Wendigos in the Wild

Like, first off, do you like nature like I like it? In doses? I mean like I like a bathroom nearby. I like a cabin nearby. I don't feel uncomfortable in nature, but I really would never camp. I'm not like camping. Yeah, and I don't like being hot. There's like a lot of stipulation, Like I Mosquitos. I don't like mosquitos. I don't like being too hot. I don't like getting sweaty. I feel like I'm never dressed right and I didn't wear the right shoes. But other than that, I like nature. Welcome to Scary Mystery Surprise, where we talk about scary things that surprised us around the Internet. I'm Edwin, I'm Michelle, and I think I told you that. Somebody asked me do you like nature? And I was just like, Nope, I don't. So how that works into this story is that we're in the Canadian wilderness. Oh, somewhere around thirty miles away from the closest town, so not that far but also far. Yeah, I mean, but that's far. That's far. Yeah, It's it's like around fifty kilometers for our friends in the rest of the world. That's the US okay. So Michelle, you're out in the forest okay, and you're roaming around, pretending you're a faery like I do, picking berry skipping, traying. I imagine you with a basket in your hand. Oh yeah, that I've made because I was a fibers miner, so I understand how to make best. Oh yeah, that's right. You're going around and all of a sudden you hear something and you stop, and I'm like, you look around and you hear it. It's just this screeching, roaring weird often the distance sound. It's just kind of like this, like it's weird, Like what is this a? Right? So you freak out. You're like, ah, this is where we put in the tense music. You're like, don't get it there. Like, you freak out, and you run back to where you came from. And you you're very good with directions, at least in my story. Well in life I actually am. I'm very good with directions. But anyway, so you run back to the car, okay, and you wait before starting it because of course you drove there, like I don't know where you parked, but you parked around there, and you're like, I'm not going to start it, because even though you have a pre s thing, the story is not gonna work because it doesn't make noise. Well, you know, it's a rental car, there you go. You have a rental like me, like a suburban. It's just a big old So you don't want to so you wait. And as you're waiting, you notice that the sounds are getting a little bit closer and you can still hear them through like inside out of the car. You can hear them like they're out there and they're getting closer. Something is approaching, and that's when suddenly you see a tall creature, thin and pale, and it's coming out from the forest. It then flips you off and disappears back into the tree. Who is this mysterious creature? Why was the thin part the worst part that you just know? And that was it? You eventually decide to turn it on and leave. Yeah, it's like, okay, no one's gonna believe this. Well, that story may not be true, but this one is. A man named Gino Mikus or Guino as Gino g i No and his wife, along with their grandson, were out in the forests of northwestern Ontario, Canada, far away from one of the closest towns, and this was around thirty miles away from the closest thing fifty kilometers. When people think of the Canadian wilderness, this is what they're visualizing, right like forests, greenery, nobody around for mile like this was the typical when I imagine Canada when it's not white snow like as in everything snow. That's what I imagine. Now. Gino was a hunter and he had been for a long time, like he had been living there, so he used to hunt, you know, he used to the place around there had moose or mease, how do you say, multiple moose? Is it moose? Dang? It MEAs MOOSEI. There's MOOSEI and there's black bears. We're not gonna look this stuff. We're just gonna go with our knowledge, with what we know. So the moose, moose I and the moose. There's wolves and wolves, yeah, having wolves wolves. Swear to God, you said wolves. But also that was my accent. Wolves vicious wolves that came after me in the woods. I did say that. Oh man, Okay, So when you're from there, they're well aware that there's wild animals, so being you know, seeing them around there is pretty common. So according to this article from the Guardian and found by Maddie, who helps research for some of our shows, Gino said, quote, I've heard many different animals in the wild, but nothing like this. I grew up hunting with my grandfather for the first twelve years of my life. We could hear it moving. Can you make a Canadian accent? Was there? Is there such a thing? Yes, there is. It's funny because two of my neighbors are Canadian and so it's like it's more proper American sounding a boot. What did you just have? You know, say, I've heard many different animals in the wild, but nothing. I've heard many different animals in the wild, but never one like this. Yeah, that's kind of I think that's close. I can't try. I always make it weird anyway, he said, we could hear it moving. It sounded kind of heavy, but my wife, she got scared, picked up our grandson and started walking fast towards the vehicle. Now, I don't know if we can play this sound, but if we can, that's pretty spooky, especially if you were actually out in the like. There's no potential for it to be a movie like there's no, like you're out in the woods. Yep, that's pretty scary. Yeah, I imagine that, like and then some people say, I mean they turn off the comments, but I remember this when when the comments were enabled, people are saying stuff like, oh, that's just a bear when they're dying or when they're doing something some bear activity, they yell like that. And some of the people say, no, that's not a bear. I've lived around those areas. I've never heard that in my life and bears and I have heard a bear make a sound, but it's not that it's something else. It's just bizarre. But I can I can imagine that, like I don't know, yeah, obviously, like this guy run back to the car and just leave. There's no reason to stay, there's no reason to like, huh be that guy. I'm gonna figure this out or let's just ignore it, even if it is a dying bear, Like who needs to be around a dying bear? You know, like nothing good will come about? Yeah? Oh man, But they say that in the woods. It is Minnesota forest and the Great the Great Lake region and central Canada, there are these mysterious creatures that lurk whend it goes aka Windigo where to go with Tico Winnebago win Ago and with a tigo we Tigo not with a tigo and other names, roughly meaning the evil spirit that devours mankind. It is super it's interesting, interesting stuff because the windigo originates from Native American legends and from certain tribes like the Algonquin and the Ojibwe. They say that whenever a human resorts to cannibalism to survive, they turn into a Windigoo. That's fascinating and you'd be surprised, Like, I mean, this was a very you know, they actually have a conditioned thing, like a name for a condition called whindi go psychosis. I believe, I think I have it later on two in the story. But they say that when you have that urge to eat human meat, that's what that's called. Oh, fascinating. I mean this kind of goes hand in hand with our cannibalism episode. Yeah. Do you look at that episode through the of the wind to go. That's fascinating. Continue I'm in, I'm hooked. When settlers and natives found themselves stranded in the winter, they're forced sometimes to eat each other. Yeah, and that created like they say that that's when grendigo's were created, or some people say when degos, so that might be the proper way to say. Some versions say that humans have showed too much greediness or gluttony might become possessed by a when to Go evil spirit. Now, looking of all this stuff, like try to find out when this first started. The first descriptions were. I mean these are like forever ago, like I can't really idea like when they started, but like the descriptions that were, you know, when they were talking about what is this, what's the wind to go? They're saying that it's an evil spirit or a demon, and that it doesn't have a physical form, which I found like, wait, what I thought we had seen? Yeah, we have seen them. But as the stories kept being passed down, it became known as a beast. I've seen pictures of you know, like artists, you know, renditions of what does this look like? And it's creepy. It is like this. It's very tall creature. It doesn't have a lot of hair. Actually it doesn't seem like it has hair. It's just like it's thin, has long legs. It's tall, very tall. Some people say that it's body is actually matted with hair and you can't actually see the like not a big foot. I think they're trying to make a difference between bigfoot and and these guys. But also some descriptions say that it has yellow skin, oh interesting, yeah, and that it always looks like it's starving because it's very thin, has a long time long, sharp yellow fangs, oh laws yeah, and blowing eyes. Yeah. Did you ever watch that show, The Dead Files? Have you ever watched it? Yeah? There was one. They were in New Mexico, which is funny because well, Amy, the woman on it, Amy the psychic, was just like, oh, there's a wind to go here. That's really weird. They're not usually here and it's trying to get into the house. I get it. And she's like, yeah, it's like sticking its head into the house. But yeah, they're not supposed to be down here, Like I don't know how it got down here. And she just kept saying that, and it was like ah, and then it's like, you know, what do you what do you explore? How do you go forward from that? You don't? Okay, well it's not supposed to be here, but it is, And then how do we get rid of it or like what She's like, I don't know, it's just FYI right now. That's what she always says about aliens too, She's like, yeah, you're probably being abducted every night. There's nothing you can do. You're just like always the scariest answer. Some stories tell that its main goal is to eat human flesh. That's all it lives for. It just wants to eat humans, and that it has several abilities to help it. Some of these characteristics are that it's very strong and immune to harsh weather, and that its senses. Its senses are heightened, so if you try to hurt it, it can heal and regenerate. And they get stronger as they age. Isn't that cool? Like, I think that's a really cool superpower. You get older and you're just like stronger and stronger and stronger, and then that's it. You're stronger forever. You're just strong forever. The strongest, starvingest spirit. The legend goes as far as to say that it can even drive a person crazy and lure them away by releasing an odor that only that person can smell, and the victim ends up losing sleep and having constant nightmares and eventually they just go insane, and yeah, it's it's weird. Some people say that it can control the weather and mimic a person's voice, which is I think that creased me out. That gave me chills when I first read it, because it's I mean, imagine you hear yourself, like or maybe you hear your mom. It's just like, hey Michelle, Michelle, I'd be like, she's not here. There's a way, she's in the woods. So you know how I said, like, if you eat human flesh, you can become a window go. Yeah, well, it can also happen if you're in contact with one for a long time, which I don't know why you would do that, but I don't know either. Let's say it locks you up and it's there and you're just tied to somewhere, like to a tree trunk, and it's there, mm hmm, just kind of marinating you before it eats you, So you can also become one. But then I'm like, Okay, if you become one, will it still eat you? Oh? Doesn't it just take your body over? I don't know, because its supposed to eat you and kill you and do everything I thought it had to have a host that like, so it takes over somebody and then you're oh, that's right, that's right, And then what happened to its body? Then? I don't know, does it not have a body? It would be a spiritual form body or something like that. Yeah, it can't eat until it takes somebody over or something like that, which also makes me wonder what the fuck's going on with that house and New Mexico, you know, and Amy when that psychic on Dead Files was like, oh, yeah, there's a wind to go leaning in here, and it's like someone's going to become a cannibal, and then it turns into a whole other show, like who's the cannibal in this family? It's me little Sally, the four year old. Let's say let's say, though, Michelle, like seriously, mind experiment here, though, suppose you suddenly start craving human meat, Like would you act on it? Like, Like, well, what would that be? Like, I mean, it seems like a few other things would have to go wrong before I, like would start craving human meat, Like there just have to be a few things. Have I given up fitting into society altogether? Do I care about murder? Like there's all these things now that I have to consider when I'm getting trying to procure my human meat. What if you don't have to get at yourself. What if you have a like Sweeney Todd or something like that, or like someone comes by and they're like, hey, come here, Hey, I got the finest human meat. Yeah, like super discreete gets delivered to you in a black bag. I guess that's not discreet. Now that's in an Amazon box. Yeah, in an Amazon box. That's the most neutral thing you can do. In fact, they probably used drop ship from Amazon to ship me. And all you have to do is get it. It's already sliced toward you. Yeah. This example is thought experiment went way way far from what we gather. The person who turns into the monster akay, the winder go still remains a part of it physically. Like so they say that if let's say you get eaten or you somehow join this body, because sometimes doesn't just take you over. Sometimes like you join it, like you're with it again. Huh. Yeah, because right here says that the person's being remains near the heart of the wind to go, and this person's soul can still be saved. So if you get taken by a wind to Go, oh fascinating, you can still be saved. So here's some ways to do it. Actually, one way just kill the creature and the person, all right, yeah, the second option is to kill the wind to Go only. Okay, but the lettings start getting really complicated here, Like even for me, I was just like, ah, like there's too many. I think they're just trying to add to it. Well, that's the thing too. It's like it's like a First Nation story. And then like it's one of those things where I think people looking in are never going to fully get it, you know, like if we're not a part of that culture, we're never We didn't grow up being scared of Windo goes, right, Like, but if you grew up being scared of Windo goes you know. But yeah, so we'll always just be looking in on this. But yeah, makes sense because because we kept digging, it was like, Okay, so if it gets stronger as it gets older, and it has like superpowers it can do like change the weather and voices and it's super strong, then it's like how do you get rid of it? How do you kill it? And then some people some versions say, oh, burn it or oh a stake it in the heart with the silver weapon, shoot it with the silver bullet. And some are like, this is super complicated, says you must first stab it in the heart with silver, disintegrate the heart, put it in a silver box, bury it in a church cemetery. Too much effort, remain, I'll just let it live. Yeah, too much effort. Sorry, I'm not doing it, because then it says the remaining parts need to be disintegrated with a silver knife, salted, burned, the ashes completely scattered. It's just like, no, we'll just it. We'll just risk lives, figure it out. We'll just do We'll just adapt. It'll be fine. Oh man. But you know, like for us, right, like this is just a legend, like something that we talk about and just something to freak out little kids or adults or whatever. But there were some reports of encounters and murders related to the Wind to Go. In sixteen sixty one history Your Eyes Light Up, Ah, a document from Jesuit Relations talks about several men that were sent out to North America and they had been killed the previous winter in a strange way. The document talked about how it was reported to them where the men had been displaying a combination of lunacy, hypochondria, frenzy, acting weird, that they had become ravenous for human flesh, and that they would pounce on men, women, children like dogs likes and just eat them like they would actually. Yeah. This document also says the following this ailment attacked our deputies, and as death is a sole remedy among those simple people for checking such acts of murder checking Yeah right, yeah, as a murder, they were slain in order to stay the course of their madness. I don't know if this old English or if I wrote it wrong, but that's what it says. You know what's weird? Is it that sounds like rabies? Ooh oh no, you're right, you're right. I remember looking this up back in high school. How they act. Yeah, but I mean that's just like, oh, gees killed them because they had a rabe. Well, there's no hope if they have rabies, So like, is it guaranteed death or what? It's like only five people have ever survived it and that's only been like like a if you don't get that, if you get rabies, you're done. If you suspect you got bit by an animal with rabies, you have to go get the shot, like immediately. What. Yeah, you can't get full blood rabies. There's no way to cure it. Wow, that scary mystery surprise. We care. So if you get bit by a strange animal that you don't know and suspect it could have rabies, please go find the antidote at your local medical center. It's an emergency. Do not get rabies. You will probably not survive it. All I know about rabies, aside from because I already forgot everything was about from the office where they say where Michael Scott made that race? The Was it rabies? I don't know, but it was like it causes the fear of water. Yes, yeah, that's rabies. Yeah, you're super thirsty. You can't drink, you start to fall with the mouth. You need to spread rabies so you bite people like a zombie. Yeah. Oh man. Anyway, there was another case that was documented in eighteen seventy eight, and this was on the website Legends of America. A trapper from Alberta, Canada. Another Canada guy whose name was the Coolest swift Runner. What that's great? Wow? He was a trader with the Hudson's Bay Company. A few years before the incident, he had also served as a guide for the Northwest Mounted Police. It was a harsh winter in eighteen seventy eight and his family had no luck finding food, just like the other Kree families. In an unfortunate series of events, the oldest son, one of the six children that he had, died of starvation, and eventually Swift became a victim of wendigo psychosis, which is that thing I mentioned where like do you want human meat human flesh? Emergency food supplies were available only twenty five miles away, but he didn't even try to get there to survive. Instead, he killed the rest of his family and ate them. And this episode is sponsored by HelloFresh. This one is not you could kill your whole family or you can order color Fresh there. That's our commercial. That's our commercial for it. Eventually he confessed and he was executed at Fort Saskatchewan. And there was another case, this one actually very famous, and it's whndego psychosis. It's the one and it's the case of Jack Fiddler and Ogee Cree chief and medicine man. He claimed to have defeated over fourteen wendigoes in his lifetime, with creatures being sent by his enemies and others who had supposedly become wendigoes themselves. And in the records of Hudson's Bay Company there exists documents saying that there were indeed several incidents of people turning when to go and eating human flesh. But in nineteen oh seven, Jack Fiddler and his brother were arrested for murder. Jack committed suicide and his brother was sentenced to life in prison, so justice was kind of served, I guess, yeah, But I don't know. Terrible Even today, though people claim to see wendigoes out in the areas of northern Ontario. Ne're a place known as a Cave of the Windowgill. I want to go there, I mean, I want to learn about it. I don't know anymore, like you don't want to get a windigo spirit attached to you. Oh, I don't know what if I start craving human flesh again against Well, luckily there seem to be starting to grow whatever meat and dishes, so you might be able to just have a lab grown human meat. Sound Oh no, no, no, no, okay. Anyway, they say that It roams in the woods of northern Minnesota and Canada, and though more sightings were reported between the late eighteen hundred through the nineteen twenties, talks of wendigoes, strange noises, and sights of large human eating giants in the wilderness are not as uncommon want them to be. For it to become a legend, somebody must have been other humans and like maybe that's why they had a warning, don't eat humans or you're gonna become one of these. But I mean, honestly, being one of those doesn't sound that bad if you really just see it, just like just logic. You're this strong like thing that can control the weather, hello, like, and you can mimic people's voices. I mean, how many podcasts could you start? Like God, it's just like God, I'm Aaron Manky or like glass. Yeah, like you could just do that, like I'm in a Chamberlaine. Oh guys, you know, but geez no, that's terrible either way, Like I would still be careful because there are creatures out in the woods. I mean from the noises that you hear from people, Bigfoot when it goes like what else, there's the little people Oh, there's so many things. But I think bears and I mean just typical ghosts, you know, like murder victims. They're out there. We don't know, we don't know what's in the woods. Just stay out of the fucking woods anyway. Yeah, that's that's what I got for the wind to go. Bizarre, bizarre creature. But yeah, stay out of the woods. Stay out of the woods. What are we gonna talk about next week, Edwin, I don't know. I think it'll be a surprise, all right, all right, bye bye,