Monztrs Stamp WENDIGO

WENDIGOS live in the central regions of Canada and the forests of the Great Lake Region in northern Minnesota in the U.S. and are said to be ugly and emaciated, cannibalistic man-beasts simply dripping with malevolence. A wendigo may appear as a monster with some human characteristics or as a spirit who has possessed a human being and made them monstrous. They have historically been associated with cannibalism, murder, insatiable greed, and the cultural taboos against such behaviors. They are known by several names — Windigo, Witigo, Witiko, and Wee-Tee-Go — all known as “the evil spirit that devours mankind.” Wendigos have long been known among the Algonquian Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Saulteaux, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu peoples, who have described them as giants, many times larger than human beings. Although descriptions vary, common to all these cultures is the view that the wendigo is a malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being strongly associated with winter, the north, coldness, famine, and starvation. The Algonquian legend describes the creature as “a giant with a heart of ice; sometimes, it is thought to be entirely made of ice. Its body is skeletal and deformed, with missing lips and toes.” According to the Ojibwa, it is a large creature, as tall as a tree, with a lipless mouth and jagged teeth. Its breath is a strange hiss, its footprints are full of blood, and it will eat any man, woman, or child who ventured into its territory. Sometimes, the Wendigo chose to possess a person instead, whereupon the luckless individual became a Wendigo himself, hunting down those he had once loved and feasting upon their flesh. According to the legends, a Wendigo is created whenever a human resorts to cannibalism. In the past, this occurred more often when Indians and settlers found themselves stranded in the bitter snows and ice of the north woods. Sometimes stranded for days, any survivors might have felt compelled to cannibalize the dead to survive. Other versions of the legend cite that humans who displayed extreme greed, gluttony, and excess might also be possessed by a Wendigo. Thus the myth served as a method of encouraging cooperation and moderation. Native American versions of the creature spoke of a gigantic spirit over fifteen feet tall that had once been human but had been transformed into a creature by magic. Though all of the descriptions of the creature vary slightly, the Wendigo is generally said to have glowing eyes, long