The legend claimed the father sharpened his axe, took his daughter into the woods and commanded her to cut off his head. When she refused, she was threatened with death.

"If you don't kill me, I shall kill all of you. A Windigo has come into me and I must do what he tells me. He tells me that you must kill me to stop me from killing you and your brothers and sisters," the man is said to have told his daughter.

When the man placed his neck across a log, the daughter chopped off his head.

The demented man was buried with his head by his side. In order to trap the Windigo, the log used as a chopping block was set on top of the grave and covered with stones.

Other legends claim the bodies of people invaded by Windigo were chopped into pieces because of the belief that if the evil spirit was abused, it might think twice about entering another human.

The last reported Windigo "sighting" in Manitoba occurred in January 1934 at Lac Brochet, 325 miles north of The Pas.

The RCMP dispatched Sgt. Percy Rose to investigate after reports that a man had been left outside to freeze to death.

Tied to Sled

The story goes that the victim became violent and abused his fellow trappers as they returned to base camp located about 40 miles north of Reindeer Lake. Mounties were told that the man became so violent that his companions were forced to tie the man to his sled for the trip home.

The party was so afraid the man had been invaded by a Windigo, they left him tied to his sled overnight and he froze to death.

RCMP also heard the leaders of the party left the demented man tied to his sled because they feared Windigo would enter the shelter and invade their bodies.

No reports of charges could be found.

There have been no recent sighting of a Windigo, but that doesn't mean one is not ready to take on the form of a half-beast, half-man and again begin to feast on human flesh and blood.

The Sun thanks Karen Fulham of Manitoba Justice and the staff at the Provincial Archives for their co-operation. Bob Holliday may be reached by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

"If you don't kill me, I shall kill all of you. A Windigo has come into me and I must do what he tells me."

Copyright: CANOE