The Sasquirer is an online database of news articles, books, podcasts, films, and images relating to man-ape legends across North America. This includes Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Skunk Ape, Fouke Monster, and other legends. The news section is sorted by date, the rest of the media can be found in the Media Database and Pathfinder Project.

Sightings of Man-Apes in the news for 2024


Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May

January

Jan 19, 2024
Study finds bigfoot sightings correlate with black bear populations
Ars Technica - "The results suggest that there's a strong correlation between sightings and the local black bear population—for every 1,000 bears, the frequency of bigfoot sightings goes up by about 4 percent."

Jan 25, 2024
Bigfoot sighted onboard Naval Station Norfolk
dvids - "While there is a Bigfoot on base, the one here is immobile and made of wood, foam and chicken wire. The Bigfoot statue, along with the trail system it is on, is the brainchild of Dale Hastings, the Air Operations Department Communications Branch Head, and Joseph “Joe” Crider, Air Operations Department Work Center Leader, who both work onboard NAVSTA Norfolk, and it has a history just as interesting as the real thing."

Jan 31, 2024
Bigfoot creature 'identified' meaning sightings of sasquatch 'can't be dismissed'
Irish Star - "An animal expert has claimed that "thousands" of sightings of the mythical Bigfoot are "still impossible to explain away", despite new reports that suggest that the animal has been "identified." Recently, a study was published in the Journal of Zoology, which tried to explain why certain areas have more sightings of Bigfoot than others."

February

Feb 02, 2024
After Wyoming Couple Gets Video Of Bigfoot In Colorado, He Pops Up In Utah
Cowboy State Daily - "First Colorado, now Utah. When will it be Wyoming’s turn for a viral Sasquatch video?
A video posted Wednesday that claims to have been shot through a telescope from 3 miles away shows someone — or something — traversing a steep, snow-covered mountain slope in Utah.
The video has gone viral across social media. The people who took it claim that it’s footage of Sasquatch – because no human could move like that over such steep terrain in the Wasatch Mountains. There’s also video taken later, supposedly showing the creature’s footprints in the snow."

Feb 8, 2024
Possible Bigfoot Sighting in Rhinebeck
101.5 WPDH - "If you follow the Bigfoot Researchers of the Hudson Valley group on Facebook, you'll see what some may call photographic evidence of Sasquatch visiting the area.
Most recently, on Monday February 4th, the group posted photos from a young man in Rhinebeck who has said to have had two experiences with what is believed to be Bigfoot. The man told the group that he "woke up to strange tracks throughout his property" and two nights later heard "heavy bipedal footsteps walking on his front porch and a loud bang on the siding."

Feb 18, 2024
The Allure of Bigfoot - Why so many Americans still believe he lurks in our forests.
Slate - "John O’Connor’s The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster is a work of mourning. Bigfoot, as O’Connor, a journalism professor, illustrates, is thriving—if by “Bigfoot” we’re talking about the legend of Sasquatch and the communities that have sprung up to seek out the hairy, towering primate said to lurk in the depths of America’s few remaining old-growth forests. It’s that Bigfoot, the symbol, who, O’Connor argues, flourishes and does so because of how much we’ve lost. This Bigfoot is a black armband commemorating everything from the environmental devastation wrought on the continent to the dearth of solitude and quiet available in contemporary life to … the decline of the white working class? Yes, even that.

Feb 25, 2024
Does bigfoot live in Utah? You be the judge
KSL - "The age of internet hoaxes and deep fakes may have left a lot of people skeptical about what they see and hear online. But there's one legend that's got a cult following: Bigfoot.
Whether you refer to the large, hairy mythical humanoid as bigfoot or Sasquatch, it could have a foothold in Utah. Several sightings of the man-beast have been reported in the Beehive State in recent years — including some with supporting videos. The Ogden-based Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization, a Facebook page with 247,000 followers, is a home base for Utahns to share their sightings of the hairy creature.
A recent post on their page allegedly shows Bigfoot running up one of the snow-covered Wasatch Mountain peaks. Helicopter footage also captured Sasquatch-like footprints leading up to the point where the sighting occurred. The footprints are supposedly consistent with other Bigfoot sightings in that they appear in a straight line, which indicates that the creature was moving quickly.

March

March 21, 2024
Bigfoot Sighting Reported South of Clayton, NJ
107.3 WPUR - Salem County: Is a bigfoot living in your neck of the woods? A witness has come forward with information about their bigfoot sighting in Monroeville, South of Clayton, in Salem County - very close to Gloucester County. A witness reports seeing a 7 to 8-foot-tall creature crossing the road.
The witness says their sighting came at about 2 in the morning, on Hollywood Avenue in Monroeville. Holywood is a dead-end residential road with a lot of wooded area nearby. The witness is quoted on BFRO.net saying this: "As my truck came around the dog-leg, a large, hairy biped, at least 7-8ft tall was crossing the road, right to left. I slammed on my brakes and watched it cross the road about 150 ft. in front of me. My lights were on it because there was no street light right there."

March 22, 2024
Supposed Sasquatch sighting near Grand Mound investigated by Bigfoot researchers
The Chronicle - The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) reported and investigated a recent sighting of a Sasquatch-like creature north of Centralia. According to one witness, who was riding motorcycles with his friend and his 3-and-a-half-year-old son on Feb. 4, the group spotted something running across a ridgetop about a half mile away.
"It was very large and human-shaped," the man's report to the BFRO said. "There was one color, tan/brown, moving across very rugged terrain, making a bee line for the tree line." The three of them watched the figure for 30 seconds before it went out of sight.
"It moved so fluently with little arm movement, unlike a human running," the witness said. "It easily was 10 feet tall for us to be able to see it from so far away."

March 26, 2024
Famed Bigfoot Researcher Alerting Louisiana About Recent Sasquatch Reports
973: The Dawg - When it comes to cryptids and lore, we have more than our fair share in Louisiana. While Bigfoot sightings are more commonly associated with the Pacific Northwest of the United States, Louisiana has its share of reports, often referred to as the Honey Island Swamp Monster among other names.
One of the most famous cryptids in Louisiana is the Honey Island Swamp Monster.
First reported in 1963 by Harlan Ford, a retired air traffic controller and wildlife photographer, the Honey Island Swamp Monster is described as a large, bipedal, ape-like being with gray hair and yellow or red eyes. Sightings often occur in the Honey Island Swamp area, a dense swamp near Slidell, Louisiana. However, a recent Bigfoot sighting deemed to be credible by well-known Sasquatch researcher Matthew John Moneymaker is in a different area of Louisiana.

April

April 01, 2024
Washington Sheriff Reminds Public Not to Hunt Sasquatch
Outdoors - Sasquatch sightings are nothing new. Hundreds of people over the years claimed to have seen bigfoot in their area and some will even go so far as to perpetuate the myth by putting on a costume and roaming wilderness areas to create an obscure sighting.
But recently, a hunter planning a trip to Meadow Lake in northeast Washington requested information from the local sheriff about what he could do if he encountered a sasquatch during his hunting and fishing trip. This unnamed visitor asked: “Is it illegal in Stevens County to shoot sasquatch?” and “Is a regular hunting license enough to keep his sasquatch hunt legal?”
In the message, this ethical hunter added that he would not “hunt or shoot female sasquatch” and that he needed to hear back sooner rather than later.

April 8, 2024
Here Are All of the Places Bigfoot Has Reportedly Been Spotted in West Michigan
97.9 WGRD - Bigfoot, Sasquatch, whatever you want to call them - many folks across the country claim to have seen him (or them?) Have There Been Bigfoot Sightings in West Michigan? Turns out, yes. Bigfoot encounters have reportedly occurred in Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, Allegan, Barry, and Ionia counties throughout the years.

April 8, 2024
Unraveling The Mysterious Sierra Sounds: A Bigfoot Encounter
1310 KLIX - A couple of lifelong friends experienced something truly terrifying while on a camping trip in 1971 in the Central California mountains that is still inspiring area visitors to seek out the exact site where mysterious, disturbing audio was captured during one of the evenings. Professional audio experts have analyzed the recordings and believe the sounds were made by a massive creature that's neither animal nor man.
A 53-year-old audio recording that has become known as the "Sierra Sounds" captured something beyond bizarre in the mountains of the Stanislaus National Forest somewhere between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park. While the exact location has never been revealed by the group of men who regularly visited the site, the location of the eerie recordings is thought by many to be somewhere in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness.

May

May 2, 2024
'Bigfoot' Prompts School Lockdown in Ohio
NewsRadio WFLA - An Ohio school district briefly entered into a lockdown after a misguided prankster dressed as Bigfoot was spotted roaming around on campus. The weird incident reportedly occurred on Wednesday morning at the Firelands Local School District in the community of Oberlin. Although a social media announcement about the situation simply stated that buildings had been locked down due to "an unknown visitor," online chatter quickly revealed that the interloper was of the 'cryptozoological' variety as several students captured video of what appeared to be Sasquatch outside. The school district subsequently confirmed the peculiar sighting, telling a local TV station that the unauthorized visitor was someone wearing a "menacing-looking Bigfoot" costume.

May 15, 2024
Couple convinced they've found Bigfoot in mountains - but people spot grim reality
Irish Star - A couple claimed to have spotted the mythical Bigfoot during a sightseeing trip in Colorado, only for social media users to point out an unpalatable reality. While enjoying a train ride between Durango and Silverton in southwest Colorado, Shannon and Stetson Parker told The New York Post they believed they caught sight of the elusive creature.
"We were looking for elk in the mountains and my husband sees something moving and then can't really explain it. So he's like 'Bigfoot," Shannon shared with the paper, adding that they're now convinced of Bigfoot's existence.
In the footage which has now gained attention online, social media users were quick to offer their interpretation of the event - painting a much less mysterious picture than the Parkers may have hoped. One commenter bluntly clarified: "It's just a hiker taking a dump," as others chimed in with agreement - "He has no idea people are filming!"

Sightings of Man-Apes in the news for 2023 and older


2023 - 2022 - 2021 - 2020 and older

2023

Jan 10, 2023
Bigfoot in Pennsylvania? All the info, time and what took place, from the state’s one reported sighting last year
Penn Live - “On October, 5, 2022 while my boyfriend and I were biking on the Ghost Town Trails near Ebensburg, PA we saw a bigfoot coming about 150 yards in front of us. He was walking along the trail toward us,” the reporting party wrote. “We couldn’t see his face. When he saw us he turned and quickly walked into the woods. We were shocked at what we saw. As we went by, we looked into the woods and didn’t see anything. We didn’t stop then but continued on until we finally stopped to talk about what we saw,
“It was really shocking,” they continued. “There were no sounds or smells. Didn’t get a look at his face but as he was walking you could see how big his stride was. There was a huge space between his legs. On the way back we stopped and looked around for prints and marks but didn’t see anything. The leaves were really heavy there and blowing all over.”
They close with, “We thought this was a once in a life time thing and thought it was so cool. Yes, Bigfoot does exist.”

Jan 20, 2023
Centennial state Bigfoot sighting snagged by satellite?
KDVR - According to the poster, when you input the coordinates 38°16’24” N. 108°08’32” W. into Google Earth, an estimated 7-foot-5-inch tall figure can be seen seemingly walking in the northwest direction.

July 22, 2023
New drone footage of Bigfoot hailed as ‘the best’ yet
indy100 - "One such video has recently been doing the rounds on TikTok, after it was shared by an influencer known as The Paranormal Chic. In a clip captioned “Bigfoot is real”, the TikToker told her followers that she was posting the footage because she “firmly believe[s] it's one of the best recordings of what looks to be like a Bigfoot caught on camera.”"

Aug 15, 2023
Was Bigfoot seen in Pennsylvania last year? Witnesses say ‘yes’
According to the report, hunters outside of Austin in Potter County claimed to have heard “loud wood knocks” while walking around the Sinnemahoning Creek on Tuesday, Dec. 27.
“Witness [described] the knocks as having a regular beat, equally spaced in cadence,” reads the follow-up investigation report by BFRO investigator, Paul J. Mateja. “Several sets were heard. When one knock set occurred an answering knock sounded from another location.
“This occurred several times as the witness was asking back to the truck. Witness had an impression that it was ‘following’ him, escorting him out, and felt very uneasy.”

Aug 20, 2023
Incredible resurfaced video shows Bigfoot moving through Mississippi woods
Hindustan Times - "A video that has resurfaced and gone viral seemingly shows a Sasquatch moving through Mississippi woods. Sasquatch, or Bigfoot, is believed to be a large and hairy humanlike creature. It is said to exist in the northwestern United States and western Canada."

Oct 12, 2023
Here’s a look at Bigfoot sightings in Indiana
Wane - In the state of Indiana, 46 out of the 92 counties have reported Bigfoot sightings. Twenty-one out of the 92 counties reported spotting Bigfoot more than once. In Monroe County, eight encounters have been reported, some stemming from vocalizations heard by others spotting a “gray creature” outside their homes.

Oct 13, 2023
'Feels like a hoax': Purported Bigfoot video from Colorado attracts skeptics, believers
USA Today - "A couple vacationing in Colorado think they captured video evidence to prove once and for all that Bigfoot creatures do indeed walk among us. Shannon and Stetson Parker had been scanning the mountains for elk during a sightseeing railway tour this week in southwest Colorado when they saw something else instead.
"Stetson sees something moving and then says, 'I think it’s Bigfoot,'" Shannon wrote in a post on Facebook. Shannon scrambled to snap some photos of the beast while a man sitting next to her and her husband recorded a video of the figure as it crouched down amid the brush."

Nov 16, 2023
Minnesota Hunters Report Bigfoot Sighting
Coast to Coast AM - A mother and son hunting in Minnesota could not believe their eyes when they spotted a sizeable bipedal creature that may have been Bigfoot. The possible Sasquatch sighting reportedly occurred in early October as Suzy and Jeff Stanley were driving along a trail in search of birds to bag at the state's Mud Goose Wildlife Management Area.

2022

Feb 13, 2022
Sasquatch sightings reported during The Seven Feathers Sportsmen's and Outdoor Recreation Show
The News Review - “My best description of the smell is skunk, wet dog, garbage and onions,” Violette said.
He continued hiking when a sudden noise drew his attention toward a brush opening about 200 feet away where a hairy, ape-like creature stared at him. After 25 years of restlessly researching the creature, tracking sightings and spending a “stupid amount of time” camping in the woods, he finally saw one with his own eyes.

May 14, 2022
'Sasquatch hunting' couple believe they captured 'Bigfoot staring at them' on video
Daily Star - A couple out walking late at night believe they have captured a sasquatch staring at them in the dark with big bright eyes.
The man was recording as the pair walked around in the dark until they spotted what they initially believed to be a deer lurking in the trees just metres away. But after attempts to scare it off and it refused to budge, the pair believed it was a predator and shared the footage to TikTok with the hashtag 'Bigfootisreal', which has gained 948 likes since it was posted earlier this week.
In the clip, the bloke recording the eyes lurking in the shadows says: "We've got it. He's looking at us right there. You see it? Oh, wait. That's not a deer. What the devil is that?

Aug 3, 2022
Ohio woman swears she recorded Bigfoot, though experts are skeptical
New York Post - An Ohio woman claims that Sasquatch has returned to the woods near her home, based on an audio recording that she herself made of what she heard.
Suzanne Ferencak shared with Mansfield News Journal last week that this is the first time she’s ever recorded howling in her nearly decade-long tenure as a Bigfoot hunter.
An analyst described the two-minute recording as having “high potential” of carrying the sounds of one Bigfoot attempting to contact another, the News Journal reported.

Oct 17, 2022
Bigfoot captured on the way to his own festival
WLOS - Bigfoot was spotted in upstate South Carolina Friday— near the border with Georgia and Tennessee — and arrested by the local sheriff's department.
Oconee County officials reported he was caught arriving in Westminster for the South Carolina Bigfoot Festival. Some people commented on Facebook and said he was smaller than they thought.

Nov 23, 2022
Bigfoot Spotted Creeping Through the Woods in Poughkeepsie
Hudson Valley Country - The Bigfoot Researchers of the Hudson Valley shared on their Facebook page that a Poughkeepsie woman reached out with a story about a possible Bigfoot sighting.
The woman wrote in a message to Bigfoot Researchers founder Gayley Beatty "I saw something the other night right here in Pok!!" She told Beatty that it was around 8 or 9 at night and added that she was looking down at her phone while her dog ran around outside. After a few minutes, she lifted her head up to see where the dog went and that's when she spotted a strange creature under the street light.

Dec 15, 2022
Chilling Bigfoot abduction warning as expert brands hidden beast a 'killing machine'
The Mirror - The Bigfoot expert explained to the Daily Star that the beast, who is also known as Sasquatch, only attacks if someone comes too close.
Although the creature could 'easily kill a man', it doesn't appear to happen as often as expected. Instead, Marcum noted a handful of historical 'abductions' that might've involved the beast.

2021

Sep 2, 2021
Experts Stunned By 'Bigfoot' Caught On Video In New Sighting
LAD Bible - A new video has surfaced showing what some people believe may be 'Bigfoot', although others remain dubious that the mythical figure has been captured on film. ""The Bigfoot in this video looks very real and you can even make out the heavy build and all the muscles which is hard to replicate using a fake suit... Plus who in their right mind would rent or buy a suit just to pull off a hoax?"

Sep 20, 2021
Hunter In Michigan Claims He Saw Two Sasquatches Fighting
Daily Caller - "It’s not a bear, because we know what bears look like. He shined it on whatever it was, and the thing just sucked it up like it was a sponge. You could see the silhouette of it, but the hair on this thing just sucked it up. The hand on this thing was f—ing huge. Shaquille O’Neal is a big man, but this thing dwarfed him. It could have palmed a beach ball. We could see him really good. He had big legs, big hips, chest kind of tapered up… he had a round head… The arms were very long…""

Oct 27, 2021
Bigfoot in Kentucky
Spectrum News - Even now, more than three decades of searching continues with the Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization.
They venture into the forests on expeditions dedicated to locate the mythical creature: Bigfoot.
"More than a just a grunt. Now I did hear a kind of a sound first and that was a first thing it did," said Rodney Adams. He's describing his close call sighting of Bigfoot. "I actually thought honestly it was people messing with me. So it threw a stick and I picked it up and threw it back. but when I did that, it let out a bloodcurdling yell. I mean it was loud."

2020

Jul 24 2020
Bigfoot researcher: Woman chased by Bigfoot in Hyde Park
News 12 Westchester - A researcher says a woman was chased by Bigfoot in the Hudson Valley. Gayle Baetty, the Hudson Valley's lead researcher of Bigfoot, says a woman told her she had a violent encounter with the mysterious creature on July 2nd in Hyde Park.
"The creature jumped up in the tree above her and branches and leaves started falling on her and then the creature started to move from tree to tree,” said Baetty.

Sep 22 2020
Bigfoot ‘sighting’ in the Charleston area
WCBD - There have been reports of a Bigfoot sighting in the Lowcountry… sort of. A life size cut out of the mythical Sasquatch is giving passersby a thrill, as they make their way from Folly Beach to Downtown, Charleston.

Oct 6, 2020
A Skunk Ape movie was made in Tampa. Is the creature real?
Tampa Bay Times - The authenticity of a Florida Skunk Ape video has been debated since 2000, when David Shealy supposedly captured footage of the creature in Ochopee’s Big Cypress National Preserve. The two-minute video shows a large, hairy creature strolling on two legs through swamp.

2019

Feb 5, 2019
Delivery Driver Describes Encounter with Australian Bigfoot as the 'Worst Thing That Has Ever Happened' to Him
Singular Fortean - "A 53-year-old delivery driver claimed to have had a terrifying encounter with Australia’s Bigfoot—known colloquially as the Yowie—in November of 2018, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin."

Feb 25, 2019
The legend of Boggy Creek lives on
El Dorado News - “The Legend of Boggy of Boggy Creek” was made by then Fouke Mayor Charles B. Pierce, also known as “Mayor Chuckles,” in 1972 and became a huge hit.
“The movie was based on real reports,” Blackburn said. “It (Fouke Monster sightings) didn’t just start in the 1970s, and it did not end there either.”

May 1, 2019
Tracking Down The Skunk Ape
Gulf Shore Life - "Much has been written and filmed about the skunk ape. Humor writer Dave Barry dedicated a chapter to it in his 2016 book, Best. State. Ever: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland. In 2014, Smithsonian produced an in-depth piece. Articles and books often conclude there’s a lack of physical evidence."

May 3, 2019
Bigfoot Sightings 2019: Reports and Videos of the Elusive Cryptid
Strange Dimensions - "A Bigfoot hunter’s job is never over. New sightings are reported every day, stories of hairy bipedal humanoids lurking in forests around the world, and yet eluding definitive proof of their existence."

May 9, 2019
Have you seen Bigfoot? More than 1,300 sightings have been reported in Pa.
Penn Live - “One of Pennsylvania’s most interesting cases involves a mountain biker who, while taking a rest, thought he was watching the back-end of a bear as it rummaged through a downed-tree. The biker’s curiosity turned to shock when the animal stood up. What he thought was a bear was actually a giant 7-foot bipedal creature covered in black hair.”

2018

Jan 5, 2018
Expedition Bigfoot (The Sasquatch Museum)
Atlas Obscura - "In the far north of Georgia, just off Highway 515, sits one of the of the most complete collections of Sasquatch artifacts, memorabilia, and folklore gathered in one place.
The 4,000-square foot museum is comprised of newspaper articles documenting sightings, sketches, and casts of handprints and footprints gathered by Bigfoot enthusiasts and researchers from all over. Owners David and Malinda Bakara say it’s the largest collection of Bigfoot artifacts in any museum anywhere."

Jan 18, 2018
'Bigfoot' roams free in Canadian wilderness as viewers claim creature is REAL
Express - "The clip, shot on January 5, was captured by a Canadian family who entitled it: "Remarkable footage shows a huge Bigfoot walking through the Canadian wilderness. It appears to show a mysterious creature lurking behind trees on the edge of a thickly-forested area."

Feb 8, 2018
Bigfoot eludes state recognition yet again
Snoqualmie Valley Record - "The mythical Sasquatch, an integral piece of Pacific Northwest folklore, got another shot at recognition this year with a bill that would name the creature Washington’s official state cryptid. But just as it has done to so many explorers and scientists, the furry, bipedal creature once again evaded legislative capture."

Mar 7, 2018
Bigfoot believers to gather for symposium
Tahlequah Daily Press - "The Oklahoma Bigfoot Symposium in Stilwell will feature researchers and Bigfoot experts from around the country, offering their insight and providing evidence for Bigfoot's existence. The symposium is Saturday and Sunday, March 10-11, at CC Camp, and is hosted by the Mid-America Bigfoot Research Center."

Apr 20, 2018
Hoping for Bigfoot in East Multnomah County
The Outlook - "It was during one of his family's trips into the woods that he finally decided to be open about his interest. They had met an older man who also believed in Bigfoot. The man had built a 9-foot-tall chair, and every night would leave a glass of apple juice alongside it, hidden away behind a shed door. Most experts agree "Bigfoots" seem to be drawn to apples, and the idea was that only something with thumbs would be able to open the door."

Apr 27, 2018
Appalachian cryptozoology
Harlan Daily Enterprise - "In Appalachia, there are two main cryptids that have hundreds of eyewitness accounts (maybe thousands) but are totally unaccepted by the scientific community. These two cryptids are the black panther and bigfoot. Hundreds report sightings of each of these animals, but they are both denied by officials. The number of eyewitness accounts does not matter. Until the demands of the scientific community are answered with a body, or a live creature, photos, etc. the existence of either creature will continue to be denied."

May 7, 2018
A possible Bigfoot sighting reported in South Jersey
Philly Voice - "Tricia and her husband David were driving in the New Jersey Pine Barrens in early April - specifically, in the Brendan T. Byrne Forest in Ocean County - when they decided to stop and take their dog for a walk near a pond, according to the sighting reported to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization."

Aug 1, 2018
How to Hunt for Bigfoot in Washington State
Seattle Magazine - "According to scientist Ranae Holland, host of the Animal Planet show Finding Bigfoot, Washington is the scene of more Sasquatch sightings than any other state...Plan your search for areas where most reported sightings occur: wooded settings in Pierce County and in the Cascade foothills."

Oct 31, 2018
Search for Bigfoot in Virginia continues with local researchers
The Breeze - "Six campers in Augusta County were hiking the mile-long trek back to their campsite around midnight...The group huddled around and watched as three pairs of large, bright yellow eye shine stared back. The first appeared to be 4 feet tall. The others, 6 and 8. After a few silent moments, the tallest of the group turned, took a step to the side and looked back at the campers before the three creatures disappeared into the forest."

2017

Jan 11, 2017
'The truth is out there': ND man says he tracked Bigfoot after reported sighting
Inforum - "She described him as a huge, hairy, ugly monster and I guess that kind of describes it, if a Sasquatch is looking through the window at you, that's how I'd describe him, too," said Bauer.
"That 'monster' left miles of tracks, 18 by 8 inch footprints."

Feb 3, 2017
Pascagoula resident claims Bigfoot sighting on Gulf Coast
WDAM 7 - The search is on for Bigfoot once again in the Magnolia State after a Pascagoula resident reported a potential sighting on a trail cam near her home.
A woman contacted Don McDonald, a researcher for the Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization, on the organization’s MS Facebook page about a possible Sasquatch encounter.

Feb 24, 2017
Where to Find the World's Best Hometown Monsters
Atlas Obscura - "The Sasquatch, or as it's colloquially known, Bigfoot, is America's best known cryptid. It is typically depicted as a giant ape, standing around seven feet tall. Sasquatch lore extends back to American Indian mythology, which describes hairy wild men living in the woods. Anomalous sightings continued into the 20th century, but Sasquatch mania reached its peak following the famed Patterson-Gimlin tape."

Mar 27, 2017
Bigfoot in the Blues? Oregon man to search in Blue Mountains
The Spokesman-Review - "here’s a plaster cast of a footprint on the wall of Scott Violette’s basement and it’s the sort of thing that could give a kid nightmares for weeks.
Violette, who lives in Baker City, Oregon, is wearing a camouflage cap emblazoned with the slogan ’Squatch Hunter.’

Apr 3, 2017
Local researcher says recent Idaho Bigfoot sighting seems credible
Idaho State Journal - "According to an article in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, the woman, a 50-year-old resident of the town of Tensed, told police she saw a sasquatch chasing a deer on the side of the road last Wednesday night while driving on U.S. Highway 95 near the Idaho/Washington border.
Then, she checked her rearview mirror to get a second look at what she described as a 7- to 8-foot tall ’shaggy’ creature. But when she looked up, the deer ran in front of her and she struck the animal with her Subaru Forester."

Apr 7, 2017
Photo leads group to Bigfoot search in Ohio; Party hopes to ’prove to the world’ it exists
Fox 8 Cleveland - "Could Bigfoot be hiding in Girard?
An organization called "Searching for Bigfoot Incorporated" believes so.
WKBN reports that the group drove to the area from California as part of their $1 million bounty competition for the creature. The visit was prompted because of a picture taken by Xavier King.
'The truth is out there': ND man says he tracked Bigfoot after reported sighting

June 26, 2017
Hunt for Bigfoot in Crawford County Is On
US News - "Fortunately for the residents of Crawford County, that hunt is being led by T.J.'s father, Carmine "Tom" Biscardi. Calling himself "The Godfather of Bigfoot," Tom Biscardi has been hunting the legendary creature for 50 years since he saw the famous footage of an ape-like creature walking upright through the northern California forest broadcast on "The Tonight Show" in 1967."

June 29, 2017
Rob Lowe says he saw bigfoot in the Ozarks
Springfield News-Leader - ""We had an incredible encounter with what locals call the wood ape, which is in the Ozark Mountains," Lowe told Entertainment Weekly. "I’m fully aware that I sound like a crazy, Hollywood kook right now.
"I was lying on the ground thinking I was going to be killed," he told EW.

Aug 8, 2017
Cops warn civilians not to shoot Bigfoot after sighting
New York Post - ’The official public safety warning came Tuesday after a local group in North Carolina, dubbed Bigfoot 911, claimed to have spotted the fabled creature in the mountains of McDowell County, NC.
The signing happened on Friday night at around 11 p.m. and was reported on Saturday.’

Oct 12, 2017
Bigfoot sighting reported in California
KMPH News - "According to paranormal expert Jeffrey Gonzalez, the most recent sighting was near Avocado Lake.
Gonzalez says a local farmer saw a family of five or six Bigfoot running on his ranch in the middle of the night."

Nov 5, 2017
'Sunsquatch' map matches solar eclipse with Bigfoot sightings
KFVS 12 - "Joshua Stevens, a cartographer for NASA developed a map of the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse matched up with reported sightings of Bigfoot, known as "Sunsquatch."
Using data from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, Stevens plotted known Bigfoot sightings and then highlighted the ones that appear in the eclipse's path of totality."

Nov 14, 2017
The hunt for Bigfoot: 'I do believe it's a living, breathing, blood flowing animal'
News 10 Knoxville - "I wanted to create something where folks could come and tell their stories without being ridiculed or doubted," John said. "Up to five years ago you didn't talk about this in public and I think there's a lot more sightings out there that haven't been reported because people are afraid to report them."
The sightings John's referring to are of the mysterious phenomenon of Bigfoot."

Dec 2, 2017
Scientists DNA tested nine ’yeti’ samples. They didn’t find Bigfoot.
The Denver Post - "Brown bears have conquered the Northern Hemisphere's forests, in Canada, Russia, the United States - grizzlies are a brown bear subspecies - and 42 other countries. (In the United States, sightings of bears on two legs have left observers wondering about the true nature of Bigfoot and Sasquatch, too.)

Dec 7, 2017
Bigfoot statue erected near sightings hotbed along NY-Vermont border
Bangor Daily News - A nearly 12-foot-tall sculpture of Bigfoot has been erected in an upstate New York town where some say the legendary creature stalks the woods.
Paul Thompson told The Post-Star of Glens Falls that he got the idea for the statue after meeting people looking for Bigfoot around Whitehall, New York, located on the Vermont border between the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains.

2016

Jan 5, 2016
The Desert's Bigfoot
Alibi - "Yucca Man is six plus feet in height, covered in hair, bearing a gnarly scent and eyes that peer and glow blue in the darkness of desert expanses. Stories of Yucca Man haunt visitors to Joshua Tree, where campers are reported to be shocked awake as a blurry creature unknown unzips tents in the darkest hours of the night. The Tongva people of the San Bernadino Mountains tell tales of takwis- the sometimes angry, often hairy spectres that claimed victims from the cursed Tahquitz Canyon region."

Jan 31, 2016
Be Wary of the Wendigo: A Terrifying Beast of Native American Legend with an Insatiable Hunger to Devour Mankind
Ancient Origins - "The Wendigo (spelt also as Windigo and Windego) (the plural form being Wendigoag) is a creature that can be found in the legends of the Native Americans, most notably amongst the Algonquian peoples. These peoples are some of the most extensive and numerous of the Native American groups in North America, and they once lived all along the Atlantic Coast and the Great Lakes Region. However, Wendigo-like creatures are also found in the legends of other Native American tribes, including the neighbors of the Algonquians, the Iroquois. Amongst these peoples, a creature known as the Stonecoat bears some similarities to the Wendigo."

Feb 1, 2016
Do these photo finally prove Yeti exists?
Daily Star - "Steve Berry, of Badminton, Gloucestershire, photographed a huge set of tracks on a remote mountainside - which has never been visited by man. The prints - larger than a human footprint - are in a single line, one in front of the other.
Mr Berry claims no four-legged creature could have left the trail."

Mar 15, 2016
Bigfoot: Missing link, extradimensional entity, or dude in a suit?
Geek.com - "More than any other cryptid, the Bigfoot has a stranglehold on the popular imagination. At least part of that is due to the fact that the creature adheres to an extremely popular archetype, one that appears in almost every culture around the world: The Wild Man"

Apr 5, 2016
If it seems 'Squatchy,' you might be on trail of Bigfoot
HJ News - "The existence of Bigfoot, according to many, is a fact! In a 2014 AP poll, 22 percent of Americans surveyed reported believing in Big Foot or ’Sasquatch. There are literally thousands of cases of actual sightings (You tube videos) of Big Foot in the United States alone, although most resemble an adult out of focus Eddie Munster. My question is, with all these actual eyewitness reports and sightings, why hasn’t anyone actually captured one of these wary creatures or at least locked one in the shed, backed over one in the driveway or shot one during the moose hunt?’

Apr 19, 2016
Is Bigfoot Real? Emerging Scientific Evidence
Ancient Origins - "Science is duty bound by definition to explain the unexplained, yet in 2016 some people are still debating its existence rather than examining emerging scientific evidence. Some of this evidence has emerged from unexpected places."

2015

Jan 1, 2015
Fisherman Says He Saw Bigfoot Bathing
Huffington Post - "2015 began with a photo from John Rodriguez, a 66-year-old retired electrician, who claims that he was fishing Dec. 26 on the Hillsborough River near northeast Tampa, Florida, and came upon an incredible sight.
'I fish for gar in the river and I bring my camera to take pictures of the birds and what not. I heard a squishing sound, looked over and saw this thing walking through the water and crouch down in the duck weed. It did not look like a guy in a suit - it was definitely an animal. I took this picture and got out of there as fast as I could."

Jan 24, 2015
Bigfoot in Bamberg? Animal Planet looks for clues along Edisto
The T and D Online - 'Finding Bigfoot' cast and film crew members spent hours along the Edisto River in Bamberg County on Jan. 16 recording segments for the seventh season of the Animal Planet show, Bamberg native Buddy Folk said. The episode is likely to air in the fall.
While there aren't any officially recorded sightings of the tall, hairy, ape-like creature in Bamberg County, Folk has had a handful of experiences that caused him to believe Bigfoot may exist.

Jan 26, 2015
This Map Shows All The Mythical Monsters That Haunt The US
Business Insider - "We've all heard of Bigfoot - also known as Sasquatch - the humanoid bipedal creature that's said to wander the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
And depending in your interest in local legends and cryptozoology (the study of hidden animals), you may have heard of some of the other mythical creatures that are occasionally said to haunt certain regions of the country, like the carnivorous Jersey Devil that lives in New Jersey's Pine Barrens, or the chupacabra, a beast that's mentioned in the lore of the Southwest."

Apr 1, 2015
Loss of Space Threatening North American Sasquatch
USDA - U.S. Forest Service in Forestry - "While most people believe the Sasquatch to be a thing of folklore and urban legend, researcher Thaddeus Guttenberg, with the U.S. Forest Service Mythical Wildlife Division, recently confirmed that Bigfoot is every bit as real as he is.
'We've been keeping his existence under wraps for years to protect his privacy,' said Guttenberg. 'But because the country is losing more and more open space each day, we wanted to make it known that the habitat to one of America's greatest legends may be at risk.'

2014

Feb 3, 2014
Grimm’s most legendary Wesen
Den of Geek - "What links The Three Little Pigs, Santa Claus, Bigfoot and Hitler? If you answered ’not a great deal’, you'd be right. If you answered ’they're all secretly liminal creatures from the world of NBC's Grimm’, you'd also be right. If you answered 'That's my dream dinner party guest list!', er, we probably aren't going to be friends."

Mar 4, 2014
Purported Sasquatch tracks found on Vancouver Island
CTV News Vancouver - "A hairy creature conjuring the Sasquatch of North American folklore is stomping around Vancouver Island, according to a young First Nations man who claims he had a startling encounter with the beast.
Fisheries officer Luke Swan Jr. told CTV News he was out in his boat patrolling Ahousaht territory near Tofino last Wednesday when he saw a mysterious figure crouching on the coast."

May 5, 2014
Is this Bigfoot? Watch hiker's footage of a 'Sasquatch' climbing up a sheer slope in the Canadian mountains
Daily Mail - "A Canadian hiker has released a video of what he thinks could be Sasquatch in the mountains near Squamish, British Columbia.
The video was shot by Myles Lamont two years ago while he was hiking in the Tantalus Range, north of Vancouver."

2013

Jan 25, 2013
Is it Bigfoot? Mystery of bloodcurdling sounds coming from swamp on Indian reservation in Oregon
Daily Mail - "People living on a remote Indian reservation on Oregon have been waking up in fear to the eerie sounds of roars and screeches coming from a nearby swamp that have raised the specter of a Bigfoot in the area.
The mysterious noises have been emanating at night from a marshy, brush-covered spot on the Umatilla Indian Reservation east of Pendleton."

Jan 30, 2013
Mythological creature hunt
News 24 - "The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is said to be an ape-like cryptid taller than an average human, similar to Bigfoot, that inhabits theHimalayan region of Nepal, Tibet and Siberia. The scientific community generally regards the Yeti as a legend, given the lack of conclusive evidence, but it remains one of the most famous creatures of cryptozoology. The Yeti may be considered a sort of parallel myth to the Bigfoot of North America."

Feb 14, 2013
Bigfoot DNA Discovered? Not So Fast
Live Science - "In November of last year, a Texas veterinarian made national news claiming that genetic testing confirmed that not only is the legendary Bigfoot real, but is in fact a human relative that arose some 15,000 years ago."

2008

Jan 4,2008
Tracking the Swamp Monsters
Skeptical Inquirer - "Footprints and other specific details aside, the Honey Island Swamp Monster seems part of a genre of mythic swamp-dwelling 'beastmen' or 'manimals.' They include the smelly Skunk Ape and the hybrid Gatorman of the Florida Everglades and other southern swamps; the Scape Ore Swamp Lizardman of South Carolina; Momo, the Missouri Monster; and, among others, the Fouke Monster, which peeked in the window of a home in Fouke, Arkansas, one night in 1971 and set off a rash of monster sightings."

Digital Database - Man-ape Legends across North America

To request access to my digital database on The Sasquirer.com please email kelly@yllek.com. Please include your name and purpose for access. The database is currently under maintenance, to gain offline access please email your request.

Chapter 1 of 'Every Ape and His Brother:
A Bestiary of Man-Ape Legends across North America' by Kelly Nulty

Bigfoot Accounts

            The physical characteristics of the Appalachian Trail variant of the Man-Ape legend encapsulates the mood of the human inhabitants in their status between modern society and the primal nature of the forests that surround them. Sightings reported from remote or rural locations, isolated from industry and dense population from cities, come across as fleeting moments of fear and anxiety about seclusion of the forest. The accounts of Bigfoot at night focus on fear of the unknown and of unfamiliar nature. Hikers who go missing on the winding trails in the Appalachian Mountains are usually found alive or die from misadventure. The local belief is something abducts them. Whether that something is a Man-Ape or just man, the presence of an unknown, hidden force repeats throughout the area.

            The appearance of the Bigfoot sightings have similar characteristics even across hundreds of miles of the Appalachian Mountains. Height and weight range from 6 to 10 feet tall and anywhere between 500 and 1000 lbs. in proportion to height. This range of heights and sizes are effected by the location the sightings took place. This variance in Bigfoot size coincides with the density of the forests of the area in each sighting. The Appalachian Trail crosses 14 states from Maine down to the southwest of Georgia. The elevations and foliage density change as the Trail crosses southwest across the east coast of the United States. Maine through New York has high elevations coupled with consistent snowfall in low valleys. The New England region forests contain spruce, juniper, birch, maple and pine. Diversity of tree trunk thicknesses and bark/leaf coloring within this area correlates with the fur coloration and noted heights of Bigfoot sightings in Northern areas. The dark red or brownish black hair with a dark toned skin are more common in these types of forests across the Appalachian Trail. The relatively close proximity of the trees in the mountains appears to affect the attributes of the Man-Apes, which include extreme climbing skills, enhanced agility for a creature its substantial size, and grant them enhanced vision to differentiate between all the shades of green and brown within their habitats.

            This is not to say that the beast in the woods is always imaged as a predator. The location of sightings of Bigfoot vary from abductions/killing to benevolent animal. The other side of the Man-Ape predominantly found in suburban, more closely situated farms, and river valley towns, depicts benevolent creatures who co-exists with their human neighbors. Even though the tone of this variant of the same legend drastically differs from the hiking trail monster, the two break down into an overarching message of respect the land, to the mountains, and to nature itself. As if personified, nature becomes a force that can give and take away at a moment’s notice. Fear of the unknown clarifies into fear of chance. The uncertainty of uncontrollable nature leads humans to create the dual-purpose Bigfoot legend along the Northeast in order to give the unbelievable an explanation.

            As the legend moves southwest, the forest composition and bramble density changes as elevations decrease. Pennsylvania down through North Carolina slowly decrease from the 2000 range down to 1000 ft. above sea level. Spikes of elevation in North Carolina are outliers with sharp rises to over 6000 ft. While snowfall is not as common in this region as New England’s Northern Appalachian Mountains area, dense forests up the mountain sides with sheer cliffs protect the snow that does appear so it remain as long as the mountain side is shaded from the sun. The central and southern piece of the Trail contains primarily oak, maple, and hickory trees. These forests are less closely compacted and contain fruit bearing trees within their regular ecology. Rocky features of the landscape, including frequent cave systems and steep drops with sinkholes, contribute to the legend constructing to display the fur tonal range in dark to light browns and grays.

            As one gets further south, the legend develops from a curious story to a mode of warning for travelers. The human population and urban sprawl of the Northern Appalachian area restrict the abilities of the Bigfoot appearances to mostly benign or benevolent actions. White tailed deer and occasional bear are the predominant wildlife within these forests. Lynx, wolves, and a higher population of bears occur as the Trail turns south. With less human interaction and the limitations of the landscape to allow for human intervention, the legends spoken in Central and Southern Appalachian convey a concern for protecting one’s self from the unknown forces of nature that the forests hold.

            The Appalachia region of North America contains a human population of 26,000,000 people over New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. Industry over the last 200 years consists of logging, mining, and fur trapping. Within the Modern periods, mining, tourism and manufacturing have become the dominant industries of the area. With the high influx of travelers through these areas and the reliance on natural resources, the development of the legends varies as the amount of hardships differ across the region. Accidents in mines and in logging mills contributed an ever-present risk to the new inhabitants of the region. Similarly, chronic alcoholism made the possibility of these accidents more likely. In mining and logging focused areas such as North Carolina and Tennessee, the Bigfoot legend has fearsome qualities such as killing local wildlife and domesticated animals but leaving their remains easily spotted by humans. Missing hikers along the trail are said to be abducted or killed by the Man-Apes that dwell within the woods, and the further one treads off the hiking path the less likely it is for one to return to civilization unharmed. While death through misadventure often the case, the cause of the death can be attributed to the unseen presence of the Bigfoot as it protects its home from invading predatory humans.

            The legend of Bigfoot attempts to give meaning and understanding to nature, to animals, and sheds light into the unseen darkness that dwells in the deepest of the forests. The sightings and regional variants across Appalachia are a shared cultural experience between local and tourist alike. Lower elevations and urbanized areas contain aspirational, earth-bound Man-Apes. These sightings are met with wonder and awe. Comparatively, the sightings in higher elevations and low population rural areas contain accounts of violence, damage to livestock and property, and display an air of fearfulness of the wilderness.

            The transmission of the Bigfoot legend comprises private and public accounts within the region. Shared among friends and family, stories of encounters are understood as brushes with the unknown and are attribute to the legendary monster. The images and videos that appear of Bigfoot often come to public light as proof that something unnatural or paranormal had taken place. Sightings are region specific, these attributes of the legendary creature’s physical description and actions are tied to the location rather than the human population that transmit the legend. The leaping abilities of the Skunk Ape, for example, can only be demonstrated within the tall trees of the Everglades. Placing the Man-Ape within the Appalachian Mountains would make this physical ability useless as the trees are shorter. This connection to the land can give the legend a legitimizing feeling as it is recounted to others. Site specific details can be verified by the people in the area, if you can go out and see where the legend takes place then having that demonstrable detail makes the rest of the story more believable. In the Bigfoot legend remote or rural locations that are isolated from industry and dense population are the most common setting. The experience of the sighting tends to be brief and have little physical evidence of occurring. Accounts will focus on the lack of light, on fear of the unknown, and the noises or smells of the forest. The presence of nature, which differs greatly from the urbanization of most of the East Coast of the United States, brings an anxiety that can be understood through the construct of the legendary Bigfoot.

Analysis

            Nature is represented within the Bigfoot legend through the setting, the supporting background histories, and in the creature itself. The physical location where the monster resides reflects the appearance and behavior reported in sightings. As the Appalachian forests are coupled with the mountains, the remote and difficult terrain offer a questionable setting for a legend to exist. There are miles of undisturbed forests along the sides of mountains and cliffs. These areas hold the unknown. If unobserved, how can one ensure something isn’t living there out of our sight? Nature within this context is the catalyst for the legend. The physical description is dependent on the foliage. Browns and reds of the fur mirror the tonal changes within the trees that populate the east coast. Within this legend, it travels and changes as the landscape changes. Elevation and latitude play an integral part of the variants of Bigfoot accounts. The forest density and elevations within New York compared to North Carolina highlight this change. Further from urbanization and human populations, the legend takes on more serious and concerning tones. The peaceable creatures that may roam on the fringes of the woods transform into a warning against legitimized dangers that exist outside of society and within the realm of the wild.

            The land acts as a metaphor as the Bigfoot story moves southward. Where animals and forests are scarce due to industrialization, the legend is met with wonder and awe. In rural and isolated areas where the land actively is in conflict with humans, the legend acts as a guide to provoke fear and respect to the landscape from those humans who struggle to survive against it. This representation of nature within the legend brings about a feeling of community within those who have experienced the unexplained phenomena that can be ascribed to Bigfoot encounters. The narratives in this setting allow the anxieties of a changing world, urbanization creeping into unsettled forests, and let people express these fears outwardly in their sightings of a monster that embodies the act of resistance to the changes of modernity. By being able to give words to psychological and interpersonal problems, the sightings solidify a community around the legend and the location where it is experienced. Within the Bigfoot legend, the more fearsome encounters are described predominantly within the more challenging areas of the Appalachian forests. The stories that are shared of the same legend can provide an attachment to the setting and to those who already have similar experiences. As a people, they can band together to understand their trauma of an unexplainable event.

            The monster positioned between the known human world and the unknown natural world. Changes in the legend reflect changes within the people who have these encounters. As a group, sharing their stories of an indescribable situation they have gone through gives them autonomy over their personal narratives. The groups who share these stories are readily able to accept a person’s account as truth because of their own experiences. These are safe places to discuss their paranormal experiences without fear of skepticism. Told within a shared experience, the encounter with Bigfoot within the woods shifts the legend from generalized over a region into a personal experience that is unique to an area and to the persons who have lived through it.

About the site owner:

Kelly Nulty graduated from the University of Oregon with an M.A. in Folklore in 2017. Her MA terminal project, ’Every Ape and His Brother: A Bestiary of Man-Ape Legends across North America,’ she presented her findings on the legend of the man-ape as it transcends national and cultural boundaries across North America and discussing the differences that shift between the legends as it changes over time and across different climates. Additionally, she graduated with an M.L.I.S. in Information Systems and Technology from the University at Albany in 2019. From her MLIS, the Sasquirer was created as a news and media database website to help facilitate others in their search for all Man-Ape legends.

Kelly has a B.F.A. in Photography and a B.A. in Philosophy & Religious Studies from State University of New York at New Paltz. As an artist, the subjects of many of her pieces explore her ties to philosophy and conceptualization of the unconscious mind. From history to possible futures, her artwork can be seen on her portfolio website at www.Yllek.com.

Search Tools for Sasquatch

Introduction - General Advice - Search Instructions - Annotated Bibliography - Citations
Introduction and Scope:
            The field of folklore has a broad range of subjects it can cover - Theory, history, ethnography, sociology, anthropology, and many more. To research a single legend cuts down on possible leads for information but is still difficult to find everything desired across so many fields that the topic can be found within. This sort of problem is common, too much information and not enough of what we are actually looking for. Within this Pathfinder Project, we will guide a path through different search tools and keywords to efficiently find Sasquatch research. The future of this website will one day be an all inclusive subject database for man-ape legends, for the demo-version of that project click on the 'Media Database' tab at the center.

            Within the Search Tools for Sasquatch guide, we will cover different aspects of folklore research. As the man-ape legend is rooted within the forests and mountains, study of regional ecology will be explored with regards to the specific locations man-ape legends have been frequently spotted:

  • Appalachia: Encompassing New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia.
  • South Florida, Everglades: National Park extends across the southern peninsula of the state and boarders Miami and Fort Lauderdale on the east coast across to Cape Coral and Fort Myers on the west coast.
  • South-Central: Area shared between the boarders of Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma.
  • Arctic Regions: Spanning across Alaska, US/Yukon & Northwest territories, Canada
  • Pacific Northwest, United States/Canada: The mountains and valleys that span across Oregon, Washington, California, and British Columbia.
  • The guide will cover storytelling resources, as a means of transmission for spreading the legends, and research into the lore of the man-ape.

    General Advice for Researchers:
                The first step is assessing how specific or broad the subject is, all man-ape related information or a particular species of legend. Once this is known, research can begin as each legend spans a small region of the world and will narrow down the results.

                Legends are just as alive as the communities that they derive from, they grow and change with the people and the landscape. Extra details or events are altered or added for each region. Nature and humanity are what make up these legends, not the man-apes themselves. It is how the community responds to unexpected events. When someone experiences an encounter with the unknown, it is how their community responds that will allow the spread of their tale to everyone else.

    Search Instructions:
                Where do we go from here? To search through databases and search engines, we need to select some keywords or topics to our query. In order for this to be a useful guide, we will select a topic and show how to get the desired results.

    For databases-
                The study of the man-ape legend spans a broad selection of subjects. For looking up the correct databases to get results, it is important to focus on what sort of data you’re looking for:

    Suggested subjects for database selection:

  • Anthropology
  • Biology
  • Ecology
  • Folklore
  • Geography
  • History
  • Literature
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Depending on the scope of the search, certain keywords would be preferable to others.

    Of the creature: bigfoot, sasquatch, skunk ape, tornit, fouke monster, yeti, wendigo
    Of the regions: Appalachia, everglades, Fouke, Arctic, tundra, Pacific Northwest/PNW
    Of the results: evidence, foot prints, DNA, hair sample, encounters, legends, history, tales, groups, experiences

    There are many things we can get out of these key terms in order to construct a good search.

    Let’s use ‘sasquatch,’ ‘history,’ and ‘evidence’ together to get started.

    Visting AnthroSource database, we do a general search with just the first keyword ‘sasquatch’ to see what broad results come up. For additional help on using the AnthroSource database, visit their help page.


    That is a good start but let’s refine these down to our additional filters.

    Adding ‘history’ and keeping ‘anywhere’ within the document to search brings us



    ...only 6 results less than the broad search. Even failure is good in searching, it teaches us what doesn't work.

    Let’s add ‘evidence.’



    ...and we are now at 25 results. We can explore these smaller pool of articles for something good for our query.

    The first result is a review of Still Living?: Yeti, Sasquatch and the Neanderthal Enigma by Myra Shackley.

                “The bulk of the text is composed of reports of sightings, with little analytical in- formation on physical evidence. Therefore, while the book is well written and may appeal to a general audience, it lacks an in-depth, sci- entific approach to a singularly fascinating topic. … For example, the Patterson film, perhaps the most discussed and analyzed data source in Bigfoot research, is treated only superficially.”

    That certainly won’t do for us then.

    Our second result sounds like it won’t be of use because of the title, “Bad Hair Days in the Paleolithic: Modern (Re)Constructions of the Cave Man” by Judith Berman. When we look into it the article discusses the idea of the cave man through history and regions of the world.

                “For example, hairy, often fearsome wild men and monsters abound, from China, South Africa, and, as we have seen, the New World.' Legends of a mysterious Wild Man are also found cross-culturally: the Yeti (Nepal and China), the Abominable Snowman (Siberia), the Almas (Mongolia), and Sasquatch (North America)… By the eighteenth century, the Wild Man is believed to exist and to occupy a place between animals and humans in the natural world. In these schemes, he is illustrated in a Missing Link lineup, along with hairy apes and wild-looking "primitive" humans.”

    This article meets our requirements for ‘sasquatch,’ ‘history,’ and ‘evidence.’ It discusses the history of the cave-man as an idea in human society, the wild-men legends, and how it relates to our modern versions.

    Next we look at a search engines to see how we can phrase our query to produce quality results.

    For news reports and non-academic media, using search engines in a very similar way to databases will produce the best results for our topic.

    Let’s keep using our keywords ‘sasquatch,’ ‘history,’ and ‘evidence’ together again. Using Google search, enter in our first term ‘sasquatch. To incorporate the other two terms to narrow our search, add a + before them in the search bar. This will select results which will contain both keywords in the results given.


    Look’s to be a good start but we don’t want just any results, the latest news or articles about our topic would be preferable. To get this by date within the last year, click on the tools button just on the side of the search bar. This will let you sort the results by date or by exact text.

    Within the last year will give us some of the latest sasquatch stories. Our results will be limited to the last twelve months but won’t be sorted by date, it will still be within the parameters of our search instructions firstly. Our date restriction just reduces the amount of results to the latest results.

    These tips will guide along the way to find the results of our topic key phrase. For recent news articles, go over to the News tab on the menu. It is advisable to remove the + as news articles are shorter and these limitations will reduce the results. Being broader here allows for more results, but less precise.

    Annotated Bibliography

                Throughout this bibliography, We cover how believers come together from their shared experiences and how they retell their own stories to one another. By having these legends told and retold through groups they are able to have a long lasting text documentation of their works thus far. The study of cryptozoology can only grow from here. The benefits of being able to share beliefs of hidden animals with one another. When persons in the society they are from shun the extraordinary believer, communities form to help persist the belief in these beings existance.

    Section I - Background: History & Science

    Annotation 1:
    Bynum, J. (1992). Bigfoot--a Contemporary Belief Legend. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 49(3), 352-357.

                In this article by Joyce Bynum we learn the recorded details of the Bigfoot legend in our area of North America. The European ‘ape-men’ of the 1400s were described similarly to common depictions of Bigfoot, bristly beasts who emitted shrill noises and gave off a pungent odor. In North America around the late 1800s, pioneers in the Pacific Northwest reported stories told by Native Americans of a furry, man-like animal called Sasquatch, or Bigfoot. Soon daily papers carried reports of sightings of such an animal by both Natives and settlers alike. The Butte Record newspaper of California in 1870 has a record of the locating of a male "gorilla or wildman," joined by a female, who was around five feet high and was exceedingly wide, with dim cinnamon-shaded hair, and who shrieked and played with smoldering sticks from a discarded campfire. Other nineteenth century newspaper records recounted sightings of animals who were up to seven feet tall.

                Contrasted with the depictions in papers of the nineteenth century, observers in the twentieth century have bit by bit come to a consensus on Bigfoot's fundamental characteristics: he is seven or eight feet tall, has an awful smell, a piercing shout, and possesses great physical strength. Bigfoot enthusiasm culminated in the 1960s and 70s with Doug Wendt's film, Sasquatch Among Us, pamphlets committed solely to Bigfoot research, and by numerous newspaper accounts on the subject.

                The content of the article gives an excellent look into the published origins of the legend. Bynum runs down the differences between the mediums, newspaper, journal and visual medias, to articulate how the descriptions of the creature evolved as people told and retold the tale. As a compilation of history for our specific location in the Pacific Northwest, this information is key to our local legend.

    Annotation 2:
    Holloway, M. (2007). Bigfoot Anatomy. Scientific American, 297(6), 50-53.

                In this article by Marguerite Holloway, we are introduced to the observed biological traits of the legend of Bigfoot. From the films, photographs and eyewitness accounts, we get a sense of how the creature could be structured. In 1996 Jeffrey Meldrum traveled to Walla Walla, Washington, to meet with Paul Freeman, a man made famous by his casts of Sasquatch footprints. Arriving unannounced, Meldrum talked with Freeman about his collection. Freeman said he had discovered tracks quite recently that morning, yet they were bad, not worth casting. The 14-inch-long prints Freeman showed to him were interesting, Meldrum says, in light of the fact that some prints turned out at a 45-degree angle, suggesting that whatever had made them looked over its shoulder while in motion. Meldrum made impressions of the prints and stated it would be tricky to fabricate the running foot shaped impressions, "unless you had some device, some cable-loaded flexible toes."

                The anatomical structures caught in those prints, casts of others he has analyzed, unidentified fur/hair, recordings of animal calls and certain witness testimonials all left Meldrum convinced that Sasquatch was a mystery that warrants further study. Meldrum reacted to critics, who claim he is blindly accepting dubious evidence, by citing the body of evidence he assessed and rejected as questionable. Meldrum called for specialists to put aside their kneejerk dismissals of his work, asking them to either engage his research on its merits or work to disprove it on scientific grounds rather than simply dismissing it out of hand.

                This article is entirely speculation, but without having solid evidence it is the most common occurrence in the study of Bigfoot to speculate on its anatomical structure. This article is useful in the study of the unknown creatures that appear on films and stories as they have similar physical traits that can be defined by the observers as unique to this particular species, if it exists. By cataloguing the most commonly sighted attributes, a rough picture can be put together about how the creature functions in its environment.

    Annotation 3:
    Sykes, B. C., Mullis, R. A., Hagenmuller, C., Melton, T. W., & Sartori, M. (2014). Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1789), 143-146.

                In this biology report by Bryan Sykes, we learn how different samples of supposed Bigfoot hair was analyzed and the results of those studies. Mitochondrial DNA sequencing was employed to identify 30 hair samples from unidentified primates. Generally the hairs were from a scope of known surviving vertebrates. In spite of the extensive variety of age and state of the submitted hair shafts, which ran from new to historic examples more than 50 years of age, only one of the samples yielded a human grouping. Except for this example, none of the submitted and investigated hairs specimens gave a grouping that couldn't be matched with a surviving mammalian species, frequently domesticated animals such as dogs, cows and pigs.

                While it is important to remember that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence and the scientific study can't invalidate the presence of abnormal primates, neither has it found any evidence in support. As opposed to continuing in the view that they have been 'rejected by science,' advocates in the cryptozoology group have more work to do with a specific end goal to deliver persuading confirmation for odd primates and now have the means to do so. The strategies portrayed here put an end to many years of uncertainty about species distinguishing proof of irregular primate specimens and set a thorough standard against which to judge any future cases.

                Often there is little to no evidence of extraordinary things for us to investigate further into. By having such a multitude of samples of unidentified hair and fur, we have a good opportunity to see what the mysterious evidence left behind by Bigfoot sightings could be. While most of the samples were sourced from household and farm animals, one sample was from the human grouping. As there isn’t yet evidence of what Bigfoot DNA is, we can at least get from this study one sample of Bigfoot hair has ape origins. How close to human DNA is a bit difficult to say, the one human grouped sample couldn’t be identified down further than 97% possibly human which can still include the chance it’s of other great ape origins, like chimpanzees and the like.

    Annotation 4:
    Blu Buhs, J. (2010). Wildmen on the Cyberfrontier: The Computer Geek as an Iteration in the American Wildman Lore Cycle. Folklore, 121(1), 61-80.

                Within this article by Joshua Blu Buhs, he links shift towards counter-culture found in geek subculture with the ideas of the ‘wildman’ existing as an outsider of the traditional society. Wildmen are known throughout societies across human existence, men who refuse to follow civilization’s rules and set out to live alone in the wilderness. They are simultaneously what it is to be human and give an alternative to the status-quo. American versions of the wildmen appear throughout the 19th century as circus and freak show attractions. The displays in these shows showed a racial hierarchy during a time of strife in the nation. The dark haired creatures were wild and uncivilized verse their well-off, white viewers who were ‘proper’ society. Popular culture interests in the wildman returned in the 1950s with the news of the British Abominable Snowman in the Himalaya Mountains. Sightings of our country’s Bigfoot and the Sasquatch rose as more interest in these legends became prominent in magazines, news stories and local newspapers. During this time Bigfoot appeared as a symbol of cultural resistance, the mostly male working-class audience could associate with its refusal of traditional values with society and praised its basic, primal nature. In the 1980s, Bigfoot became domesticated with movies, TV shows and family friendly stories of the creature being depicted as docile, vegetarian and more like a pet than predator.

                The author ties the wildman motif into the transformation of the side-show ‘geek’ into its modern day equivalent of computer ‘geek.’ The original geek was a performer who would do anything for money, the typical attraction being biting the heads of live chickens and snakes. The term was kept solidly in this attractions realm until the 1970s when the word was used as a pejorative for the counter-culture of hippies to mean ‘people who do anything for drugs.’ In the mid-80s, the term rose through college students to be ‘pencil geek,’ or someone who would do anything, even debase themselves, for a good grade. As computer technology grew throughout the late 80s to early 90s, this would include early adoption of the home PC and learning its workings. Computer users were seen as the fringe of society, focusing on learning this new ‘beast’ and the term geek had a more wildman associate with it. Going against the social norms, these early users saw themselves as pioneers of a new, digital frontier.

                The cultural background on how the wildman can tie into the human need for freedom outside of the constraints of civilization was beneficial to explore how the Bigfoot legend could have come about outside of the actual creature existing. The ideas of freedom and the evolution of language follow along together in the ideas of the outsider geek with the outsider wildman. Both exist in an area the majority of the population would consider uncivilized, the computer geek being socially awkward and the wildman shunning society. This article breaks down how the Bigfoot legend in media portrayals can be tied to social changes throughout its written history in the United States.

    Annotation 5:
    Dendle, P. (2006). Cryptozoology in the Medieval and Modern Worlds. Folklore, 117(2), 190-206.

                In this article by Peter Dendle we explore the idea of Cryptozoology as a medium for undiscovered animals which are only written of in folklore until science confirms their existence. The “hidden animals” are written of in fantastic and exotic ways, often having magical attributes and ties into local legends. Once these creatures are catalogued and ‘officially’ discovered by scientists, they lose their extraordinary qualities and become less mystical. The cultural significance to these creatures is tied to their state of liminality, once they are confirmed existence they lose the features that attract them to wanting believers in the unknown possibilities of the world.

                The world today is mostly discovered, all land masses having complete satellite scans and only a few rare outlets exist for people to dream upon. Dendle offers the explanation of the persistence of the legend of Bigfoot and other cryptozoology figures as a desire to pioneer the unknown. He offers a possible cultural answer for why we as humans still desire these unknown creatures, our collective guilt over causing extinction to many species of animals’ causes us to want new, undiscovered species to exist. The Tasmanian tiger, the passenger pigeon and countless other species that were documented and plentiful but humanity managed to wipe off the earth are listed as possible reasons humans create fictional species today. Dendle suggests that Cryptozoology offers a magic of the world that has since been lost by civilization and the destruction of nature’s own species.

                This article is pretty interesting in its way of tying current Cryptozoology with the environmental losses of extinct species. It does explain some of the older species which were once thought to be magical and pretend, the platypus, the giant squid and the panda being such examples. These are not explained well as to why these creatures would be different from the modern day creatures if only todays are based on cultural guilt. It’s an interesting theory to why we make legends today but not why the same cryptozoology stories that aren’t proven yet have such long histories beyond the extinction of species.

    Annotation 6:
    Regal, B. (2008). Amateur versus Professional: The Search for Bigfoot. Endeavour, 32(2), 53-57.

                In this article by Brian Regal we learn the history of the first explorers of the frontiers of the Americas as classified ‘amateurs’ in their field and how the field of exploration and discovery shifted into the realm of ‘professionals’ once the groundwork was completed. In the early years of our country, from the start of colonial times in the 1700s, people sought after monsters of folklore in their new homes. Regal describes this need for discovery as something tied to the idea of the pioneers that first settled in the unknown lands of the Americas. The desire to be ‘first’ to find something excites people.

                After the American Revolution, the newly formed government hired on ‘professionals’ to catalog and explore the country that lay before them. These professionals were middle to upper class educated men verse the lower class uneducated formally pioneers that carved the way for them in the decades prior. This transition of hard working amateurs leading the way in discoveries continued on until the Pacific Ocean was hit in our country’s spread across the continent. The ties to modern cryptozoology lay within this amateur versus professional battle. In the fields of biology and zoology, only after the professional declares its existence does the animal move from realm of fiction to reality. The field of cryptozoology exists today as an area where the creatures it catalogues, by amateur pioneers, are often not taken seriously by the professional scientists despite having a history of proven evidence. This article goes into the history of proven animals that were once mythical, narwhals, great pandas and giant squids as examples. The field of discovery shifted to the amateur being less of a pioneer and taking on the descriptor of ‘monster hunter’.

                It is this change in the 21st century that lead to the professionals taking the amateurs less seriously than before. By pursuing the ‘monsters’ solely, they appeared to be taking the exploration for discovery less seriously than the historical counterparts. This article gives an interesting history of how the origins of cryptozoology grew from original folkloric animals documentation to the monster hunters of today. Following the changes in socioeconomic classes between the first pioneers who sought these monsters to the backgrounds of the modern monster hunters gives us insight on how class dynamics inform scientific discoveries.

    Annotation 7:
    Coltman, D., & Davis, C. (2006). Molecular Cryptozoology Meets the Sasquatch. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution, 21(2), 60-65.

                In this study Dave Coltman and Corey Davis of the University of Alberta cite several examples of creatures being discovered that had only been known of in local legend and myth. Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, a creature of local legend in Vietnam, was confirmed in 1992 after the discovery of the creature’s horns in possession of local hunters. In 2003 an african monkey unbeknownst to modern science, Lophocebus kipunji, was discovered in Tanzania after photographs and recordings of the creature could be confirmed. Coltman and Davis point to these discoveries as the impetus of cryptozoological researchers to continue the hunt for creatures such as Sasquatch.

                 In the article, the authors cite several recent sightings of the mysterious beast. One of these sightings yielded physical evidence in the form of fur. Coltman and Davis were able to genetically sequence the fur. Their results, like the base assessment by the technician at the Department of Environment, were that the fur belonged to a bison. They concluded, “There are several possible explanations for these results. First, as suggested from molecular analysis of hair from a suspected Yeti, the Sasquatch might be a highly elusive ungulate that exhibits surprising morphological convergence with primates. Alternately, the hair might have originated from a real bison and be unrelated to the Sasquatch.”

    Section II - Transmission: Storytelling & Memory
    Annotation 8:
    Zabel, M. (1991). Storytelling, Myths, and Folk Tales: Strategies for Multicultural Inclusion. Preventing School Failure, 36(1), 32-34.

                In this article by Mary Kay Zabel we see how including folklore and explaining how these stories can included children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds together by sharing and seeing similarities between one another. Stories have been used for centuries to record important events, to celebrate the feats of heroes and heroines, to transmit the spirit of an event or a time period along with the facts, and to point out patterns in behavior or cultural development. Great teachers, from Homer and Plato, through Jesus, Li Po, and Gandhi have used stories, myths, parables, and personal history to instruct, to illustrate, and to guide the thinking of their students. Folk tales and myths that have lasted over time share certain common attributes.

                Old stories frequently stress personal responsibility, the need to be concerned for others, and the duty to serve humankind. Myths and tales often were created to explain certain natural events such as creation of the world, the moon and stars, or the appearance of fire. These explanations served to calm and reassure the people who heard them, and they now provide hearers with insight and understanding concerning the cultures and people who invented them. One of the most important uses of stories, myths, and tales is the enhanced cultural awareness, the glimpse into other people's' world view, that such tales provide. Because stories and tales have generally lasted a long time, they are examples of the heart and soul of the people who created them. They are treasured reminders of how life used to be, in both good and bad times, and they show nonmembers of that culture some of the thinking strategies and beliefs that have made different groups what they are today.

                Including articles on how people share information and why they share it can be beneficial to understanding the origins of legends. As people immigrate across different countries, they share their own culture’s stories with the new culture they join. These legends get shared and remolded into new versions that are then retold to another audience. Zabel is able to show the education quality of inclusion of folklore as a connectivity between all people regardless of background. It is a basic human trait to share these stories to one another.

    Annotation 9:
    McGregor, I., & Holmes, J. (1999). How Storytelling Shapes Memory and Impressions of Relationship Events Over Time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 403-419.

                In this study by Ian McGregor and John Holmes we explore the psychological relations between memory and storytelling based on the way the story is conveyed to the audience. Storytelling infers describing encounters in a cogent story format from the point of view of a crowd of people. Stories structured in a regular and spontaneous cognitive unit for representing information related to social connections. Deciphering the complexities of social reality into story structure, the story development typically includes extending confirmations to fit in with the forms of a straightforward topic. Stories are sorted into believable or fiction with the connection to reality due to their potential impact on forming interpersonal perceptions and judgments.

                Storytelling plays a noticeable part in the way individuals understand their social connections and their relationships therein. The four experiments in this study recounted events in different levels of detail which confirm the presence of a 'robust storytelling effect' that judgments get to be biased toward the narrator when actually there is no reason to believe the story's authenticity. The level to which the listener believed the storyteller depended on how adamant the teller was during the recounting.

                This study was very informative on how people’s impressions can be shaped from the vigor the storyteller puts into their accounts. People are able to recount more vividly a story that was told with passion and detail. The ties to the transmission of legends among different groups of people, having more detailed and interesting a story to the audience makes the legend more memorable and its chances of being retold by increase.

    Annotation 10:
    Hearne, B. (2000). Once There Was and Will Be: Storytelling the Future. The Horn Book Magazine, (6).

                Betsy Hearne writes about storytelling evolution from oral traditions to the changing media of the internet. With oral customs, a story existed through its creative energy and memory. That medium has formed human culture, yet it is constrained, moderated, and static in contrasted with current electronic media that protects stories as well as catch a portion of the spontaneity of the spoken word. Storytelling appears with developments that can join tellers and audience members into a worldwide group that doesn't limit the range and scope of the tale, permitting them to switch puts more justly than at any time in the past. That virtual storytelling appears less worthy of a custom, a more intensive look recounts an alternate way the story is conveyed. Despite constantly changing media, we keep rediscovering essentials of the oral tradition in variant forms.

                Telling stories is a human condition, to preserve history in the way that we wouldn't lose the vital point of view on those occasions to shape a story, to shape the occasions into a story. A textchat audience of people examining a story they've quite recently heard on live sound must deal with a lot of people illogical conclusions, hearing different versions or points of view they may reject the written version as fictitious.

                Narrating adjusts to changing times much as stories do themselves. There are 3 fundamental steps to investigating narrating in a particular setting. The most basic dynamic of folklore is a tension between tradition and innovation that keeps a story living orally. In adapting text to context, storytellers alter tradition with innovations of style, substance, and medium.

                This article is not in an academic journal but is one of the few worthwhile looks at how folklore can be translated to the internet audience. Hearne is able to describe the limitations of how stories can be believed in an ever changing medium of the internet to audience that are broad and diverse. By being able to adapt the story to the audience of the internet, choosing which message boards and chatrooms to speak with, and writing to fit the level of reading and understanding she describes some good ways to change how the narratives can be conveyed.

    Annotation 11:
    Hill, E. (2012). The Nonempirical Past: Enculturated Landscapes and Other-than-Human Persons in Southwest Alaska. Arctic Anthropology, 49(2), 41-57.

                In this article by Erica Hill we explore the ideas of the ‘nonempirical’ attributes of a landscape and how it can affect the people that live there. The ‘nonempirical’ can be defined as a set of constraints placed upon a society based on entities and phenomena whose existence cannot be proven by scientific means. This means for the Inupiat of the Arctic regions could not utilize certain areas of their own land because of folkloric reasons, for example an area may be avoided because of monsters or ghosts inhabiting the place in a tale.

                Hill describes how the native people could see no known proof of these beings existing in these places yet their beliefs in the stories and their ties to the culture were so strong they avoided them anyway. In this way, it’s important to see how to address a culture who have strong ties to nonempirical to the land and how to respectfully reconstruct the history of the people including those stories as a reality they believe as a myth than a folk tale we as observers see it as.

                The ties between myth and legend are difficult for us to really separate, this article describes how important it is to treat a myth with the respect it deserves. While avoiding lakes and possible settlement areas that could be great for the Arctic native communities, we need to take their nonempirical reasons as valid for their non-use of this places.

    Annotation 12:
    Jones, S., & Russell, L. (2012). Archaeology, Memory and Oral Tradition: An Introduction. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 16(2), 267-283.

                In this article by Sian Jones we see how Archaeologists look at oral history and its changes in human history over time. Oral history is a tradition of oral narratives based on first-hand experience, the believability of these stories ties directly with the narrator's ability to convey the story believably to the audience. The transgenerational oral traditions of folklore and cultural history can be directly related to the storyteller giving an accurate account of the story time and time again. Memory has a great impact on the story’s ability to be transmitted to the next audience. Historical oral narratives have social memories, transgenerational stories, which may have more aspects of legends when recounted than the original stories found in text format.

                Jones is able to use the written versions of oral narratives to compare and contrast their changes and what was emphasized over time. Similar to other articles, the more captivating a history story the more likely it is to be remembered and retold as vividly as it was heard. The actual histories that were written down of wars, battles and politics at the time, examples of European kingdoms in the dark ages, were less interesting than the oral accounts of heroes and villains battling in epic tales of the same events.

    Annotation 13:
    Kawandf, C. (2012). The Contemporary Legend as a Cross-generic Genre. Fabula, 52(3/4), 250-266.

                In this article Christine Shojaei Kawan summarizes the events of the 32nd Conference of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research which took place in Prague in June of this year. A plethora of papers were presented ranging in topics from Indonesian tales of blood pouring from radios to the emergence of the Slender Man mythos (a boogeyman born and raised on the Internet). The main thrust from these papers was that we are still telling each other stories. Some are old stories being updated for modernity, such as the childhood favorite Bloody Mary being an adaptation of an older Czech folk tale. Some are born out of distinctly modern fears as in a paper detailing the mysterious and deadly effects of video games or the supposed haunting of an Indiana mental asylum.

                Many papers focused on the role of our media in elevating stories to the status of legend. Elizabeth Tucker presented a paper on the role of Ariel Castro’s home dungeon as a setting for developing legends. Ariel Castro, of course, being the man who was revealed to have kept several women captive in his home for decades. Real horror becoming legend through media exposure held true in other papers, with papers being presented on the legend growing around the scandal of British TV star and noted pedophile Jimmy Saville as well as a mass murderer’s cottage becoming a noted tourist destination.

                The scholarly works ranged from the horrific to the religious. Papers focused on legends of killer toys to angels interceding in the battles of World War 2. The themes remain the same though: Folklore is being constantly updated for our modern age and being altogether new stories are being crafted as we study.

    Annotation 14:
    Steffen, V. (1997). Life Stories and Shared Experience. Social Science & Medicine, 45(1), 99-111.

                In this article by Vibeke Steffen we see how illness/ailment narratives can bring people suffering of the same thing together in a therapeutic setting. These narratives in settings like Alcoholics Anonymous and trauma survivor groups can give scientists a look into how people express their internal struggles outwardly to other people. By being able to give words to physical or psychological ailments, the narrators are able to solidify their experiences and bring light to their troubles. In a group setting with other people who have experienced similar problems, people are more likely to give more details and greater depth of emotions to one another than in a one-on-one setting in a therapeutic session.

                The storytellers are able to avoid aspects of a traumatic feeling of the story, knowing their audience will already have the background on the subject and not need to go further into the details for more troubling to describe parts. The narrator, when telling their story to a medical professional, doesn’t know if the professional will have knowledge of their experience and would have to go into possibly painful details of their history to explain themselves. Examples given in the article related to thoughts of suicide because of a terminal diagnosis and the binge drinking of alcohol to cope with the loss of a loved one, the narrators would have needed to detail the reasoning of these events which may be triggering to themselves reliving the experience over again.

                This is a fascinating article when looking at how interpersonal relationships give a shared identified in the groups as not ‘survivors’ but as people who came out of a difficult time still as people. This takes the narratives given by the people as personal triumphs to be valued and not as just data to be sorted. Having autonomy of their personal narratives gives people more of a feeling of self and will benefits observers recording those stories for future therapeutic use for others.

    Section III - Communities: Formation & Benefit

    Annotated 15:
    Crawford, M., & Salaman, L. (2012). Entitativity, Identity, and the Fulfilment of Psychological Needs. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(3), 726-730.

                In this article by Matthew Crawford we see the reasons why people form groups or communities and the benefits they provide the individual on a personal basis. Social groups give advantages to the individual themselves and to help people come together for common goal. There is a different effect of perceived rewards, social or political benefit, from groups that have the capacity to satisfy a psychological need of individual members. Individuals relate to a subsection of an all-encompassing group, to have a place with a certain named entity. The greater the perceived reward to this group, the greater the individual’s ties to them will be. These results increase our understanding of the capacities that diverse groupings serve and the outcomes of in-group benefits for the individual are.

                People join groups for a multitude of reasons. Motivations like self-esteem, uncertain in resolution to personal issues, self-evaluation during a crisis, opposing a contrasting view, desire for uniqueness, and self-categorization to belong. The underlying belief is that group serves a purpose for the individual. Emotional or therapeutic groups are more associated with connectedness than achievement or identity needs, that task-oriented groups are more associated with achievement than affiliative or identity needs, and that social category groups are more associated with identity than achievement or affiliative needs.

                Tying together how stories bring people together, being able to share and gain emotional satisfaction out of shared experiences helps people mentally bond with one another. This study breaks down the basics of why people form groups and how they help one another by being in the group. Sharing information and caring for one another can cement certain stories and ties the person has to the group.

    Annotation 16:
    Ip, G., Chiu, C., & Wan, C. (2006). Birds of a Feather and Birds Flocking Together: Physical Versus Behavioral Cues May Lead to Trait- Versus Goal-Based Group Perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(3), 368-381.

                In this article by Grace Wai-Man Ip we look into how groups may be racially tied and the strength of those ties verse diverse groups. The reasons individuals gather together as a group can be clarified through an integrated model to describe two distinct perceptual-inferential courses to perceived benefits from the group. Both likeness in physical qualities like race or gender or regional traits like socioeconomic classes would result in similar perceptions towards the group’s affiliation. Although both routes lead to the same destination, they go through very different perceptual processes.

                Perceivers have a tendency to construe normal traits in a group of individuals with the same skin color and to infer common goals in a group of individuals displaying the same social progress. Moreover, surmising common attributes may foster the development of a shared perception of the group, a high level of homogeneity in the group through shared belief. Conversely, inference of shared objectives may foster attribution of agency to the group, which is portrayed by a high level of perceived cohesiveness in the group.

                While a more diverse group coming together, meeting physically with one another may be more likely to form and stay solidly together the ties of technology allows more racially diverse populations to mingle and not be divided by outward appearance. This article gives a bleak look at how racial identity can affect group dynamics and stability but provides a hopeful look at how technology can remove those ties as everyone is essentially the same blank slate online as we only see one another as text on a screen.

    Annotation 17:
    Kivlighan, D. (2008). Overcoming Our Resistances to “Doing” Evidence-based Group Practice: A Commentary. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(11), 1284-1291.

                In this article Dennis M. Kivlighan, Jr. attempts to explain both the resistance to group therapist to using evidence based research practices within group psychotherapy. He stresses that these practices can be extremely useful, but that the resistance from practitioners is somewhat justified. Evidence based practices have historically been adapted from individual therapies to a group dynamic with mixed success. Furthermore, research into these practices generally assume a homogenous grouping of diagnosis. While similarity of diagnosis does provide greater results, homogenous group composition does not. A heterogeneous mix of group gender is apparently shown to be more effective in group psychotherapy. Research into these evidence based practices based on group composition is woefully lacking. Furthermore, they do not take into account such important concepts such as group leadership dynamics.

                Kivlighan recommends that practitioners utilize these evidence based practices carefully and with a thought towards their own experiences with the group. They should use evidence based research to guide them towards their use of specific therapies, such as interpersonal therapy or the cognitive behavioral therapy. He also recommends that future evidence based research practices targeted towards groups be altered to include measures of group leadership, ethnic and cultural differences. With these changes we may find a greater rate of adoption among group therapy practitioners.

    Annotation 18:
    Pinto, I., Marques, J., Levine, J., & Abrams, D. (2010). Membership Status and Subjective Group Dynamics: Who Triggers the Black Sheep Effect?, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(1), 107-119.

                In this study researchers Pinto, I.R., Marques, J. M. , Levine, J.M., and Abrams, D. conducted a series of experiments to determine how members of a group reacted to those that expressed positions that were either in line with the group’s way of thinking or deviant. Furthermore, they compared to what degree they reacted based on the individuals current standing within the group and how that standing affected the manner in which the group reacted. Their focus was on how members in good standing (ingroup) members were treated when expressing either normative or deviant positions and how that compared to new or marginalized members expressing similar positions.

                Researchers found over the course of three experiments, as hypothesized, that ingroup members were praised or degraded in their perceived social standing to a greater degree than new or marginalized members. Furthermore, ingroup members who expressed deviant positions were actually treated different than new members who expressed the same positions. They found that other ingroup members advocated punishment (in terms of hostile acts or ostracizing the offender) when ingroup members expressed deviant positions. When new members expressed these same positions, ingroup members were more willing to attempt to use persuasion to bring them more into line. Thus, the level of an individual's perceived commitment to the group actually affects the way deviancy is perceived and reacted against.

    Annotation 19:
    Kaplan, K., Salzer, M., Solomon, P., Brusilovskiy, E., & Cousounis, P. (2011). Internet Peer Support for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Social Science & Medicine, 72(1) 54-62.

                In this study by Katy Kaplan we explore the benefits of online support groups for mental illnesses and how they can be utilized in other disabilities. The concept of online support groups is widely known to exist, from cancer group survivors to people who lived through natural disasters, internet groups pop up for almost every possible stressor for people today. A randomized controlled trial was done to see if there are benefits to these groups, or possible harm done by participating in an unstructured, non-medically driven online group.

                Of the participants in the study, individuals who participated in large number of hours, over 6 hours per day, had greater levels of distress than before joining the online group. Those participants who clocked in only 1-4 hours per day reported less distress than before joining the group. The study mostly suggests moderation, limiting the amount of time responding and reading other people’s posts, in these unstructured online groups. The best online support groups for participants are those with medially structured support systems, using psychological guidelines and following medical professional’s advice.

    Annotation 20:
    Ross, M. (2001). Psychocultural Interpretations and Dramas: Identity Dynamics in Ethnic Conflict. Political Psychology, 22(1), 157-178.

                In this study Marc Howard Ross attempts to describe ethnic conflicts between groups in a psychosocial paradigm. He attempts to explain why individuals would risk their lives and resources for a social group, as that runs counter to individual interest. Furthermore, why do these conflicts endure through generations of members of ethnic and social groups when the original source of conflict is long past?

                Ross posits an idea called the psychosocial drama as a mechanism for this. The psychosocial drama is a collection of history, ritual, and artifacts that help to indoctrinate the group member into the social group identity. The drama defines who the other is or the enemy, why they are as such, and how one should react emotionally to these historical events. His main example of the psychosocial drama is the use of parades in Northern Ireland to continue a sort of proxy war over the events of the Troubles. However, he admits that this structure can be used in many different types of social groups to strengthen identity and make sense of the world from within the group’s value system.

    Annotation 21:
    Bartlett, Y., & Coulson, N. (2011). An Investigation into the Empowerment Effects of Using Online Support Groups and How This Affects Health Professional/patient Communication. Patient Education and Counseling, 83(1), 113-119.

                In this study by Yvonne Kiera and Neil Coulson we look into the potential of online support groups and how joining these groups can benefit the relationship of the patient to their doctors. The participants of the study reported they found discussing information online in a safe, anonymous setting allowed them to feel satisfied they were heard and understood but still maintained an identity offline as themselves distanced from their ailment/illness. Around 60% of the participants felt they gained a better relationship between themselves and their doctors by being able to hear and relate to other patients’ stories online dealing with the same troubles and dynamics between them and their doctors.

                Online support groups have a potential to influence offline relationships, this study is important to tie together how these groups can share information they experience in person to people they do not have to meet face-to-face. The growth of being able to express their feelings in a non-judgmental environment is key to overcoming any stigma they may face expressing these issues in their real lives. In the subject of unexplained events, an online group can be more supportive with little information versus in person where people’s body language can give negative impressions to the storyteller.

    Citations

    For further reading:

    Section I - Background: History & Science

    Blu Buhs, J. (2010). Wildmen on the Cyberfrontier: The Computer Geek as an Iteration in the American Wildman Lore Cycle. Folklore, 121(1), 61-80.

    Bynum, J. (1992). Bigfoot--a Contemporary Belief Legend. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 49(3), 352-357.

    Coltman, D., & Davis, C. (2006). Molecular Cryptozoology Meets the Sasquatch. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution, 21(2), 60-65.

    Dendle, P. (2006). Cryptozoology in the Medieval and Modern Worlds. Folklore, 117(2), 190-206

    Holloway, M. (2007). Bigfoot Anatomy. Scientific American, 297(6), 50-53.

    Lozier, J., Aniello, P., & Hickerson, M. (2009). Predicting the distribution of Sasquatch in western North America: Anything goes with ecological niche modelling. Journal of Biogeography, 36(9), 1623-1627.

    Manfred F., De Vries, K. (1982). Abominable Snowman or Bigfoot: A Psychoanalytic Search for the Origin of Yeti and Sasquatch Tales. Fabula, 23, 246-261.

    Miles, I. (1990). Fiction and Forecasting. Futures, 22(1), 83-91.

    Mittelstaedt, R. A. (1986). Sasquatch, the Abominable Snowman, Free Riders and Other Elusive Beings. Journal of Macromarketing, 6(2), 25-35.

    Napier, J. (1973). Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality. New York: Dutto.

    Newton, M. (2011). When Bigfoot Attacks: A Global Survey of Alleged Sasquatch, Yeti Predation. North Devon England: CFZ Press.

    Regal, B. (2008). Amateur versus Professional: The Search for Bigfoot. Endeavour, 32(2), 53-57.

    Regal, B. (2009). Entering Dubious Realms: Grover Krantz, Science, and Sasquatch. Annals Of Science, 66(1), 83-102.

    Tchernine, O. (1974). The Yeti—some of the Evidence. Oryx, 12(05), 553-557.

    Tobacyk, J., & Milford, G. (1983). Belief in Paranormal Phenomena: Assessment Instrument Development and Implications for Personality Functioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(5), 1029-1037.

    Sykes, B. C., Mullis, R. A., Hagenmuller, C., Melton, T. W., & Sartori, M. (2014). Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1789), 143-146.

    Ward, M. (1997). Everest 1951: The Footprints Attributed to the Yeti—myth and Reality. Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, 8(1), 29-32.

    Section II - Transmission: Storytelling & Memory

    Curenton, S. (2011). Understanding the Landscapes of Stories. Early Child Development and Care, 181(6), 791-808.

    Damm, C. (2005). Archaeology, Ethno‐history and Oral Traditions: Approaches to the Indigenous Past. Norwegian Archaeological Review, 38(2), 73-87.

    Fludernik, M. (1991). The Historical Present Tense Yet Again: Tense Switching and Narrative Dynamics in Oral and Quasi-oral Storytelling. Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse, 11(3), 365-398.

    Grant, J. (2011). Storytelling, Group Dynamics, and Professional Cultures: Lessons from a Focus Group Study. Planning Theory & Practice, 12(3), 407-425.

    Hearne, B. (2000). Once There Was and Will Be: Storytelling the Future. The Horn Book Magazine, (6).

    Hill, E. (2012) The Nonempirical Past: Enculturated Landscapes and Other-than-Human Persons in Southwest Alaska. Arctic Anthropology, 49(2), 41-57.

    Jones, S., & Russell, L. (2012). Archaeology, Memory and Oral Tradition: An Introduction. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 16(2), 267-283.

    Kawandf, C. (2012). The Contemporary Legend as a Cross-generic Genre. Fabula, 52(3/4), 250-266.

    Lynch, J., Van Den Broek, P., Kremer, K., Kendeou, K., White, M., & Lorch, E. (2008). The Development of Narrative Comprehension and Its Relation to Other Early Reading Skills. Reading Psychology, 29(4), 327-365.

    McGregor, I., & Holmes, J. (1999). How Storytelling Shapes Memory and Impressions of Relationship Events Over Time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 403-419.

    Schick, A, & Melzi, G. (2010). The Development of Children's Oral Narratives Across Contexts. Early Education & Development, 21(3), 293-317.

    Sénéchal, M., Pagan, S., Lever, M., & Ouellette, G. (2008). Relations Among the Frequency of Shared Reading and 4-Year-Old Children's Vocabulary, Morphological and Syntax Comprehension, and Narrative Skills. Early Education & Development, 19(1), 27-44.

    Sperry, L., & Sperry, D. (1996). Early Development of Narrative Skills. Cognitive Development, 11(3), 443-465.

    Steffen, V. (1997). Life Stories and Shared Experience. Social Science & Medicine, 45(1), 99-111.

    Thompson, B., Kellas, J., Soliz, J., Thompson, J., Epp, A., & Schrodt, P. (2009). Family Legacies: Constructing Individual and Family Identity through Intergenerational Storytelling. Narrative Inquiry, 19(1), 106-134.

    Wennerstrom, A. (2001). Intonation and Evaluation in Oral Narratives. Journal of Pragmatics, 33(8), 1183-1206.

    Zabel, M. (1991). Storytelling, Myths, and Folk Tales: Strategies for Multicultural Inclusion. Preventing School Failure, 36(1), 32-36.

    Section III - Communities: Formation & Benefit

    Alexander, L., and Sanez, M. (2006). Using Children's Folktales to Explore Multiculturalism. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 23(3), 22-24.

    Bartlett, Y., & Coulson, N. (2011). An Investigation into the Empowerment Effects of Using Online Support Groups and How This Affects Health Professional/patient Communication. Patient Education and Counseling, 83(1), 113-119.

    Crawford, M., & Salaman, L. (2012). Entitativity, Identity, and the Fulfilment of Psychological Needs. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(3), 726-730.

    Goldenberg, A., Saguy, T., & Halperin, E. (2014). How Group-based Emotions Are Shaped by Collective Emotions: Evidence for Emotional Transfer and Emotional Burden. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(4), 581-596.

    Hofer, M., & Aubert, V. (2013). Perceived Bridging and Bonding Social Capital on Twitter: Differentiating between Followers and Followees. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2134-2142.

    Ip, G., Chiu, C., & Wan, C. (2006). Birds of a Feather and Birds Flocking Together: Physical Versus Behavioral Cues May Lead to Trait- Versus Goal-Based Group Perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(3), 368-381.

    Kaplan, K., Salzer, M., Solomon, P., Brusilovskiy, E., & Cousounis, P. (2011). Internet Peer Support for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Social Science & Medicine, 72(1) 54-62.

    Kivlighan, D. (2008). Overcoming Our Resistances to “Doing” Evidence-based Group Practice: A Commentary. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(11), 1284-1291.

    Munroe, P. (2013). Social Influence Network Theory: A Sociological Examination of Small Group Dynamics. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 42(4), 560-562.

    Newman, M. (2004). Technology in Psychotherapy: An Introduction. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60(2), 141-145.

    Pinto, I., Marques, J., Levine, J., & Abrams, D. (2010). Membership Status and Subjective Group Dynamics: Who Triggers the Black Sheep Effect? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(1), 107-119.

    Roopnarine, J., Adams, G., & Mounts, N. (1988). Sociometric Status and Peer Group Dynamics. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 18(3), 169-180.

    Ross, M. (2001). Psychocultural Interpretations and Dramas: Identity Dynamics in Ethnic Conflict. Political Psychology, 22(1), 157-178.

    Wentzer, H., & Bygholm, A. (2013). Narratives of Empowerment and Compliance: Studies of Communication in Online Patient Support Groups. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 82(12), 386-394.

    Wiesenfeld, E. (1996). The Concept of “we”: A Community Social Psychology Myth? Journal of Community Psychology, 24(4), 337-46.