Watchlist: ‘Call it Bigfoot, Sasquatch or Istiyehe: Indigenous peoples know it as Protector’

By Kamiah Koch

Social media/digital journalist

In another installment recognizing Native American Heritage Month, Oregon Public Broadcasting published a video about Indigenous stories of Sasquatch.

Many have heard the modern versions of Bigfoot or Sasquatch: He is an elusive being that lives deep in the wilderness, successfully avoiding human contact to this day. To some Oregon Natives, the story of Sasquatch is known as Istiyehe or Stiyaham. To Native people, his story has a deeper meaning.

Acosia Red Elk (Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla) was interviewed by OPB and said she finds it interesting to see all these films and documentaries looking for Bigfoot.

“They are out there looking to find Bigfoot, to capture him, kill him- I don’t really know what they are expecting to do with him,” Red Elk said. “They’ll never find him because Bigfoot is Spirit.”

To Red Elk, Bigfoot (known to her as Istiyehe) is in almost all the stories passed down through generations. While talking, Red Elk is shown walking in the snowy woods of eastern Oregon.

“Up here in the mountains are where all our stories come from,” Red Elk said. “These are where the huckleberries grow and this is where they talked about sharing berry bushes with whole families of Istiyehe.”  

In the stories of Bigfoot told to her, Istiyehe is gatherer of the woods, working alongside her people.

Phil Cash Cash (Cayuse and Nez Perce) shares his version of Sasquatch while shown walking through the high desert wilderness of central Oregon.

“In the forest there is always a feeling that everything is alive,” Cash Cash said. “At times it can feel as if another thought enters your mind. That thought is simply some element of the lifeforce around us and you begin to sense and feel there is another presence here.”

To him, the stories of Sasquatch help Native people understand the nature of the world around them. 

On the Warm Springs reservation, Carlos Calica (Tyxhpum, Wasqupum and Newe) says his family called Bigfoot “Red Bear” and they knew he was there but never went looking for him.

“He was never to be found and studied because he is a caretaker,” Calica said.

To Calica, Red Bear was present when his people inhabited the lands before colonization and reservations. He sang the medicine songs with Calica’s ancestors and now is considered a cherished relative to Calica’s people because Red Bear is still here and remembers those songs.  

OPB shares more stories of Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Red Bear, Istiyehe and Stiyaham from the Native people of Oregon in this video. Although the stories and names vary, one thing remains the same: To Native people, this elusive relative remains a guardian of the land.

You can watch the entire video for yourself at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApbXUAAeAWw.