A Creature Without a Cave: Abstraction and (Mis)Appropriation of the Wendigo Myth in Contemporary North American Horror

Abstract

This article analyses prominent examples of the Wendigo myth in modern North American horror media and the implications of misappropriation by non-Indigenous creators for non-Indigenous audiences. This article’s cross-media analysis covers television, film and game media; Teen Wolf (2011–17), Supernatural (2005–20), Bruce Wemple’s The Retreat (2020) and SuperMassive Games’ Until Dawn (2015). This analysis will trace the process of these media, made by non-Indigenous white creators, removing the Wendigo’s indigeneity and placing it within fictional settings as an antagonist. I have named this observation of the Wendigo the ‘Caveless Creature’ phenomenon. The paper concludes that employing the Wendigo as a caveless creature is a common practice within horror as it easily creates a villain for white protagonists to defeat repeatedly. This construction is problematic in the horror genre as it presents an Indigenous antagonist that poses a threat to white culture for its otherness and indigeneity – while at the same time, misappropriating, discarding and demonising the Indigenous culture the myth comes from, at whim. Although this article is specifically observing the Wendigo, I argue that it is one of many caveless creatures, and the treatment of them by creators of non-Indigenous horror genre should be analysed in the future.