Encounter Atlas
The wendigo belongs to the traditions of several Algonquian-speaking peoples, including the Ojibwe, Cree, Saulteaux, Naskapi and Innu. In these teachings it is tied to winter, cold and starvation, and to greed that can never be satisfied. Ojibwe scholar Basil Johnston described it as gaunt, ash-grey and always hungry. It is also a moral idea, a warning about what selfishness does to a person and a community.
These are living spiritual traditions, and many Indigenous people prefer that the wendigo not be treated as a casual campfire monster. We keep this page short for that reason.
The antlered, deer-skulled 'wendigo' seen in films, games and online stories is a recent pop-culture invention that grew from Algernon Blackwood's 1910 story The Wendigo. Most modern 'wendigo sightings' online describe that version, not the being of the traditions.
What witnesses report
- Modern reports describe a tall, gaunt figure in winter woods
- Bitter cold and a sense of dread
- Voices or calls deep in the forest
Famous cases
- 1910Blackwood's story The Wendigo
Published in England
Seen the Wendigo?
Tell us what happened. Every report is read by a person before it goes on the map, and you can stay anonymous.
