Native American legendary creature. Wendigo as people who have committed cannibalism and they change into a ravenous spirit.
Really good stuff for being around a campfire telling stories thats for sure.
The story I heard was about two trappers that were in the wilderness and the Wendigo spirit got into one of them and then as their journey continues the possessed trapper changes over time and then finally eats his companion.
There is some controversy of whether this is fact or fiction. It is believed to be a form of psychosis.
Fantasy and creativity have shaped the Algonquin story into more of a werewolf-like story.
It has even been incorporated into the 'werewolf the apocalypse' role-playing franchise.
The Wendigo is a type of spirit among some peoples of the East Coast and Great Lakes. They are said to be spirits that cause cannibalism, and turn others by giving them a craving for flesh.
In my home state, we have a similar spirit, the Wechuge. It is a person whose spiritual ally is that of a spiritual beast or ancient giant who persuades them and hunts through them, causing them to taint themselves by feeding of man flesh.
These spirits are not so much a problem in the Athabaskan culture, they are potent spirit allies, that some identify with, and use in spiritual quests. The cure of course is the opposite of the spirits of wilderness, like the warm fire of camp life.
Interesting enough, there are similar spirits in europe, particularly that of Haggis spirits and Werewolves
The first in the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" books has an entry on the Wendigo.
Also, and don't read this unless you want to become angry enough to go on a rampage and kill everyone you know, but the absolutely ridiculous Jack Chick, who makes those little fanatical religious comic books you find in phone booths and at the doctor's office, released a series of books by a guy named William Schnoebelen, who claims to have been a Satanic High Priest, even though not a thing he says is in any way truthful and is derived from the Satanic Scare of the 1980's. He has a three-book series, "Blood on the Doorpost," "Lucifer Dethroned," and "Wicca." In Lucifer Dethroned, he talks about seeing a gigantic wendigo that blocked out the stars as a child.
Personally, I believe I've encountered Wendigo, way up in the mountains of West Virginia in one of the harshest winters I can recall. No hard evidence, but I was with a small group of people and we all were 100% sure that the wind was talking to us in a very unpleasant way.
