Dangerous spirits : the windigo in myth and history / Shawn Smallman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smallman, Shawn C., author.

Contributor:

ProQuest ebook central.

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Windigos.

Cannibalism--Folklore.

Cannibalism.

Algonquian Indians--Folklore.

Algonquian Indians.

Indians of North America--History.

Indians of North America.

History.

Indians of North America--First contact with other peoples.

Intercultural communication.

Genre:

Folklore.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (221 pages) : illustrations, maps

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Other Title:

Windigo in myth and history

Place of Publication:

Victoria : Heritage House Publishing, 2015.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

The windigo is a Cannibal Spirit prevalent in the traditional narratives of the Algonquian peoples of North America. From Labrador in the north to Virginia in the south, and from Nova Scotia in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west, this phenomenon has been discussed, feared, and interpreted in different ways for centuries. Dangerous Spirits tells the story of how belief in the windigo clashed with the new world order that came about after European contact. Dismissing the belief as superstitions, many early explorers, traders, and missionaries failed to understand the complexity and power of the windigo-both as a symbol and as a threat to the physical safety of a community. Yet, judging by the volume of journal entries, police records, court transcripts, and other written documents about windigo cases recounted by Euro-Canadians over three centuries, it was a matter that perplexed outsiders greatly. Drawing on these written documents, historian Shawn Smallman does not seek a logical explanation for what was believed to be a supernatural phenomenon. Rather, he asks how windigo narratives reflected the societies in which they were told and how the arrival of colonial authorities changed these narratives. How did the outsiders who heard these stories understand them, and how did they vise the windigo to further their own political, economic, and religious goals? In a contemporary context, why have groups outside the Algonquian world appropriated the symbol of the windigo, and how have First Nations artists and writers reclaimed it? In an age where both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are demanding truth and seeking reconciliation, Dangerous Spirits is a revealing glimpse into cross-cultural (mis)communication and the social and spiritual impact of colonialism. Book jacket.

Contents:

The Windigo in Traditional and Contemporary Narratives

"More than a canine hunger": Frontier Encounters with the Windigo, 1636-1916

"Stunned, teased, and tormented": Missionaries and the Windigo, 1818-1960

Prisons, Mental Asylums, and Residential Schools.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on print version record.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781772030341

1772030341

Publisher Number:

99973995778

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.