Illustrating every legendary creature in Wisconsin folklore: The Double Face.
The double face, or hestovatohkeo'o, was a large, hairy, ogre-like creature found in the folklore of the Dakota Sioux. It belonged to the "man eating giant" archetype found in the folklore of other Native American groups in the area, but was frankly the most bizarre and unique of that group.
The creature had a second face on the back of its head, and it would attempt to get you to look at that face. If you did, you would become paralyzed, and the double face would then stab you to death with his sharp elbows.
Even if you didn't look at its secondary face, the creature might unfurl one of its massive ears which it would use to catch you like a net. Each ear could hold up to three men, and the earwax was acidic, and so anyone caught in the double face's ear would be digested.
Overall, it's a gloriously weird legend.
Exactly the kind of weirdness that makes me love folklore so much.
The double face, or hestovatohkeo'o, was a large, hairy, ogre-like creature found in the folklore of the Dakota Sioux. It belonged to the "man eating giant" archetype found in the folklore of other Native American groups in the area, but was frankly the most bizarre and unique of that group.
The creature had a second face on the back of its head, and it would attempt to get you to look at that face. If you did, you would become paralyzed, and the double face would then stab you to death with his sharp elbows.
Even if you didn't look at its secondary face, the creature might unfurl one of its massive ears which it would use to catch you like a net. Each ear could hold up to three men, and the earwax was acidic, and so anyone caught in the double face's ear would be digested.
Overall, it's a gloriously weird legend.
Exactly the kind of weirdness that makes me love folklore so much.