Native American Fae (Winter Court)

[Icelander]

I'm looking for Native American/First Nations* mythology on creatures which would be a natural fit alongside more European 'Unseelie' faeries. Anything which would live in the colder parts of Faerie in regions more analogous to (and populated with mythology from) America than Iceland, Great Britain, Scandinavia or Germany.

Modern uban fantasy often features faeries, elves or fair folk which are divided into Summer/Seelie and Winter/Unseelie Courts and live in an extraplanar realm analogous to the human world. The Courts are generally populated with beautiful, treacherous and magical High Sidhe, which are half Tolkien-esque elves and half mythological Fair Folk. Dresden Files Faerie Courts are a good example. In addition, there are sometimes unaffiliated faeries (Wyldfae in the Dresden Files) and even independent kingdoms (Tylwyth Teg and likely others, in the Dresden Files) outside the structure of the courts.

The land of Faerie, which in the Dresden Files is part of the Nevernever, holds beings which are not purely spiritual in nature, but have a different physical nature than mortals and normal animals. Their appearance is highly mutable, usually as part of their faerie Glamour, and they may be able to change shape. The physical laws of the mortal world are more like suggestions in Faerie and in some versions, notably Pratchett's, Faerie runs on belief more than any real natural laws.

Aside from more intelligent (and dangerous) versions of normal animals, what are good mythological roots for unseelie/winter faerie creatures in Native American legends?

I know the Micmac have stories about water faeries and there are lots of stories about pukwudgies (little men) in Maine. I am currently investigating whether these can be scary in any meaningful way or are better confined to a game that is not Horror.

The Unicorn Serpent is awesome.

Does anyone have other candidates for monsters that might be met in a version of Faerie that was influenced by legends and mythology of people who lived near the Maine/Canada border during the 17th to the 19th century?

Acadian French and mixed-mythology candidates from Métis trappers also accepted.

*What would be specifically useful for my game would be Micmac/Mi'kmaq and more generally Eastern Algonquian myths, but I think this is an interesting subject aside from my specific game and would not like to stifle discussion too much.

Link to the forum thread on my campaign that gave rise to this question.

[Kelly Pedersen]

You absolutely want to look into the wendigo. It's eastern Algonquian, strongly tied to winter and cold, has that "ambiguously physical" nature that fits faeries, and, at least IMO, is quite definitely creepy and horrific.

The quick summary: the wendigo is a supernatural creature of the wind and winter, appearing as an extremely emaciated giant, with lips ripped to bloody shreds from it chewing at them. It craves human flesh, and also provokes humans to become like it. Anyone who is touched by it (or hears its cry, in some versions) may become compelled to eat human flesh. If they succumb to the temptation, they too become a wendigo. The creature, or a person possessed by it, can only be killed by pouring boiling fat down its throat.

[Purple Haze]

Windigo is a pan-Anishinabe myth. In Micmac it is called Chenoo, in French Canada it is called Lugaru (from the French Loup Garou = Werewold).

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

You absolutely want to look into the wendigo. It's eastern Algonquian, strongly tied to winter and cold, has that "ambiguously physical" nature that fits faeries, and, at least IMO, is quite definitely creepy and horrific.

The quick summary: the wendigo is a supernatural creature of the wind and winter, appearing as an extremely emaciated giant, with lips ripped to bloody shreds from it chewing at them. It craves human flesh, and also provokes humans to become like it. Anyone who is touched by it (or hears its cry, in some versions) may become compelled to eat human flesh. If they succumb to the temptation, they too become a wendigo. The creature, or a person possessed by it, can only be killed by pouring boiling fat down its throat.

Originally Posted by Purple Haze

Windigo is a pan-Anishinabe myth. In Micmac it is called Chenoo, in French Canada it is called Lugaru (from the French Loup Garou = Werewold).

Ah.

Suffice it to say that the PCs have already encountered a character who warned them about the Chenoo. And when they later met a huge furry creature in the dark, Special Agent Rene Ledoux (PC) declared it a Rougarou.

Of course, shooting it 31 times apparently sufficed to kill it. And it proved to be an old man wearing a lot of furs. Though he was not fat, by any means. Tall, but whip-thin build. And come to think of it, while dying, he seemed to have bitten into his lips. Severely.

[Purple Haze]

But a Windingo/Chenoo/Lugaru is not furry, it is a giant ice demon whose heart is a human being.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Purple Haze

But a Windingo/Chenoo/Lugaru is not furry, it is a giant ice demon whose heart is a human being.

Bears are furry, though, and Henri Sinclair, age 70 and by all accounts mentally handicapped, was wearing a coat made from a bear pelt when the PCs shot him.

Of course, he had attacked an FBI agent with a knife. And there was a naked, kidnapped girl trapped in a pit under the floor of the trapper cabin he was using. She was dying from malnutrition, dehydration and hypothermia. Lying around her was plenty of food, though. Jerky, frozen strips, grilled BBQ tips and meat stew.

[Culture20]

Pukwudgie and their equivalents are common trickster trolls in several native american cultures, usually in New England or around the great lakes. Small, gray, and possessed of magical powers. They kidnap people occasionally, but usually keep to themselves.

[Refplace]

I'll dig through some books later, most things I cant pronounce, much less spell.
But a lot of Spirits could be considered Faye, especially higher ranked ones. I would also consider Coyote and Raven.

[jason taylor]

One thing I proposed some time ago which I still like is to have an Appalachian fantasy. You could mingle Indian and Celtic folklore that way and if it is done reasonably well you can pull it off without an unaesthetic clash.

[patchwork]

The May May Gway Shi (multiple variant transliterations, including memegwesi), sometimes called Rock Fishers or Hairy-Faced, are fae-like and part of Algonquin culture; if they followed "their" humans, they're in Maine. Small, hairy men very good at swimming and hiding inside rocks. Usually they just rip nets, steal food or leave intimidating red hand-prints on things. Someone who successfully goes to their home (not easy for a human) and offers them fish and tobacco will likely be reciprocated with a magic stone, not unlike Jack's beans or a single wish. They are gluttons, particularly for fish.

Stone Coat is more commonly spoken of among the Huron and Haudenosaunee (think upstate New York) but the story seems to have been sometimes borrowed and told in New England, and there seems to be some overlap with wendigo. ten or twelve feet tall, made of stone (and so impervious to normal weapons), and hunt humans for food, particularly during winter. In some versions Stone Coat is an individual, in some they're pre-human inhabitants of the land, and in some they're creations of the evil twin (Cain, for a quick and dirty analogy). Stories about Stone Coat are not terribly consistent.