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#LIKE DREAMCATCHERS. OR WENDIGO.
alex-fa-main · 3 years
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no one on this website knows what cultural appropriation is
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steamedtangerine · 2 years
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This is a follow-up post to a previous one that I posted yesterday about the use of the Wendigo legend and AD&D. It was a supplemental portion of description that should’ve been added to further explain some background regarding the legend and less upon the creature/entity stats.
That previous post caused a small debate with another account where it became not only a pronounced indictment that anyone using the “Wendigo” legend was being culturally insensitive (whether it be the AD&D world -that had at least three different incarnations of Wendigo usage, including this one_ https://mindweaverpg.wordpress.com/2020/09/15/biweekly-monster-wendigo-add/  - or Stephen King or Guillermo Del Toro for producing the recent film “Antlers” or Chippewa author Louise Erdrich or even this Michigan campus Onion-like paper that threw out an odd satirical blurb of Joe Biden "not being a Wendigo” https://everythreeweekly.com/2020/10/joe-biden-is-not-the-wendigo-says-joe-biden-unprompted/ ), but also an indictment stating that anyone using any Indigenous religious beliefs/folklore/spirituality for the purpose of (fodder for)  entertainment was in the wrong (keeping in mind full and well that the Twin Peaks series does, indeed, implement Native American folklore-especially with Deputy Hawk-as many online articles and entries here on Tumblr and Reddit, etc.will attest-something I felt was not being addressed at all in the debate I had).
While AD&D was my first personal exposure to the concept of the Wendigo in the 1980′s (we take our initial introductions to the past where we find them in this cacophony of modern society where anything is in danger of being swallowed-up into irreparable obscurity), this also resurfaced in my basic folklore studies in the early 2000′s when I was reading books by Alfonso Ortiz and Richard Erdoes (”American Indian Trickster Tales” in particular-please notice the word “TALES”).
So, I felt the indictment being made towards me (and one I trust was not being used as a passive-aggressive off-side form of goad to harass me for my political beliefs by any entity or agency-seeing as that would not be the first time such a thing had happened to me online) seemed almost as petty as being sentenced to stoning just for saying “that halibut was good enough for Jehovah”....
Being provoked by the matter into a state of irresolve, I decided to do some online digging, whereupon, I did turn up some scant articles (as well as posts here on Tumblr) making clear that the appropriation of Native American folklore (especially in the case of legends such as Wendigo or even “skinwalkers”-as in the case of the book/film Wolfen) can be considered an insensitive undertaking.
However, I did repeatedly see the emphasis that it all seemed rather permissible IF the Wendigo was presented in the context of Algonquin culture (the AD&D blurb from Dragon magazine does refer to the region) and more importantly, IF the Wendigo was strictly represented as a foul, malevolent spirit of an ever-devouring and cannibalistic means (much like the negative lifeforce of the Powaqqatsi of Hopi beliefs)...which I can assure you the folks involved in most RPGs (and Stephen King and Guillermo Del Toro, etc.) had done.
Thus, bringing up the issue of whether the Wendigo is all that “taboo” of a sacred cow. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/33820/Warrior_washington_0250E_14521.pdf?sequence=1
For something accurately portrayed as an evil, consuming spirit in most modern fiction. even folklore has it’s peculiar license by adding stories of ermine or weasels being able to vanquish the Wendigo by intruding into it’s anus (?!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_weasel#In_folklore_and_mythology -shades of an obverse to Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher -thus, once again, bringing up the issue of just how unprofane is the “sacred and unmentionable” here.
Regardless, if any actual persons here on Tumblr (”the people” as was bluntly stated by the account I debated with) with a strong and verified background in Native American culture and lineage feels that the any posting I’ve made of the foul “Wendigo” in context of a role-playing game or a book or a movie was being in any way insensitive, then please give a thorough response as to how it was and how anyone else (King, Del Toro, etc.) doing so is in the wrong. I do try to be open to correction in such matters.
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wahbegan · 5 years
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Oi hey dickheads
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I’ve seen this picture and similar ones associated with Skinwalkers sometimes i know there’s at least one post on this shit hole blue hellsite that’s guilty of doing that and i just want to say a couple things
1. This is not a picture of a Skinwalker. This is a picture of a Navajo man in a mask representing Nayenezgani, the Slayer of Alien Gods. Nayenezgani, along with his twin brother Tobadzischini was a protector of humanity and monster slayer, killing many evils that plagued the world. This mask or a similar one and the accompanying ceremonial dress would be used in an INCREDIBLY sacred ceremony called The Night Chant, undertaken as a healing ritual.
2. You’re not going to find a fucking picture of a Skinwalker because pictures of them don’t fucking exist
3. You can’t just take shit with context with a ton of context actually, and just strip and re-purpose it cause you think it looks cool. I mean from Navajo Skinwalkers to various Algonquian stories of The Wendigo,Ojibwe Dreamcatchers to Hawaiian Tikis and Luaus to the totem poles in the Pacific Northwest tribes, you all know what all of those things are on a superficial level or understand a commodified Western interpretation, but you don’t know the context. You don’t know how they fit into these people’s religious teachings and cultural values, you don’t know what they signify. You can’t just take it because it looks cool and you sort of think you get it and re-purpose it in a way that completely fucks it up. That’s the difference between appreciation and appropriation. You may think you understand something, but this shit ain’t something you can just find and breeze through info on like that. I had to reverse google image this picture and do a good bit of scrolling before I got an accurate caption. With any indigenous cultural, spiritual, or folkloric information you have to be insanely careful with what you use as a source and probably if you’re white and unfamiliar with it need do a good bit of secondary research about various other deities and spiritual beliefs and how they tie together before you actually GET something. If that sounds dry and exhausting to you, maybe it’s not worth putting the fucking thing in your spoopy tumblr post or whatever.
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localmagicalboi · 4 years
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honestly ... my url but i’m literally any of my blogs or all of them / my character taste in general
                          ✨ @grcndel for HEY, YOU, OVER THERE. SEND ME YOUR URL AND I WILL TELL YOU—! still accepting.
My Opinion on...
The character in general: i think i’m gonna be hopping back and forth because there’s just so much i wanna say but good god lmao if i said it all, we’d be here 4ever!!! lets talk about gren first. gren reminds me of my older relatives up north, and more speficifally the struggles they’ve endured. so i think for me he’s the one that touches me the most. and he’s so dimensional and there’s so many sides to him. i’ve seen him aggressive, i’ve seen him be ~soft, i’ve seen him happy, sad, just, this spectrum of every real, thoughtfully written emotions and experiences. the fact you’ve built his lore up to this point? oooo i luv that. i really dont know much about where he came from, but i can tell that you got the material you were given and turned that inch into a fucking mile!!!!!
bart…. do i rly gotta express my feelings, since u clearly know i would punch someone in the throat for him. culturally significant. esp part of a culture that i grew up with??? omg???? u know how often indigenous muses that arent horrible stereotypes or jeez plagued with imagery of dreamcatchers and feathers or some shit like its a personality trait float thru here. or seeing you know…… wendigo that isnt uh…. caucasian. u never see that shit!!! god i love good representation and the historical importance that comes with it!!!! luv me some creeper. man my mom loves jeeper creepers, so seeing him always makes me think of her lkgjdfgldfk. anyway. krampus? we support.
Thots 4 Krampus
^ im making that a shirt :)
How you play them: you have a writing style that stands out so strongly in this community. you don’t waste words, you make sure every. single. word. counts. you dont bullshit, but i see you having fun with experimenting and form and grammar. like there’s intent there. instead of throwing a bunch of meaningless shit at the wall and seeing if it sticks and passes as meaningful writing, there’s intent. you write with a distinct voice for every muse you take on and that??? is??? worth all my golf claps.dialogue is definitely a super strong point for you. overall, i’m very impressed with how you write these different lives and experiences.i have to tell u too that even over wire there’s something so distinct about your writing via IC messaging too. that shits hard to do. good on u, bruh. also i feel like i gotta give @hisband props because you two really bring out the best in each other
You, the Mun: you dont give a FUCK! and a no bullshit approach to matters that may arise in the community??? o yeah, i luv that. sometimes you remind me of this video in the best way. but lmao you know your shitposts too got me crackin up sometimes. and youve always been respectful and cool towards me, so thanks for that! i hope u experience a lot of great things in ur life!
Do I...
RP with you: yes. we have interacted. Would Like To Interact More !Want to RP with you: always……. Always. *steps out of ur closet* i will always wanna WRITE WITH U.Ship with you:Want to ship with you: listen if there every came an opportunity and the conditions were right……. i’d be like ‘mama mia, that’s a spicy meatball. sign me up.’
What is my...
One favorite thing about your blog: charm….. im talking overall. charm and the fact you care??? so much about ur muses, u obviously care about them so much. ill admit ive been rping for a long time and ive seen people be like ‘ok new muse!’ and its like 'alright what kind of half-baked, poorly thought out ideas do you have now and how long will it be until you fold this project because you actually have no idea how to carry it out because you rushed it?’
when you create your blogs i know for sure you thought about it.One favorite thing about you and your character: they feel like. people. people that have lived lives and are continuing to live them. they dont feel like a dossier with a bunch of personality traits that stay static in said traits. they evolve, they heal, they lose, they are people. its... :’)Overall Opinion ( with optional gif! ): HAVE A VERY STARSTRUCK USAGI?!?!
(Please keep in mind the mun’s answers will be honest and may come with brutal honesty! Send at your own risk.)
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squidproquoclarice · 5 years
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Are the Wapiti and others you're writing based on any particular tribe?
So I’m following R*’s angle of “Fauxworld” with obviously taking cues of real places/people (i.e., St. Denis is unquestionably a riff on New Orleans, Leviticus Cornwall is clearly based on Gilded Age plutocrats like Rockefeller and Carnegie, and the Van Der Lindes themselves seem to owe a good deal to the Hole in the Wall Gang) but also not being beholden to depicting them 100% faithfully by making them a fictional version to give some distance.They did that with the Wapiti.  However, they’re also clearly heavily based on Lakota/Sioux with a few bits thrown in from other tribes.  It’s even pointed out explicitly at one point when Arthur visits the reservation that Rains Fall is speaking Lakota, if you have the game’s subtitles on.However, there’s a little more walking with care when you’re depicting a one-step-removed-from-reality situation with a non-white culture as opposed to an American city or person.  I’m trying to hit that sweet spot of respectfully depicting the Native experience of that time in Canada and the government policies of forced assimilation, while still having the ability to fictionalize somewhat and frankly not fuck it up by possibly misrepresenting a particular still-living Native culture that deserves respect, while still not totally appropriating it.That said, I’m writing roughly what corresponds to some of the tribal diversity represented on reserves of western Ontario/Manitoba/eastern Saskatchewan as my fictional New Caledonia.The Wapiti/Hehakaton take a lot from the Lakota/Plains Sioux.Their “eastern cousins” the Keyakaton are based on the Dakota/Eastern Sioux, and the story Rains Fall relates of some of them fleeing to Canada during the Civil War is accurate to the 1862 Dakota War and its aftermath.The other tribe I mentioned last chapter with the wendigo folklore, the Wawashkeshi, are based on the Ojibwe of middle Canada, Minnesota, etc.  The various dreamcatchers Arthur finds during the game are likely from them.
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twiggeh1339 · 7 years
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My uncles on me being upset over dreamcatchers Uncle1: THEY CHANGED THE DARK ELVES SKIN TONES FROM BLACK TO DARK GREY ITS FANTSY ITS NOT RACIST uncle2: WHY DO YOU ONLY TALK ABOUT NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES AND NOT ASIAN OR CAUCASIAN THERE ARE OTHER RACES me: OK so white people wearing black face claiming to be dark elves had to change the skin tones to dark gray I wonder why Me: well geez its not as if I'm part native american and those issues are very relevant to me as someone who is infact native also I've spoken about Asian racism in Nero some costumes put together don't match some China™ themes could very well be Korean and not in fact Chinese lastly how the fuck can you be racist to white people firstly white people have the most privilege in america secondly I refuse to feel bad for a white person discriminated over race because that doesn't make sense in America at least when a white person is in fact discriminated its over class , age , sex, gender or ableism which they mistake as a reason to claim racist Me lastly: why do you have to build costumes over other cultures I know you claim that imitation is the best form of flattery but not always not every culture is to used as some game trust me I know that taking spirits from native american lore/mythology is in very poor taste not only do you seem like someone who thinks its some joke but you don't understand the meaning behind it most evil spirits used in fantasy taken from native Americans shouldn't ever be used such as the native american werewolf who I won't name because that thing is scary , the wendigo which if you didn't know is a very much around Michigan into Canada thing so 👀 Lastly noble savage is such 1960s bullshit drop it off the list of characters doodes
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maximoffpietrod · 6 years
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♥︎ beth, ashley, wendigo ♥︎
Do you have any siblings?yes ! i have an older brother and a sister, my sister’s three years older than me and my brother’s 14 years older.
If you could only pick one book/book series to have a perfect movie adaptation, what would it be?ohhh boy this is. the best/worst question honestly because did you know i am. the worst. with books being turned into movies like RANDOM FACT TIME when i was like twelve i read dreamcatcher by stephen king and i loved it and i was super impatient waiting for the film version bc it was gonna be released shortly and. the movie differed from the book so much at times but i was cool with it all except the fact that one of the main character does not have glasses in the movie adaptation and i’m still not over that and it’s been fifteen years s o. i think i’m gonna have to name that one so poor henry can finally get his glasses and i can get my peace of mind.( also it is my legit dream to remake the film adaptations of pet sematary by stephen king and horns by joe hill could someone just. hand me over the filming rights please )
What’s your favourite food?disclaimer: this is the worst question i enjoy certain foods too much. in general i would say tortilla wraps with burgers as a close second, but as far as specific dishes go fafa’s vegan meze is just. s o g o o d those falafels and the eggplant just !!! give !! me !!
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