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[-] MxM111@kbin.social 56 points 1 year ago

It all depends on whether you have good internet connection.

With a good internet connection, I'd risk the wendigo attacks.

[-] theodewere@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago

i'm sure the wendigo cries in the night are a little unsettling at first yeah

At least you know where they are.

[-] spacecowboy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

They’re free security on your property.

[-] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 year ago

lol ... this is a great thread for this kind of stuff for me. I'm Indigenous Ojibway-Cree from northern Ontario and I grew up with these stories.

My uncle was born the raised in the bush for about the first 20 years of his life without much. This would be about a hundred years ago now. He said he learned to hunt and trap before his family could use firearms so he knew how to live out there.

He used to tell us stories of how our people used to have a ceremony called the 'shaking tent'. It's a small little shelter about four or five feet high where an Elder, spirit leader or shaman would go in, go into a trance and be able to communicate with the spirits or other shamans far away or even see family, friends or enemies. When we told my uncle about the internet, he wasn't surprised, he used to say, our people were already doing that a long time ago.

I remember one story he repeated often when we were kids. It was about how a young man upset a leading shaman who was too proud and boastful and the young man called him out. The shaman told him he was wrong to do that and that he was being warned that the young man was no in danger. The young man went away from them all with his family and days away and hundreds of miles away he went about his life. Late one night as they sat around his teepee resting ... a sudden flash appeared and a spear appeared out of thin air .. the young man was swift, caught the spear mid air and threw it back into the light. They said that mitchi-mindoo, the evil spirits were playing tricks again.

Months later, they learned that the shaman that had threatened him had suddenly died. They were told that he was found in his shaking tent one day with a spear in his chest.

I always just ignored this story as a kid ... but a few years before my uncle died, he repeated the story to me. He said the young man was his father, my grandfather and that he claimed that he remembered as a little child seeing that flash of light.

I was never able to really believe or disbelieve what he said or what he claimed. It was my uncle who was full of stories like this and we could never really ever tell if what he said was truth, legend, historical fact or just embellishment.

[-] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 45 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm Indigenous and I'm actually more afraid of other people in a populated place ... you never know what these damned humans will do next.

I have a cabin in the woods with no internet, phone or communications ... it's even out of cell phone range and I feel safer there than anywhere else.

I grew up with stories of Windigo ... my parents used to freak us out with campfire stories in the dark and then pat us on the head and tell us to go to bed staring into the dark. My grandmother used to warn us not to make such dirty smoky fires because Windigo might see it from far away and find us.

I spent many nights alone out there and never had a problem ... or maybe that is just want Windigo would like you to think.

The stories go hand in hand with stories of cannibalism in my culture. Many of the stories suggest that during times of famine, which regularly occurred before our modern era back about a hundred years ago, people would go mad with hunger. You have to realize that families of about five to ten people lived alone out there alone for months at a time or even years. And when famines occurred, the families would disappear and there would only be one lone survivor and everyone would quickly realize what happened. The legends suggest that over time, those people who had tasted human flesh eventually just started seeing others as prey to be eaten and consumed ... they had been taken over by the spirit of Windigo.

And the stories get better because there is no one description of Windigo because it's a legend that any one who has ever seen very few ever live to tell. One description we were taught as kids is that it is covered in mounds of animal furs and layers of human skin to misshape its human body into a giant monster. The other feature was the teeth and mouth ... before it gets to the point of eating actual people, the famished person first starts eating themselves. They start ripping off portions of their lips and mouth to eat. It exposes their teeth and they can no longer close their mouth properly. So now you have this big hulking thing wandering around in the bush and when it looks at you, all you see is human teeth.

This is the Ojibway-Cree version of Windigo in the mushkeg and northern lake lands of Ontario. The descriptions vary from tribe to tribe throughout North America but this is the one I grew up with.

After many years of being in the bush ... I've yet to see one ... but late at night next to my camp fire in the wilderness, I always think of these stories.

[-] xantoxis@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

I would absolutely sub to a community of stories like this.

This is unsettling, but also incredibly interesting to read. Thank you!

The Germans are known for their terrifying stories used to keep children from misbehaving, but this is on another level.

[-] Deceptichum@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

This sounds much the same level as any other folklore?

[-] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 35 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
  1. I was surprised by how nervous some of the people who visited me from the city were when I lived in a slightly rural area. It wasn't even that remote - I had a neighbor across the street! Telling people that there were no bears and a lot less crime didn't convince them to relax.

  2. A moonless night away from any artificial light is dark. Can't-see-your-own-feet dark, and also so quiet that you start hearing a lot of noises that you aren't used to hearing. It's really unsettling. But of course I just carried a flashlight.

[-] Madison420@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

It's not that dark once your eyes adjust. Use a ranger trick and keep one eye closed as you enter and exit light pollution and your closed eye will stay light adjusted.

[-] Strobelt@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago
[-] Madison420@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

You joke but some actually do tape one closed if it's towards dusk and things are expected to get spicy.

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I grew up in a more rural area than where I live now, and I miss the quiet and the stillness. And of course the space.

[-] CascadianGiraffe@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

The tinnitus though.... It's so quiet I can't hear anything but ringing.

[-] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Believe me, I miss it too. I actually grew up in a big city, moved to a rural area for work, and then had to move back to that same big city. Crowding, noise, smells, terrible commutes - all the bad stuff about city living that I just took for granted before bothers me constantly now. I fantasize about being back on my own land with my own house, my own pickup truck, my own trees, and no strangers. All the people I care about are in the big city, they refuse to leave, and ultimately being close to them is more important to me, but I really wish they were country folk.

I feel the same way. Maybe that'll be a retirement plan for me, if I can't make it work sooner.

I also worry about stuff like air quality, and studies that show that constant ambient noise isn't good for you.

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 19 points 1 year ago

And people wonder why the Founding Fathers wanted the right to bear arms.

They were scared. The spirits of their stolen land knew their sins.

[-] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Well, USA was technically built on an Indian burial ground. We all know how that tends to go.

[-] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

DIY burial ground since Yanks had to put many of the Indians to the ground themself

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[-] Cap@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago

It's nice until you have to go to the store.

[-] Bo7a@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah, stores suck. Town days are the worst part of living in the middle of nowhere!

[-] XbSuper@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Damn cityfolk, afraid of their own shadow.

[-] Draconic_NEO@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Two questions:

  1. How good is the internet there?
  2. Does it come with the Skulldog/deer thing?

Internet isn't negotiable because I do have to be able to work from home. The skulldog is cute and would be nice but not an absolute necessity like the internet.

Good internet, but not fiber-optic good.

The wendigo is non-negotiable and will show up when you least expect it.

[-] Draconic_NEO@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Good internet, but not fiber-optic good.

Well that's good, doesn't need to be fiber good, just enough to do a bit of work with documents and files.

The wendigo is non-negotiable and will show up when you least expect it.

I see, so he just comes and goes whenever he wants? I was kind of hoping he would hang around more, but if he wants to do his own thing that's fine. I'd just hope he comes back when it's cold outside, I'd be worried for him if he was stuck out in the snow.

[-] Manifish_Destiny@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago
[-] RIP_Cheems@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Why do you want to hurt the skull dogo?

[-] Draconic_NEO@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Why do you want to hurt him 😢

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[-] Rouxibeau@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago
[-] RIP_Cheems@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

How else are you going to see the skull dogo?

[-] Draconic_NEO@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, also it doesn't seem really fair for him to be stuck out all night.

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[-] RIP_Cheems@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Depending on where in the country, their can be little to no cell service. As for the skull dogo, he comes with the property.

[-] GrammatonCleric@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Happiness is hiding from the cops, apparently 😅

[-] CascadianGiraffe@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Well it does increase your chances of survival.

[-] Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Leshy gonna roast you.

A couple other forest guardians

[-] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 year ago

how are they all so fuckable

[-] QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago
[-] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 year ago

o I thought I had heard you say, “based opinion”, of which it undeniably is

[-] Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 year ago

Undead bussy/pussy must be otherworldly I guess

[-] Pulptastic@midwest.social 5 points 1 year ago
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[-] optimal@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 year ago

I feel like that would just get really, really lonely.

[-] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I'm surrounded by people everywhere I go and I'm still lonely. Might as well be out in the middle of nowhere. No difference.

[-] EatYouWell@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

It depends on the type of person you are. I'd be perfectly happy out there

[-] NounsAndWords@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

You can even leave your doors unlocked and let your guard down.

Even for a minute?

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this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2023
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