Part of HuffPost Entertainment. By Derrick Clifton. I have not always done so, and it appears that in this case, J.K. Rowling did not either. Draw/write what you want, I say. That will depend on who you ask. I do not possess the cultural or social knowledge required. [11], This was the end of the wendigo is part of the traditional belief system of a number of Algonquin-speaking peoples, including the Ojibwe, the Saulteaux, the Cree, the Naskapi, and the Innu. When I got over my initial bout of self-defensiveness, I realized I was totally wrong. The protection of minorities from the materialization of the majority's different thoughts is an asset of democratic constitutionalism. To fully understand its consequences, though, we need to make sure we have a working definition of culture itself. Return to Article Details Culturally Conceptualizing Trauma: The Windigo in Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road Thank god I am not from USA, where this seems to be an issue. We do the same thing with a lot of mythological creatures. so no, if you're some white kid hearing crying in the forests of california you're not being "lured into the I know people who are absolutely terrified of them, branching out from their fear of deer. There's also Wendigo psychosis. In 1973 a character inspired by the wendigo appeared in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. And they are worth considering including in ones classroom teaching. No one can try to stake a singular claim to it. What lips it had were tattered and bloody Unclean and suffering from suppuration of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption.[15]. Copyright 2022 Facing History & Ourselves. Ojibwe scholar Brady DeSanti asserts that the wendigo "can be understood as a marker indicating a person imbalanced both internally and toward the larger community of human and spiritual beings around them. Check it out here:https://youtu.be/fHE4fkvUpWMI really just made this video to express how I am currently feeling about the wendigo doll situation and the questions I have about it. Dont like someones fetish? I can't even think about bank without getting mad, why did she need to make them like that..EVERY name is filled with stereotypes , well every name from minority .I don't even want to talk about Fantastic Beasts problems. Dollightful's Wendigo Doll - Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? 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. Cultural appropriation can be defined as the "cherry picking" or selecting of certain aspects of a culture, and ignoring their original significance for the purpose of belittling it as a trend. Appropriating the Wendigo As it so happens, I am currently working on a project involving a Wendigo, so this is personal to me. My Thoughts and Questions OllieOnyx 845 subscribers Subscribe 4.5K 119K views 2 years ago I just posted a new video. But Native Americans shouldn't be a "niche," and neither should women, LGBT people, or people of color. [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? See more. Seems to me a great deal of what people write about in fantasy stories is borrowing from other cultures & nations & communities. Differing thinking is one of the cherished assets of democratic cultural pluralism. are not cryptids, and don't even traditionally have deer skulls for heads. As a concept, wendigo can apply to situations other than some Native American-European relations. Some of this critique was rightly directed at literal cultural theft . Is it okay for a white person to celebrate the culture. Discover short videos related to wendigo cultural appropriation on TikTok. Okay, dont anybody get me wrong. Don't tell lies to those Indians." Even before it went live, she was being criticized for her apparently blatant cultural appropriation of Native American folklore, and since publishing the criticism has only grown more pointed. To Helheimr with it! 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. How stupid to think otherwise. . 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. ". It's taking those cultural. As described by the Native American Cree legends, they were humans who have been mutated into cannibalistic monsters after being possessed by the Wendigo spirit, causing them to eat the flesh of other humans. This was the end of this Giant Windigo. It has become something else altogether. Writer, musician, activist, single father from Chicago. The concept of cultural appropriation began well enough, but just like everything else woke culture political correctness, it's gone way too far. It was forbidden to resort to this practice, even out of desperation. [57] In the 2018 first-person shooter video game Dusk, wendigos are enemies that remain invisible until they receive damage. Latvians have their own version of Thor, so I probably should be offended, as well. And besides that, it never hurts to include your sources. 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. I do not know, nor can I. Other sources say wendigos were created when a human resorted to cannibalism to survive. Clunky prose aside, this is the "noble savage" trope repurposed for Rowling's universe, with just a pinch of Magical Negro thrown in for good measure. During a panel at YES! I mean yeah I see what your saying, personally I do research on what its about even if I don't use it in it's entirety. For Indigenous peoples in Canada, cultural appropriation is rooted in colonization and ongoing oppression. Character can be mean, evil or complete asshole but you still should be respectful while writing said character. 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. Dont look at it! Thats just asking for trouble.) And some natives don't care at all. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. One recurring theme across these storytelling mediums is the use of the wendigoalso spelled wtikoa monstrous figure from Algonquian mythology who exhibits an insatiable greed along with a desire for human flesh. I can write whatever fiction I want, and draw whatever I want. 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 . Chippewa author Louise Erdrich's novel The Round House, winner of the National Book Award, depicts a situation where an individual person becomes a wendigo. 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 I do know some natives believe you should not say or write its name because that may make it come or you may be infected and become it. Some researchers argued that, essentially, Wendigo psychosis was a fabrication, the result of nave anthropologists taking stories related to them at face value without observation. Creative freedom is a beautiful luxury too many do not understand; it wasn't but a hundred years ago when art was said to have an objective hierarchy, and that was how it was for thousands of years. Further, cultural appropriation often occurs as the backwash of colonization, and contributes to widening existing divisions and perpetuating patterns of historic dispossession and oppression. Explore the latest videos from hashtags: #culturalappropriation, #cultureappropriation, #culturalappropiation, # . [49][50] In the 2021 film The Inhuman (L'Inhumain) the arrival of a wendigo symbolizes inner turmoil after a character turns his back on his Indigenous heritage in the pursuit of material success. Oh yeah, Marvel. There, he uses the cannibalistic wendigo as a metaphor for the behaviors and attitudes central to patterns of social domination visited upon his own people in the Americas and subjugated peoples everywhere. BTW, I love rainbow farting unicorns! You dont have to be of Afro-Caribbean descent to talk about, write about, or make movies about zombies. The question of how to challenge the wtiko psychosis as described by Forbes and Wendigo Economics as described by LaDuke is a difficult one, but the mythic force of the concept of the wendigo helps to underscore the urgency of these questions. Far from just being a monster in an escapist horror flick, Forbes and LaDuke demonstrate that the wendigo can help us grasp the horrors of our real world so we can be here now and, ultimately, work toward solutions. Wendigos/Windigos/etc. It also seems to me to be unacceptable for authors to be unable to use one (or more) of those characters/symbols/etc. As researchers, most of us are lost in a wilderness filled with Windigo, Skinwalkers and various other indigenous cosmological entities, and we need to recognize we have no idea what we are talking about. However, when reading Magic in North America, it's hard not to get the sense that Rowling did not understand the thin ice she was treading on when it came to representation of Native Americans, nor did she make any effort to treat these themes with the weight they deserve. If it's so vulgar and offensive that many hate it, well they can just not look at it lmao - it clearly wasn't made for them. "This isn't going to be the last time a story like this emerges about cultural appropriation, and what it emphasises is how much we need more diversity, in all components of the fashion industry," says Lewis. 9 Neil Jamieson-Williams Science Fiction Writer (part-time/now full-time) at Self-Employment (1977-present) Author has 1.7K answers and 1.1M answer views Updated 6 mo Ah, another Mike Wilson question "[36] Out of equilibrium and estranged by their communities, individuals thought to be afflicted by the wendigo spirit unravel and destroy the ecological balance around them. creators (a large majority being white) . 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 agree with some of it to a point, but disagree with most of it. Magazine with fellow environmental thought leaders, LaDuke said: Theres this conflict between the cannibals and Mother Earth, and its going on everywhere. Ces pauures gens furent saisis, ce qu'on nous a dit, d'vn mal qui nous est inconnu, mais qui n'est pas bien extraordinaire parmy les peuples que nous cherchons: ils ne sont ny lunatiques, ny hypocondriaques, ny phrenetiques; mais ils ont vn mlange de toutes ces sortes de maladies, qui, leur blessant l'imagination, leur cause vne faim plus que canine, et les rend si affamez de chair humaine, qu'ils se iettent sur les femmes, sur les enfans, mesme sur les hommes, comme de vrais loups-garous, et les deuorent belles dents, sans se pouuoir rassasier ny saouler, cherchans tousiours nouuelle proye, et plus auidement que plus ils en ont mang. In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. 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. Privacy Policy. Created by the writer Steve Englehart and artist Herb Trimpe, the monster is the result of a curse that afflicts those who commit acts of cannibalism. Native Americans, Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. "[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. 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. [40][41] Joe Nazare wrote that Blackwood's "subtly-demonizing rhetoric transforms the Wendigo from a native myth into a descriptive template for the Indian savage."[42]. New replies are no longer allowed. spellings (see Colombo 2) but is most commonly rendered as Windigo, Wendigo, or Witiko. 5. [26][27] During the winter of 1878, Swift Runner and his family were starving, and his eldest son died. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) [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. Unlike cultural appropriation, strategic anti-essentialism can be practiced by both minority cultures and majority cultures. Beyond Forbes, other Native American thinkers have also used wendigo stories to present critical perspectives on various social problems and call for their resolution. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. For example, dressing up as a Native American while using redface and using the gaudiest, most elaborate costume you can think of (using the stereotypical feathered headress, tribal print tan clothing, holding a spear, etc.). [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. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) [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. There's nothing wrong with drawing the popular concept of a wendigo monster, or drawing any monster with antlers, and calling it a wendigo. Indigenous, Wendigo) from its cultural conte xt and its movement by non-Indigenous . I know what cultural appropriation is but Ive not been as involved in social justice as I used to be and I guess its showing. (the proceeding statement may contain some levels of sarcasm.). 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. One time long ago a big Windigo stole an Indian boy, but the boy was too thin, so the Windigo didn't eat him up right away, but he travelled with the Indian boy waiting for him till he'd get fat. The wendigo is seen as the embodiment of gluttony, greed, and excess: never satisfied after killing and consuming one person, they are constantly searching for new victims. Im glad, because I dont believe that it is. (Anything that isnt outright vandalism isnt likely to harm the statue at all, but I wouldnt dare do anything disrespectful around it. People don't get offended on scotland's behalf over the common depiction of their national animal as a rainbow farting fairy horse. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. The wendigo -- a creature from Native American myth -- carries powerful symbolism and is presumably sufficiently mysterious to keep enough audience members guessing at its motives and abilities. Anyone who lives in a place that is exposed to more than . 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. I always thought these are what cannibals are turning into. However, PCism taken to its extreme would say that neither Cooper, nor I, should be telling stories about Wendigos at all, since were not of aboriginal descent. https://www.deviantart.com/forum/community/complaints/2611618/. I am ashamed I watched all the movies. Dressing up as a cultural stereotype is never, ever OK. Cady Heron once remarked that, "in the real world, Halloween is when kids . That's just pulling a potential explanation out of my ass, though, I have no idea if its accurate or not. The cultural appropriation police answer the yoga and banh mi objections with a familiar counter-argument: it's about power. 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. Wendigos specifically represent the very real threat of starvation and what moral depths a person will sink to to avoid starving to death in the hard, cold de Continue Reading More answers below KEY OOY One day they came to an Indian village and the Windigo sent the boy to the Indian village to get some things for him to eat. 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. [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]. Maybe ask a person of Chinese heritage. Historically, deciding exactly what culture is hasn't been easy. Guillermo del Toro, producer of the film, developed the wendigo on the basis that the more the creature eats, the more it gets hungry and the more it gets hungry, the weaker it becomes. Truly insensitive cultural appropriation is when you're taking a part of another culture and portraying it in a deliberately insensitive or disrespectful manner. Apparently, wendigos are sacred creatures from several indigenous cultures. Cultural appropriation consists of borrowing something from another culture in mockery or thoughtless misuse. 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. In some cases, this entailed killing people with Wendigo psychosis. 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 It can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. [17] Therefore, wendigos are portrayed as simultaneously gluttonous and extremely thin due to starvation. This term only applies to a . With teepees, Im not sure I get it. Only those entitled to them should wear them. 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.