Native Americans and the big guy

Photo by SoulRider.222 - Flickr.com

    Lately, I've seen a lot of commentors around the internet using the argument that Native American folklore is solely myth thus none of it aids the case for the existence of bigfoot. It seems to me that this view comes from a lack of understanding of Native American culture and the purpose of their story telling.

    Native American myths are created to pass knowledge down from one generation to the next. In cultures without a written language, this is very common. From what I understand, there are two types of Native American myths:

1. Myths to explain that which is not understood.
    
2. Myths to pass on knowledge.

    So which of these do sasquatch myths fall under? I would like to believe they fall under the second category.

    Tribes from all across North America have a rich and diverse collection of myths, such as creation stories. Yet these stories vary from tribe to tribe. However, the same tribes' descriptions of a "wild tribe of men", or sasquatch, are generally consistent. Many of these tribes come from different parts of the country. They have different traditions, different ceremonies, even different languages. And yet, they all describe "our brother in the woods" in similar manners; a wild man who does not communicate with humans(cannot talk), is covered in hair, and stands taller than any normal man.

    Where the problem comes in, I believe, is discussing the spiritual side of the sasquatch. It appears to me that the Native Americans generally agree on the descriptions and behaviors of sasquatches, but disagree on the spiritual aspect. In most Native American cultures every animal consists of two aspects, the physical and the spiritual. The physical describes the creature and its habits, whereas the spiritual assigns the creature a set of characteristics, or traits. These traits help explain how the animal relates to the natural world. In a way, the spiritual aspect explains why the animal exists.

    Speculation as to what the spiritual traits of sasquatch are varies greatly between tribes. Some believe sasquatches were once men who became cannibals, other believe they are simply another "tribe" of man. This speculation, I think, is what leads to the modern day belief that Native American tales of the sasquatch are nothing more than myth and superstition. There is a clear line between knowing (and accepting) the creature exists and speculating as to the metaphysical traits of said animal. Unfortunately, this line is often overlooked.

    So what do you think? Bigfoot...victim of misinterpretation of Native American culture, or bunch of superstitious hoopla?
 
    While researching for this post I came across a very fascinating webpage on Native American spirituality. Definitely worth a read if you're interested.

    Thanks for reading!

 - A.Z.