The Native Bigfoot

Thumbnail art by Ettore Mazza

I want to apologize for some of the mispronunciations in my video.

Spreadsheet Link:

Original 1929 Magazine Sasquatch Article (pg. 6):

I do want to clarify that the beliefs held by the Yokuts that I present in this video are little simplified. After several conversations with the representative, they further explained to me that the Yokuts believe that the Hairy Man is a tribe of people, a tribe of spiritual people that can walk in both worlds: in the spirit and in flesh-and-blood. They are endowed with the abilities to transform, speak, and heal. The Yokuts explicitly do NOT believe them to be ape-like/Sasquatch-like creatures. The interpretation of the Hairy Man held by Bigfooters is simply incorrect and does not reflect the actual beliefs of the Yokuts.

Chapters:
0:00:00 Introduction
0:08:49 Assembling a List
0:14:13 THE SPREADSHEET
0:16:47 My Findings
0:21:16 the Other 89%
0:22:11 Chimeras
0:24:48 Spirits
0:26:50 Giants
0:30:15 Dwarves
0:31:31 "Wild Indians"
0:40:00 The Origins of Sasquatch
0:47:08 Basket Women
0:51:43 Summary of the 89%
0:55:21 The Hairy Man
1:03:05 Well, Actually...
1:12:59 Conclusion

Correction:
0:48:17 take note of her skirt/dress

Citations:
Archer, J. (2000). Texas indian myths and legends. Republic of Texas Press.
Bartram, W. (1806). Travels, and other writings. Library of America.
Burns, J.W. (1929). Introducing B.C.’s Hairy Giants. MacLean’s Magazine.
Coleman, L. (2003). Bigfoot: The true story of apes in america. Paraview Pocket Books.
Dorsey, G. A. (1905). Traditions of the Caddo. Carnegie Instit.
Erdros, R., & Ortiz, A. (1984). American indian myths and legends: Selected and edited by. Pantheon Books, div of Random House.
Feder, K. L. (2019). Archaeological oddities: A field guide to forty claims of Lost Civilizations, ancient visitors, and other strange sites in North America. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Green, J. (1968). On the Track of the Sasquatch, 2nd ed. Agassiz, British Columbia: Cheam Publishing.
Gwynne, S. C. (2010). Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. United Kingdom: Scribner.
Hara, H. S. (1980). The hare Indians and their world. National Museums of Canada.
James, G. W. (1909). Indian Basketry: And How to Make Indian and Other Baskets. United States: Malkan.
Johnstone, E. B. (2008). Bigfoot and Other Stories. Tulare County Board of Education, Vasalia, California.
Lachler, J. (2010). Dictionary of Alaskan Haida. Sealaska Heritage Institute.
Lapseritis, J., Murphy, C. L., Trippett, L., & D’Angelo, J. (2011). The sasquatch people and their interdimensional connection. Comanche Spirit Pub.
Latta, F. F. (1949). Handbook of Yokuts Indians. Bear State Books. Oildale, California.
Loxton, D., & Prothero, D. R. (2015). Abominable science!: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and other famous cryptids. Columbia University Press.
Murphy, C. L., Green, J., & Steenburg, T. N. (2004). Meet the sasquatch. Hancock House.
Shiel, L. A. (2013). Forbidden Bigfoot. Jacobsville Books.
Strain, K. M. (2008). Giants, Cannibals & Monsters - Bigfoot in Native Culture. Hancock House Ltd.
Suttles, W. (1972). On the Cultural Track of the Sasquatch. Portland State University.
Zitkala-Sa. (1985). Old indian legends. Univ. of Nebraska Pr.
Zitkala-Sa. (2004). Iktomi and the ducks and other Sioux Stories. University of Nebraska Press.

Special thanks to:
Miles Greb
Ryan Probert
Ettore Mazza
American Museum of Natural History
And the kind people of the Tule River Tribe

[TREYtheExplainer]

I want to apologize for some of the mispronunciations in my video. I really did try to use the indigenous pronunciations, but even so, I had to learn a ton of words I wasn't familiar with and some wrong pronunciations slipped through the cracks.
Examples,
Haida should really be pronounced "High-da" (do not trust Google's pronunciation because it is wrong)
Tlingit should really be "Kling Kit"
Micmac should be "meeg-mah" or "Migmaw"

Sorry again, I wish I noticed them sooner. My apologies to these respective tribes and nations.

[thebrustkid]

This is the most polite way I’ve ever seen someone call someone else a fraud

[Scavenged_Silas]

As a native American (Ojibwe from the Bad River tribe) this was done SO respectfully and I really appreciate it. It's amazing to see people getting involved in the culture and checking with current tribes. Sad to say, but it's rare to see someone talk about Native Americans or their history straight from the source. It's usually whitewashed to all hell. Amazing video as always.

[Beairstoboy]

"...It threatens enemies by breaking tree trunks with its uncoiled organ..."

I should call him...

[vaszgul]

The interview around the hour mark reminds me of a documentary about butterfly (monarchs specifically) migration to mexico. They interview a local native woman who says that when butterflies arrive in mexico, they tell little kids that they're the spirits of their ancestors coming back to say hello, and that it's not something everyone believes, its just something cute to tell children so they wont hurt the butterflies and to celebrate the butterflies arrival. In the VERY SAME interview, the narrator then goes on to say how bizarre it is that native peoples of Mexico REALLY believe that butterflies are spirits. It's this need to make other cultures seem weird when our own culture tells children that there's a santa claus and an easter bunny. Children's fairy tales and actual spiritual beliefs get conflated so much and lost in translation, and unfortunately often used to make a mockery of other cultures by claiming they don't or aren't capable of understanding the absurdity of a myth. Most people don't /actually/ believe in an easter bunny or santa claus. Or a boogie man for that matter.

[dstinnettmusic]

“The Fault in our Squatch”

By John Green

[anon]

"My source is I made it the fuck up." - Kathy Strain

[ungulatemanalpha]

Bigfooting is like reading Roman records about 'barbarians' and coming to the conclusion that Rome was constantly under attack by anthropomorphic sheep.

[octochan]

I'm very tempted to "write" a similar book about Bigfoots in the British Isles where I chose to interpret stories about leprechauns, boggarts, pookas, Ents and Aslan as documentation of the existence of Bigfoots. I don't think I could come up with a better title than "Giants, Cannibals and Monsters", though

[ericb.]

"Bigfoot is blurry. Which is much scarier because that means there's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside!" - Mitch Hedberg

[jmcg]

Kushtaka is not “half human, half otter.” That’s a common misconception created by cryptozoologists who did not research it and is often misappropriated in an effort to claim it as “Bigfoot.” Kóoshda Káa is called “land otter man” in association with otters and the otterskin bag used to contain it by shamans and because of it’s similar habit of shapeshifting and abducting people that land otters were thought to do, note that wolverine also does the same. Unlike otters however Kóoshda Káa can shapeshifter not just to appear as a relative or friend, but can resemble inanimate objects like logs. Also unlike otters it does it to possess people, not abduct them. Kóoshda Káa is a powerful and feared supernatural entity associated with shamans in Tlingit culture, it is not a hairy ape.
Edited for spelling.

[caydensteele]

I really appreciate how you actually reached out to a tribal representative. So many people just ignore and force their own narratives onto native American stories and folklore. Thank you for doing your homework and looking into it yourself

[GMErol]

Im Plains Cree from the Willow Cree Nation. Stories I was always told growing up were that the Sasquatch was a person who helped and took care of children. We were always taught to be a little bit afraid but reverent of him. An uncle that I used to talk to always called him 'our cousin'

[natmorse-noland]

I am FASCINATED that the original "sasquatch" were basically like Maroon communities. There is some real scholarship to be done there!

[Nishkween]

In our culture - Anishinaabe (Ojibway) - 'Bigfoot: is called "Sabe" (pronounced suh-beh). It is different from the Wiindigo or Manitou that were briefly seen in this vid. Sabe is our protective older brother that watches us on our travels and was the one who led us West 😊

[raycearcher]

I love that so many of these are "there's a weird filthy dude in the woods, he's probably white, " like can confirm, have gotten lost and filthy in the woods myself

[nizhoni]

Thank you so much for this. I'm an Indigenous person myself (diné and ani yun wiya) and i have been complaining about this for YEARS! white people so often appropriate our stories for their own means. their "translations" and "interpretations" of our stories are so obviously someone trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. thank you for asking us what WE think instead of european american "experts".

[fancyflautist]

God bless the YA author John Green for having a common name because gd "Landmark Bigfoot expert John Green" has to be one of the funniest sentences ever uttered 💀

[Tarbtano]

"They wore no cloths, but had guns"
Okay the video is extremely well done, very relevant, and addresses a problem I think needs noting. But I also now wanna see a bigfoot film where the ape is loaded and just pulls out a shotgun.

[beerad]

Babe wake up, the Trey the Explainer Bigfoot video finally dropped