From the war of 1812 to modern armed forces missions around the world, legion magazine offers a blend of stories, photographs, graphics, maps and posters on canadian military history and heritage, veterans issues and the canadian armed forces. Wendigo psychosis is identified by western psychologists as a culturebound syndrome, though members of the aboriginal communities in which it existed believed cases. Windigo psychosis a study of a relationship between. Hay university of missourist louis although windigo cannibalism is. American ethnological society, 1961 algonquian indians 129 pages.
This article really intrigued me because it is talking about indians that once they obtained this disorder they believed they would become windigos themselves. Wendigo psychosis has traditionally been identified by western. A mental or bodily condition marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions to seriously impair the normal psychological functioning of the individual. As nouns the difference between wendigo and windigo is that wendigo is while windigo is mythology a malevolent, violent, cannibal spirit found in anishinaabe, ojibwe, and cree mythology, which inhabits the body of a living person and possesses him or. The monster version of the mythical creature is humanlike, but very tall and gaunt, with deepl. Another wellknown case involving wendigo psychosis was that of jack fiddler, an ojicree chief and medicine man known for his powers at defeating wendigos.
From this narrow data base has come a torrent of interpretive elaboration. Swift runner, a member of a cree tribe in the 1800s who ate his family while living within 25 miles 40 kilometers of. On 18 jul, 2014 by jenelle dushane with 0 comments posted in w3 activity. A study of a relationship between belief and behavior among the indians of northeastern canada. In the unusual cases when these attempts failed, and the wendigo began either to threaten those around them or to act violently or antisocially, they were then generally executed. The wendigo is a manitou, a kind of powerful spirit, and it wanders to us via the folklore of native american tribes in the great lakes region and along the atlantic coast. As a classic example of culture bound psychopathology, its capacity to inspire theorization in anthropology and the related disciplines seems inexhaustible. Generations later, its still remembered as one of the provinces worst, and strangest, crimes. The two most important things about the wendigo are. They all describe it as a malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being of great spiritual power, associated with winter, coldness, famine and starvation. You must there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one thats only in the merriamwebster unabridged dictionary start your free trial today and get unlimited access to americas largest dictionary, with.
More than 250,000 words that arent in our free dictionary. Although cases have waned with the rise of urbanization, up until the early 1900s, anthropologists observed a culturebound disorder called wendigo psychosis whose sufferers were afflicted with an uncontrollable craving for human flesh. Legion magazine is published six times a year in english with a french insert. There is a very real mental disorder known was wendigo psychosis in which the sufferer has insatiable desires to consume human flesh despite the fact that. Life is hard for anyone in the wake of an accidental ice age and. My mind cracked after gilberto was killed in front of me, broke further when the. Wendigo psychosis is marked by an allbutirresistible craving for human flesh, which is perfectly normal if you are, say, a mountain lion, but a little weird if youre human.
Because few places are as friendly to juxtapositions of folklore and pop culture as the fourcolor comics page, ancient american indian tales of evil spirits. Windigo psychosis has been the most celebrated culture trait of the northern algonkian peoples for almost half a century. The term wendigo psychosis also spelled many other ways, including windigo psychosis and witiko psychosis refers to a condition in which sufferers develop an insatiable desire to eat human flesh even when other food sources are readily available, often as a result of prior famine cannibalism. So those native americans who recognized the symptoms in themselves often requested to be executed before they could inflict harm on those around them. As a result, in 1907, fiddler and his brother joseph were arrested by the canadian authorities for homicide. It was mostly caused by the lack of food because of being trapped in.
My mind cracked after gilberto was killed in front of me, broke further when the big. Wendigo psychosis is considered an endemic psychiatric disorder associated with culture. The wendigo is a demonic spirit believed by algonquinbased native american tribes to possess humans and turn them into cannibals. The term wendigo psychosis also spelled many other ways, including windigo psychosis and witiko psychosis refers to a condition in which sufferers developed an insatiable desire to eat human flesh even when other food sources were readily available, often as a result of prior famine cannibalism. The wendigo also wetiko is a mythological maneating creature or evil spirit from the folklore.
Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Wendigo psychosis is identified by western psychologists as a culturebound syndrome. From hoax psychosis blues to psychiatric tales, comics and graphic novels that raise awareness of mental health issues. The creature lends its name to the controversial modern medical term wendigo psychosis, described by psychiatrists as a culturebound syndrome with symptoms such as an intense craving for human flesh and fear of becoming a cannibal.
A creature appearing in the mythology of the algonquian people who are native to northern us and canada, who is malevolent, cannibalistic and capable of transforming or possessing humans. Wendigo stories when i was young, i often spent parts of summers with my grandmother in her home out in the country. As a classic example of culturebound psychopathology its capacity to inspire theorization in anthropology and the related disciplines seems inexhaustible. The wendigo is a mythical monster that is featured in the folklore of some northern native american and canadian tribes. Psychodynamic, cultural, and social factors in aberrant behavior thomas h. The windigo psychosis some mental illnesses are uniquely connected to culture. Psychosis is a 20 short story written by matt dymerski.
Windigo psychosis university of florida digital collections. Hes convinced that some kind of alien presence has taken over the world, but hes not quite sure. In some cases, this entailed killing people with wendigo psychosis. Shes a special kind of thing made from a secret recipe. Going mental an estimated 1 in 5 americans have a mental disorder women are more likely to be diagnosed than men. Killing a wendigo was justified under cree law and so, argued one judge, the. The cannibalistic spirit of native american folklore duration. It is thought of as a malevolent cannibalistic spirit that could possess humans or a monster that humans could physically transform into. The term wendigo or windigo is used to describe both the evil spirit as well as the creature that humans can become when possessed by the spirit.
Though its uncommon today, wendigo psychosis is still cited as one of the strangest and most terrifying mental problems. Wendigo psychosis cracked has actually talked about wendigo psychosis before. Wendigo definition of wendigo by medical dictionary. Windigo another variation on the spelling of wendigo psychosis is described by as a culturespecific syndrome of some canadian autochthones, consisting of delusions of being. Although windigo psychosis has served anthropology as a classic example of.
Wendigo is another one of those maddeningly culture specific disorders that. The term wendigo psychosis refers to a condition in which sufferers developed an insatiable desire to eat human flesh even when other food sources were readily available, often as a result of prior famine cannibalism. To mark world mental health day, we revisit a number of comics and graphic novels that touch directly or tangentially on the subject of mental health. Wendigo psychosis, cannibalism, culturebound syndromes. It is common in midwestern horror stories and folktales.
An idea and myth originating from the algonquian civilization. An article from journal studies in canadian literature etudes en litterature. The ridiculous boost wendigo got in pathfinder can make. The first legal hanging in alberta, canada, took place on this date in 1879. There need to be sources given for the description of the wendigos position in aboriginal mythologies, and the lists need massive pruning and cleanup. Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state in which thought and perception are severely impaired. The andrea yates case is attracting attention to a rare condition that affects one in a thousand of new mothers. Wendigo psychosis definition of wendigo psychosis by. The work witiko has been doing in adding info on wendigo psychosis is a good start, but of course much remains to be done. Tagalog horror story wendigo psychosis true mystery case hilakbot tv duration. Wendigoa malevolent cannibilistic spirit which can become or even possess humans to sate its indwelling hunger for human flesh. The spirit of the north country the wendigo supernatural magazine. Ill answer about borderline pd which can indeed periodically experience psychotic symptoms like hearing voices, paranoia, and. Windigo psychosis a study of a relationship between belief and behavior among the indians of northeastern canada, morton i teicher on.
The most common response when someone began suffering from wendigo psychosis was curing attempts by traditional native healers or western doctors. Windigo psychosis article about windigo psychosis by the. It was my favorite place in the world, and i always looked forward to the weeklong stays of gardening, baking, latenight fires with smores and ghost stories, and enjoying having my grandmother all to myself. I did this documentary for my psych project on windigo psychosis. Through a combination of psychiatric and somatic nervous system symptoms, they are considered to be a recognizable disease only within a specific society, and are known medically and anthropologically as culture bound or culture specific syndromes. These are bleak climes where forests unroll like black tapestries and the lakes grow thick layers of ice. Acronyms can be confusing, as people might use bpd to indicate either borderline personality disorder or bipolar disorder. Company post journal of fort churchill hudsons bay.
Persons experiencing a psychotic episode may experience hallucinations, hold. Ojibway artist mary ann caibaiosais depiction of the windigo. In historical accounts of wendigo psychosis, it has been reported that humans became. However, when the algonquian society met heads on with the western society, this myth became far more a reality then a piece of gory fiction. It was shot blair witch style and was sorta based off of the show lost tapes. Abstract windigo psychosis 2 has been the most celebrated culture trait of the northern algonkian peoples for almost half a century. Wendigo psychosis responses healer wendigo psychosis has been identified by western psychologist as culturebound syndrome debate on genuine disorder could have been misinterpreted by early 1900 psychologists the legend a demonic halfbeast creature appearing in legends. Bigfoot isnt the only elusive creature said to roam the. Symptoms of windigo psychosis are implicitly linked to trauma in that both have.
The ridiculous boost wendigo got in pathfinder can make for a very nice epiclevel encounter that runs on a brutal time limit that just gets worse as time goes on. The strangest thing that causes the most debate among psychologists is the fact that wendigo psychosis appears to be a culture bound syndrome, or a an illness or psychosis that exists only within a given culture that has beliefs pertaining to the psychosis in question. At the center of the film is the emergence of the iconic wendigo, john boyd, whose literal turn to cannibalism is metaphorical of a nation en route to adopting a collective consciousness of consumption that is a form of wendigo psychosis. Wendigo psychosis also involves an intense fear of turning into a cannibal. Comics and graphic novels for world mental health day. The wendigo is a spirit of famine from the folklore of the algonquian peoples of the great lakes and much of canada east of the rockies. Those who indulged in cannibalism were at particular risk,and. Windigo psychosis2 has been the most celebrated culture trait of the northern. Doctors give trusted, helpful answers on causes, diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, and more. The culture bound syndrome mainly associated with native americans is windigo psychosis is the culture bound syndrome associated with native american indians the windigo is a figure in northern algonquin mythology, a fierce supernatural cannibal able to infect humans and make them into cannibalistic creatures by turning their hearts into ice.
1585 1223 129 1390 1100 1040 450 1115 1483 1188 1155 1105 441 928 181 1462 1014 1444 1246 805 92 156 1136 1052 1521 555 1457 152 277 385 1215 1003 275 119 628 696 1030 956 642 983 1379 515 961 1498 275 1104 1362