In Algonquian folklore, the malevolent spirit associated with cannibalism and winter is the Wendigo.
The Wendigo belongs to the traditional belief systems of several Algonquian-speaking peoples, including the Ojibwe, Cree, Saulteaux, Naskapi, and Innu. It is commonly connected with winter, famine, cold, starvation, and an insatiable appetite for human flesh. In some traditions, a person could become a Wendigo through cannibalism, greed, or spiritual corruption.
Descriptions vary considerably. Some accounts portray a giant, emaciated humanoid that grows larger with every person it consumes but can never become satisfied. Other traditions emphasize possession by a malevolent spirit rather than a single standardized monster. The figure also represents gluttony, selfishness, destructive excess, and the danger of placing individual appetite above community survival.
Modern popular culture often gives the Wendigo antlers or a deer-like skull, but those features are not universal in traditional accounts and largely reflect later creative adaptations. “Wendigo psychosis” is a disputed historical and cultural concept, not evidence that the supernatural being exists. The related Athabaskan being called a wechuge is similar but belongs to a different cultural tradition.