario, gives a description of a wendigo: The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe. "[37] This application allows Native Americans to describe colonialism and its agents as wendigos since the process of colonialism ejected natives from their land and threw the natural world out of balance. This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. An uncontrollable craving for consuming human flesh, even if a plenty of other food is available. One example is Ojibwe activist Winona LaDuke who has called for a decisive shift away from what she has termed Wendigo Economics for the sake of the health of the natural world. As a creator, I believe it is my responsibility, the responsibility of any creator, if using characters that belong to a culture other than mine and exploring themes from that culture, to be accurate. The beautiful maang tikka, or hair accessory falling down the part in the middle of the hair, marks a . For more information, please see our and our It only becomes cultural appropriation when an element of culture is adopted from a marginalized group without respect for its cultural meaning or significance or with the purpose of exploiting the culture [clarification needed] The ceremony, known as wiindigookaanzhimowin, was performed during times of famine, and involved wearing masks and dancing backward around a drum. Joe Lockhard, English professor at Arizona State University, argues that wendigos are agents of "social cannibalism" who know "no provincial or national borders; all human cultures have been visited by shape-shifting wendigos. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. That borrowing and exchanging of cultural elements is what makes America the melting pot of the world. 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. The people who get offended over it, on behalf of someone else, are pathetically absurd. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. It too is cannibalistic; however, it is characterized as enlightened with ancestral insights. Dont like someones fetish? [25], One of the more famous cases of Wendigo psychosis reported involved a Plains Cree trapper from Alberta, named Swift Runner. The horror film Antlers adopts an old monster for its story, which serves as both a benefit and a hindrance. Political correctness started out as one thing, a good thing. Dollightful's Apology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW-KBzKWvrUTo clear up the addition that I made even more, I think that it would be pretty important for the information on this topic to be easily accessible to her viewers. 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. He was eating the juice (marrow) from the inside of the bones of his legs that were cut off. Native Americans shouldn't be a "niche," and neither should women, LGBT people, or people of color. Cultural appropriation is perhaps the stupidest example of the stupidest concept , political correctness , that has ever been argued. With teepees, Im not sure I get it. 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. Dont look at it! It just looks like a human that may be bigger than normal. He ultimately was granted a pardon but died three days later in jail before receiving the news of this pardon. This was the end of this Giant Windigo. The legend of the wendigo has long been associated with real-life problems like insatiable greed, selfishness, and violence. 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. Mythical being in Native American folklore, "Windigo" redirects here. Watch popular content from the following creators: Thorn (@shr00mermaid), Thorn (@shr00mermaid), Nuoance(@nuoance), MattHatterPlays(@matthatterplays), Aidan Mattis(@theaidanmattis) . without permission.1 This term only applies to a . Its incredibly validating to know that other people have heard about it and enjoy the story enough to make reference to the name and concept. This makes them so ravenous for human flesh that they pounce upon women, children, and even upon men, like veritable werewolves, and devour them voraciously, without being able to appease or glut their appetiteever seeking fresh prey, and the more greedily the more they eat. It springs from the well of the collective human unconscious, the communal soul. [21] The last known wendigo ceremony conducted in the United States was at Lake Windigo of Star Island of Cass Lake, within the Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.[when? They heard the Windigo calling the boy. No cultural appropriation in it, I promise! Some of this critique was rightly directed at literal cultural theft . As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. And we merely follow".[38]. My intentions were pure, as were Rowling's, I imagine. In the 21st century, cultural appropriationlike globalizationisn't just inevitable; it's potentially positive. Draw/write what you want, I say. And how many would have known that in the past - and even now - the originators of the cornrows, the headdresses, the bindis, would have been persecuted for wearing them? cultural identity theft, many would argue that cultural appropriation is inevitable in a melting pot like the United States. 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. Discover short videos related to wendigo cultural appropriation on TikTok. And they are worth considering including in ones classroom teaching. 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. I wouldn't be offended if someone dressed as a stereotypical Scottish person whatever that looks like lol. The idea of getting down to the nitty-gritty came from the 18th century English slave trade, when nitty-gritty referred to the worthless debris left at the ship's bottom compartment after slaves had been evacuatedand evolved to include the slaves themselves. People can appreciate and draw as many wendigo and other scary monsters as they like, it's all entirely fictional and doesn't hurt anyone. We should talk about how Thor and Loki are cultural appropriation of Norwegian mythology. Funny how it's only creatures from certain culture's folklore people get pissy over and not others. It never occurred to me that what I was doing might be offensive, because I've never even met a Native American person in real life. [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. He said, "You bet there is, I have eaten lots of Indians, no wonder they are fat." Wendigo) from its cultural conte xt and its movement by non-Indigenous . 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. My Thoughts and Questions OllieOnyx 845 subscribers Subscribe 4.5K 119K views 2 years ago I just posted a new video. But overall I can't stand JKR. [31][32] Others have pointed to a number of credible eyewitness accounts, both by Algonquians and others, as evidence that Wendigo psychosis was a factual historical phenomenon. In 1973 a character inspired by the wendigo appeared in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. No it isn't cultural appropriation, as long as it is researched and accurately presented in the story. Wendigo psychosis is a fascinating condition with a storied history. The e-book is here, and you can get a paperback copy here.). This year's Met Gala theme China: Through the Looking Glass was just begging for cultural appropriation, which led many starlets to play it safe with minimal references to China.Emma Roberts, however, earned herself Twitter backlash for wearing chopsticks in her hair.. Chopsticks in the hair is one of many broadly "Asian" styles tried on by Western dressers (for what it's worth . He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. Cultural appropriation is a huge red flag that the brand has minimal diversity or representation behind the scenes," she explains. Theres something else. Shock factor aside, it's especially eye-catching in that it isn't necessarily a result of being desperate for food. It also seems to me to be unacceptable for authors to be unable to use one (or more) of those characters/symbols/etc. The Wendigo, also known as the Hollowed, was a type of Creature of Grimm that was proposed to appear in the animated webseries RWBY. There's nothing wrong with drawing the popular concept of a wendigo monster, or drawing any monster with antlers, and calling it a wendigo. In addition to denoting a cannibalistic monster from certain traditional folklore, some Native Americans also understand the wendigo conceptually. Thank god I am not from USA, where this seems to be an issue. Hah hah! In most traditions, the wendigo is human in origin and becomes a monster through a process that results either from acts of starvation-induced cannibalism or from possession by a spirit. 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. I wouldn't be offended if someone dressed up as a stereotypical native american even though my great grandma was half blackfoot native american. Most sensible thing said ever. "** 40. I have not always done so, and it appears that in this case, J.K. Rowling did not either. J.K. Rowling, author of the absurdly-popular Harry Potter series (of which I'm a massive fan), recently waded into controversy with her four-part "Magic in North America" series, which outlines the Potterverse's American history. Why is indigenous culture suddenly more sacred than any other culture? MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! Now neither Christian culture is by any means endangered to become a minority (although some US Bible Belt hate preachers consistently claim so) nor is Chinese culture, so both are out of ansatz here. It shouldn't be bad thing if you don't mock culture, make sure to have all information you can ( read books from culture or ask someone who grew up with said culture if they are willing to teach you) but then again they aren't from your culture and unlike creatures like vampires they are a bit more closed i don't know is it good to use them. There's also Wendigo psychosis. And FWIW, I've read stories that disturbed me & even disgusted me but the author has the right to tell their story whether I like it or don't. As a result, in 1907, Fiddler and his brother Joseph were arrested by the Canadian authorities for homicide. "[39] Lockhard's ideas explain that wendigos are an expression of a dark aspect of human nature: the drive toward greed, consumption, and disregard for other life in the pursuit of self-aggrandizement. But if they actually did, I would pick another monster from the giant Pandemonium one has at one's choice. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Dollightful's Wendigo Doll - Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? BLACKPINK. Now that I have a major problem with. The Indians asked the Windigo if there was any fat on them. WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. What makes the wendigo any different from other culturally important mythological creatures like unicorns? This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The book's cul-tural importance granted it not one, but two movie adaptations, the first in 1989 and the second in 2019. [12] Although descriptions can vary somewhat, common to all these cultures is the view that the wendigo is a malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being. 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. The "Dark Horse" singer . There's too much variety of opinion on the question to obtain a consensus. I will draw whatever I feel like drawing. It was created by Mayuki . Idiots have just made a religion out of being racist about culture and only allowing genetic descendants to participate in cultures. The wendigo is a terrifying presence that feeds on negative energy and human flesh, making it a natural addition to the horror genre. Film, Return to Article Details Culturally Conceptualizing Trauma: The Windigo in Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road I would advise anyone, however, who feels that way about my choice to create art or literature based on a wendigo, to simply avoid my gallery and writing. He said to the boy "Hurry up. Since the concept of a wendigo stems from First Nations folklore, maybe someone making a cute little doll of this evil spirit figure was seen as inappropriate or making fun of their culture? After thinking about it some more, I understand that its a kind of It was okay for these kids to pretend to be Indians but not for these kids to actually be Indians thing but I saw someone claim that it was contributing to colonisation and the death of death of their culture and that felt a bit strong. 1. You're just making up a story. Historically, deciding exactly what culture is hasn't been easy. Here's some links:Website - https://thesierramistify.wixsite.com/thesierramistifyEtsy - https://www.etsy.com/shop/thesierramistify?ref=simple-shop-header-name\u0026listing_id=736195213Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesierramistify/Art Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesierramistify.art/- Music used in this video -Prime Beatz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkG3r3-ODOw [28] Given that he resorted to cannibalism so near to food supplies, and that he killed and consumed the remains of all those present, it was revealed that Swift Runner's was not a case of pure cannibalism as a last resort to avoid starvation, but rather of a man with Wendigo psychosis. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Let's stop dancing around this ugly truth: Right now, Katy Perry is pop culture's most prominent purveyor of racist cultural appropriation. 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. I do not possess the cultural or social knowledge required. They travelled too much. It's taking those cultural. Im glad, because I dont believe that it is. The line between what differentiates cultural appropriation from cultural appreciation can be razor-thin, not to mention highly . Lurking in the deep woods of the Northern United States and Southern Canada lies a mysterious and fearsome Native American monster, the Wendigo. J.K is weird for using name like that, it isn't hard to google names, i know she wrote books before internet was as "popular" as now, but i honestly doubt that she couldn't find name and surname of east asian person, she could of used names from either celebrity ( use surname of one and name of other or something like that), she could of used name from character from some book, there were ways of finding name that isn't bad as Cho-Chang, also i find it a bit weird that said character is in "smart" house, feels way to stereotypical for me. Wendigos/Windigos/etc. Cultural appropriation means using a racial, religious, or social group's customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits without authority or right. Doing so is an honorable endeavorbut only if we actually do our homework first. [29], Another well-known case involving Wendigo psychosis was that of Jack Fiddler, an Oji-Cree chief and medicine man known for his powers at defeating wendigos.