Creature of Legend

The Wendigo is a creature from Algonquin lore. Certainly not anything you want to bump into on a trail. They are said to devour humans to survive harsh winters. The Algonquin once lived along the Atlantic Coast and the Great Lakes Region. However, Wendigo-like creatures are also found in the legends of other First Nation peoples, including the Algonquian and Iroquois. Amongst these peoples, a creature known as the Stonecoat bears similarities to the Wendigo.

Roughly translated, the word ‘Wendigo’ (also spelled Windigo and Windego) means ‘the evil spirit that devours mankind’. Another translation, said to be made by a German explorer around 1860, equates the word ‘Wendigo’ with ‘cannibal’. Wendigoag are said to have an insatiable hunger. No matter how much they eat, they cannot be satisfied.


This hunger is reflected in their appearance, which is extremely thin. Despite gaunt physiques, Wendigoag are described as giants, measuring about 4.5 m (14.8 feet) in height. Most accounts credit them with glowing eyes, yellowed fangs and long tongues. Stories suggest they have sallow and yellowish skin, though others describe them with matted hair or decaying skin.

Legends say they were once human. According to the most popular versions, a Wendigo is formed whenever a person resorted to cannibalism, even if it were done in order to survive. When a person consumes flesh of another, he or she is believed to be overcome by evil spirits and transformed into a Wendigo. Clearly, cannibalism was the root of the legend.

In another 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. When peace ensued, there was no need for such a fearsome creature, and the warrior was banished from his tribe, forced to live as an outcast.


Wendigo are believed to roam the forests, and people that disappear are said to be eaten by these creatures. Many Wendigo sightings have been reported. One supposedly appeared near a town called Roseau in northern Minnesota. It was claimed that each time a sighting was made, an unexpected death followed.


At the beginning of the 20th century, an 87-year-old Cree man named Jack Fiddler was tried for the murder of a Cree woman. He claimed she was on the verge of transforming into a Wendigo and had to be killed to protect others. Fiddler told the court he had slain 13 other Wendigoag. Fiddler was convicted.

The Wendigo appears in Stephen King novels, including Pet Sematary and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. In King’s view, this ancient demon is a grotesque, laughing god with yellowish-gray, gleaming eyes. Mouth drawn down, lower lip turned out. Blackish-brown, worn down teeth, ram's horns for ears, black pulsing veins, flared nostrils expelling white vapors. One feature is a long, pointed, dirty-yellow, scaled and peeling tongue, with a white worm underneath.

Movie maker and creature master Guillermo del Toro has created the upcoming film, Antlers. It is based on the short story, The Quiet Boy, by Nick Antosca. The central supernatural character is based on the Wendigo. “The Wendigo has very, very specific cues you need to follow,” del Toro has said. “The antlers, for example, are a must. I said, ‘We have to remember we’re not creating a monster, we’re creating a god.’ So the design needs to have elements that are completely unnatural, that are almost surreal or abstract.”

The film comes out in October, 2021. Kerri Russell, Graham Greene, Jesse Plemons and Amy Madigan star. The shoot took place in Vancouver. Chris Eyre advised on the production and has stated, “The wendigo is an allegory where there’s a spirit that comes to reconcile what the people are doing incorrectly.”

This line immediately struck me. In 2014, I published a collection of short stories on Amazon. Titled, Five Seasons, it is a handful of ghostly tales set in Mont Tremblant. One called, Fall, tells the story of Sylvie Pacquette who sits down to port and appetizers with a gentleman named, Jonathan Witiko. He is something else entirely. My story has a similar take on why the Wendigoag exist. Here are a few paragraphs.

Witiko looks at her intently, “Allow me to substantiate and illustrate my true form. Please prepare yourself.” The man shimmers in the firelight. A shift and a new form takes shape. It has the body of an extremely withered man. The head is that of a deer covered in lesions and maggots. It grins and speaks, “This is just one of thousands.” Sylvie grips her glass to the point of shattering.

He returns to human form, “Quite something, wouldn’t you say?”

“Indeed.” Sylvie collects herself, “I remember that you are the embodiment of gluttony, greed, and excess. The Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu, have said you are giants and whenever you feed that you grow in proportion to the meal, so that you can never be full. You are never satisfied.”

“Fake news, my dear. We are hungry ones, that cannot be denied, but it is less about gluttony than it is a mission.” The light flickers and Witiko now has the head of a bear. The flames bounce and he is a fox.

I look forward to the movie and am pleased that the makers saw the legend as I do. If you want to read Five Seasons, you can buy it on Amazon as a Kindle book. Clearly, the Wendigoag will occupy our thoughts and find its way into our storytelling for some time to come.