Then this brown, slimy, serpent or eel like body sloshed around and went into the water. As soon as the light hit it launched backwards off of the tree. The legend of the wendigo has long been associated with real-life problems like insatiable greed, selfishness, and violence. What is going on behind these reports and others like them, and are they even truly encounters with the legendary Wendigo at all? Wendigo is a Native American name for a Winter Cannibal Giant in northern North America. Then things got bizarre rather quickly, of which the witness says: I remember we both pulled out our flashlights and shown it in the direction we felt the sounds were coming from but that is what was so weird. i have also lived in wisconson half my life and i only know the hodag, Your email address will not be published. I'd love to hear more about this encounter you had. Their origins also have some variations, but the main cause according to the majority of traditions, is that humans who were overcome by greed or hunger, or those who resorted to cannibalism to stay alive, were at risk of becoming Wendigos themselves. The local tension leading up to such accusations may even be comparable to the fear that preceded the Salem witch trials. Ever take a good look at a sturgeon before? One of the most famous cases of someone allegedly being possessed by a Wendigo comes from 1878, when in Saskatchewan, Canada, a Cree fur trapper by the name of Swift Runner claimed that he had been possessed by insidious dark forces and had become a Wendigo after killing and eating his family during a harsh winter without food. The 5 Hottest Majors at the University of Wisconsin Right Now, Our Wisconsin I Often Hear That: I'll Share Some With You, TikTok and Its Strange Proliferation of Mysterious Accounts of Skinwalkers, A 3,500-Year-Old Frozen Mummified Bear Found in Siberia. 2. This monster comes to us courtesy of the Algonquin-speaking people of the oft-froze . And on the far side of the stream from my house there are large trees. A perfect shot. Citation: The Driftless Reader, by Curt Meine and Keene Keeler, p. 80, my grand father always called it Tawacunchukdah translates roughly to spirt lake. In modern times, such beliefs and traditions have faded, their traditions replaced by the inexorable march of science and the rational. Two consecutive notes with roughly a three to four second gap and then two more consecutive notes. Would love your thoughts, please comment. . Originating from the myths and legends of the Native American Algonquian tribes based in the northern forests of Nova Scotia, the East Coast of Canada, and Great Lakes Region of Canada, the Wendigo truly holds a place amongst the most frightening creatures of Native lore, and with good reason. It also has historical significance for many Indigenous communities. and our What was going on here? Primary Editor: Jia-Rui Cook. Answer (1 of 18): I have read all of your comments, This creature has been part of Native American truth for hundreds of years. Cherokee Indians and the settlers who followed them passed on stories of sightings around the Burke County mountain, located in the vast Pisgah National Forest about 60 miles east of Asheville. So, Wendigo in my neighborhood, lets not meet. When I shot, you could see that I shot low and I heard something like my arrow hitting something. There, lumberman Eugene Shepard wrote in the local newspaper, The New North, that he had personally captured a hodag and he drew an illustration of a bull-horned carnivore, with thick, curving spikes down its back. I Often Hear That: I'll Share Some With You, TikTok and Its Strange Proliferation of Mysterious Accounts of Skinwalkers, A 3,500-Year-Old Frozen Mummified Bear Found in Siberia. The case of Wendigo psychosis spreading among the Algonquin peoples and the missionary travelers among them is a famously recorded example of appearances of Wendigos in the world. But Wisconsins most famous hodag was born in 1893 in Rhinelander. It was all very unsettling, indeed, but it was about to graduate into the horrifying. She had told me that before leaving a terrifically gaunt figure had been watching us across the river bank, and that it had noticed her and ran away on all four at a fictional speed she shakily said, staying quite frightened after. According to ethnohistorian Nathan Carlson, its also been said that the wendigo has large, sharp claws and massive eyes like an owl. Once he has infiltrated their minds, he can turn them into wendigos as well, instilling upon them a similar lust for human flesh. Devils Lake is actually called Day-wa-kun-chunk (holy lake or Sacred Lake) by the Ho-Chunk. " In Ontario, though not a province regarded to shelter "Bigfoot" as much as Alberta and British Columbia are, there are . In the spirit of Halloween, here are some of the more notableand . Wendigo or not, it is very creepy, to say the least. WENDIGO Sighting Near Pikes Peak, Colorado? And Im not really to athletic but Im not mega weak. For being an insatiable predator, the wendigo is definitely not the largest or most muscular beast out there. In certain cultures wendigo are depicted as humanoid, but with pale skin like a corpse. He uses this skill to lure people in and draw them away from civilization. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. I just kept thinking about what I saw. It was standing on its hind legs but had antlers or some type of tall ears like a bunny and its arms and legs were abnormally long and stretched to the bone. The earliest description of the Wendigo was that of similar appearance to a corpse, with a skeleton-like, thin body with gray skin . Few reports of the creature have surfaced since then. What Is A Wendigo? He bet against the hotel owner and won the hotel. Yet, looking at some scattered accounts in modern times, it seems that people are still having harrowing encounters with alleged Wendigos, and here we will look at a selection of some of these. I recently received a distressed email from a man named David W. who, along with his wife, had an encounter with something they could not explain (maybe a wendigo?) Mississippi: Mercritis This story is an odd myth it's about a disease! The first thought that comes to mind is the classic image of the Wendigo. He described it as the sound it would make if someone were dragging a heavy animal or body through rough brush/woods, and he had a feeling of dread and heaviness, like he couldnt look away and was being honed in on by something. So I started walking towards my house which is would mean I would have to walk uphill. It's a bony, emaciated beast with desiccated gray skin and hollow, sunken eyes. There are many different stories associated with this mystic being. Wendigo is most often represented as a forest monster tall, insane, and violent. Sightings: date back to tribal indian days and now are seen by travelers, hikers and other people in the forests where it is seen. They had just moved to Two Rivers a few months ago and werent familiar with the area. Green stars represent the specific location where the sighting occurred. What lips it had were tattered and . It didnt make a sound, and the way it jumped and moved was unlike any animal Ive ever seen. Biology, nature, and cryptozoology still remain Brent Swancers first intellectual loves. The Ridgeway Ghost story begins at Sampsons Saloon in Ridgeway, where a peddler is said to have stopped in for a drink and was never seen again. Thought it was just caught on some rocks or a turtle got the hook. A freelance writer and operator of the Blue Valley Gardens produce farm outside Mount Horeb, Susan previously wrote an award-winning newspaper column and has authored two books. The Mysterious Men in Black and Their Equally Weird Cars, Perfectly Preserved Remains of an Ice Age Puppy Reveal Its Surprising Last Meal, Bizarre Accounts of Firefights and Shoot-Outs With Bigfoot and Bigfoot-like Creatures, The Time a Sea Monster Attacked a U.S. Navy Destroyer. Since that night I havent had any other direct encounter with it, except one event that Im not sure is related but elicited that same feeling of being watched and almost felt. All the way back it felt like somebody was trailing us alongside the trail, keeping up with us as we walked very fast., Nipissing Swamp sand dunes. At the turn of the 20th century, the Algonquian tribes blamed many unsolved disappearances of people on wendigo attacks. An oxen trip from Milwaukee to Galena, Illinois, took five days back then, and along the road, saloons and inns sprang up to feed and shelter the miners, and to separate them from their earnings. The wendigo is an native american story that's meant to warn against wondering off in the winter and out of the fear of cannibalism. The Highway 18/151 bypass around Ridgeway long had a view down a valley to a dilapidated house that was rumored to be the home of the ghost. I have heard what sounds like a little girl calling for help out in those woods before. Wisconsin Downtowns: Eau Claire, Green Bay, La Crosse & Oshkosh, Visiting Eagle River Throughout the Seasons, Its All About Oulu: Past, Present & Future, Discovering the Hidden Gems of Wisconsin with Best Western, The History & Legends of Jefferson County. The evil being is associated with winter and starvation, and appears to feast on humans. 6 Creepy Cryptids That Call Wisconsin Home. These locals would encounter Rocky by their boats and along the shore where they would be traumatized once sighting the incognito beast hissing at them. Stories, Sightings & Experiences ; Wendi-go in NE Pennsylvania? Wendigo accounts have continued on sporadically into modern times, and there may even be people devoted to fighting them, but none who have been so high profile as Jack Fiddler, and part of the traditions of these beasts died with him. According to Legends of the Nahanni Valley, a Native author and ethnographer named Basil H. Johnston once described the wendigo in his masterwork The Manitous as such: The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. RSS. Join MU Plus+ and get exclusive shows and extensions & much more! Somewhere in Montcalm County is the town of Amble, Michigan, population approx. Behind all of the houses on this side of the street is woods, and some of the trees wrap around between this house and the neighboring house coming back towards home. But no matter which version sounds the most plausible, this is obviously not a creature youd want to run into on a hike. Jack Fiddler and his brother made no real attempt to hide the fact that it had been them, and that they had killed her because her family had asked them too, even helped them, as she had been transforming into a Wendigo. That feeling is undeniable once you are familiar with it. It seemed so big I felt it in the ground, David noted. It kept stepping to the side and I could see what looked like to be a shoulder and a really long arm, David said, but it looked black. I live in a rural suburb in SE WI near a line of woods and ponds. He said he was listening for about a minute and thought he caught a glimpse of something very tall near the tree line. Now as far as I know there is no family history on either side for hallucinations, and even of there were, this would have been my only experience with one my entire life, and it's been almost a full decade since this happened. The intervention of a shaman was typically sought as a last resort, when a person was obviously in the final throes of fully turning, during which they would exhibit delirium, insanity, potent nightmares, the uncontrollable urge to run naked through the woods, and of course an irresistible need to eat human flesh. NASA's Photos From Mars: Don't Tell Me the Red Planet Wasn't Once a Thriving World! In recent years numerous wendigo sightings have been reported in Wisconsin. If you are interested yourself then maybe you'll have to take a trip over to Bray Road at night and see for yourself. Basically don't be a selfish idiot in . Within the region, Fiddler was nearly legendary as a powerful shaman and healer, attributed with vast supernatural abilities such as the power to shapeshift, conjure up animal spirits, chase away evil spirits, deflect spells, and many others, but he was most well known as a Wendigo hunter. About a quarter mile from the road where their vehicle was parked, David and his wife walked out of the forest into a field. This supernatural creature stands 15 feet tall, severely thin and gaunt, with glowing eyes, long yellow fangs, an overly long tongue, and matted hair. It felt like longer but it was only a few seconds before this creature jumped straight up in the air (and I mean straight up, not forward) and bounded to the back of the house in 3 large strides. Inside my bag I had a six inch fixed blade that I always carried and thought I would feel a bit more comfortable with it in my hand more than just my flashlight. ), Use the form below to submit photos and videos for use on the Wisconsin Frights website and social media. In this way, it seemed as if they meant to make an example of Fiddler and his brother, and although there was little cooperation among the tribe members and few willing to testify against the brothers, they were still found guilty. The Cryptid Zoo: Windigo (or Wendigo) . 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