Post by hopeful on Jan 7, 2008 20:16:24 GMT -5
www.bigfootproject.org/articles/mayak_datat.html
An Excerpt from Mayak datat:
An Archaeological Viewpoint of the Hairy Man Pictographs by Kathy Moskowitz Strain
Gayton (1976:89) was one of the main ethnographers of the [Native American] Yokuts. She studied their traditional stories and came to the following conclusion:
The prehuman era was that of a world created and occupied by birds and animals of superanimal and superhuman powers. To Eagle, with his bird and animal assistants and companions, was attributed the building of the world, the institution of certain cultural, social, and physical features of man and his way of life. This prehistoric period, described in a fairly full but not elaborately detailed stock of stories, came to an end with the creation of mankind by Eagle and the subsequent transformation of these bird-and-animal people into their present known forms. All this happened beyond the memory of man, but the past continued into the present in the immediate ubiquity of the animals themselves. Beliefs about them were being constantly reinforced by daily happenings in the circumjacent wilds.
Simplified, this means that when the Yokuts observed animal behavior in the wild, they incorporated those observations into their traditional stories. The more they observed, the most elaborate the stories and details. Following are several examples of traditional stories, collected by the author (Kathy Moskowitz Strain) unless otherwise noted, and the observed animal behavior represented in the story.
[...]
Hairy Man is described in [the Native American creation story] as human-like; he walked on two legs and gave that gift to humans. Hairy Man was also smart enough to trick the cunning coyote in order to get his own way.
Humans, however, quickly populated the earth and occupied the same spaces the animals once did. Here is a story that documents those events:
When People Took Over
People spread out all over the mountains, taking all the land and eating all the food. Animals didn't have anyplace to go. Eagle, chief of all the animals, told the animals that they could not remain in their traditional places, because people had taken them. He asked them where they wished to go. Eagle said, "What are you going to become? What will you be? I myself am going to fly high up in the air and live on squirrels and sometimes on deer." Hairy Man said, "I will go live among the big trees (Giant Sequoias) and hunt only at night when people are asleep." Dog said, "I will stay with people and be their friend, I will follow them, and perhaps I will get something to eat in that way." Buzzard said, "When something dies I will smell it. I will go there and eat it." Crow said, "When I see something lying dead, I will pick out its eyes." Coyote said, "I will go about killing grasshoppers. That is how I will live." Hummingbird said, "I will go to the flowers and get my food from them." Condor said, "I will not stay here. I will go far off into the mountains. Perhaps I will find something to eat there." Woodpecker said, "I will get acorns and make holes in the trees [to store them in]." Bluejay said, "I am going to make trees grow over the hills. I will work." Rat said, "I will go where there are old trees and make my house in them." Mouse said, "I will run here, there, and everywhere. I shall have holes, and perhaps I can live in that way." Trout said, "I will live in the water and perhaps I can find something to eat there." That was the time when animals stopped being like us and scattered.
This story clearly illustrates that Bigfoot was thought to be nocturnal and mainly stayed in Giant Sequoia groves or forests. His intent was not to come into contact with humans and would only go outside when they were asleep. Since Gayton (1976) already stated that Yokuts stories about animals involved real observed behaviors, and all the behaviors attributed to the other animals in this story are consistent with what we know about those animals, it is logical to assume that Yokuts directly observed Bigfoot behavior and incorporated that behavior into this story.
An Excerpt from Mayak datat:
An Archaeological Viewpoint of the Hairy Man Pictographs by Kathy Moskowitz Strain
Gayton (1976:89) was one of the main ethnographers of the [Native American] Yokuts. She studied their traditional stories and came to the following conclusion:
The prehuman era was that of a world created and occupied by birds and animals of superanimal and superhuman powers. To Eagle, with his bird and animal assistants and companions, was attributed the building of the world, the institution of certain cultural, social, and physical features of man and his way of life. This prehistoric period, described in a fairly full but not elaborately detailed stock of stories, came to an end with the creation of mankind by Eagle and the subsequent transformation of these bird-and-animal people into their present known forms. All this happened beyond the memory of man, but the past continued into the present in the immediate ubiquity of the animals themselves. Beliefs about them were being constantly reinforced by daily happenings in the circumjacent wilds.
Simplified, this means that when the Yokuts observed animal behavior in the wild, they incorporated those observations into their traditional stories. The more they observed, the most elaborate the stories and details. Following are several examples of traditional stories, collected by the author (Kathy Moskowitz Strain) unless otherwise noted, and the observed animal behavior represented in the story.
[...]
Hairy Man is described in [the Native American creation story] as human-like; he walked on two legs and gave that gift to humans. Hairy Man was also smart enough to trick the cunning coyote in order to get his own way.
Humans, however, quickly populated the earth and occupied the same spaces the animals once did. Here is a story that documents those events:
When People Took Over
People spread out all over the mountains, taking all the land and eating all the food. Animals didn't have anyplace to go. Eagle, chief of all the animals, told the animals that they could not remain in their traditional places, because people had taken them. He asked them where they wished to go. Eagle said, "What are you going to become? What will you be? I myself am going to fly high up in the air and live on squirrels and sometimes on deer." Hairy Man said, "I will go live among the big trees (Giant Sequoias) and hunt only at night when people are asleep." Dog said, "I will stay with people and be their friend, I will follow them, and perhaps I will get something to eat in that way." Buzzard said, "When something dies I will smell it. I will go there and eat it." Crow said, "When I see something lying dead, I will pick out its eyes." Coyote said, "I will go about killing grasshoppers. That is how I will live." Hummingbird said, "I will go to the flowers and get my food from them." Condor said, "I will not stay here. I will go far off into the mountains. Perhaps I will find something to eat there." Woodpecker said, "I will get acorns and make holes in the trees [to store them in]." Bluejay said, "I am going to make trees grow over the hills. I will work." Rat said, "I will go where there are old trees and make my house in them." Mouse said, "I will run here, there, and everywhere. I shall have holes, and perhaps I can live in that way." Trout said, "I will live in the water and perhaps I can find something to eat there." That was the time when animals stopped being like us and scattered.
This story clearly illustrates that Bigfoot was thought to be nocturnal and mainly stayed in Giant Sequoia groves or forests. His intent was not to come into contact with humans and would only go outside when they were asleep. Since Gayton (1976) already stated that Yokuts stories about animals involved real observed behaviors, and all the behaviors attributed to the other animals in this story are consistent with what we know about those animals, it is logical to assume that Yokuts directly observed Bigfoot behavior and incorporated that behavior into this story.