Talk:Wendigo

Chenoo?

An early draft of this article raised the name "Chenoo" as an alias for Wendigo. I have no idea on what it could reference, and removed the mention. LuisDantas (talk) 11:00, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

Chenoo, Giwakwa, Witiko, and others

http://www.native-languages.org/chenoo.htm

"Chenoo" ("Chenook" (plural), "Chenu", Jenu, Cenu, Jinu, Cinu, Djenu, Chinu, Cheno, Chenu, Tsi-noo, and other variations) is an Algonquin and Mikmak version of pretty much the same monster, which in turn is a variation on the Old World vampire/ghoul: a former human possessed by an evil spirit after committing a horrible crime (cannibalism, gluttony, callous selfishness, or allowing someone else to starve to death usually fit that bill), which turns the criminal into a monstrous man-eating ice giant with a frozen heart.

"Giwakwa" (Kiwakw, Kewahqu, Kee-wakw, Kewok, Kiwahq, Kewoqu, Kewawkqu', Kewawkgu, Kiwakwe, Kiwákwe, Kiwahkw, Kiwa'kw, Keewaqu', Kee-wowk, Kiawahq', Keewahkwee, Asinikiwakw, A-senee-ki-wakw, Giwakweska, Giwakweskwa, or Kiwakweskwa (feminine form), Kiwahqiyik (plural), and other variations) is the Abanaki equivalent variation on the vampire/ghoul - the description is identical to Wendigo and Chenoo.

"Witiko" (Wihtikiw, Wihtikow, Wihtiko, Wiihtiko, Wetiko, Uitiko, Wiitiko, Weetigo, Witiku, Witigo, Weetekow, Weeteego, Wee-tee-go, Outikou, Outiko, Weediko, Wi'tiko, Weeghteko, Wehtigo, Wetigo, Wihtigo, Weh-ta-ko, Whit-Te-Co. Witikowak is a plural form (also spelled wihtikowak or wihtikiwak), and other variations) is the Cree version - the only difference seems to be that Witiko is supposed to be made entirely of ice, and dies when it melts.

In some versions of the Windigo/Wendigo legend, the human body is frozen into the ice-giant's body where its heart should be (instead of a heart of ice), and killing the human will kill the giant. Sometimes, there are stories about the human "heart" being rescued from its frozen prison, and restored to humanity.

Cherokee and Iroquois stories have a similar creature, "Stone-Coats" (Thunenhyarhen; Ronongwaca; Otneyarheh, Ot-nea-yar-heh, Ot-ne-yar-heh, Ot-ne-yar-hed, Atnayalho, Atn'yalhu, Atenenyarhu; Genosgwa, Gennonsgwa, Genonskwa, Genonsgwa, Ge-no-sqwa, Ge-no'sgwa, Genonska; Strendu; Ganehwas, Nvyunuwi, Nvyvunuwi, Nuyunuwi, Nûñ'yunu'wï, and others), which sometimes show similar characteristics to Wendigo, depending on the storyteller, but might be a different monster: they're a little more often described as a giant twice as tall as a human, covered in stone-hard scales, who enjoys hunting and eating humans in winter. They sometimes get the same humans-who-commit-cannibalism backstory and heart-of-ice description that Wendigo and its variants get, but seem to be more commonly regarded as monsters who were never men, but always flesh-eaters.

The Y.Whateley Giant Sloth Cryptozoology Theory: The same basic story seems to be wide-spread enough that I'm sure that cryptozoologists might surely have a lot of fun speculating on whether these giants were real animals, driven out of the cold and starvation of winter to feast on human victims they would otherwise avoid. The Stone-Coats in particular seem to get descriptions that occasionally attribute them with bear-like faces and large hands or claws in addition to the stony coats/hides that give them their names - if I were to play the cryptozoology game, I think I might suggest the giant sloth, which went extinct in North America only 11,000 years ago, shortly following the arrival of humans and a change in climate for the colder, and whose skin appears to have exhibited "osteoderms" (bony deposits that would have given the giant sloth a tough, "stony" hide), as a possible real-life template for this bogeyman. (I doubt I'm the first person to have thought of this, but I'm too lazy to look around and see for myself who else might have suggested it.) The standing height of the largest giant sloths would easily put them at the twice-as-tall-as-a-man height attributed to Stone-Coats (actually, the largest giant sloths would be as much as three times taller than humans!) Smaller sloth species surviving today generally eat tender shoots, buds, and leaves for the majority of their diet, but have been observed eating insects and small animals as well - to me, it doesn't seem too outlandish to theorize that a giant sloth, with its heavier nutritional requirements, might not be driven to eating mammals, maybe even humans, if driven to extremity by especially cold winters. Surviving smaller species of sloths have strange little cries, a sound somewhere between the hooting of owls and the crying of human babies; I wonder what their giant cousins might have sounded like, and what unearthly sounds they might have made in the frozen night of an unexplored New World? Compared to the outlandish and alien origins of many Lovecraftian monsters, this explanation might seem a bit mundane and lacking in the weirdness you should expect from a monster in a Call of Cthulhu game - perhaps it might even seem anything but scary, but try saying that while alone in a frozen wilderness by night, when you are awakened to find a starving 12-20' tall armored and icicle-covered Great Beast ice-giant with the face of a bear and monstrous claws tearing into your teepee or hunting cabin for a midnight snack!

Ywhateley (talk) 18:16, 18 March 2017 (UTC)