Post by hopeful on Jan 7, 2008 20:33:59 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 has an "evil" aspect to him. Latta (1949) was told that the life-sized character at Painted Rock was a bad spirit. It is unclear, however, if the informant meant Hairy Man or Coyote Eating the Moon. While doing research with Tribal elders many years ago, I was often told that while on the reservation, I should never go outside if I heard whistling. When asked why, I was told that Hairy Man used whistling to lure Indians out into the night for various bad reasons. The details on what Hairy Man would do to someone going outside is unknown. Here is a story detailing Hairy Man's "bad" side. This story is taken from Johnstone (1975).
Bigfoot, The Hairy Man
Big Foot was a creature that was like a great big giant with long, shaggy hair. His long shaggy hair made him look like a big animal. He was good in a way, because he ate the animals that might harm people. He kept the Grizzly Bear, Mountain Lion, Wolf, and other larger animals away. During hot summer nights all the animals would come out together down from the hills to drink out of the Tule River. Big Foot liked to catch animals down by the river. He would eat them up bones and all.
It was pleasant and cool down by the river on hot summer nights. That is when grown ups liked to take a swim. Even though people feared that Big Foot, the hairy man, might come to the river, people still liked to take a swim at night.
Parents always warned their children, "Don't go near the river at night. You may run into Big Foot."
Now Big Foot usually eats animals, but parents said, "If he can't find any animals and he is very hungry, he will eat you. Big Foot, the hairy man, doesn't leave a speck or trace. He eats you up bones and all. We won't know where you have gone or what has happened to you."
Some people say Big Foot, the hairy man, still roams around the hills near Tule River. He comes along the trail at night and scares a lot of people. When you hear him you know it is something very big because he makes a big sound, not a little sound.
Children are cautioned not to make fun of his picture on the painted rock or play around that place because he would hear you and come after you.
Parents warned their children, "You are going to meet him on the road if you stay out too late at night." The children have learned always to come home early.
The observed behavior here is that Bigfoot was nocturnal, ate animals, and is something to be feared. It isn't likely that any humans were observed being eaten, but there was a fear that this could happen. The tale is the most common Hairy Man story still told on the reservation.
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 has an "evil" aspect to him. Latta (1949) was told that the life-sized character at Painted Rock was a bad spirit. It is unclear, however, if the informant meant Hairy Man or Coyote Eating the Moon. While doing research with Tribal elders many years ago, I was often told that while on the reservation, I should never go outside if I heard whistling. When asked why, I was told that Hairy Man used whistling to lure Indians out into the night for various bad reasons. The details on what Hairy Man would do to someone going outside is unknown. Here is a story detailing Hairy Man's "bad" side. This story is taken from Johnstone (1975).
Bigfoot, The Hairy Man
Big Foot was a creature that was like a great big giant with long, shaggy hair. His long shaggy hair made him look like a big animal. He was good in a way, because he ate the animals that might harm people. He kept the Grizzly Bear, Mountain Lion, Wolf, and other larger animals away. During hot summer nights all the animals would come out together down from the hills to drink out of the Tule River. Big Foot liked to catch animals down by the river. He would eat them up bones and all.
It was pleasant and cool down by the river on hot summer nights. That is when grown ups liked to take a swim. Even though people feared that Big Foot, the hairy man, might come to the river, people still liked to take a swim at night.
Parents always warned their children, "Don't go near the river at night. You may run into Big Foot."
Now Big Foot usually eats animals, but parents said, "If he can't find any animals and he is very hungry, he will eat you. Big Foot, the hairy man, doesn't leave a speck or trace. He eats you up bones and all. We won't know where you have gone or what has happened to you."
Some people say Big Foot, the hairy man, still roams around the hills near Tule River. He comes along the trail at night and scares a lot of people. When you hear him you know it is something very big because he makes a big sound, not a little sound.
Children are cautioned not to make fun of his picture on the painted rock or play around that place because he would hear you and come after you.
Parents warned their children, "You are going to meet him on the road if you stay out too late at night." The children have learned always to come home early.
The observed behavior here is that Bigfoot was nocturnal, ate animals, and is something to be feared. It isn't likely that any humans were observed being eaten, but there was a fear that this could happen. The tale is the most common Hairy Man story still told on the reservation.