The Legend of the Wendigo Cryptid

The Wendigo is a cryptid shrouded in mystery and fear. It has been described as a creature of pure evil, an ancient spirit with an insatiable hunger for human flesh.

It has been talked about for centuries as a fearsome entity that lurks in the forests of North America, particularly in the Great Lakes region.

For many Native American tribes, the Wendigo was a creature of immense power, a spirit of winter and famine whose appetite could never be satisfied. Legends tell of a powerful, man-eating creature with glowing eyes, sharp claws, and a taste for human flesh.

Wendigo, The Malevolent Spirit

Have you ever felt a piercing cold in your heart?

Who is calling your name from deep in the woods?

What monster’s silhouette walks on two feet and has giant antlers?

What is up, Bizarros? This week our paranormal podcast hikes into the deep dark woods in search of the Wendigo.

What Does A Wendigo Look Like?

According to Native American Author Basil Johnston

“The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation; its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. With its bones pushing out over its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into the sockets; the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody… Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, death and corruption.”

Some also say the Wendigo has sharp claws and massive eyes like an owl.

Others say it’s more like a sinking skeleton with gray skin.

Some legends say the Wendigo has a frozen heart and has become so hungry in its thirst for flesh it has bitten, chewed, and eaten its own lips off.

Some say they are giant creatures standing 10 feet tall.

Some versions describe the Wendigo as having animal-like ears, horns like a deer, and sunken or glowing eyes.

They are all said to have razor-sharp teeth.

The Wendigo is said to have superhuman strength and stamina. This allows them to stalk their prey through the woods and devour them.

They can move so fast they are like the wind and, like elves, can travel through deep snow without sinking.

History of the Algonquins

We can’t understand the Wendigo without understanding a little about the people who first told the legend.

The Algonquin people most notably lived along the eastern, northern coast and central continental coasts, the Great Lakes. The Algonquins first lived in Quebec, Ottawa, Ontario.

According to anthropological evidence, the Algonquins lived in units of several hundred led by a chief. They would move with the seasons, and they changed their dwellings based on the weather as well.

The Algonquian People were fishermen and hunters. They would use spears, bows, and arrows.

The Algonquin people practiced a religion that had its faith in the spirits based on the earth. Midewiwin, or path of the heart, is what this traditional religion was called.

The Lore Of The Wendigo

“Among many Native peoples, the Wendigo remains a warning against greed. “

~ ELIZABETH MCCAULEY the backstory.

Part of the reason the Wendigo story has been spread is that there is not just one Algonquin tribe. There are many tribes that fall under the name that is very spread out over a large area of Canadian area.

Kind of like the telephone game. Information spreads by word of mouth, and the legend itself shifts and changes.

According to how stuff work.com, a wendigo baits its prey by making sheiks in the forest and attempting to mimic human voices to lure people closer.

You’ll see in some stories that part of the lore is that the Wendigo can actually mimic the faces and the voices of the ones you love.

It’s important to note that the Wendigo is an evil spirit. It is a creature that lives in the cold of the woods or a spirit that can possess and mutilate those that become ensnared in it.

Wendigos come from greed and fear of cannibalism. It’s taboo amongst the Algonquins to eat people. (No shit. It’s kind of taboo for 98% of humans to not eat people.)

The fear that came from hunting parties became lost in the cold snows of the north, and all they had was human flesh. That’s when the Wendigo spirit would attach itself.

Where Did the Wendigo Come From?

The First Wendigo Theory

From TBS news

“The tale goes, the first-ever Wendigo was once a lost hunter. During a brutally cold winter, the man’s intense hunger drove him to cannibalism.

After feasting on another human’s flesh, he transformed into a crazed man-beast, roaming the forest in search of more people to eat.”

The Second Wendigo Theory

“In another version of the story, the first Wendigo is said to have been a warrior who made a deal with the Devil. In order to save his tribe, he gave up his soul and was transformed into a Wendigo.”

Historic Encounters With The Cannibalistic Spirit

According to Raw Vision

One of the first and most powerful stories about Wendigo is about Swift Runner.

A member of the Cree nation. He was married and had 6 children

In the early 1800s, when Swift Runner lived, Europeans had already eradicated the wild buffalo from the area in an attempt to drive the indigenous people off their land.

Unfortunately, Swift Runner also fell under the spell of habitual whiskey and tobacco use.

He had been causing a lot of trouble in his village. And thus, he was struck out of his home.

He took his mother, brother, wife, and 6 children out into the dead of winter to hunt for food.

In the spring, the only one to return was Swift Runner.

He had said that the others had starved, but he didn’t look emaciated enough to have come close to the same fate.

He was placed in custody and was told to take the authorities to the campsite.

He did, and when he did, he confessed to killing, cooking, and eating his whole family.

He claimed he was possessed by a Wendigo, but that didn’t save him. He was hung for his crimes at fort Saskatchewan.

Encounters With the Evil Spirit

Reddit Wendigo Encounter.

I’ve been debating on sharing this story with anyone outside of my small circle of people that were there. But I want to share my experience in hopes that it saves someone’s life or gives an understanding of what someone else has experienced.

Late Fall 2010: in northern Canada, I went deep into the wilderness with my father and my eldest brother to hunt for moose. We left in the early morning, just before sunrise, trying to cover as much distance as possible before nightfall.

We traveled winding rivers and had to repeatedly portage over rapids all day; we decided to set up camp just over halfway to our destination.

My father figured that we’d make the rest of the journey tomorrow. Well, when everyone bedded down for the night, I decided to go grab some firewood and relieve myself down by the bank of the river, just out of reach of the light from the campfire.

Out from the tree line (about 15 yards away), I could hear rustling in the bushes; I watched the area where I heard the noise and focused on that spot.

I felt kind of funny(dizzy/lightheaded), and I could smell this putrid stink, like old milk or rotten food.

Then I saw the trees start to morph and move ever so slightly and began to take the shape of a head and have slight facial features.

My eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and along the tree line, I could hear this voice coming from there.

I recognized it; the voice sounded like one of my relatives who had recently passed. The face took shape of my relative. “Hello,” they said, “I’ve missed you; come see me” I smiled and stepped forward a bit but stopped to analyze the situation.

My relatives face stopped smiling and became emotionless; the skin began to turn pale and peel away.

Chunks of flesh from their cheeks began to fall away, and I felt shock and fear overwhelm my body.

I couldn’t make sense of it at all, so I started to back away and make my way to camp, I didn’t realize at the time that I had been walking towards the voice, and I was further away from the firelight.

The voice became angry and began shouting at me to “come here” so I turned to run away but as I looked back one more time I saw the most disgusting thing I had ever seen,

it was rotting flesh on gnawed bone, caved-in eyes, and a hollow chest cavity; this humanoid creature was tall and super thin.

I ran as fast as I could, trying to yell for help, but the fear made my voice quiet and raspy,

I ran along the river bank, and I could hear the heavy breaths and the stomping feet from this thing right behind me,

I made it to the top of the river bank, but it grabbed a hold of my leg as I jumped up. I gripped and tore the grass, trying to lift myself, and yelled as loud as I could. Then finally, my voice came back, and I yelled that “someone has my leg!”

My brother woke up and ran over to where I was, then he pulled me up and took me over to the fire.

I was terrified, trying to explain what I saw and that it looked like my relative but not.

I was trying to convince them that I wasn’t seeing things, but my brother nodded his head and said, “I saw it too, I know.”

That solidified it; he acknowledged that it was real. We stayed up all night after that, the rifles loaded and close by. We packed up when the sun was coming up and went back home. We haven’t shared that story with anyone out of fear of being labeled as crazy or liars.

I’ve had nightmares and couldn’t sleep for months afterward; I would see things/dark figures looking into my window or hear whispers when I was walking home at night.

Eventually, I was seeing this dark figure daily, I went to medicine men/shamans for help, but I’ve learned that the ceremonies only relieve it temporarily.

Friends have given me everything from “protection pouches” to certain crystals.

I found out that there’s a strong possibility that I encountered a “wendigo”.

I learned that if you encounter one and survive, it attaches itself to you like a parasite.

I learned that it could only do this if it touches you, which it did. Ever since that night,

I’ve been on edge when I enter any forest or wooded area, which sucks because I loved being outdoors / hunting and in nature. Now I always feel like I need to keep my back against something when I’m out in the wild.

Anyways, make your own conclusions about this.

I’ve paid a price for being an ignorant child to the stories of old. They are real, I can attest to that.

Stay safe, everyone.

The Second Wendigo Encounter 

A couple of years ago, I live in the northern part of Michigan, and I used to live with my ex-boyfriend’s family. They’ve always believed in things like the Wendigos, as they are native and also lived on native lands.

I never really believed them until one night, I saw one.

My ex and I were driving back from a party in the next town over, and we finally got to the road his house was on(which is a dead end). We were probably 150 feet away from the end of the road when I spotted what I thought was a deer; I got excited because I love deer, but when we got closer(about 50ft away), I could see it was NOT what I thought.

It was about 7ft tall and standing on its hind legs, its head looked larger, and its snout stretched,

The fur was matted, and chunks of it were missing, you could see its rib cage it was so skinny, and it had almost human hands with claws a foot long.

But the most terrifying thing about it was the way it turned its head and looked at us

its eyes beamed a bright yellow from the headlights hit them, and it just stood there looking at us.

I felt my whole body go cold as this thing stared at us, I couldn’t move or look away; the only thing I could say was, “what the f**k is that”

My ex eventually snapped out of it and put the jeep into reverse all the way back out of his road; we drove 70 back to the town we came from.

We ended up meeting up with my best friend, and I was telling her I saw something absolutely terrifying out by the house, and before I could explain what I saw, she explained it to a tee saying that she’s seen one passing the road we lived on before.

That really solidified that what my ex and I had seen was real. Living out there after that, we would only hear it running around the house, and we would see its eyes from the tree line; then I moved on and haven’t been back to that town since.

Is There An Evil Spirit That Lurks In the Woods?

What do you think, Bizarros?

Is there a monster that stands 10 feet tall trying to lure its victims into the woods?

Could there be a spirit, as told by Native Americans, that has an intense craving for human flesh?

Let us know in the comments if you find the Wendigo #believable.