Alberta Govn't Says Squatch Research - Form Of Hunting

[Guest Transformer]

Well "Hunt wildlife without licence" when the guy had no weapon to hunt with seems bogus to me, probably not for you. Your "Are you an expert" ploy doesn't mean much to me. Nope not an expert on Canada's laws, but that doesn't make me ignorant of the situation. You want to argue, you win, feel good about it. You want to discuss and learn, then I'll stay interested.

I knew a guy that enjoyed photographing snakes that would use asphalt roads to warm themselves on. He was in South Carolina one day taking a pic of a snake on the road, and a cop pulled up and inquired what he was doing. The man told him the truth, and the cop called in other patrol cars and proceeded to search his vehicle, yell at him, intimidate and finally after several hours of having their fun let the guy go with a warning of "If you come back here again we'll arrest you, impound your car and throw away the key." The citizen violated no laws yet the photographer's civil rights were clearly violated. Maybe Canada is different, but I can't stand a bully, legal or otherwise.

The first question was "Were you there?" How do you know who's telling the truth? I sure don't.

I worked on the legal side of thing all my life in what the US would refer to as the District Attorney's office and married for 30+ years to a man who made it pretty high up in rank in law enforcement before his retirement.

You do not appear to understand what contitutes a weapon in many US and Canadian jurisdictions.

Everybody has horror stories to tell. Some are true and some are exagerated and some are just lies. Again, unless you were there how do you know?

I prefer to reserve judgement until I see some actual investigation and external review.

Sorry Transformer, I have not been to back to this post since I last posted. The incident allegedly occurred at Slave Lake and involved the fish and Wildlife. I walk a fine line when discussing these things as I am in casual contact with a couple of key people in that division and they make the rules that control my very livelihood. This is speculation of course, but for them to start an investigation one of them must have seen one. Fish and Wildlife division treats this subject like Kryptonite. By the same token, getting them to stop without further attempt would likely require pulling them "in the loop". Whatever the case someone likely in the loop treated Lone Squatchers attempt at Sasquatch research very seriously. As far as being an expert on Alberta law, Its all governed by the wildlife act. But even individual officers have differing interpretations of said act. I have been informed that you cannot be charged with killing a Sasquatch in Alberta as the creature is "not on the books". They also told me it would be the 1st and last and I would not be allowed to keep it. That can be interpreted as "we are going to sit on this subject until we have no choice". This is a strange incident and if he was charged with hunting as defined under the wildlife act he would be in very serious trouble.

The Cree in Western Canada have no legends or myths about anything resemebling sasquatch so I am surprised that any would be reported in the area of Lesser Slave Lake where they have been since the last ice age. But anyway just tell your friends to report the information they have to the RCMP because they do not have a policy that forbids them from investigating credible reports.

The law in BC sounds the same. You can shoot it but you can't keep it unless you have a tag. Sort of like accidently shooting a game animal out of season (mistake a forked moose for a spiked moose). You have to report it as soon as you are able to and you are responsible for keeping the edible parts in good condition so there is really nothing stopping you from taking pictures and good portions for analysis if you shoot a sasquatch.

Edited June 27, 2012 by MikeG
........personal comments removed

[Guest]

All the Cree I know are well versed in the legend of the Sasquatch. http://1stnationstribes.tribe.net/thread/ed99fc73-32a2-4a46-ba10-9c394fd72d81

[salubrious]

The Cree in Western Canada have no legends or myths about anything resemebling sasquatch so I am surprised that any would be reported in the area of Lesser Slave Lake where they have been since the last ice age.

Really? If so they would be one of the very few if any in the entire North American continent.

A friend of mine was listening to C2C last night- had the same guy on that wrote that book paraphrased as 'Missing 411' on another thread in the Media section. One interesting report was a guy that found prints in a park and reported them to the Rangers while on his way to go get a camera. When he got back, a fire truck was there dousing the road with water.

I have a fair amount of confidence that the gov't(s) know about BF. There are a number of reports of bodies shot/found that when reported to the authorities, are never seen again. There are several theories about why the gov't acts the way it does in this matter; my pet theory is they really don't want BF to be 'found'. We'd have nutbags running around in the woods shooting at anything and who knows what the woods would be like if BF in general got really pissed off at humans?

[Guest BFSleuth]

The Cree in Western Canada have no legends or myths about anything resemebling sasquatch so I am surprised that any would be reported in the area of Lesser Slave Lake where they have been since the last ice age.

I was also a little surprised at this statement. A quick Google search for "Cree legends bigfoot" yielded:

http://1stnationstribes.tribe.net/thread/ed99fc73-32a2-4a46-ba10-9c394fd72d81

"The Cree call it Nabagaboo the Ojibway know it as Sasquatch

" One of our community street names is called Nabagaboo, which means Bigfoot in Cree. Bigfoot is a common legend among many diiferent ancient tribes of First Nations peoples. Each had variations to the story to reflect the own living realities. The Ojibway called them Sasquatch. Some believe that Bigfoot still roam the forests today. They say it looks like people and runs around in the woods screaming and breaking down trees. It never bothers the Native tribe though. People who have seen it looked long, tall, hairy and smelled bad. They say that he makes shelter from broken down trees to sleep at night. There have been many sightings of big foot prints in the black mud on lakeshores." by Kieffer Bunting "

http://www.bfro.net/legends/

"...the Plains Cree -- even though they retain a memory of their eastern cousins tradition of the Wetiko (as the Windigo is called in Cree) -- have seemed similarly to take on the western tribes view of Bigfoot as they moved west."

[Guest thermalman]

Aren't most first nations versed in Sasquatch legend handed down through the years from the elders?

[Guest Transformer]

The Cree call it Nabagaboo the Ojibway know it as Sasquatch

" One of our community street names is called Nabagaboo, which means Bigfoot in Cree. Bigfoot is a common legend among many diiferent ancient tribes of First Nations peoples. Each had variations to the story to reflect the own living realities. The Ojibway called them Sasquatch. Some believe that Bigfoot still roam the forests today. They say it looks like people and runs around in the woods screaming and breaking down trees. It never bothers the Native tribe though. People who have seen it looked long, tall, hairy and smelled bad. They say that he makes shelter from broken down trees to sleep at night. There have been many sightings of big foot prints in the black mud on lakeshores." by Kieffer Bunting

That above from your link is a complete and utter joke and anybody who knows how the word "SASQUATCH" was invented by a white man in BC named JW Burns in the 1920s would be rolling on the floor laughing like I was when reading the above load of BS. Wendigo is also not even remotely related with anything to do with contemporary reports of sasquatches and it is a farce to even use the two in the same sentence. The legends of sasquatch being across all aboriginal tribes is one of those so-called "facts" that people in this field like to repeat that has no basis in fact. Far too many people have tried to modify and shoe-horn legends to get them to possibly resemble sasquatch legends of British Columbia and it makes the people who know the true legends groan with exasperation.

I should add that I spent a little time with the Cree when my brother-in-law and my husband were working on land claim settlements with them in Alberta. None of the elders mentioned anything about a sasquatch like creature and certainly not Nabagaboo which doesn't even appear anywhere on the internet except in this yahoo's ridiculous piece. I wonder if this person is just jerking everybody's chain with his silly article?

Edited June 26, 2012 by Transformer

[Guest BFSleuth]

^ Given the propensity of First Nations people to be cautious when speaking to nontribal members about sensitive topics, are you in some way connected to the tribe in a position of trust? What efforts did you put into your attempts to speak to the elders about the topic of BF?

[salubrious]

The Cree call it Nabagaboo the Ojibway know it as Sasquatch

" One of our community street names is called Nabagaboo, which means Bigfoot in Cree. Bigfoot is a common legend among many diiferent ancient tribes of First Nations peoples. Each had variations to the story to reflect the own living realities. The Ojibway called them Sasquatch. Some believe that Bigfoot still roam the forests today. They say it looks like people and runs around in the woods screaming and breaking down trees. It never bothers the Native tribe though. People who have seen it looked long, tall, hairy and smelled bad. They say that he makes shelter from broken down trees to sleep at night. There have been many sightings of big foot prints in the black mud on lakeshores." by Kieffer Bunting

That above from your link is a complete and utter joke and anybody who knows how the word "SASQUATCH" was invented by a white man in BC named JW Burns in the 1920s would be rolling on the floor laughing like I was when reading the above load of BS. Wendigo is also not even remotely related with anything to do with contemporary reports of sasquatches and it is a farce to even use the two in the same sentence. The legends of sasquatch being across all aboriginal tribes is one of those so-called "facts" that people in this field like to repeat that has no basis in fact. Far too many people have tried to modify and shoe-horn legends to get them to possibly resemble sasquatch legends of British Columbia and it makes the people who know the true legends groan with exasperation.

Aren't the Cree related to the Ojibway? I think they both use Algonquian language variants anyway. Here in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Ojibwe have a sweat-lodge gratitude song devoted to Bigfoot.

So I don't buy this story. You are saying that the Cree are the only ones in the US that don't have some tradition about Bigfoot, while their neighbors and relations do. Seems a stretch.

[Guest thermalman]

Cree reserves near my location believe in Sasquatch or a wildman of sorts. I live within 40 miles of 5 different reserves.

Edited June 26, 2012 by thermalman

[Guest Transformer]

^ Given the propensity of First Nations people to be cautious when speaking to nontribal members about sensitive topics, are you in some way connected to the tribe in a position of trust? What efforts did you put into your attempts to speak to the elders about the topic of BF?

My brother-in-law has been working with the Cree and other aboriginal people in Canada for almost 30 years and he has been formally adopted into the Cree nation. My husband was working with his brother on the Cree land claims negotiations and court cases at that time and was a key person involved in obtaining the Cree stories and legends from the elders as they often included identifiable landmarks which are essential in identifying traditional grounds. My husband was living with a Cree tribe Band Councillor and his family for the duration of his stay and I stayed there too. My husband and his brother are of aboriginal descent on their mother's side. So there was absolutely no worry about anything being held back.

Aren't the Cree related to the Ojibway? I think they both use Algonquian language variants anyway. Here in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Ojibwe have a sweat-lodge gratitude song devoted to Bigfoot.

So I don't buy this story. You are saying that the Cree are the only ones in the US that don't have some tradition about Bigfoot, while their neighbors and relations do. Seems a stretch.

The Cree are not the same tribe as the Ojibway. Please tell me the legends as you know them including the names of the entities as I would love to learn more about these things. Could you also please post a reference to the song or tell me exactly how it relates to the contemporary accounts of sasquatch because that sounds very interesting. If it would not compromise you a name of the tribe would be great because I would like to follow up this song. Aboriginal songs and dances are a passion of mine and I love to go to Potlatches and Pow Wows. Thank you.

Cree reserves near my location believe in Sasquatch or a wildman of sorts. I live within 40 miles of 5 different reserves.

A lot of the people have taken up so-called legends and incorporated them into their culture or at least say they are part of their culture. If you actually examine their OLD cultural artifacts like carvings or hide burnings (stretching animal hides and using hot sticks or rocks to burn images on them) or in the case of the Cree around Slave Lake who also use fish scales to make murals you will find absolutely no depictions of anything resembling sasquatch but all the other OLD legends that have not changed for centuries (before sasquatch or Bigfoot became a popular North American meme) are depicted. Also in the writings of the people who married into the tribes such as the Hudson's Bay people starting over 400 years ago there are absolutely no stories or references to anything resembling sasquatch in all of the writings about mythical creatures that were used to scare traders and or other tribes from entering into good trapping areas. You would think a sasquatch would be high on the list to keep white people out of areas or other tribes but they just are not anywhere to be found in historical documents. Sasquatch is a recent thing amongst the vast majority of Canadian tribes and so far is only noted academically as a historical myth amongst a small number of tribes in Southern or Coastal BC. Identifying sasquatch as "an Indian thing" is not historically factual but has become a modern concept. Indian people who are proud of their heritage have picked up many of these modern day myths and have incorporated them into their personal identities as a way of acknowledging their Indian heritage and making themselves separate from Europeans and other peoples. Many elders do not like this but other elders have bought into it for reasons known only to them.

[salubrious]

The Cree are not the same tribe as the Ojibway. Please tell me the legends as you know them including the names of the entities as I would love to learn more about these things. Could you also please post a reference to the song or tell me exactly how it relates to the contemporary accounts of sasquatch because that sounds very interesting. If it would not compromise you a name of the tribe would be great because I would like to follow up this song. Aboriginal songs and dances are a passion of mine and I love to go to Potlatches and Pow Wows. Thank you.

I know they are not the same tribe...

Just about anyone practicing the sweat lodge in Ojibway country here in Minnesota or Wisconsin should know the Bigfoot song. I have friends that have heard it in sweats clear into Canada. I studied Lakota but in the Lakota world they call that language Ojibberish... but I have a friend that should know the words. I'd be happy to transcribe them; as I recall it is a simple thanksgiving song.

If the Cree you hang out with really don't have any tradition of BF, they are quite unusual in that regard!

Edited June 27, 2012 by salubrious

[Guest]

I know that the Stoney Indians believe in Sasquatch here in Alberta and have been coexisting with them since they came here from South Dakota, I believe they are actually part of the Lakota Sioux nation. The few Cree people I know also have a belief system in place regarding the Sasquatch. Maybe that was just picked up somewhere else though...? I have also had reports come in from Northern Alberta. If you think the Rockies are untouched, Northern Alberta is the same, just no mountains. Miles upon miles of endless bush, swamp, lakes, muskeg, etc. I think it would be a great habitat myself.

[Guest jimmy simpson]

I agree. anywhere in western or northern alberta is prime territory.

[Guest]

Slave lake is a hotspot in a number of places. Alberta is a difficult place to get folks to file reports but a surprising number of incidents have come to me through the hunting community. http://bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=10775

[Guest BFSleuth]

I'm fascinated by Transformer's claim about the Cree...

The Cree in Western Canada have no legends or myths about anything resemebling sasquatch so I am surprised that any would be reported in the area of Lesser Slave Lake where they have been since the last ice age.

.... this is a view LSL and surrounding area on Google Earth, using Mangini and BFRO places to show BF sighting locations. It may be that the Cree have been aware of BF and have had sightings, but for some reason did not positively say such to Transformer. Or it may be that the Cree haven't seen or been aware of BF, but all these witnesses are having hallucinations or misidentifications....