Supernatural creature of the week: Kohonta

Sam and Dean are back on their weekly monster hunts to fight a very Wendigo like creature called a Kohonta in the latest episode of Supernatural.

Well into its 14th season, Supernatural finally introduced a new monster, something they haven’t done in a while, in “Don’t Go Into The Woods.” The Kohonta monster living in Polk City, Iowa is a creature from Native American myth, or most likely a legend from one particular tribe, that feeds on human flesh and salivates stomach acid.

Once a man, the Kohonta was a cannibal that ate his family during a harsh winter and went insane, because cannibals always go insane on Supernatural. Once he tries attacking a nearby Native tribe, he’s cursed by the shamans with immortality, a never-ending hunger, and a horrific physical transformation.

Now, years later, the cannibal turned monster is hunting people in a National Park, though I find it strange that no one ever saw it or considered something other than animal attacks were going on. A man with thorn vines for skin is eating people and the authorities are like, “yep, looks like a grizzly.” Sam and Dean, and a local sheriff save the day of course, but are there more Kohonta’s or is this the only one? Did it come from a real legend or was it inspired by Wendigos?

The Kolowa

There is actually no legend, Indigenous or other, about anything called a Kohonta. The show quite possibly made it up, however, there is a comparable monster called a Kolowa, often referred to as a Honka.

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We all know Bigfoot. He (she?) is famous for being an incredibly large ape that walks upright like a human, but he isn’t the only hairy ape-like thing running around. There is the Mogollon Monster, the Maricoxi, the Skunk Ape, and the Yetis or the Abominable Snowman. The Kolowa is pretty much a version of Bigfoot told by the Muscogee people.

Often referred to as the “Hairy Man”, the Kolowa is a creature from Muscogee (Creek) legend described as a hairy man-eating ogre or gorilla.

There isn’t much about the Kolowa, not as much as there is on the very boring in comparison Bigfoot. Considered a malicious creature who eats human flesh, the Kolowa was believed to attack tribes while the men were out hunting, killing the wives and children and eating them.

Wendigo

The cannibal Kohonta monster on Supernatural sounds like another monster introduced way back in Season 1 when the boys hunted a Wendigo in the accurately named episode, “Wendigo.” Cannibalism has always mystified and terrified people, the concept of humans eating other humans is a reasonably frightening one.

Imagine if that steak you’re salivating over, slavered in mushrooms and onions, accessorized with a baked potato, that we all easily forget was once a living cow, was a person. It’s that abnormal, sickening, taboo idea which spawned the Wendigo legend.

History loves linking insanity with cannibalism, pointing out Albert Fish, Jeffery Dahmer, and Sawney Bean as prime examples, but sometimes there is a case when cannibalism was purely a means of survival. But the theory is, once you eat your own kind, it forever twists your mind into something dark and primal.

Based in Algonquian legend, the Wendigo is a man-eating creature found in northern woods where they hunt humans with super speed and strength. Originally, Wendigos were just evil spirits associated with famine and winter, their starved appearance and intense hunger symbolized the high starvation numbers that struck civilizations during harsh winters.

In Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu lore, Wendigos are described as giants that would grow every time they ate another person. They’d grow in proportion to the meal they’d just eaten, meaning they’d never get full. This later led them to be seen as the embodiment of gluttony, greed, and excess.

Not only could eating human flesh make someone into a Wendigo, greed and being in contact with one for too long could also be a cause.

Wendigo Psychosis

Remember the days when if someone feared they might ever become a cannibal they were just called demented? Now everything’s got a name. There is an actual medical term for someone plagued with a craving for human flesh and the fear of becoming a cannibal and it’s called Wendigo Psychosis.

It usually starts after a prolonged period of being indoors with little food and no way to get any, followed by a feeling of melancholy. The victim then loses their appetite and begins having nightmares. Eventually, they go insane and become consumed with the idea of eating human flesh.

Before the use of modern treatments, treatment for Wendigo psychosis would include isolation, the force-feeding fats, and induced vomiting to expel the Wendigo’s “heart of ice.”

Cannibalism seems to be an easy intro to the monster world, and a good loophole when trying to explain a monster’s background. How did this creature come into our world? Oh, he ate his brother. Let’s hope Supernatural keeps up with their weekly monster hunts and throws some more wacky legends at us.

Catch the next episode of Supernatural on Thursday, April 4 at 8:00 p.m. on the CW.