Cho isn't even only problematic character, Lavander changed her race (in movies, i'm not sure about books but still, Rowling could of said something). Return to Article Details Culturally Conceptualizing Trauma: The Windigo in Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road According to Professor Chris Schedler, the figure of the wendigo represents "consuming forms of exclusion and assimilation" through which groups dominate other groups. 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. This form of cultural appropriation is deeply intertwined with systemic and institutionalized racism rooted in capitalism. are not cryptids, and don't even traditionally have deer skulls for heads. Historically, deciding exactly what culture is hasn't been easy. Humans could also turn into wendigos by being in contact with them for too long. Apparently, wendigos are sacred creatures from several indigenous cultures. As a concept, wendigo can apply to situations other than some Native American-European relations. If so, what did you think about it? It is unknown if it would have been an entire species or a singular creature. They're monsters. There's too much variety of opinion on the question to obtain a consensus. The cannibalistic forest creature is known for allegedly . He said to the boy "Hurry up. 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. But I do know the actual description of it. We feed it because we don't know how else to live, and so we live disconnected lives watching the seasons change through windows . It also seems to me to be unacceptable for authors to be unable to use one (or more) of those characters/symbols/etc. Their visitations speak to the inseparability of human experience National identity is irrelevant to this borderless horror. By Derrick Clifton. Anyone who lives in a place that is exposed to more than . [42] In an early short story by Thomas Pynchon, "Mortality and Mercy in Vienna" (first published in 1959), the plot centers around a character developing Wendigo syndrome and going on a killing spree. 1. 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 Mexicans: Cultural Appropriation PragerU 3.01M subscribers Subscribe 85K Share 2.2M views 4 years ago What is cultural appropriation? And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. It was created by Mayuki . How stupid to think otherwise. 17spaz 2 yr. ago People don't get offended on scotland's behalf over the common depiction of their national animal as a rainbow farting fairy horse. I mentioned above that I was guilty of doing the same thing. Dont like someones fetish? Basically, the word wendigo can also function as a symbol for gluttony and the image of excess. Cultural appropriation is perhaps the stupidest example of the stupidest concept , political correctness , that has ever been argued. It just looks like a human that may be bigger than normal. White authors should be able to write about non-white people. Explore the latest videos from hashtags: #culturalappropriation, #cultureappropriation, #culturalappropiation, # . There's also Wendigo psychosis. To fully understand its consequences, though, we need to make sure we have a working definition of culture itself. Mythologynote my use of the capital M to convey that it is far more than just some made-up stories; it is stories containing deeper spiritual truthsbelongs to all of humanity. I think she knew that her decision would be challenged and she wanted to let people know that she had valid reasons for doing what she did. He writes: Wtiko is a Cree termwhich refers to a cannibal or, more specifically, to an evil person or spirit who terrorizes other creatures by means of terrible evil acts, including cannibalism I have come to the conclusion that imperialism and exploitation are forms of cannibalism and, in fact, are precisely those forms of cannibalism which are most diabolical or evil It should be understood that wtikos do not eat other humans only in a symbolic sense. 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. The wendigo is a terrifying presence that feeds on negative energy and human flesh, making it a natural addition to the horror genre. Cultural appropriation means using a racial, religious, or social group's customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits without authority or right. 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. MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! Romantic scholar and documentarian Emily Zarka, also a professor at Arizona State University, observes that two commonalities among the indigenous cultures of Algonquian language family speakers are that they are situated in climes where harsh winters are frequent and may be accompanied by starvation. [10], The Wechuge is a similar being that appears in the legends of the Athabaskan people of the Northwest Pacific Coast. America is the symbol of inclusion, so as part of the American culture we embrace foreign influences in our society. With teepees, Im not sure I get it. 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. https://www.deviantart.com/forum/community/complaints/2611618/. [28] He eventually confessed and was executed by authorities at Fort Saskatchewan. Copyright 2022 Facing History & Ourselves. I mean, I have native heritage, grew up with the culture and I even have a wendigo character in my own comic that's based on the pop-culture version with the elk skull and whatnot so I honestly don't see an issue with it but if you're really concerned then perhaps try a different monster called the Leshy from Slavic folklore? Oh yeah, Marvel. What I do think is not so great was it could have been something that was corrected for the films, where they do have access to people and the internet was more developed in the mid 2000s. 8.1.2014. My basic rule is simple: be respectful. And whoever!). Just as the vampire and werewolf do not belong exclusively to people of European descent and the Mummy doesnt belong to Egyptians. 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. It's a really cool beast that I personally would like to see more in fiction. If an idea has merit, it doesn't need protecting. Indigenous, This ailment attacked our deputies; and, as death is the sole remedy among those simple people for checking such acts of murder, they were slain in order to stay the course of their madness. arent cryptids thing. I would agree, only I am more likely to not care much even what an Algonquin cares about my monster character. They went back again to see if he was dead. I believe cultural appropriation is Only when someone of another 'race' or culture creates something and passes it off as if it is authentic. 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. This country is seeking to be whole Stretching out its arms and consuming all it can. Film, The Wendigo happens to be part of my own (Anishiinaabe) cultural heritage. It's a term for what happens to people who for one reason or another turn to eating other people. As much as I would love to tell everyone to just read her sources and then be able to understand everything better, I just don't think that's realistic for most people(because they are not easily accessible to most, and I don't think that was her intention by including these in her description. With the comments turned off on Dollightful's apology video, I thought that maybe we could have some discussion here(if anyone ever sees this, anyway). and our The protection of minorities from the materialization of the majority's different thoughts is an asset of democratic constitutionalism. That's an easy solution and I still keep my freedom to create. But overall I can't stand JKR. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. While Bieber's locs may be perceived . I agree with some of it to a point, but disagree with most of it. 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. As a result, in 1907, Fiddler and his brother Joseph were arrested by the Canadian authorities for homicide. The Wendigo is a mythical creature that has been reported in many different forms. No one said it were exceptional that way. If I can draw my own version of a Chinese dragon, or my own version of angel or demon, I can draw a wendigo. No they ain't. without permission. Truly insensitive cultural appropriation is when you're taking a part of another culture and portraying it in a deliberately insensitive or disrespectful manner. If ANYTHING is disrespectful to woke (does not exist in the real world) culture then I say: DO IT - AND DO IT BIG!!! Writer, musician, activist, single father from Chicago. ][22][failed verification], In historical accounts of retroactively diagnosed Wendigo psychosis, it has been reported that humans became possessed by the wendigo spirit, after being in a situation of needing food and having no other choice besides cannibalism. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. LOL. And you know what? Cultural appropriation definition, the adoption, usually without acknowledgment, of cultural identity markers from subcultures or minority communities into mainstream culture by people with a relatively privileged status. 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. But Native Americans shouldn't be a "niche," and neither should women, LGBT people, or people of color. People were not really using Google until the 2000s and that kind of info might have not been available in the 90s. Political correctness started out as one thing, a good thing. By Christian Chiakulas, Contributor Writer, musician, activist, single father from Chicago. And unfortunately for them, this isn't the first time. In contrast to modern horror stories that appropriate the wendigo as a plot device, Forbes implies that what actually ought to be terrifying to us is that we live in societies enveloped in violence and exploitation that we struggle to identify as such. Whether you understand it fully or not, cultural appropriation is a real thing and a real problem. Doing so is an honorable endeavorbut only if we actually do our homework first. Cookie Notice This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. [44], Contemporary Indigenous works that explore the legend include the 1995 novel Solar Storms by author and poet Linda K. Hogan (Chickasaw), which explores the stories of the wendigo and incorporates the creatures as a device to interrogate issues of independence, spirituality, politics, an individual's relationship to the family, and as a metaphor for corporate voracity, exploitation, and power - all viewed as a form of cannibalism. Wendigo is a part of MCU, too. Learn how your comment data is processed. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash-gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. Create what you want; let the audience decide its fame. In Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu lore, wendigos are often described as giants that are many times larger than human beings, a characteristic absent from myths in other Algonquian cultures. 1. Those poor men (according to the report given us) were seized with an ailment unknown to us, but not very unusual among the people we were seeking. Exactly!! But as far as cultural appropriation and the Wendigo goes, dont you daredont you DAREtry to take our monsters away from us, PC wankers! I have not always done so, and it appears that in this case, J.K. Rowling did not either. 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. When first hearing this criticism, I, as a wannabe author of fiction (by the way, you can buy my debut novella here) rolled my eyes and whitesplained to myself why Rowling wasn't doing anything wrong. In some cases, this entailed killing people with Wendigo psychosis. It was already here. In addition to characterizing individual people who exhibit destructive tendencies, the wendigo can also describe movements and events with similarly negative effects. Sacred creatures? The Wendigo may be a figure from American Indian mythology, but it belongs to all of humankind. without permission.1 The "Dark Horse" singer . 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. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I have drawn my own version of golems too, and that is Jewish mythology. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets; the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. Lurking in the deep woods of the Northern United States and Southern Canada lies a mysterious and fearsome Native American monster, the Wendigo. 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? Wendigo Cannibalism in Native American Folklore. For more information, please see our Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. Only those entitled to them should wear them. The Windigo also has the power to turn humans into cannibals who suffer the same . I dont know who originally posted it, or where. [18], A wendigo need not lose the human's powers of cognition or speech and in some depictions may clearly communicate with its prospective victims or even threaten or taunt them.