The Wendigo – A Terrifying Urban Legend from Native American Folklore



Discover the urban legend of the Wendigo, a malevolent spirit that inhabits the forests and feeds on human flesh. Learn about the physical appearance and behavior of this giant creature, as well as the dangers of falling under its spell or consuming human flesh in the wilderness. Explore the rich folklore of the Algonquian-speaking Native American tribes and delve into the terrifying myth of the Wendigo.

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37 thoughts on “The Wendigo – A Terrifying Urban Legend from Native American Folklore”

  1. Incredibly accurate mythos, my people believe that there are 2 different types of Wendigo & that the darkness within ALL of us allows a person to transform into both, given the proper time & devouring of human life! The first one is a being of pure hatred & is usually the reason a frail or troubled soul may submit to the whispers of the Wendigo as it tempts you to feast on human flesh & the second is that of the possessed! They call it Wendigo Psychosis & due to popular belief CAN be cured, if the possessed can survive around a week without consuming human meat, they may break their nasty habits to resume a life of health & stability.

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  2. I remember when I first heard about these was a week before my second trip to Algonquin park I was 12 at the time and going to the washroom in the night had scared me so I decided to ride my bike up to the comfort station every time I

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  3. This is so interesting. There have been and still are cannibalistic tribes in the world, who believe eating human flesh (or only specific parts of a human) will cause greater strength/intelligence…
    As (most of these) these tribes became more culturally advanced, they turned away from eating humans and started seeing it as repulsive and bad.
    But here you have a Native American folklore devilish character which shows that eating human flesh is considered devilish, made only by people who must have this evil spirit of the Wendigo inside of them.
    I once had a conversation with someone who claimed that in the beginning eating human flesh was something that all humans did, it was only by becoming civilised that they revoked this behaviour. I told him that that is not true, we do not have proof that ALL human tribes had the habit of eating human flesh. We know of a lot of vegetarian tribes, who didn't even eat domestic animals, so how would they eat humans?
    But this Wendigo legend gives even more importance to my view I think. It shows that not only did Native Americans not consume human flesh, they saw it as evil

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