Podcast Summary: The Prosecutors – “The Legend of the Wendigo: The Thing That Should Not Be”

Podcast: The Prosecutors (PodcastOne)
Hosts: Alice & Brett
Episode: 333
Date: October 28, 2025

Overview

This special Halloween episode of The Prosecutors dives into the chilling legend of the Wendigo, a figure deeply rooted in the folklore of the Cree and Ojibwe peoples of the upper United States and Canada. Alice and Brett alternate storytelling with analysis, exploring historical records, psychological impacts, and the real-life crimes inspired by belief in the Wendigo. Along the way, they mix the macabre with their trademark banter and even discuss Brett’s commitment to his Slenderman Halloween costume.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction: Folklore Meets True Crime

• Brett and Alice set the stage with Halloween banter, especially about Brett’s terrifying Slenderman costume, which unnerves Alice throughout the episode.
  • [02:25] Alice: “You dressed as Slenderman is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
• They clarify the Wendigo is less a cryptid and more a spirit:
  • [05:01] Brett: “I would not call it a cryptid. I would call it spirit...possessed by a hunger that can never be satisfied.”

The Wendigo in History: Western Accounts

• The earliest written account of the Wendigo appears in a 1661 Jesuit missionary report.
  • Read aloud, depicting “an ailment” of insatiable hunger for human flesh, compelling its victims to attack loved ones—who are often killed to end their suffering.
  • [07:12] Alice (quoting the Jesuits): “...a more than canine hunger. This makes them so ravenous for human flesh that they pounce upon women, children, and even upon men like veritable werewolves...”
• Brett contextualizes Western interpretation, noting the tendency to compare the Wendigo to European figures like werewolves.

18th & 19th Century Case Studies

• 1767: Alexander Henry, a Canadian explorer adopted by the Ojibwe, recounts a man who had eaten family members and, after that, could only look at children with hunger; the tribe eventually kills him for safety.
  • [12:01] Brett: “He would fix his eyes continually on the children...exclaiming, ‘How fat they are.’”
• 1796: David Thompson meets a Cree man, Wiskahoo, haunted by the fear of becoming a Wendigo; the community ultimately executes him out of fear.
• 1800s: George Nelson documents several Wendigo cases, offering a proto-psychiatric description:
  • [15:09] “A sort of mania fever, a distemper of the brain...They are generally rational, except at short sudden intervals when the paroxysm seizes them...”
• 1879: The case of an “old squaw...inclined to cannibalism” at Fort Walsh, again illustrating the intersection of cultural belief and practical mental health care.

Detailed Modern Accounts

The Case of Swift Runner (1879)

• The most notorious legal case: Swift Runner, a Cree man, kills and eats his family despite being just 25 miles from a Hudson Bay Company food post.
  • [22:52] Brett: “…they find Swift Runner’s camp. And it was a grisly scene...human skulls scattered nearby. The bones were cracked and hollow…”
• Swift Runner confesses, claiming he became a Wendigo after his eldest son’s death.
  • [24:22] Alice: “Swift Runner killed and ate his five remaining children and his wife.”
  • Despite evidence and a direct confession (“I did it.” [25:30] Swift Runner), he receives a swift trial and is executed.
  • The methodical, “painless” hanging was staged to impress local tribal chiefs, demonstrating the combination of colonial power and cultural mediation.

Jack Fiddler: The Wendigo Hunter (Early 1900s)

• Fiddler, chief of the Cree Sucker Clan, was famous for “defeating” (i.e., euthanizing) those believed to be Wendigos—at their request or that of their families.
  • [29:17] Brett: “These were people saying, ‘My family member is a Wendigo’ or ‘I’m a Wendigo’ and wanting to be killed by Jack...to release their own spirit.”
• The Canadian government steps in, arrests Jack and his brother Joseph for murder, using the Wendigo killings as a means to assimilate the tribe.
• Jack hangs himself before trial; Joseph is convicted on contradictory evidence but dies before his release is ordered. The Sucker Clan, leaderless, is forced to submit to Canadian authority and relocate to reserves.

Cultural, Psychological, and Societal Analysis

The Role of the Wendigo Legend

• Serves as a powerful taboo against cannibalism, especially during famine.
  • [39:45] Brett: “...when you’re living a life that’s right on the knife’s edge...sometimes you need a hammer...the stick is Wendigo.”
• The concept of “Wendigo psychosis” is introduced—a real, culture-bound syndrome where people believe they are transforming into Wendigos.
  • [38:36] Alice: “Marked by an overwhelming belief...that individuals are transforming into Wendigos, malevolent spirits driven by an insatiable desire for human flesh.”
  • Now essentially disappeared, as famine and the topic’s cultural prominence have faded.

The Dream Motif

• Accounts of Cree people dreaming of being tempted to consume flesh—with refusal in the dream acting as a bulwark against doom.
  • [41:00] Brett reads a detailed dream sequence in which a man is offered a banquet that slowly reveals itself to be human flesh, rejecting it each time and ultimately escaping the fate of the Wendigo.

The Dance Against Hunger

• Ojibwe would hold a Windigo Kanjimowin, a ceremonial dance with masks and antlers, to remind people of the taboo and reinforce communal values during hard times.

Modern Pop Culture Reference & Meta-Banter

• The Wendigo legend is now fodder for horror movies, video games, and novels. Brett mentions his own book, That Which Should Not Be, inspired by Wendigo tales.
• Alice and Brett discuss their own Halloween celebrations, Brett’s costume “construction,” and answer listener questions in characteristically light-hearted style.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [02:25] Alice: “You dressed as Slenderman is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
• [05:01] Brett: “This is not a monster or an unknown beast. Nothing so prosaic, nothing so easy to kill. No, this is a spirit…”
• [13:26] Alice: “Once a person ate human flesh, they would never be satisfied with any other.”
• [29:17] Brett: “These were people saying, ‘My family member is a Wendigo’ or ‘I’m a Wendigo’...wanting to be killed by Jack...so their spirit would be released.”
• [41:25] Brett (on the dream of eating human flesh): “‘Why refusest thou what I offer thee? Is it not good?’ ‘I feel no inclination to eat, I replied.’...Had I unfortunately eaten of this, then I would have become a cannibal...”
• [25:37] Brett (dry legal humor): “Probably should have waived his defense if that was what it was going to be.”

Important Timestamps

• 01:14: Hosts introduce themselves and the Halloween episode theme.
• 03:56: Discussion of folklore sources and first Western record of Wendigo.
• 07:12: Jesuit missionary report on Wendigo recounted.
• 12:01: Alexander Henry’s case of the child-hungry cannibal.
• 13:26: Thompson’s account of Wiskahoo and paranoid cannibal fears.
• 15:09: George Nelson’s “mania fever” description.
• 22:52: Swift Runner case — confession and grisly evidence.
• 24:22: Swift Runner’s murders and trial.
• 28:32: Introduction to Jack Fiddler, “Wendigo killer.”
• 31:58: Canadian government crackdown; Jack Fiddler’s arrest and suicide.
• 38:36: Wendigo psychosis and cultural impact.
• 41:00: Wendigo “temptation” dreams.
• 44:52: Halloween laughter, movie recommendations, costume antics.

Episode Tone and Atmosphere

• Alice and Brett strike a balance between serious, research-driven narrative and their signature friendly banter—often breaking the horror with jokes about costumes, their children, and legal “hot takes.”
• They are sensitive in referring to outdated or offensive historical language in primary sources, noting their intent to quote for historical accuracy.

For Listeners Who Haven't Heard the Episode

This episode is an in-depth, narrative-driven exploration of the Wendigo myth, mixing indigenous folklore, colonial history, documented cases, and real criminal justice outcomes. It is both educational and haunting—punctuated by hosts’ relatable humor and a running joke about Brett’s commitment to his Slenderman outfit. Themes of belief, taboo, colonial power, and mental health are woven through harrowing real-life accounts, making it a Halloween special that informs as much as it entertains.

Further Enrichment

• Movie recommendation: “Don’t Say Its Name” directed by a Cree filmmaker, recommended for further exploration of Wendigo stories in film.
• Book mention: Brett’s own “That Which Should Not Be,” inspired by the Wendigo legend.

Closing

The episode ends with the hosts fielding lighthearted listener questions, revealing behind-the-scenes costume shenanigans, and previewing the next (even scarier) case, all with warmth and wit.

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