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Apr 2022

I have this character in a webcomic I want to write who is a Wendigo. She is Native American. She’s part of a group of young adults created in a lab (she’s the only one who wasn’t) who have these special abilities. When she was brought to the lab she already had the curse of the Wendigo but after she was “updated” she had visible antlers and could change her shape. (Think Noah from immortal affairs who changed shape into his Wendigo form). They all have code names and I was thinking hers could be “Wendigo”. I’ve looked at a bunch of different sites and there were a lot of takes on using wendigos, from comparing the use of other cultures myths and folklore (Greek, Roman, Slavic) to saying that it’s ok as long as you research to people who say it’s disrespectful. I want to know if my idea is ok or if there is something i should change or if I should just scrap the whole character. Obviously I’d like to keep her in the story and if I need to change somethings to do that I will do that in a heart beat but if it’s not meant to be I’ll understand that too.

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    Apr '22
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Well, if you're not a part of that community it'll always be cultural appropriation, wearing a shirt or ring with Celtic symbols on them while not being Irish is cultural appropriation. (Lindsay Ellis did a pretty good video on the topic31.) What matters is if you're causing harm with your interpretations, which personally I would say a smalltime indie creator wouldn't be able to outside of one or two people, but what matters is what you want to do. Clearly you want to be respectful, but I don't think you should NOT have this character just because you're worried about getting it wrong. Just stick to your research, talk to American Indian folks, and if you do get something wrong just be open to the feedback. It might be good to look further than this forum to get feedback, maybe try Twitter, Mastodon, Pillowfort, you might find some good feedback on Reddit. Just shop around.

That being said while I have American Indian in me (Wouldn't know the percentage.), I wasn't raised like one so it's not my place to say whether your rep is "bad". I certainly don't have an issue with it, but I'm pretty anti-artistic censorship, so I'm pretty open with fiction.

Good luck!

No it's not fairly cultural appropriation. The definition according to google is,

"Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. "

So in that case learn about it, it'll make for a better story i highly doubt many people will care if you used something from their culture if you did it respectively and creatively. You seem to have not malice or ill will, so don't even worry about it just do your research and create a good story.

seconding @PrinceLatte if you wanna use the mythology, go for it. The symbolism and origins of the Wendigo myth has a rich and ripe land for storytelling :grin:

I recommend you to do the research because you can find some cool ideas involving how the Wendigos are created and their abilities

Not to be argumentative but I found this11 on Google, which has the nuances your finding lacks.

"Cultural appropriation refers to the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression and doesn't respect their original meaning or give credit to their source. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) without permission.1

In this way, cultural appropriation is a layered and nuanced phenomenon that many people may have trouble understanding and may not realize when they are doing it themselves.

It can be natural to merge and blend cultures as people from different backgrounds come together and interact. In fact, many wonderful inventions and creations have been born from the merging of such cultures (such as country music).

However, the line is drawn when a dominant cultural group makes use of elements of a non-dominant group in a way that the non-dominant group views as exploitative."

Cultural appropriation is more than just malicious representation of a culture, it can be anyone using elements from a culture that isn't theirs. It's not always bad, like no one cares if Bollywood or anime does it with Americans, or if some Mexicans out there use a cultural element from France for something. It's more scrutinized when a dominating culture appropriates one that's been exploited, and that's the most common, but any culture that takes elements from another is appropriating.

The whole topic is a grey area since taking anything from a culture, even tourist merch, can reinforce stereotypes of that culture. The OP making a story using an element from the American Indian culture, while not being part of that community themselves, IS appropriation. Is there anything wrong with that? Nope. They don't intend to do harm, they're doing research, it's not some "wtf" thing, so they're fine.

Write what you want and is entertaining. If you have to worry about writing other cultures you will never be able to write a story.

I don't necessarily agree with this- if you're writing other cultures you should be doing your research in order to represent them more accurately. Most people pay attention/worry to how something is represented in a story because they want to do it respectfully. Doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to write a story.

Once again depends on the story. Is accuracy needed to tell the story? If you are doing a story about 14th century China, ok sure. Do the research. If the love interest is a Indian girl but that has no bearing on the story, who cares. Writers write. They don't always write what they know or are a part of and you don't want a world where you can only write what you are. And "respectfully" also is not always a thing. there are assholes in other cultures too, not just your own. You can write about them as they do exist in the world. Don't self censor yourself just because it's another culture. tell a good story and no one will care.

I think I will add the character and I will definitely do a lot of research. Someone in another site pointed out that it might seem bad if she was the ONLY character to not originate in the lab so I will probably add another supernatural non lab character to balance it out.

Yeah but you should still be respectful especially with cultures that have felt with oppression for a long time and still are dealing with oppression. I am going to write my story, I’m going to use my character, but I’m going to be respectful and research my topic. You can’t just say things like “Well other people can be a-holes so so can I” you have to take responsibility.

Look what I wrote. If you make a character from another culture an asshole, that doesn't make you an asshole. It makes the character an asshole. It's a character to progress your story. If it doesn't progress the story, the character shouldn't be there in the first place no matter the culture. I am also talking about a fictional character. Putting any real life person in your stories and putting them in the worst possible light is shallow. Real people are real, and you shouldn't misrepresent them. But if the character is fictional, is part of the story, is not a caricature, and helps progress the story, everything is game.

You still need to pay attention to how you represent different cultures because real people from those cultures will see your work. If you're writing what you don't know research will is important in helping you get a better understanding of said thing.

Not doing your research would be J.K Rowling naming her one East Asian character Cho-Chang.

Edit: You can absolutely have a character from another culture be an asshole. It just depends on how you write it.

I thought you were saying that because some people don’t respect other cultures then neither do I and that’s why I got upset. Yep I definitely see what you are saying. By respectfully I mean portraying the character and her Wendigo characteristics in an accurate light and not just throwing in whatever I want.

I don't think it's inherently bad to draw from a number of cultures, but I've seen native people objecting to this sort of use of the wendigo specifically.
Here's somebody talking about it here


Wendigo are specifically evil creatures, and though no one person speaks for a culture, the main Algonquin opinion seems to be
1. They belong in a specific cultural context, and they'd prefer not to see them used as stock fantasy monsters. It can be upsetting for bits of your faith to be used in a story that otherwise ignores, and probably contradicts, your faith.
2. They are specifically a representation of evil, so making your native character one is not a great look.
I'm also a little concerned that wendigos are being talked about as a 'native-american' belief, rather than being put into the context of any specific tribe.
Are there good ways to use Native American beliefs in modern fantasy, I think so! Authors from those cultures, and who have taken the time to work with a specific tribe and understand their beliefs can do some really cool stuff. But... I don't think wendigo shapeshifters should be on the table if you want to be respectful, as most people from that culture seem to be saying they hate the trend.

Quick question: I'm considering a Chinese-Korean character and she has the last name of Wong-Han. I tried researching a good last name that would fit her ancestry and kind of reflect her pride in it. I really didn't want a repeat of J.K.'s thing. Does the name work? Been slightly worried.

No.

Just write what you want, don't stifle your own creativity with worries like that.