Guest Bucket Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) I'm curious about the bigfoot/native American connection. What do they know? And why won't they share their information? Seems to me if they did share their info, it might lead to a deeper understanding of the creatures & better relations for all involved. I certainly don't wish to offend anyone. But I am curious, confused & a little frustrated. Can anyone shed some light on the subject for me? Edited July 21, 2011 by Bucket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tsalagi Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Well sometimes we do share our info and we get laughed at or told we don't know what we are talking about by other people on this board. ...even if we also have been told things by elders in our family about Bigfoot before he got so popular in the media. That said, I think some BF researchers do listen to Natives and they do interview them on some of the tv shows. As well they should since some Indians live on remote lands that are heavily wooded, so their people are still to this day living in prime Sasquatch territory. I always find the encounters during berry picking and salmon fishing season to be intriguing and should be followed-up more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bucket Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Regardless of what others might think, I certainly would be interested in reading anything anyone wishes to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rockinkt Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Wow. Generalize much? Who the heck are "they"???? Given all the various First Nations and their tribes and clans throughout North America - I would hate to pretend that I or anybody could speak on behalf of them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holliday Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'm curious about the bigfoot/native American connection. What do they know? And why won't they share their information? Seems to me if they did share their info, it might lead to a deeper understanding of the creatures & better relations for all involved. I certainly don't wish to offend anyone. But I am curious, confused & a little frustrated. Can anyone shed some light on the subject for me? just a thought here,but if your ancestors had been ran off their land & put on reservations how much would you be willing to share ?I could understand a lack of cooperation on the part of any tribes or individuals that may carry a grudge,imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dudlow Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 A couple of interesting CBC Radio programmes covering the relationship between Sasquatch and Canadian First Nations peoples have been broadcast over the past year. Native interpretations of Sasquatch are varied and complex from region to region. Most traditions fear Sasquatch. For example, among the Cree of Northern Ontario, Squatchy is sometimes regarded as the monster ordinary people have become after turning to cannibalism. In this case the folklore is a censure warning people never to eat human flesh. The omen of bad luck also commonly accompanies sightings of BF after which a cleansing ceremony is often required. Elements of the supernatural such as shape shifting are part of the mix. Also present is the notion that Sasquatch are disacculturated people who left their tribes, for whatever reason, to live in the bush on their own. They steal and eat children, capture young maidens, disrupt trap lines and generally harrass the Native folk. From flesh and blood creatures to feral humans to supernatural shape shifters, Sasquatch fills many different roles in Panamerindian Native culture and world view. - Dudlow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HairyGreek Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 A couple of interesting CBC Radio programmes covering the relationship between Sasquatch and Canadian First Nations peoples have been broadcast over the past year. Native interpretations of Sasquatch are varied and complex from region to region. Most traditions fear Sasquatch. For example, among the Cree of Northern Ontario, Squatchy is sometimes regarded as the monster ordinary people have become after turning to cannibalism. In this case the folklore is a censure warning people never to eat human flesh. The omen of bad luck also commonly accompanies sightings of BF after which a cleansing ceremony is often required. Elements of the supernatural such as shape shifting are part of the mix. Also present is the notion that Sasquatch are disacculturated people who left their tribes, for whatever reason, to live in the bush on their own. They steal and eat children, capture young maidens, disrupt trap lines and generally harrass the Native folk. From flesh and blood creatures to feral humans to supernatural shape shifters, Sasquatch fills many different roles in Panamerindian Native culture and world view. - Dudlow The more I read your posts, the more I like coming to this board. You are an excellent fount of info. Thanks Dudlow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dudlow Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 The more I read your posts, the more I like coming to this board. You are an excellent fount of info. Thanks Dudlow! Thanks for the compliment, 'HairyGreek'. Information is useful to some but useless to others. All on can do is try. - Dudlow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wudewasa Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 just a thought here,but if your ancestors had been ran off their land & put on reservations how much would you be willing to share ?I could understand a lack of cooperation on the part of any tribes or individuals that may carry a grudge,imo. That depends on how sincere and respectful that someone who is interested in a person's culture is. Some people hold a collective grudge against a particular group for a long time. It doesn't matter if a person was involved in any actual wrongdoing, but guilt by association pervades. In America, there are legal benefits to being a minority, so the ethnic card is used as a shield and continues to be flaunted and wielded as a manipulative tool. The bottom line is that we all come from tribal peoples, and nation states have overpowered tribal groups for thousands of years. The Romans annexed Gaul (France) from the celts, Great Britain colonized India and Africa and was instrumental in the slave trade to the Americas, Saddam Hussein used gas on Kurds, England sent Oliver Cromwell to export Irish to the Carribean to die as indentured servants, and unfortunately, the list goes on. Whether or not a person can look past a culture's collective dysfunction and see the good in individual members is the key to reconciliation. American aboriginals have an amazing history and culture to share, should they desire to do so. It is greatly appreciated, but they are not the only ones to go through oppression, genocide and assimilation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holliday Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Thanks for the compliment, 'HairyGreek'. Information is useful to some but useless to others. All on can do is try. - Dudlow Just remember dudlow, with great power comes great responsibility. Dudlow does well here indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holliday Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 That depends on how sincere and respectful that someone who is interested in a person's culture is. Some people hold a collective grudge against a particular group for a long time. It doesn't matter if a person was involved in any actual wrongdoing, but guilt by association pervades. In America, there are legal benefits to being a minority, so the ethnic card is used as a shield and continues to be flaunted and wielded as a manipulative tool. The bottom line is that we all come from tribal peoples, and nation states have overpowered tribal groups for thousands of years. The Romans annexed Gaul (France) from the celts, Great Britain colonized India and Africa and was instrumental in the slave trade to the Americas, Saddam Hussein used gas on Kurds, England sent Oliver Cromwell to export Irish to the Carribean to die as indentured servants, and unfortunately, the list goes on. Whether or not a person can look past a culture's collective dysfunction and see the good in individual members is the key to reconciliation. American aboriginals have an amazing history and culture to share, should they desire to do so. It is greatly appreciated, but they are not the only ones to go through oppression, genocide and assimilation. all thats interesting and rings true .NA arent the only people ever persecuted, but they are the only ones mentioned in the op. the terrible side of human nature has reared its ugly head too many times & places. looking for the good in an individual and forgiving is one thing.......... but forgetting would be the hard part, and thus perhaps a lack of cooperation in the BF realm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wudewasa Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 looking for the good in an individual and forgiving is one thing.......... but forgetting would be the hard part, and thus perhaps a lack of cooperation in the BF realm. Forgiving isn't an option. How can you forgive someone when they didn't do anything wrong, when it was their ancestors' transgressions that caused the problem?! I am friends with people who are aboriginal American, and these folks have open minds. Not everyone does. In American culture, you can get pretty far if you play the blame game well. I respect their struggle, but know all too well the arm's length that I am held at. Ican reciprocate if necessary, but would rather find commonalities if both sides can recognize them. Here lies the struggle. "History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced With courage, need not be lived again." -Maya Angelou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 (edited) I think that First Nations peoples have been sharing their ideas about the Big Man with westerners for a couple of hundred years now. It is our culture that has chosen to disregard or dismiss their ideas, which, as Dudlow pointed out, range from spirit being/helper/protector to shared forest inhabitant to enemy cannibal giant. Because their ideas on wild people are so wide ranging, it might be difficult to have a conversation about what 'they' know. We would have to have that discussion on a nation by nation, region by region basis. There is a growing body of work on Native American views of Bigfoot that have been published by Strain, Paulides, Alley, etc. that one can access. Indeed, my own personal opinion on Sassy is that much of what native peoples have already reported (i.e. that the Bigfoot are people, as complex as many peoples, and possibly possessing some amazing abilities) may be nearing wider acceptance and supported by a growing body of evidence. edit for spelling Edited July 22, 2011 by notgiganto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holliday Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Forgiving isn't an option. How can you forgive someone when they didn't do anything wrong, when it was their ancestors' transgressions that caused the problem?! I am friends with people who are aboriginal American, and these folks have open minds. Not everyone does. In American culture, you can get pretty far if you play the blame game well. I respect their struggle, but know all too well the arm's length that I am held at. Ican reciprocate if necessary, but would rather find commonalities if both sides can recognize them. Here lies the struggle. "History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced With courage, need not be lived again." -Maya Angelou the forgiving part would be as in dropping the " collective grudge" you mentioned earlier ",Some people hold a collective grudge against a particular group for a long time. It doesn't matter if a person was involved in any actual wrongdoing, but guilt by association pervades." then yours later on, "Whether or not a person can look past a culture's collective dysfunction and see the good in individual members is the key to reconciliation." so apparently if the collective grudge is conceded, forgiveness in some form has taken place. however, forgetting heritage may be more difficult, human nature being what it is. now perhaps back to the BF connection for the op....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Crowlogic Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 There was an excellent thread started on another forum a couple of years ago. The general conclusion of the postings was that Bigfoot was never a part of Native American mythology/culture. Sasquatch was a term invented in the 1920's somewhere in Canada by a white educator/writer if I remember correctly. That isn't to say that the Native Americans didn't have a mythology of an alternate race of bipedal beings. However a good internet search will reveal that most of that alternate bipedal being's existence was tied to spiritual/non physical manifestation. It seems that the big apelike biped we refer to as Sasquatch/Bigfoot is far more an invention of the white man then the Native Americans. But mythology is like that it tends to meld and blur between cultures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts