Windgoos from different stories

Windigoo is an Algonquian native legend. The spelling of Windigoo differentiates in each story. In some cases it is spelled Wendigo and other cases it's spelled Windago, there is even a discrepancy with if it is spelled with a small case w or a capital W. The specific spelling "windigoo" is used in the The Round House

The Algonquian native legend states, “It is usually described as a giant with a heart of ice; sometimes it is thought to be entirely made of ice. Its body is skeletal and deformed, with missing lips and toes (e.g. see fig. 1).” 

http://superstitionsandstuff.tumblr.com/image/21539174275

Fig. 1 Windigo’s appearance from The Algonquian native legend

There are many different stories associated with different forms of Windigoo, although many have similaar characteristics in he Native American’s most popularly story, “it is a cannibalistic demon that possesses people until they themselves turn into a Windigoo. Known for its insatiable hunger, the Windigoo grow to be fifteen feet tall, and have large eyes and a sallow, emaciated look to them. They have also been described as having matted black hair and fangs. Despite the varying physical descriptions of them, one element remains the same: once a person is possessed or turns into the Windigoo, they have an unsatisfied hunger for human flesh (e.g. see fig.2).”

 

http://ignotusobscurus.blogspot.com/2013/08/cannibalism-in-early-america-jamestown.html

Fig. 2 Windigoo’s appearance from the Native American story

Another story is retold by the Ojibwe First Nation and it states, “It was a large creature, as tall as a tree, with a lipless mouth and jaded teeth. Its breath was a strange hiss, its footprints full of blood, and it ate any man, woman or child who ventured into its territory. And those were the lucky ones. Sometimes, the Windigoo chose to possess a person instead, and then the luckless individual become a Windigoo himself, hunting down those he had once loved and feasting upon their flesh (e.g. see fig. 3).”

http://timterrenal.deviantart.com/art/Wendigo-263841694 

Fig. 3 Windigoo huntings its victims