Traditional Indigenous Monsters
Indigenous Horror Theory
Name That Horror!
Things That Haunt Us
Indigenous Studies 101
100
What is a weendigo/windigo/weetigo?
100
John Rieder argues that the emergence of modern science fiction was closely connected to this historical system of imperial expansion.
What is colonialism?
100
In this zombie film, Indigenous residents of the Red Crow reserve discover that they are immune to an outbreak affecting the surrounding population.
What is Blood Quantum?
100
Government funded and compulsory institutions that were designed to "kill the Indian, save the man."
What are Native American Boardings Schools/Residential Schools?
100
This colonial policy or practice uses ancestry expressed as a fraction to determine who qualifies as Indigenous, despite Indigenous nations having their own ways of determining citizenship and belonging.
What is blood quantum?
200
Derived from the Quechua verb pishtay, which means to behead, slice, or butcher, this vampiric bogeyman figure is from the Andean regions of Peru and Bolivia.
Who is the Pishtaco?
200
A genre of fiction that blends mystery, horror, psychological tension, and the supernatural
What is gothic?
200
In this Australian horror film, Sarah fears that a malevolent spirit is attempting to steal her newborn child.
What is The Moogai?
200
[BLANK] is a structure, not only a historical event.
What is settler colonialism?
200
This term describes the authority of Indigenous nations to govern themselves and make decisions about their own affairs.
What is tribal sovereignty or self-determination?
300
This nocturnal creature from Andean mythology in Peru and Bolivia, is known as the "Demon of Incest."
Who is the Jarjacha?
300
A genre of speculative fiction that explores the impact of actual or imagined science, technology, and biological systems upon society or individuals
What is science fiction?
300
What is Mārama?
300
In The Moogai, the child-stealing spirit evokes this Australian history of forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their families.
What are the Stolen Generations?
300
The number of federally recognized tribes in Michigan.
What is 12?
400
A shape-shifting legend from the Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest and coastal Alaska, this monster is traditionally described as "land otter men" who can change between human, river otter, and hybrid forms.
Who is the Kushtuka?
400
This term refers to something strangely familiar yet unsettling, and is central to Emily Holland's examination of space in Māori Gothic narratives.
What is the uncanny?
400
In this story by Rebecca Roanhorse, an affluent gated community becomes the setting for a disturbing confrontation with racism, reproductive control, and Indigenous identity.
What is “White Hills”?
400
This myth divides space into: Civilization (safe, ordered, domestic, modern) and Wilderness (dangerous, unknown, primitive, violent).
What is the frontier myth?
400
Unlike colonialism understood simply as the occupation of another territory, this form of colonialism involves settlers establishing permanent societies on Indigenous lands.
What is settler colonialism?
500
Doing this attracts malevolent spirits, shape-shifters, or unseen entities.
What is whistling at night?
500
Modeled after the Bechdel Test, this "test" evaluates the representation of Indigenous and Aboriginal women in films, TV shows, books, and comics.
What is the Aila Test (also known as The Ali Nahdee Test)
500
This story by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala depicts a professor whose disturbing collection of former students exposes the exploitative relationships that can exist within academia.
What is “Collections”?
500
In Rieder's account, colonial narratives often imagine the colonized as exotic, primitive, or fundamentally different through this way of looking at the world.
What is the colonial gaze?
500
As of 2026, this is the number federally recognized tribes in the United States.
What is 575?