Winter Cryptids, The Chanoo

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                                      🥶❄️💀❄️🥶.                        

Chanoo,  Also called the "Kiwakwa" or "Apotamkin" is a cryptid  similar to the  Wendigo .

The Chenoo legend is from the Wabanaki Algonquin  tribes and according to Folklore it was once  human though just like the wendigo the person was transformed after committing an act  cannibalism or refused to feed the starving.

 This caused the human's heart to freeze and turn to pure ice. Once this happens, the person changes into a Chenoo. 

These fierce creatures are giants compared to normal  humans and described as being both man and beast. 

They look like a haggard, naked old man with  predatory  eyes and may have chunks of flesh missing where it has eaten its own flesh (lips, arm skin and shoulders).

again very similar to a wendigo with the large figure, missing flesh and apatite for human meat.

 It will often cover its flesh in pine resin and roll in leaves and fallen branches to make a camouflage for itself in the forest.

 They live in the far, north and come  down to raid villages when hungry snatching up any unfortunate individuals they can.

Their frozen heart is they key to killing them.

 A special medicine, known only to the tribes, can cause them to vomit up the heart of ice and the hearts of those they devoured and become human again. But generally, saving the human is not possible....

 One way to kill a Chanoo is to  give it a bit of salt. The salt will melt it's icy heart another is to chop it up into several pieces ( though that would also work on most things).

The Chenoo myth probably originated as a means to discourage cannibalism during hard times and harsh winters when food was scarce and not sharing food could mean death and desperation could lead to cannibalism. 

 Another possibility is that the Chenoo may actually be a northern  bigfoot, in fact there are several Indian legends that speak of bigfoot/sasquatch /hairy man ect taking women and children from the camps and eating them.  

Winter Cryptids, The Muhaha

The Mahaha or Maha  is a winter creature from Inuit folklore, it has a thin but strong human like figure with ice blue skin that's cold to the touch and  long hair that appears frozen solid.

 

It's shirtless and barefoot, being unbothered by the cold. It always has a crazed or  unnerving smile  on its face. It also has long, bony fingers with long, sharp fingernails. It's preferred method of attack is Tickling ... It will tickle you to death leaving you frozen  with a twisted smile on your face.(Frozen Grin or Death Smile) it  roams the Arctic searching for victims, usually lone travelers.

Fortunately it's not very intelligent and can be easily tricked, if you ever encounter the Mahaha just ask it to have a drink with you at a stream or river when it  bends down to drink, push it into the water and watch it be swept away by the currents.

Some believe this myth may have originated as an explanation for the  expressions seen on some victims who have frozen to death.( Death Smile).

 It's mostly used as a coutanary  warning  to prevent people from wandering off alone in the harsh arctic especially during winter.

Winter Yokai : Yukinba

 

Yukinba - 雪婆 - Snow hag.

Her story is pretty similar to other winter Yokai  stories, except for the fact that some Yokai like the Yuki Onna can show some degree of kindness. The yukinab has no such warmth, she is just bad, she is constantly on the hunt for kids who she then kidnaps and eats.

 

Her name combines the kanji雪 (yuki; snow) + 婆 (ba; hag). Though it's slightly different depending on the region. In Yamagata prefecture she's called the Yukinbanba (雪ばんば) with “banba” being a regional dialect for “hag.”

The similar child eating yokai, the Yukifuriba, has a nicer name but is equally as horrible . 雪降り(yukifuri; falling snow) + 婆 (ba; hag, old woman) or The Old Woman of the Falling Snow.

The Yukinba looks like an actual monster she is just a  giant head hopping on one leg, with a lot sharp,  teeth and grasping clawed hands. 

The Yukifuriba just looks like a normal old woman with pale, white skin and dressed in a thin, white kimono who always carries a red rope. She may possibly even be an elderly version of the  Yuki Onna. 

Tthe Yukinba Origins..

"Once in the dead of winter, a man was walking through a snowy wheat field when he heard a woman's voice calling out to him. As he looked, a one-legged crone with wild hair appeared and tried to attack him. He fled desperately, when the snow cleared, Yukiba disappeared..."

Both the Yukinba and the Yukifuriba are well known child eaters. They hide out in the mountains and call out to children in an old woman’s voice, preying on the trusting nature of the young. They lure the children in , capture and eat them. 

Parents in the colder region like Niigata prefecture  warn their children not to play at nights when the Yukinba and Yukifuriba are hunting.

Yokai in the mountains and winter seem to have a preference for eating kids, the Yamauba mountain witch in another one to be wearying off.  In many areas, the Yukifuriba is considered to be a “snow version” of the Yamauba in the same way that the yeti is basically  a snow version of bigfoot.

There are many winter yokai described as having only  one foot.

Similar to the  Ippon Datra another Yokai that is mostly peaceful except for December 20th of each year, on that day it will kill any human it comes across.

Most of these are snow monsters, like the Yuki Nyudo and the Yukibo. The legend comes from an uneven patter of snow melting. When snow melts in pockets, it looks like something with a single, large leg has been hopping around the forest. In the case of the Yukibo, this happens in tree wells.  people saw these track like marks and imagined a one-legged snow monster roaming the mountains.

 the Yukiba was also affiliated with "small fuzzy winged insects" called "yuki-mushi" or "snowbugs" - its been believed that if they appear during the autumn, a yukinba  attack occur soon.

Barbegazi: Frozen Beards

 

❄️🏔️ Barbegazi 🏔️❄️

The Skiing gnomes of the Alps.

The Barbegazi is type of gnome from Swiss and French folklore, they live deep in the mountainous areas between France and Switzerland; the Alps. 

They make their homes in a large networks of caves and tunnels  near the peaks of mountains through hidden entrances .

They spend most of the year in their underground home, and sleep all summer(like a summer hibernation). Only going out in the winter, because of these habits human interaction is rare.

The name comes from  barbes glacées roughly meaning 'frozen beards'. They get this name because they appear to have icicles growing from their chins instead of a beard, but this is just a result of the freezing temperatures they live in underneath the ice is just a normal beard.

Appearance wise they look similar to a mini yeti, they are covered in white fur like a snowsuit and have large feet, though unlike a yeti this guy's are no larger then an average gnome and nowhere near as violent as a yeti.

 They have been known to help or at least warn skiers and travelers of danger and even aid people.  The most well known form of  warnings they give to humans in possible dangerous areas or circumstances  is the whistling noises they make that sounds similar to a marmots or an eerie hooting noise, that  may be mistaken for gusts of wind, to warn hikers of avalanches. They may also attempt to dig out people trapped by snowfall or herd lost sheep back to their owners. Despite these beneficial activities their attitudes towards humans are still uncertain so if you encounter one do so with caution.

They have disproportionately large bigfoot like feet for their size , they use these oversized feet as snowshoes and ski's to travel across their frozen mountain homes.

They are never encountered in weather above zero degrees or below the tree line on the mountains they live in  they prefer the cold frozen climate the more snow the better.

One of their favorite activities is riding on top of avalanche 

They also have the ability to dig at a rapid pace, they can quickly bury themselves in snow to hide in a matter of seconds as well as dig themselves out of a snow drift no matter how deep .

Last post for the year, have a great New Year

🎇🎆