Do you believe that Giants once existed? Were they more closely related to animals or humans? Though this is a topic of hot debate by both academics and skeptics alike, it is often mythology that establishes validity in a particular belief.
Perhaps the most popular story about giants is the Lovelock Cave in Nevada, U.S.A. The Paiutes speak of battling white, red-haired 10-ft tall giants that were cannibalistic, preying on their people. A great battle ensued which eliminated the giants. The demise of these giants was attributed to the giants being driven deep into a cave and the cave & entrance being set afire. At this particular site, thousands of artifacts have been found. One of those artifacts, concerning skeletal remains, has stirred speculation of an extremely large being and leading some to believe the Paiute legend was legitimate.
Cresap Mound, West Virgina, U.S.A., 1959 - Dr. Donald Dragoo, curator at the Carnegie Museum unearthed a 7 ft 2 in skeleton during an excavation there. Quoting Dr. Dragoo, "This individual was of large proportions. When measured in the tomb his length was approximately 7.04 feet. All of the long bones were heavy." It is interesting to note that just like the story of Lovelock Cave, this particular skeleton's top part was burnt.
Dr. Dragoo is but one of many other anthropologists and archaeologists who have over time, reported skeletal remains of large individuals, and in addition, noting anatomical anomalies. Some of these skeletons were supposedly packed up and sent to the Smithsonian where they mysteriously never made it to display, and their whereabouts became unknown. It doesn't need to be stated here that the lack of evidence damages the credibility of these stories. But, lets examine some of the indingenous legends that come from all across North America.
Stick Indians (Northwest Coast Bigfeet) - stories tell of malevolent and extremely dangerous forest spirits kidnapping children and eating them, and molesting women.
Asin is a cannibal ogress from the mythology of the Alsea tribe. Like other monstrous ogres of the Northwest Coast, Asin preys on children and is often the subject of "bogeyman" stories told to frighten children into avoiding dangerous behavior.
The Basket Ogress is a marauding giant common to the folklore of many Northwest Coast tribes. She catches humans, especially naughty or careless children, and carries them off in her enormous pack basket to eat them in her lair.
The Kuku or Gougou is a kind of man-eating giant, usually (but not always) described as female. Gougou is so huge that she carries the people she catches in a bag over her shoulder the way human hunters carry rabbits.
The Lofa is a malevolent, ogre-like monster of Chickasaw folklore. His name literally means "flayer" or "skinner," a reference to his gruesome habit of flaying the skin from his victims.
Stone Coat is the name of a mythological rock giant of the Iroquois-speaking tribes descibed as being about twice as tall as humans, with their bodies covered in rock-hard scales that repel all normal weapons. They are associated with winter and ice, and they hunt and eat humans.
Finally, I relate the following story from my Chitimacha friend:
"The men had returned from a hunt and the women were all crying. As the men approached they noticed the young children were missing. The men said to the women, "what has happened here?" The women exclaimed, "They came, they came and they took them, like they've done in the past!" The warriors quickly gathered their lances and all their war material. They could see the footprints of where "they" had went. As they followed the footprint trail, they could see some of the clothing scattered off to the side. Some of the childrens' clothing were being ripped apart and they were afraid that they might not catch up to them in time to save them. As the warriors followed through old meadows, and reaching certain areas, they could hear "them" grunting. Some of the children were crying. Some of them were not moving. These were the "giants," the ones with a lot of hair. They were more beast than man. They were not like a two-legged, even though they did not look like them. Many of the children were told stories when they were young and they grew up to be men. The men grew up believing these were old fables, not really stories, but stories to keep children quiet and staying on the good path, and not listening to all the bad things creating mischief. These stories were told to the men and the men, in turn, would tell these stories to the children.
When the men approached the camp where "they" had gathered, they could see there was no fire, no need for it. They were getting ready to swallow the children alive. The men, in such a hurry, went in and raised a ruckus. The creatures were not like men so all they saw was more food for their tables, for their scraps. The giants got up and dropped the children, as they were smaller. The men drew their lances and they realized that these creatures would take more than one lance to knock them down. The stories that they were told by their parents and their parents' parents, they thought they were just stories. But here they were looking at the creatures. They were three times the size of a regular man. Some were four, big and loud, and there were many. The warriors were surprised that some of the children were still there. Some were missing, and they could tell that some were being swallowed. The men, enraged and trying to save their families, picked up their lance, their bows, rocks and all they could find and throw it at the giants, trying to prevent them from eating more of the children. They realized that one of the things that men have, the two-legged, was fire, given to them by the Creator. So they built a fire as quickly as they could and they took this. The creatures kind of reared in anger as they could not approach the fire as it was one of their greatest enemies. The men approached them as they could and tried to spear as many as they could. Some ran with children in their hands. The men threw their lances, striking a few. When they managed to open up their bellies, some children were alive, others were not. They realized that the stories they were told by their parents were true and they live nowadays. As time has gone by and these surviving children have grown to men to grandfathers, and even now to the beyond, the stories continue. They said the giants still dwelled in the forest, always quiet, never in need of fire and to be careful, because if you turned your back, they will always get the children.
Some of these stories are long and some are short. Basically, what we believe is that Bigfoot or Sasquatch, they are still known by some natives, they still exist and they are very quiet and very stealthy. Sometimes you don't even see them but they see you. They see the young prey. They too have not forgotten. Some of these stories were short and created to keep the young kids from creating all kinds of havoc. There are other stories, medicine stories, told about these beings. But these stories are told where the fire is. If I were to share them, we would actually have to sit face to face, and there would be a fire between us. But others, like this one, I can share freely."
NOTE: the writer of this article has every intent of making such a meeting happen in the future. Stay tuned...
- MoonJoey