Windigo
windigo (also wendigo, wiendigo) In North American Indian beliefs, a dangerous, cannibalistic being. The Al gon quian say it roams about forests, devouring hapless human beings. Hunters who become lost and are forced to eat human flesh become windigos. The Objibwa consider it to be an ice monster who can possess individuals and cause them to eat their own family members. The windigo sickness is the worst type of psychic sickness that can befall a shaman, and can be brought on by egotistical abuse of shamanic powers or loss of control in spirit possession.
White settlers in Minnesota regarded the windigo of the Ojibwa as a DEATH OMEN Ghost; the superstition was prevalent in some parts of the state as late as the early 20th century. The windigo was described as a 15-foottall being in dazzling white, with a star in the middle of its forehead. It roamed the forests, swamps and prairies. Its appearance, in either day or night, was inevitably followed by a death in the family. See Banshee; Death Omens.
FURTHER READING:
- Grim, John A. The Shaman: Patterns of Religious Healing Among the Ojibway Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1983.
The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits – Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – September 1, 2007