Why did Subarctic Inuit fear the Windigo and Where did the Fearsome Windigos come from?

A hunter’s greatest fear was that he might encounter a windigo.

The Subarctic Inuit believed that windigos were great giants who stalked through the forests, using treetops as snowshoes. Filthy and vicious, windigos had hearts made of ice and great evil powers, including the ability to turn people into cannibals.

Hunters, alone and frightened in the frozen wilderness, often reported windigo sightings and warned others to avoid the places where these wicked giants had been seen.