Wendigo Psychosis
Vivienne Tailor
Routledge eBooks October 6, 2023 DOI: 10.4324/9781003379096-14 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that competing understandings of wendigo mythology express North American culture wars between Indigenous communities and settler-colonists. The chapter contends that settler-colonial court cases and sensationalized print media fabricated a "wendigo psychosis" used to justify imprisonment, execution, hospitalization, land theft, and cultural appropriation, and that Indigenous artists are reclaiming wendigo meanings for healing and cultural continuity. |
Abstract
This chapter investigates the North American culture wars between indigenous communities and settler-colonists expressed through competing understandings of wendigo mythology. First, the research details the Cree and Ojibwe concepts of mino-bimaddiziwin , or ecosocial harmony, in connection with cannibal wendigos serving as warnings against greed and selfishness. Then, the research explores popular early colonial writings to trace the European initiation of the “noble savage” imaginary, which included cannibalism stereotypes. From there, analysis of wendigo-centered court cases and sensationalized print media reveal a disturbing process of settler-colonial fabrication of a wendigo psychosis , which was used to justify imprisonment, execution, hospitalization, land theft, and cultural appropriation. The chapter details the infusion of racialized wendigo narratives throughout settler-colonial popular culture, from the 1800s North American gothic literature ongoing into the 2000s with a plethora of graphic novels, video games, and films that distort wendigo imagery. However, the story of the wendigo does not end with relentless appropriation. This chapter concludes by exploring indigenous artists’ reclamation and reinscription of wendigo meanings to return accusations of cannibalism to settler-colonial culture and serve as a vehicle for indigenous healing and cultural continuity.