And so ended the days of perhaps the last two Wendigo hunters out there and sealing the fate of the tribe to fall under the colonial laws of the settlers. Swift Runner was then publicly executed for his crimes and his body buried far away, as some of the Cree claimed that his corpse would be reanimated by the Wendigo within him. Native Americans would send out scouts and warriors onto the lake for hunting trips only to hear screams with other tribesmen telling how they saw the hunters dragged underneath into the brackish waters by octopus-like tentacles. In that same street I saw a lady in white in the dead cold in a skirt just strolling down the street a couple days before.. In this way, it seemed as if they meant to make an example of Fiddler and his brother, and although there was little cooperation among the tribe members and few willing to testify against the brothers, they were still found guilty. I never seen one but there are times I feel dread just outside my house at night during the winter. It all begin with Morris Pratt in 1889 where he built the Pratt Institute, which dealt with topics of spiritual studies long before the existence of UW-Whitewater. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. And very large, dark eyes, oriented forward like a predators would be. More Controversy on the Roswell Affair: An Alien Accident? Blackwood's Wendigo is a mystical creature, representing the lure of the wilderness. 2. The countryside surrounding Holy Hill has more than it's fair share of anomalous activity. My town is small and everything is silent and dark by 9:00pm. The presence and overall weight of the feeling this whole encounter gave me still sticks with me as clearly as the night it happened; I can remember it all so vividly and still feel the weight. . Yes, the entire city of Whitewater is considered one whole hot spot for the paranormal and unusual. So, Wendigo in my neighborhood, lets not meet. And there is no way it was a tree because every time I go out there I go to where I spotted it. In 1879, a Plains Cree trapper that also served as a guide for the North West Mounted Police, known as Swift Runner, fell victim to Wendigo psychosis when he went camping in the northern woods with his wife and 6 children. The curse of the Wendigo appears in the book Pet Sematary and also makes a slight appearance in the movie Pet Sematary that recreated the story in 2019. Originally the lake was referred to as Mde Wakan or Bad Spirit Lake by the local Nakota Sioux for its deep, cold, and salt-infested waters. If an individual could not be saved and turned violent to those around them, they would be executed as death is seen as the only way to treat Wendigo if one became possessed and could not be healed. Im most amazed at the publics reaction, he said. Originating from the myths and legends of the Native American Algonquian tribes based in the northern forests of Nova Scotia, the East Coast of Canada, and Great Lakes Region of Canada, the Wendigo truly holds a place amongst the most frightening creatures of Native lore, and with good reason. Biology, nature, and cryptozoology still remain Brent Swancers first intellectual loves. Is it extraterrestrial? In 2006, a large bearlike animal with canine characteristics dragged a dead deer from the back of a county contractor's pick up truck. Still, he was hanged for his crime. We've even noticed EXTREMELY large (seemingly) deer tracks that circle the house. he said elders would go there to reflect on the lessons of their ancestors. Tonight my boyfriend let our dog out to use the bathroom and shes usually very alert and will go after anything, but tonight she looked in the direction and then kept going on about her buisness which again is very abnormal for her. The Wendigo is a mythical creature that has been reported in many different forms. The most common characteristic of the Wendigo is that it is an insatiably greedy creature and Native American legends claim that one can turn Wendigo themselves if they are selfish or greedy. Rather, one of his creepiest traits is his ability to mimic human voices. Into the days of settlers there were many cases of even the white man coming across these abominations, and the creatures were often blamed for missing persons. Swift Runner returned a year later after the trip and claimed that his family had died of starvation. Or, a Top Secret Human Experiment Gone Wild? 2022 Theinfographicsshow.Com. They would prevent the snakes from overrunning the earth and devouring mankind, according to Menominee folklore. The evil being is associated with winter and starvation, and appears to feast on humans. During an investigation by the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, a First Nations woman by the name of Wahsakapeequay turned up dead, strangled to death with a rope and the scene of the body displaying signs of a ritual. According to Susie, at first she thought the light in the sky could be a lightning bug, but both of them had a feeling they were being spied on by the light. When lumberjacks gathered around the fire, they loved to tell tales of the creatures of the North Woods, and the most ferocious, they agreed, was the hodag. Then things got bizarre rather quickly, of which the witness says: I remember we both pulled out our flashlights and shown it in the direction we felt the sounds were coming from but that is what was so weird. Whatever this person or thing was, it was about five feet up in a tree. The part I never like to talk about. Is it time travel? According to authenticwisconsin.com, a group of community leaders discussed building a UFO landing strip in Elmwood in the 1970safter a rash of UFO sightings were reported. Eyewitness sketch of a mysterious creature that dashed in front of a moving car near Holy Hill. It was long, boxey, narrow, and dark. With its bones pushing out over its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into the sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. Perhaps one of the most unique and famous beasts on this list is the Rhinelander Hodag. A recent request by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsinon Wisconsin-based Facebook groups for personal stories about UFO sightingsdrew dozens of responses. Rewriting Apocalypse adds that some modern-day confusion about the wendigo may have to do with certain terms getting lost in translation: One well-known mistake was traced to the compiler of a dictionary, who entered the information regarding the word Wendigo and substituted the word ghoul for the appropriate word fool because he thought the Native people meant ghoul.'. As soon as the light hit it launched backwards off of the tree. February 27, 2023 The Wisconsin Windigo continued their winning ways as they hosted Midwest Division rival Chippewa Steel for a two game series on February 24-25, at the historic Dome in Eagle River, WI. In recent years numerous wendigo sightings have been reported in Wisconsin. After years of reports from U.S. citizens, thousands of photos, and hours of video footage, the existence of UFOs is no longer a badly kept secret in the United States. We Found Wisconsins Best Fish Fry. From Texas we have a report from a witness who claims this happened out in the Texas Hill Country during the hot summer months. Camping season is in full bloom. 6 Creepy Cryptids That Call Wisconsin Home. Everything you think you know about the world, its just wrong.. We just moved to MN and I keep thinking there's something peeking in at us occasionally. This creepy creature is seen almost EVERY day in America! Festivals quickly became an annual tradition to appease these giant monsters and continue to be held to this day. Wendigo psychosis is a syndrome for humans that fear they are turning Wendigo or have culminated an intense hunger for human flesh. Marinette County Bigfoot Hotspots. Wendigos are cursed with never-ending hunger, which is why they always look emaciated. Biology, nature, and cryptozoology still remain Brent Swancers first intellectual loves. Other sightings have been reported northwest of Crivitz in a large expanse of wetlands and hardwood forest. However, when the U.S. government released the videos of UFOs in 2020, it was all but lost in the headlines of COVID-19 and the presidential election. Basically, the word wendigo can also function as a symbol for gluttony and the image of excess. One of the most infamous cases is the story of Swift Runner, a Native American man who murdered and ate his whole family during the winter of 1879. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. The video game recreates the abilities of the Wendigo by making it extremely fast and an excellent climber with antlers and a body made up of muscle tendons. These shamans were highly sought after and revered, and one of the most famous and feared of these Wendigo hunters was the man known as Zhauwuno-geezhigo-gaubow, or he who stands in the southern sky.. People have reported seeing the beast scavenging along the roads in Walworth County and neighboring Jefferson and Racine counties. There are many local traditions of the Wendigo with slightly different details in its appearance and abilities depending on the region, but it is always said to be frightening, and there are also variations in their powers. As Basil Johnston has written, the idea of turning Wendigo is a very real possibility when the word refers to self-destruction, rather than literally becoming a monster in the forest. Many of these reports were shockingly similar to the Swift Runner case. A Wendigo Manitou carving on Mount Trudee in Silver Bay, Minnesota. Wendigo psychosis symptoms are often associated with delusions of turning into a monstrous Wendigo, poor appetite, fear of or becoming cannibalistic, and nausea and vomiting. What is going on behind these reports and others like them, and are they even truly encounters with the legendary Wendigo at all? Countries have acknowledged UFOs for years, he said. ago. Obsessed with hunting for new victims, he is forever hungry until hes eating another person. Instead of running away, Simonton took the container and filled it with water from his tap. It was standing on its hind legs but had antlers or some type of tall ears like a bunny and its arms and legs were abnormally long and stretched to the bone. In fact, Fiddle and his brother, Pesequan, were widely thought by the Cree to be the most powerful Wendigo hunters there were, with Fiddler once claiming to have personally killed 14 of the foul beasts over his lifetime, including one of his own brothers who had apparently gone Wendigo after having resorted to cannibalism out on a trading expedition in order to survive. Some claim he is unusually fast and can endure walking for long periods of time, even in harsh winter conditions. Whatever they are, such accounts make the rounds from time to time, and add a layer to the already rich and spooky lore of the Wendigo. Such tales abounded, and the tribes who feared the Wendigo took all of this very seriously. They are variously described as having the ability to turn invisible, to read minds, or to mimic human voices in order to draw victims away to isolated areas, as well as shapeshifting powers and the ability to generate waves of profound fear. 8 Cheese Factories You Can Visit in Wisconsin, Food & Drink In certain cultures wendigo are depicted as humanoid, but with pale skin like a corpse. I live in a very haunted town in Wisconsin, we even have our own book! Though he is said to be almost 15 feet tall, his body is often described as emaciated. After scientists from the Smithsonian Institution announced they were coming to town to investigate, Shepard admitted the hodag was a hoax. But the Air Force came and they had no reason to disbelieve Simontons account. Everything about it was long. Wendigo beasts are said to possess humans, where they become trapped near the heart, and the only way to kill the Wendigo is to try to un-possess the human trapped inside or to execute both the Wendigo and the human. One night I was walking my dogaround 10:30pm I thinkwhen I saw something on the front lawn of one of these houses. 24K 1.5M views 2 years ago Whilst playing a BB gun battle with his cousin in the woods of Wisconsin, John notices that everything has gone quiet and sees a spots figure though the foliage. The Wendigo has been described as a giant with a heart of ice, recessed eye holes and a lipless maw for a mouth. So I start walking at first I was waking out of the woods like I was on someones yard and they had told me to get off, not a fast pace but moving with a purpose you know. More Controversy on the Roswell Affair: An Alien Accident? The whistling stopped. The thing is massive. I tend to walk my dog after dinner and before bed, and my town is pretty safe, so walking her in the dark never phased me. Individuals who turned to cannibalism or one who was insatiably greedy would fall victim to the Wendigo possession or psychosis. After feasting on another humans flesh, he transformed into a crazed man-beast, roaming the forest in search of more people to eat. I had been strolling through the forest while looking firewood when I heard rustling in the bushes behind me, as this happened it seemed that all life ceased around me because I could only hear my heartbeat and the lone heavy footsteps approaching me, then I heard my name called from what seemed every direction yet echoed from in front of me while also coming from behind. Over and over again. Then you can read about the time it was reported that a 132-million-year-old Loch Ness Monster skeleton was found. According to the witness, they were very familiar with the sounds of the forest and this sounded off to them, as if several people were walking around the campsite trying not to be heard. The Wendigo beast appears in many films, books, and video games. Im fully convinced that what I saw that night had to have been a Wendigo. (Twitter: @DiscoverWI), That is so cool I live in Wisconsin my hole life and I havent heard of some of those. Other indigenous peoples believe a Wendigo is born out of an individual's gluttony, selfishness, overindulgence or extreme loneliness. Both traditional and modern descriptions indicate that the Wendigo also has glowing eyes, yellow fangs, and a long tongue. By then, the hodag was so much a part of Rhinelander culture that the city is known as The Home of the Hodag, and boasts a Hodag Country Festival, several hodag statues and has a hodag as the mascot of the high school teams. 4. i have also lived in wisconson half my life and i only know the hodag, Your email address will not be published. The creature has been referenced and sometimes even depicted in a variety of hit television shows, including Supernatural, Grimm, and Charmed. Wendigo reports come from a surprisingly varied number of places around the United States, and our next report comes from the wilds of the mountains of the northern area of the state of Georgia. One hiker who was present said, Ive heard many different animals in the wild but nothing like this.. Sightings of the Wendigo are not nearly as common as they were prior to the 20th century, but there are still reports of encountering Wendigos in the northeastern states of the U.S. and Canada. The blazing force of nature had almost burned my face when I was just stopped mid fall, I hadnt gained my balance it was just as if someone was hanging on to me and pulled me back. Some people who have claimed to encounter the beast say its a relative of Bigfoot. After learning about the legend of the wendigo, you can check out these 17 real-life monsters. The New York Times and CNN reported a government report on "UFOs" does not provide evidence of aliens, but also doesn't rule the possibility out. Others say he walks in a more haggard manner, as if he is falling apart. In fact, many anthropologists believe that the concept of a wendigo only developed after the Native people had contact with the Europeans. The fear I felt was incredible. They nevertheless stayed at the camp, as it was a trip they had been planning for months, and on the second to last day something very bizarre would unfold, of which the witness says: Although, these occurrences were a disturbance it did not deter us from staying for the final two days as we had been planing it for months, but one experience years ago on the day right before our departure, still haunts me to this day. Here's everything you need to know about this creature. There exist many local stories of the Witches Triangle intersecting graveyards, the Witches Tower barricaded water tower, and a mysterious locked book that is said to be in the special collections section of the Anderson Library, which according to hearsay, leads to the deaths of those who read it. At that time, lead miners were pouring into the region following a trail that the Indians used to take from Central Wisconsin to the Mississippi River. At first I thought it was the wind and I remember thinking maybe the wind is just throwing leaves around and what we are hearing is nothing but the wilderness around us. One woman named Susie said she and her daughters friend saw a UFO while at a lake house in Rhinelander. While he tries to approach his investigations with a skeptical mind, at heart, he said, hes a believer in the unexplained. Modern interpretations often depict the monster as a tall, man-like figure with a stag head or skull with antlers and a decomposing flesh body, sometimes covered in hair. While not exactly dealing with cryptids, the Second Salem town of Whitewater is known for its stories of witches and spirits. Meet The Cannibalistic Cryptid Of Your Nightmares. Susan Lampert Smith The tribes would perform a ceremonial dance during harsh weather conditions and times of famine, which reinforces the seriousness of the Wendigo folklore legend. Both Fiddler and his brother were arrested and charged with murder in the case of Wahsakapeequay, and the story of these two Wendigo hunters out in the savage wilds drew sensationalist headlines around the country. At first, he thought he was seeing a satellite in the sky, or perhaps the International Space Station, until he realized it was moving in the wrong direction. Could this be some sort of other creature like a Sasquatch, even a supernatural entity such as a Skinwalker? Is it ultra-terrestrial? And underneath that terrifying, flesh-eating demon, there might still be a human man who was once just a hungry hunter. According to the La Crosse Tribune, Simonton was a plumber who, in April 1961, was making lunch in his kitchen when he saw something large come down from the sky into his yard. Since the wendigo is said to be a cold-weather creature, most sightings have been reported in Canada, as well as colder northern states in the U.S. like Minnesota. It is certainly a sad tale of the end of tribal beliefs, and whether these Wendigo ever really existed or not the people of the region certainly believed that they did and that they were a threat. One of the most famous cases of someone allegedly being possessed by a Wendigo comes from 1878, when in Saskatchewan, Canada, a Cree fur trapper by the name of Swift Runner claimed that he had been possessed by insidious dark forces and had become a Wendigo after killing and eating his family during a harsh winter without food. northeastern university marketing faculty; does brake fluid remove dark spots; robotics stocks under $1; add a footer to the document using the facet Many people in the regions where the Wendigo legends were most popular still believe that Wendigos roam the dark forests, waiting to prey on their next victim. They had resisted Christian missionaries, remained apart from the law of the colonists, and still lived by the old ways, indeed remaining one of the only tribes still living under their own laws and traditions, but nothing can last forever, and in 1907, the Canadian government decided to investigate the claims that this man Jack Fiddler was waging a war against cannibalistic spirits. Vampire and werewolf of Mineral Point, Wisconsin is the author of 16 published books on strange creatures and phenomena. Many reports occurred during the late 1800s of fishermen who would have violent encounters with the beast. There is little information of the exact origins of the monstrous creature and stories about the Wendigo vary. Rocky of Rock Lake Lake Mills The vast majority of supposed wendigo sightings happened between the 1800s and 1920s. 2. They are said to possess powers such as mimicking voices, superhuman strength, mind control, weather manipulation, the generation of darkness, and the ability to create confusion and fear, as well as others. An oxen trip from Milwaukee to Galena, Illinois, took five days back then, and along the road, saloons and inns sprang up to feed and shelter the miners, and to separate them from their earnings. The whistling came back. The Steel brought a record of 22 wins and 21 losses into the weekend. October 21, 2021 1:24 pm CDT. Until this. It was so loud. Thunderbirds have been described as massive avian raptors by the Menominee tribe. The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. One description of the Wendigo was given by Native author and ethnographer Basil H. Johnston, who wrote of it: The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. These things are happening," he said, "but after 25 years of doing this, I'm left with more questions than answers when it comes to what that something is. All they said was they heard a lot of movement and then heard my scream and thats when they headed in our direction. Since then I havent spotted it, but I hear it. purcell marian class of 1988; what does the nature conservancy do with their money? Is it interdimensional? Up until then this never would have been seen as totally strange by the Native people of the region, a necessary evil in their fight against sinister forces, but in the view of the Mounties and the white settlers they represented this was called murder. As long as there have been demons and monsters in our world and those who believe in them, there have been those willing to fight them. Ever take a good look at a sturgeon before? Sturgeons don't bend the way I saw this thing bend. However, in the case of the Native American communities, most of the stress was due to a dwindling amount of resources, not to mention the extermination of food in the area. The Mystery of New York's Renegade Subway Psychic, Forget About What We Know About Roswell: It's What's Missing About the Case That We Need to Look For, Archeologists Discover Another Secret Corridor Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, Rock Star Richey Manic and His Mysterious 1995 Disappearance: A Book Reviewed, Mexico's President Reveals Photo of Mythical Maya Elf, Mysterious Mermaid Mummy in Japanese Temple Has Finally Been Identified, Mysterious Flying Fanged Creature That Separates Into Two Parts Reported in the Philippines. The Windigo carried a record of 26 wins and 18 [] Read More Konrad said he was greatly affected by the unexplained sighting and felt immense fear and bewilderment. Wendigos are considered to be some of the most despicable monsters in the Great Lakes. More stories followed, each adding to the lore of the fearsome hodag. The Chippewa, Algonquian peoples, and Cree tribes are often associated with the legend as these tribes lived in the areas where Wendigo sightings have been reported, with stories of the Wendigo being passed down for generations. YOU could be seeing it soon, too. Once theyre isolated in the desolate depths of the wilderness, he attacks them and then feasts on them. The origins of the Wendigo legend that created cannibalistic terror in North America. It was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Simonton died 11 years later at the age of 71. It felt like longer but it was only a few seconds before this creature jumped straight up in the air (and I mean straight up, not forward) and bounded to the back of the house in 3 large strides. Written By He looked shaken and kept looking through the peephole in my door and not saying anything. This is one of the two most well-known creatures on our list. Shepard reported that it had the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end.. Answer (1 of 18): I have read all of your comments, This creature has been part of Native American truth for hundreds of years. The Story Behind the Special Wisconsin Cheese Back on Sale, Old World Wisconsin Provides a Historical Home for the Holidays, A Landmark Farm Enjoys New Life as a Community Education Center with a Focus on Healthy Food, The 5 Hottest Majors at the University of Wisconsin Right Now, 8 Cheese Factories You Can Visit in Wisconsin. He's written articles for MU and Daily Grail and has been a guest on Coast to Coast AM and Binnal of America. Lake Windigo, in the Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota. Navigation Menu. At this point in the transformation, it was seen as beyond the point of using rituals or ceremonies, and that a shaman was needed to battle the creature, put it to death, and consecrate the corpse. The Wendigo appears in Borderlands 3 released in 2019 during a mission called The Horror in the Woods. The tracks seem to step over our standing flowerbeds that line the windows because the tracks walk up to and between (not around, and there's no way to go under) the beds right on our window line. However the person is then possessed by an evil Wendigo spirit and transforms into the beast. Ryan and I tried explaining everything to him but he just chalked it up to either a curious animal or some campers trying to mess with us. Ive lived in a without-a-doubt haunted house, frequently go on after-hours explorations of known haunted places, and have seen and experienced many paranormal events. Its also linked to the many cultural taboos against these negative actions and behaviors. This werewolf cryptid has had several sightings in the 1990s with local newspapers reporting on the topic and even eventually gaining some national news attention as the most popular werewolf sighting in the U.S. HEY! Quiet. They are some massive prehistoric fish that can be very intimidating up close and in person. Many of us are packing up and heading into the great outdoors for a fun array of activities like swimming, biking, hiking, hammock napping, and scary campfire stories. Sometimes these animals were disemboweled and their entrails found hanging from bushes or trees like macabre Christmas tree ornaments, and sometimes they were simply torn in half, with one of the halves missing. Bensons bar is filled with alien memorabilia, but one item steals all the glory a small glass jar filled with a murky liquid and containing something lumpy inside with black eyes. UFO report: Pentagon finds no evidence of aliens but can't rule it out. Grasping its victim, the Wendigo runs at such speed that the poor victim's eyes bleed and his feet burn. Well Ive never hallucinated once in my life and I wasnt dehydrated because about 10 minutes prior to this event I drank an entire bottle of water and I always make sure Im hydrated before I go woodland exploring. 27 REAL Wendigo Sightings (COMPILATION) Darkness Prevails 650K subscribers Subscribe Share 459K views 3 months ago The wendigo might be more than legend as folks continue to sight this. To the white settlers reading this, it was a tale of devil-worship, black magic, and deadly superstition among the untamed savages of the uncharted wilds, and it drew much call to bring the Native people under control and impose their own laws on them. I would saw that if I had to run about 20 yards uphill through the woods it might take me 30-40 seconds. During a brutally cold winter, this mans intense hunger drove him to cannibalism. I live in an apartment complex that is on the end of a residential street, so most of the street is older houses. We are also from south eastern Wisconsin, in Waukesha county. Though their legend has changed over the years, many of their main characteristics are fairly steady-and sightings of them continue to roll in . The witness in this case claims that he spends a lot of time camping and hiking the area with his brother Ryan, and on this day, they had headed out to a place they knew well, midway through Jacks River Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness. The Best Evidence and Footage of the WENDIGO Cryptid Monster World of MONSTERS 122K subscribers Subscribe 28K views 1 year ago #cryptozoology #cryptid #wendigo In this video we explore the most. Other legends say they can regenerate their body and are unaffected by harsh weather conditions. My town is small and everything is silent and dark by 9:00pm.