Classroom Cannibal: A Guide on how to Teach Ojibwe Spirituality Using the Windigo and Film

Authors

Brady DeSanti, University of Nebraska at OmahaFollow

Abstract

This paper is intended as a pedagogical guide on how to teach elements of Ojibwe religious and philosophical beliefs using the windigo and its depictions in the films Wendigo and Ravenous. The windigo complex is exceedingly complex and remains an enduring component to the cultures of Ojibwe and several other Algonquian-speaking communities in the United States and Canada. While the windigo enjoys exposure in a variety of popular entertainment sources, film remains one of the most useful methods to incorporate in the classroom to help students comprehend how an anthropophagus “monster” directly relates to Ojibwe ideas of personal balance, social harmony, and kinship relations among nonhuman persons in the natural world and the larger cosmos

Recommended Citation

DeSanti, Brady (2018) "Classroom Cannibal: A Guide on how to Teach Ojibwe Spirituality Using the Windigo and Film," Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 22: Iss. 1, Article 36.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol22/iss1/36