Who Were the Ape Men of Appalachia?

A common refrain from the "bigfooter" community is the argument that many, if not all, Native American cultures have stories about a big, hairy ape man who roams the forest. Critics will often say that these legends were made up to mess with settlers, make some money for the tribe, or simply never existed in the first place.

The critics are wrong. From Alaska to Florida, the indigenous peoples of America held a firm belief that *something* was out there in the woods. Sometimes it's a solitary creature, more of an entity than an animal. In other cases, it's a separate tribe, race, or even species from their own. Documentary accounts of these "bigfoot" type creatures arguably go back to the very earliest days of American settlement, and the oral traditions go deep into prehistory. Could these stories bear any sort of truth? Welcome back to The Lore Lodge...

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0:00 - Cold Open
0:22 - Introduction
9:31 - The Peopling of North America
12:40 - The Algonquin "Bigfoot"
25:44 - The Iroquois "Bigfoot"
38:50 - The Muskogean "Bigfoot"
43:06 - The Plateau "Bigfoot"
49:57 - Surprise
50:43 - Conclusion

[JE-]

I grew up in the mountains and was terrified of this dude when I was a kid. He was my boogeyman. Now I listen to his story while I drift to sleep. Love it!

[Tnch]

Lore Lodge: "The Wendigo may, depending on the story, also be a giant."
Wendigoon: *G I A N T ?*

[DFAMPODCAST]

I grew up in North Carolina in the Appalachian Mountains. My neighbor was in his 70s and had a great story about his camp being stalked by a Wild Man. It freaked us all out and when we went camping we always ALWAYS set "traps" for them. By traps I mean sticks tied to cans.... we were kids lol.

[Bardes]

I'm Ojibwe and what I was always told is that the wendigo will grow as big as his appetite, meaning that it grows bigger with every meal.

[tinymoonraccoon]

I know this will probably be lost in all the comments, but the story that's mentioned around the 17:00 mark about the boy being kidnapped by a wendigo, has a Norwegian equivalent! Except the boy in the Norwegian folktale is kidnapped by visually impaired trolls and fools them by making them slice an iron nail instead of his finger until he is ready to escape. It's probably not super interesting, but it's always fascinating to see what sort of tropes different cultures have in common. Anyways, great video!

[Revolver]

She said, “The cave was very nice but I just didn’t like the granite countertops.”

[dragonproductions]

"A spiritual being, that shoots poison arrows" Well that's scarier than most poltergeists.

[DUKEHadToDoItToEm]

Englishmen looking at Natives: "Savages, I can't believe they live this way"

Natives looking at bigfoots: "Savages, can't believe they live this way"

[HorusHawks]

Okay, you can’t just offhandedly toss out the Mooney reports, and not expect us to scream for, I don’t know, a 2 hour deep dive into this. So EET! (Please?)

[mkaylor]

I live on the yurok Rez. In Klamath glen. We actually have a Bigfoot grave in our town site

[Vyxin]

"Nom Nom, some Wagyu kids." Probably one of my favorite lines so far. 😂😂

[stevenlwills]

You should check out the japanese legend of "namahage" ogres and how much it has in common with these native american legends. Love the channel, keep it up!

[Honeyrat]

I grew up in Yurok/Wiyot territory. It's nice to hear about my home area and the entities around it. I've had my share of experiences out there in the redwoods

[willnolan]

A former Boeing employee who was a whistleblower against the company was just found dead from “self inflicted wounds” in his hotel during the week of his legal interviews. Sounds like something up your alley

[nobody.important]

You know it's a good day when one of these comes out

[CountryRavenk]

Found your channel not too long ago, been waiting for a more recent video in hopes you’ll see this but your videos are a god send to a working man working long hours!! I appreciate your native history segments, you’ve done your research and are a fun person to listen to. Forever grateful friend, keep it up! :) please… for my sake

[buckdharma]

Having already seen Trey The Explainer's video on the same topic, I can't wait to see the direction the Lore Lads take

[Toebeeans]

I smoked a joint and binged you

New follower, happy to be here 🖤

[robynwilde]

My Friday nights have been rough this year and it's been nice to have these videos to look forward to. Some nice murder, mystery, and mayhem to keep me company. 😅

[greasygod]

One of the cool things my culture (Plains Cree) has adopted from Saulteaux people is the grandfather teachings. And the grandfather for honesty is represented by a Bigfoot type creature.