And some natives don't care at all. Is it Cultural Appropriation if I have a Wendigo character. 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. Maybe ask a person of Chinese heritage. [57] In the 2018 first-person shooter video game Dusk, wendigos are enemies that remain invisible until they receive damage. Some controversial new studies question the syndrome's legitimacy, claiming cases were actually a product of hostile accusations invented to justify the victim's ostracism or execution."[35]. And besides that, it never hurts to include your sources. I'm not skilled enough to draw these (")> lolz. I can write whatever fiction I want, and draw whatever I want. 11. 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. The latest addition to this lineup of wendigo tales is Scott Cooper and Guillermo del Toros horror film Antlers (2021) in which a Native American character provides some brief exposition before the story centered around a white community contending with the monster begins in earnest. 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? His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) Not so for anyone who isn't a straight, white male, and this trend in entertainment forces many people to seek out "niche" markets to find characters who look like them and are portrayed honestly and realistically. BLACKPINK. Without really understanding the conflict here, it seems like the issue is not people illustrating the creature, but using it as a creepy Halloween themed prop. No one can try to stake a singular claim to it. Now time to go back and make some changes. It's taking those cultural. [clarification needed] The ceremony, known as wiindigookaanzhimowin, was performed during times of famine, and involved wearing masks and dancing backward around a drum. (A friend sent this screenshot to me, along with the info, because he knows how much PC-ism pisses me off. I am ashamed I watched all the movies. 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. There's too much variety of opinion on the question to obtain a consensus. 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. I think it's okay because you're not trying to rewrite actual history or actual legend. Cultural appropriation is a huge red flag that the brand has minimal diversity or representation behind the scenes," she explains. In the course of the transformation from human to wendigo, the person exhibits increasing selfishness, violence, hunger, and greedparticularly for human flesh. The Wendigo, also known as the Hollowed, was a type of Creature of Grimm that was proposed to appear in the animated webseries RWBY. .mw-parser-output .verse_translation .translated{padding-left:2em}@media only screen and (max-width:43.75em){.mw-parser-output .verse_translation.wrap_when_small td{display:block;padding-left:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .verse_translation.wrap_when_small .translated{padding-left:0.5em}}, Ce qui nous mit plus en peine, fut la nouvelle que nous apprismes ds l'entre du Lac, sauoir: que les deputez par nostre Conducteur, qui deuoient conuoquer les Nations la Mer du Nord, et leur donner le rendez-vous pour nous y attendre, auoient est tuez l'Hiuer pass, d'une faon estonnante. See more. I don't don't value cultural pluralism. arent cryptids thing. By Christian Chiakulas, Contributor Writer, musician, activist, single father from Chicago. The use of the creature in horror stories . Though these misrepresentations of the wendigo beg for critical interrogation, the wendigo stories of Algonquian peoples offer a window into the endurance of cultural resources used to transmit significant moral values, and underscore the power of Native people using these stories to engage in social critique. "Why is indigenous culture suddenly more sacred than any other culture?". If an idea has merit, it doesn't need protecting. By Derrick Clifton. 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. "[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. No they fucking aren't. My intentions were pure, as were Rowling's, I imagine. [23], What caused us greater concern was the news that met us upon entering the Lake, namely, that the men deputed by our Conductor for the purpose of summoning the Nations to the North Sea, and assigning them a rendezvous, where they were to await our coming, had met their death the previous Winter in a very strange manner. For Indigenous peoples in Canada, cultural appropriation is rooted in colonization and ongoing oppression. We should talk about how Thor and Loki are cultural appropriation of Norwegian mythology. The people who get offended over it, on behalf of someone else, are pathetically absurd. Don't tell lies to those Indians." And we merely follow".[38]. In 1973 a character inspired by the wendigo appeared in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Privacy Policy. Even in the face of ongoing cultural appropriation and erasure, wendigo stories are but one reflection of the survivance, wisdom, and brilliance of Native peoples. Dont like someones fetish? 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 . So some may be fine if you draw it but don't say its full name. Funny how it's only creatures from certain culture's folklore people get pissy over and not others. Even in the face of ongoing cultural appropriation and erasure, wendigo stories are but one reflection of the survivance, wisdom, and brilliance of Native peoples. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Sacred creatures? You're just making up a story. In another unaware move made by a YG artist, mega girl group BLACKPINK, were recently called out for cultural appropriation. J.K. Rowling's Cultural Appropriation Should Be A Lesson To White Writers Native Americans shouldn't be a "niche," and neither should women, LGBT people, or people of color. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 As a concept, the wendigo can apply to any person, idea, or movement infected by a corrosive drive toward self-aggrandizing greed and excessive consumption, traits that sow disharmony and destruction if left unchecked. The windigo, however, continues to seek revenge for this attempted scholarly execution by periodically duping unsuspecting passers-by, like psychiatrists, into believing that windigo psychosis not only exists but that a psychiatrist could conceivably encounter a patient suffering from this disorder in his or her practice today! Payals, or anklets, are meant to symbolize the arrival of a wife into her husband's house. So for some woke culture types it's considered a form of disrespectful cultural appropriation to make your own Halloween monster or character based on a wendigo. Dollightful's Wendigo Doll - Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? creators (a large majority being white) . Cultural appropriation by a dominant culture is harmful to underrepresented cultures because it reduces cultural significance and reinforces double standards. The Wendigos are the ultimate antagonists of Until Dawn. 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. 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. 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). This term only applies to a . New replies are no longer allowed. Don't miss a beat. This form of cultural appropriation is deeply intertwined with systemic and institutionalized racism rooted in capitalism. So, thanks, Dave! It's also linked to the many cultural taboos against these negative actions and behaviors. Cookie Notice [20], Among the Assiniboine, the Cree, and the Ojibwe, a satirical ceremonial dance is sometimes performed during times of famine to reinforce the seriousness of the wendigo taboo. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. Differing thinking is one of the cherished assets of democratic cultural pluralism. I think if a Native American person were telling me not to speak about wendgos or name them out loud near them, I would comply, as I don't want to unreasonably make someone feel anxious or uncomfortable. The Wendigo is by far one of the most mysterious and feared monsters in not only in the Algonquian folklore which it is attributed to, but also other . But if they actually did, I would pick another monster from the giant Pandemonium one has at one's choice. The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation; its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. Western capitalistic expansion and cultural appropriation (see . They are seen as malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural beings of great spiritual power . 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 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. Twenty-five miles away from emergency food supplies at a Hudson's Bay Company post, Swift Runner butchered and ate his wife and five remaining children. The concept of cultural appropriation began well enough, but just like everything else woke culture political correctness, it's gone way too far. No cultural appropriation in it, I promise! Representation in media is crucially important, something I have become very aware of as I've grown older and consumed more entertainment. DeSanti points to the 1999 horror film Ravenous as an illustration of this argument equating "the cannibal monster" to "American colonialism and manifest destiny". Some of this critique was rightly directed at literal cultural theft . That, I would affirm, is truly and literally cannibalism, and it is cannibalism accompanied by no spiritually meaningful ceremony or ritual., More than a commentary on the life of wendigo stories amongst his own people, Forbes deploys the metaphor of the wendigo to advance nothing less than a critique of civilization at large and describes the violence that he argues lies at its foundation as one driven by a kind of wendigo psychosis. 5. People don't get offended on scotland's behalf over the common depiction of their national animal as a rainbow farting fairy horse. It also seems to me to be unacceptable for authors to be unable to use one (or more) of those characters/symbols/etc. cultural identity theft, many would argue that cultural appropriation is inevitable in a melting pot like the United States. And they are worth considering including in ones classroom teaching. Is it okay for a white person to celebrate the culture. And you know what? 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. A nice summary is found here: The concept of cultural appropriation emerged in academia in the late 1970s and 1980s as part of the scholarly critique of colonialism. The Cambridge Dictionary, defines it as "the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture."And a lot of times, it is marked by a dominant culture taking from one that has been colonized and oppressed . (Not to put too fine a point on it, but you should totally go buy my novella. Tell us about it in the comments. In an as-yet unpublished urban fantasy novel of mine, I basically did the same thing; I made a supporting character an Acheri, completely bungling any semblance of folkloric accuracy in my attempt to come up with a "cool" and "unorthodox" monster. That's an easy solution and I still keep my freedom to create. When I got over my initial bout of self-defensiveness, I realized I was totally wrong. [47], Other creatures based on the legend, or named for it, appear in various films and television shows, including Dark Was the Night, Ravenous , The Lone Ranger (2013),[48] and the 2021 film Antlers by Scott Cooper, where the wendigo is portrayed as a deer-like creature with a glowing heart that moves from person to person with a never ending hunger. It was created by Mayuki . (the proceeding statement may contain some levels of sarcasm.). Cultural appropriation is perhaps the stupidest example of the stupidest concept , political correctness , that has ever been argued. In 1661, The Jesuit Relations reported: Watch popular content from the following creators: Thorn (@shr00mermaid), Thorn (@shr00mermaid), Nuoance(@nuoance), MattHatterPlays(@matthatterplays), Aidan Mattis(@theaidanmattis) . Oh yeah, Marvel. 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. I would not care much about what a statistically likely personally unrelated "woke" thinks about what Algonquin descendants may think about it, but only what Algonquin descendants. Mistgod Edited Oct 11, 2020 Hobbyist Traditional Artist Apparently, wendigos are sacred creatures from several indigenous cultures. 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. They are afflicted with neither lunacy, hypochondria, nor frenzy; but have a combination of all these species of disease, which affects their imaginations and causes them a more than canine hunger. In, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 02:58. "[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. Thus I support Scott Cooper, the director of the forthcoming (hopefully by next spring) ANTLERS, in his efforts to seek out consultation from Indian advisors when making his movie, which features a Wendigo. Beyond Forbes, other Native American thinkers have also used wendigo stories to present critical perspectives on various social problems and call for their resolution. One example is Ojibwe activist Winona LaDuke who has called for a decisive shift away from what she has termed Wendigo Economics for the sake of the health of the natural world. [26][27] During the winter of 1878, Swift Runner and his family were starving, and his eldest son died. You dont have to be French to love the Phantom of the Opera. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled. Anyone who lives in a place that is exposed to more than . I always thought these are what cannibals are turning into. . They got Thor and Loki all wrong and what the hell? 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. So yeah, if anyone could offer any insight/information, thatd be appreciated. Your culture and entertainment cheat-sheet. Ojibwe scholar Dr. Brady Santi has developed this guide for teachers who would like to teach students about her communitys unique belief systems with an emphasis on the wendigo as it appears in popular films. Ten years later, "cultural appropriation" is no longer an obscure academic term . These bonnets are symbols of warrior achievements and are the equivalent of military medals. If I can draw my own version of a Chinese dragon, or my own version of angel or demon, I can draw a wendigo. wendigo appropriationplymouth township mi police scanner. White authors should be able to write about non-white people. 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. . Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe. I agree with some of it to a point, but disagree with most of it. In their most recent music video for 'How You Like That', fans spotted a Ganesha idol kept on the ground, in the background of the music video. It will survive on it's own. I'm all for respecting other people's cultures, but straight up trying to tell people they can't respectfully depict a fictional creature because it's ,,stealing" or ,,evoking the creature" or something is just way too overboard. In addition to characterizing individual people who exhibit destructive tendencies, the wendigo can also describe movements and events with similarly negative effects. Film, 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. I'm just struggling to understand the significance of it. A classic example is wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet (see the 80s band The Village People). 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. Wendigo) from its cultural context and its movement by non-Indigenous creators (a large majority being white) into a space of the horror genre that displays negative or antagonistic qualities. Nitty gritty. He ultimately was granted a pardon but died three days later in jail before receiving the news of this pardon. [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. It too is cannibalistic; however, it is characterized as enlightened with ancestral insights. Im glad, because I dont believe that it is. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. 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. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Monsters like Wendigos often represent, in the imprecise language of emotion, a common cultural fear. 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. After thinking about it some more, I understand that its a kind of It was okay for these kids to pretend to be Indians but not for these kids to actually be Indians thing but I saw someone claim that it was contributing to colonisation and the death of death of their culture and that felt a bit strong. 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. Im just struggling to understand the significance of it. As a concept, wendigo can apply to situations other than some Native American-European relations. During a panel at YES! Archived post. If ANYTHING is disrespectful to woke (does not exist in the real world) culture then I say: DO IT - AND DO IT BIG!!! Okay, dont anybody get me wrong. and our In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. No one said it were exceptional that way. Windigo psychosis may well be the most perfect example of the construction of an Aboriginal mental disorder by the scholarly professions, and its persistence dramatically underscores how constructions of the Aboriginal by these professions have, like Frankenstein's monster, taken on a life of their own. The deaths of tens of millions of Jews, Slavs, etc., at the hands of the Nazis, the deaths of tens of millions of blacks in slavery days, the deaths of up to 30 million or more Indians in the 1500s, the terribly short life spans of Mexican Indian farm workers in the US, and of Native Americans generally today, the high death rates in the early industrial centers among factory workers, and so on, all clearly attest to the fact that the wealthy and exploitative literally consume the lives of those that they exploit. [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. To Helheimr with it! minority cultures deserve a higher level of protection from being put on display than mainstream cultures," Nah, https://forum.deviantart.com/community/complaints/2612415/, https://www.deviantart.com/comments/18/2611618/4878314665, (, literally "goat-sucker") is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas, with the first sightings reported in Puerto Rico. The novel describes its primary antagonist, a rapist whose violent crimes desecrate a sacred site, as a wendigo who must be killed because he threatens the reservation's safety. appropriation, or - as I argue - misappropriation, of the Wendigo as a 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. 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. 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. 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. You dont have to be of Afro-Caribbean descent to talk about, write about, or make movies about zombies. My basic rule is simple: be respectful. In my blind quest to represent everyone, all I did was reinforce the problem. MORTUI VELOCES SUNT! But I do notice that Eyre stopped short of saying colonialization is the origin for the Wendigo legend. Only those entitled to them should wear them. Whether you understand it fully or not, cultural appropriation is a real thing and a real problem. Eat what you want to eat, tattoo yourself with whatever you want to tattoo yourself with, wear what you want to wear, and let those ove Continue Reading More answers below 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. 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. 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. In theory, art and other cultural products are created for the. to tell a new tale. I think every idea can be taken to an extreme and distorted to the point where it is ridiculous. [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? Wendigo) from its cultural conte xt and its movement by non-Indigenous . According to Professor Chris Schedler, the figure of the wendigo represents "consuming forms of exclusion and assimilation" through which groups dominate other groups. 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. I'm just glad I learned this lesson from her before actually getting my book published. This inspired an entire thread -->, Sucks to be these artists I guess. Cultural appropriation refers to the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression and doesn't respect their original meaning or give credit to their source. It springs from the well of the collective human unconscious, the communal soul. Since the concept of a wendigo stems from First Nations folklore, maybe someone making a cute little doll of this evil spirit figure was seen as inappropriate or making fun of their culture? The Indians asked the Windigo if there was any fat on them. With teepees, Im not sure I get it. 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. And I accept that the Wendigo can symbolize for them that exploitation. If I don't, I'll never know what it is I'm so angry about! In the 21st century, cultural appropriationlike globalizationisn't just inevitable; it's potentially positive. Privacy Policy. 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. It was already here. In addition to denoting a cannibalistic monster from certain traditional folklore, some Native Americans also understand the wendigo conceptually. I believe that the Wendigo is far older than that, far more primal. identity. [43] These works set the template for later portrayals in popular culture, at times even replacing the Native American lore. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(443401, 'c61f3219-a9f3-4b0c-95ea-f614a80c184b', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Pictured above: A portion of the poster for the film Antlers (Fox Searchlight, 2021). These things feel formulaic, quantitative, mathematicbalancing equations and subtraction. It really depends who you talk to.