In the traditional Algonquian world, the windigo is the spirit of selfishness, which can transform a person into a murderous cannibal. Native peoples over a vast stretch of North America-from Virginia in the south to Labrador in the north, from Nova Scotia in the east to Minnesota in the westmdash;believed in the windigo, not only as a myth told in the darkness of winter, but also as a real danger. Drawing on oral narratives, fur traders' journals, trial records, missionary accounts, and anthropologists' field notes, this book is a revealing glimpse into indigenous beliefs, cross-cultural communication, and embryonic colonial relationships. It also ponders the recent resurgence of the windigo in popular culture and its changing meaning in a modern context.
- ISBN13 9781772030327
- Publish Date 4 June 2015
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country CA
- Imprint Greystone Books,Canada
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 224
- Language English