Dangerous Spirits

The Windigo in Myth and History

By: Shawn Smallman, Grace Dillon (Foreword by)

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Paperback | 4 June 2015

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In the traditional Algonquian world, the windigo is the spirit of selfishness, which can transform a person into a murderous cannibal. Native peoples over a vast stretch of North America—from Virginia in the south to Labrador in the north, from Nova Scotia in the east to Minnesota in the westmdash;believed in the windigo, not only as a myth told in the darkness of winter, but also as a real danger.

Drawing on oral narratives, fur traders’ journals, trial records, missionary accounts, and anthropologists' field notes, this book is a revealing glimpse into indigenous beliefs, cross-cultural communication, and embryonic colonial relationships. It also ponders the recent resurgence of the windigo in popular culture and its changing meaning in a modern context.

Industry Reviews

Dangerous Spirits is a fascinating book. I believe it would be equally fascinating to those interested in Windigos or in the intercultural history of Canada. Furthermore, ethnohistorians of this region, or medical anthropologists interested in culture-bound syndromes, may find this books very useful.

-- (04/01/2017)

Shawn Smallman's skills as a historian allow him to present his argument in a compelling and effective manner. The quantity of sources cited by Smallman relays the importance of the Windigo across generations and speaks to the strength of oral narrative as a historical record. This book would be a suitable addition to a Canadian Studies or Indigenous Studies course that wishes to discuss issues of power, authority and social change

-- (09/26/2016)
"Dangerous Spirits is a fascinating look at the stories of the Windigo heard by early missionaries, fur traders, colonial officials, and legal authorities, and those told by Native elders. Smallman has written a book that is highly readable and well researched."--Nelle Oosterom , Canada's History-- (05/15/2015)
"The author covers a vast range of topics about wetigos, including historical references and their presence in popular literature. This is a well-written book, and the only way one can properly describe it is 'fascinating.'" --Alberta History-- (07/02/2015)
Shawn Smallman's study surveys over three centuries of documentary and literary records . . . This book is an impressive and valuable contribution to the literature on windigo.-- (01/12/2015)

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