In the traditional Algonquian world, the windigo is the spirit of selfishness, which can transform a person into a murderous cannibal. Native peoples over a vast stretch of North America--from Virginia in the south to Labrador in the north, from Nova Scotia in the east to Minnesota in the west believed in the windigo, not only as a myth told in the darkness of winter, but also as a real danger. Drawing on oral narratives, fur traders' journals, trial records, missionary accounts, and anthropologists' field notes, this book is a revealing glimpse into indigenous beliefs, cross-cultural communication, and embryonic colonial relationships. It also ponders the recent resurgence of the windigo in popular culture and its changing meaning in a modern context. --Provided by publisher.
Physical Descriptionprint 221 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm
EditionFirst U.S. edition.
PublisherVictoria : Heritage House Publishing, 2015.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
The Windigo in Traditional and Contemporary Narratives -- "More than a canine hunger": Frontier Encounters with the Windigo, 1636-1916 -- "Stunned, teased, and tormented": Missionaries and the Windigo, 1818-1960 -- Prisons, Mental Asylums, and Residential Schools.