Wendigo: American Cannibal

- WENDIGO: A bloodthirsty, physical, half-man half-beast creature that lurks in the forest waiting to feast on human flesh. It's a cold climate creature that's been spotted in Canada and in northern states like Minnesota. Some locals who've encountered the beast consider it a relative of Bigfoot, but reports describe the beast as more of a Werewolf than a Sasquatch. Ethno-historian Nathan Carlson says the Wendigo is often described as a creature with owl-like eyes, large claws and an emaciated body. Others describe it looking like a skeleton with ash-toned skin. This strange being is said to live alone in the forest and feeds on human flesh. The Algonquian tribes called the Wendigo the "spirit of lonely places," and they blamed many unsolved disappearances at the turn of the 20th century on Wendigo attacks.
- WINDIGO: A cannibalistic spirit that possesses humans causing violent insanity, especially if they've ate human flesh. Both concepts originate from Native American folklore and have ties to cannibalism. One of the most widely reported cases of a Windigo spirit possessing a human is Swift Runner, a Native American who murdered and ate his entire family in the winter of 1879. He claimed to be possessed by a Windigo at the time of the murders, but was hanged for his crime. Although his case is one of the most well-known historically, there were many reports in the early 20th century of Windigo spirits possessing people in dozens of communities from northern Quebec to the Rockies.