The Wetiko Legal Principles: Cree and Anishinabek Responses to Violence and Victimization by Hadley Louise Friedland

Author:Hadley Louise Friedland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Published: 2018-01-15T00:44:32.751000+00:00

Process and Progression over Time

The Wetiko: Finally, no one ever wakes up one day as a wetiko. Becoming a wetiko clearly always takes some time, from days, to a season, to years, in some cases. In one account, a Cree elder described a young man who was brought to him for help as saying he was “wandering toward killing someone.”63 Norman explains that the “Windigo-spirit inside that person evolves and amplifies in ferocity.” Once someone begins to change, it “gets worse and worse.”64 While the transformation could be sudden, it generally progressed over at least a season.65 In some cases, the progression into a wetiko took years.66 There was time to ask for help. One elder explained that if she could sense this was beginning to happen to someone, she would approach him privately first, and ask if he needed or wanted help. If he did, she would help. If not, she would have to tell people for safety reasons.67

Child Victimization: Similarly, no one wakes up one day and is suddenly an offender, a drug dealer, or a murderer. There is always a process to get to that point. This can be a progression, just like the wetiko spirit might evolve and amplify inside a person becoming a wetiko. Most sexual offenders have offending patterns that escalate in “frequency and severity” over time, if not stopped.68 However, it is worth asking whether the help and support is always there to stop the escalation. The elder in the interview approached the person she sensed was at risk and asked if he needed or wanted help. If he did, she helped him. In contrast, for some children, lots of people will gossip about them or their parents, but no one steps forward to ask if they need help. In many communities, the resources for help are simply not available, even if people sincerely want it.69

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