According to A Dictionary of Ghost Lore by Peter Haining:
The wendigo is a Canadian entity, half phantom, half beast, who lives in the forests and preys on human beings, particularly chil- dren. The belief in this horror dates back to the earliest Indian legends and it is said that the wendigo will eat the flesh of its victims. According to R.S. Lambert in "Exploring the Supernatural" (1955), 'Wendigos (who might be women as well as men) were believed to have entered into a pact with evil spirits, lurking in the for- est, who helped them kill their victims.' The legend of this crea- ture has been immortalized in Algernon Blackwood's short story "The Wendigo" (1907). In W.T. Cox's "Fearsome Creatures of the Lumber Woods" (1951) a number of other Canadian "wood horrors" are listed, including the hodag, the whimpus, the hoop-snake, the celofay, and the filamaloo.
Noah Broadwater (lseifer@usa.net) adds:
The posting on 'Wendigos' or 'Wendegos' (there are two spellings) is quite interesting and accurate from a folk point of view. Anthropologically, however, a different definition exists. 'Wendigos' are people who have a psychological problem. This occurs to people who starve out in the sub-arctic region. This hunger often causes a psychological imbalance. The person becomes cannibalistic and tries to eat other humans or anything that will provide food, including rotting animals. This often begins at night during sleep where the afflicted will turn in their sleep and attempt to eat whomever is next to them. The Inupiak (sp?) Native Americans are the most affected by this due to their migratory lifestyle and harsh environment. Currently Canadian hospitals are treating people affected by this phenomena.
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This page (http://www.ghosts.org/faq/5-1.html) last updated April 13, 2005.