Among eastern Canada’s Algonquin-speaking peoples, the Wendigo is a spirit personified by human suffering. The creature is described as hideously emaciated with deathly gray skin stretched over its elongated bones. Its milky, dead eyes constantly search for victims to rend and devour. When deprived of human flesh, the fiend ravenously gnaws at its own shredded lips, desperate to sate its hunger.
Wendigos are said to be the tormented spirits of those who were driven to cannibalism by famine, desperation, and frozen isolation. Most commonly, however, the Wendigo appears to his victim not to consume but to possess them. In doing so, the spirit installs its own ravenous suffering and cannibalistic tendencies into the host. Whether this condition is indeed caused by a supernatural entity or inspired by some psychological derangement, modern science has adopted a name for it: Wendigo Psychosis.
The chief characteristic of the disorder is a desperate and compulsive desire toward cannibalism. Those afflicted seem to rationalize cannibalism as being imperative to their survival. Typically, they perceive their circumstances as so hopelessly dire that cannibalism is the only option. Generally, this is not the case, and other, more wholesome options are usually readily available. Cases of Wendigo Psychosis are often associated with isolation under extreme winter conditions.
One of the earliest written accounts appears in 1661 from The Jesuit Relations, in which the missionaries reported an encounter with men that were “so ravenous for human flesh that they pounce upon women, children and even upon men, like veritable werewolves, and devour them voraciously, without being able to appease or glut their appetite-ever seeking fresh prey, and the more greedily the more they eat.” The account goes on to say that the affected men had to be killed as their condition could not be abated.
In the winter of 1878, the case of Swift Runner, a Cree trapper from Alberta, famously brought attention to the subject. When his son died from illness brought on by exposure, Swift Runner butchered his wife and remaining five children and consumed their bodies. The winter was particularly harsh. However, there was a Hudson Bay trading post within a reasonable distance. His situation was clearly not so dire that it required murder and cannibalism. He was later captured and confessed to his crimes, for which he was put to death.
Jack Fiddler was a Cree chief, medicine man, and self-professed Wendigo hunter who claimed to have killed 14 such creatures. In 1907, when his brother Joseph’s daughter-in-law fell under the sway of a Wendigo, his people called upon him to do his duty as Shaman. The Northwest Mounted Police were less than convinced of Jack Fiddler’s claims, and he and his brother were arrested and charged with murder. Jack Fiddler committed suicide while in custody, while Joe eventually stood trial. Despite passionate testimony by their village, Joseph was convicted and sentenced to death. Later, in 1909, he received a pardon, sadly coming too late as he had died only three days earlier.
Whether its cause is supernatural or psychological, Wendigo Psychosis is real. And, if you’re trapped in an isolated, frozen wasteland with a ravenous lunatic, does it really matter which?
Jason Roberts is a Seattle-based author noted for his acclaimed western horror series The Dead Wind Trilogy as well as other works of cosmic horror infused with historical fiction. His web-based series, Dark Distractions, examines paranormal mysteries, unexplained phenomena, and all things strange.
