Kiss of the Fur Queen

The Weetigo is a recurrent symbol in the text, associated variously with sexual abuse, cannibalism, colonialism, and the cost of development on Indigenous communities. In Cree and other Indian mythologies, the Weetigo—also known as Wendigo, Windigo, or Wetiko—is a malevolent spirit that kills and eats its human victims. Human beings can sometimes turn into the Weetigo, cannibalizing their fellows and driving other humans away. Thus, like the forces of colonization, the Weetigo turns human away from human and tears apart communities.

When Father Lafleur assaults Gabriel, the novel describes him as a “Weetigo feasting on human flesh” (93). Later, a child tells Jeremiah that a Weetigo ate him, indicating sexual abuse. Gabriel even thinks of himself as a Weetigo among the sea of five- and six-year-old girls in his ballet class, indicating his sensitivity to the precious innocence of children. As Gabriel lies dying, he hallucinates about his abuse, the Weetigo coming at him “with its tongue lolling, its claws reaching for his groin” (313). The conflation of the Weetigo with a rapist of children adds an additional layer of evil to the traditional malevolence of the Weetigo.

The Weetigo also appears in conjunction with the city and the destructive forces of urbanization and development. Gabriel recalls the story of the weasel defeating the Weetigo while the brothers are inside a mall—a symbol of consumerist greed. In the same mall, Gabriel and Jeremiah gorge themselves on excess food, mimicking the rapacious greed of the Weetigo. After they leave the mall, the building rears behind them “grey and soulless […] the rear end of the beast that, having gorged itself, expels its detritus” (121). The mall, and all it represents, is a modern-day Weetigo eating away at people’s souls. Later, when television comes to Eemanapiteepitat, the narrative cynically wonders if TV is the Weetigo “finally arrived to devour, digest, and shit out the soul of Eemanapiteepitat” (187). In Dispelling Wetiko: Breaking the Curse of Evil (2013), Paul Levy notes that the myth of the Weetigo serves as a reminder for people to exercise moderation. Any human being who participates in greed and excess can turn into a Weetigo, cannibalizing others. This greed can extend to a gobbling up of resources, land, languages, culture, or children’s innocence and bodily autonomy. Thus, the Weetigo is a powerful symbol of the idea that evil and excess are bound inextricably.