Blogpost #6: Counterparts of a Windigo

A lot of mythical creatures and topic of legends have a lot of counterparts. Zeus' counterpart is Jupiter and Poseidon's counterpart is Neptune. Though most of the characteristics are similar, there are still a few that differs it because of other cultural influences that occurred as these ideas were exploited throughout the world.

I've compared and contrasted various mythical creatures and came up with valid counterparts of a Windigo.

There was an article entitled, "Jokao" written by an anonymous author in the site mythicalcreatureslist.com. It is said that Jokaos are a race of cannibals from the myths of the Iroquois and Seneca Native Americans. They look human but their skin are covered with stone scales. They were once humans but during a harsh Winter their hunger caused them to eat other humans which is just like the how windigos are born. There was one Jokao that became aware of what he had become and he was filled with regret. He ran south away from the lands of the Jokao until a large deep river blocked his path. He called for help; a man in a canoe came to him and offered him hot deer fat. When the Jokao drank this, his scales melted away and he was human again.

According to Christopher Golden in his book "The Lost Ones", "They were called Stonecoats because their bodies were entirely covered in rocky armor. Their eyes were like pure quartz crystal. Whether there was flesh beneath theit Stonecoats was the subject of great conjecture."

Stonecoats or Jokaos are similar in a way that they both originated in Native American legend and both of them are cannibalistic creatures. Their differences however is windigos are creatures associated with ice while the stonecoats are associated with a rocky armor. Both of these creatures are commonly created during harsh winters. The Stonecoats can change back to humans while the Windigo cannot.

There was another creature that counts as a counterpart of a Windigo and it is called Rugaru. The article entitled "What is a Rugaru, and where did the concept of them originate" was written by an author with a psudoname, Alrwolf. The Rugaru, has been associated with the legendary cannibalistic Native American windigos. The stories of the windigo vary by tribe and region, but the most common cause of the change is typically related to cannibalism.

An example is that if a person sees a rugaru, that person will be transformed into one. Thereafter, the unfortunate victim will be doomed to wander in the form of this monster. That rugaru story bears some resemblance to a Native American version of the windigo legend related in a short story by Algernon Blackwood. In Blackwood's fictional adaptation of the legend, seeing a windigo causes one to turn into a windigo.

According to Peter Matthiessen, "The Rugaru is a separate legend from that of the cannibal-likegiant wendigo. While the wendigo is feared, the rugaru is seen as sacred and in tune with Mother Earth, somewhat like bigfoot legends are today."

Rugarus have a lot of places where its legend are known. There are legends of it in France, Louisiana, and in America. Rugaru can be counted as a counterpart of a wendigo because it first of all, it is cannibalistic. Second, the method of a man's transformation to a Rugaru is similar to how a wendigo itransforms from a human. And lastly, both of them have no cure. The ones who already transformed into a monster cannot be turned back to his or her human form. There maybe a lot of legends that are associated as a windigo counterpart such as the Jenu, Atshen, Gici Awas that I was not able to explain further because the articles lack certain information.