The Ojibwa tribe of the North American plains contained a warrior society known as the Windigokan (No-flight contraries). Only the bravest men, who had demonstrated their courage by utter disregard for danger on the battlefield, could be admitted. In fact, because they had no fear of death, they were no longer considered among the living: they slept and ate seperately and were not held to the usual codes of behaviour. As creatures who were both alive and dead, they spoke and acted contrarily: they called a young person an old man and when one of the others told the rest to stand still, he meant charge forward. They were glum in times of prosperity, happy in the depths of winter. Although there was a clownish side to their behaviour, the Windigokan could inspire great terror. No-one ever knew what they would do next.
The Windigokan were believed to be inhabited by terrifying spirits called Thunderers, which appeared in the form of giant birds [SWEET MERCIFUL FUCK, PTERODACTYLS! - Cain]. That made them somewhat inhuman. On the battlefield they were disruptive and unpredictable, and in raiding parties downright terrifying. In one such raid, witnessed by an outsider, they gathered first in front of the Ojibwa chief's lodge and yelled "we are not going to war! We shall not kill the Sioux! We shall not scalp four of them and let the rest escape! We shall go in daytime!" They left the camp that night, wearing customes of rags and scraps, their bodies plastered with mud and painted with splotches of wierd colour, their faces covered by frightening masks with giant, beak like noses. They made their way through the darkness, stumbling over themselves - it was hard to see through the masks - until they came upon a large Sioux war party. Although outnumbered, they did not flee, but danced into the enemies centre. The grotesqueness of their dance made them seem to be possessed by demons. Some of the Sioux backed away; others drew closer, curious and confused. The leader of the Windigokan shouted "Don't shoot!" The Ojibwa warriors then pulled out guns hidden under their rags, killed four of the Sioux and scalped them. Then they danced away, the enemy too terrified by this apparition to pursue them.
After such an action, the mere appearance of the Windigokan was enough for the enemy to give them a wide berth and not risk any kind of encounter.
- Robert Greene's 33 Strategies of War
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4 comments:
That is not true they was cannibal spirt eating people wat you are describing there is hey you a people they sacred clown windigokon are evil people like ice eaters they are track down and killed by my people they are a brand of vampires..
That is not true they was cannibal spirt eating people wat you are describing there is heyYoka a people they sacred clown windigokon are evil people like ice eaters they are track down and killed by my people they are a brand of vampires..
perdy sure we killed windigo they did everything contrary to the midewewin......and the ogitchedah were the warriors led by the marten and bear clans through their ceremonies.....
Windigo and windigokon are differ things
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