Cannibalistic Shapeshifter Wendigo In Myths And Legends Of The Indians Of North America And Canada

In some myths of the Algonquian tribes of North America, there is a mythological creature – Wendigo – that takes different forms.

It is a cannibal, a monster, when there is nothing left to eat, it starves to death. When it sees something, it wants to own it. No one else can have anything. This illness feeds on a spiritual void.

The Wendigo is a danger that surrounds us. It is not only a creature from myths and legends of the ancients.

The Algonquian Native Americans represent the most extensive and numerous North American groups, with hundreds of tribes speaking several related dialects of the language group, Algonkian.

They lived in most of the Canadian territory below the Hudson Bay and between the Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.

Their rich mythology and their beliefs survived many generations and so did the Wendigo, a monster and bogeyman.

This cannibal monster (also known as Windigo or even Widjigo), is an evil man-eating spirit. However, his abilities and evil doings vary depending on the locality where the legends were gathered.

Generally, the wendigo has certain characteristics of a human or an evil spirit. By possessing a human being, the wendigo can change his or her to become a cannibal.

The Wendigo – a malevolent, supernatural being – is associated with cannibalism, murder and voracious greed and this kind of behavior has always been condemned in these indigenous communities.

In some myths and legends of the Algonquin-speaking peoples, those who commit sins such as selfishness, greed, or cannibalism, are turned into a Wendigo – as punishment.

Among the peoples of Canada, around the Berens Lake, located in Manitoba, Canada, along the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg the Wendigo is an amphibious being like an alligator with bear’s feet or cloven hooves.

In the beliefs of the Chippewa Indians, also known as the Ojibwe, this evil creature is an ogre, which is focused on children to obtain their compliant behavior. Along with other indigenous tribes such as Eastern Cree, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu, the Ojibwe descrive the wendigo as a giant, many times larger than human beings.

In Algonquian folklore, however, the Wendigo is the spirit of a lost hunter who now mercilessly preys upon humans in a cannibalistic manner.

The Wendigo is never happy; he is never satisfied with his killings and consuming of the bodies; he is constantly searching for new victims. His hunger is limitless.

As we said earlier, when there is nothing left to eat, it starves to death. When it sees something, it wants to own it. No one else can have anything. This illness feeds on a spiritual void.

The Wendigo is a danger that surrounds us. It is not only a creature from myths and legends of the ancients.

Written by A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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