The Cowichan People gave him the name “Thumquas”
Are they real, or are they myth? A Seven to Nine foot tall man ape has been sighted in North America for centuries. The mysterious ape-like creature; also known as Bigfoot, is said to inhabit remote regions of the Pacific Northwest.
While most Canadians consider the Sasquatch a mythical creature, for the Cowichan People they are very real. Before the European invasion, Native Americans knew of the creature and gave him the name Sasquatch, which means “hairy giant.” The Cowichan People gave him the name Thumquas.
One of the earliest recorded sightings of a Sasquatch by a white man occurred in 1811 near what is now Jasper, Alberta by a fur trader named David Thompson. Since then there have been hundreds of thousands of sightings of this mysterious creature in Western Canada, and in several states of the U.S.
There have been more than 700 footprints attributed to Bigfoot collected over the years, having an average length of 15.6 inches and an average width of 7.2 inches. Invariably, the sighting of a Sasquatch is accompanied by a very strong, very foul odour.
Daily Colonist, July 20, 1905. Vancouver Island, BC. He is still wild, the Cowichan Leader says: “The wild man of Vancouver Island has again been seen by a prospector while out in the mountains last week near Cowichan Lake.
He reports seeing what he believes was the much-talked-of wild man. He saw something through the bush, and at first sight thought it was a bear and raised his rifle, moving a little closer, when to his surprise a man straightened up before him. He immediately lowered his gun and shouted to him, but the wild man at once sprang into the thicket and was soon lost to view. The prospector tried to follow his track, but on account of the dense undergrowth was forced to give up the chase.”
Not many people have heard the lonely, chilling cries and howls of Bigfoot. But those who have, and know the sounds of the wilderness, say it’s an unforgettable sound like no other.
On the night of July 08, 1975, a Native Man camping at the “Barn” located beside the Cowichan River at the furthest end of Mission Road; also known as the “Power Lines” to the local Natives, reported a strange and unsettling occurrence to the local RCMP detachment.
“I made camp yesterday down beside the Barn, in the evening I cooked a few trout that I had caught earlier in the day. After eating, I was getting a little tired so I decided to turn in. I climbed into my tent and lay down on my bedroll. I let my dogs run around because they always stay close to camp.
I started to dose off to the crickets chirping when suddenly I woke up it was as if I had one of those dreams where you are falling. I could tell there was something very wrong. It was dead quiet – no crickets, nothing, and then my dogs came running into my tent whining and shaking. I quickly jumped up; these dogs were very aggressive dogs, I’d never seen them scared like that. I grabbed my knife along with a flashlight and stepped outside the tent. I couldn’t see anything, but I had that sensation of being watched.
I grabbed some more firewood and threw it on the embers left from the dinner fire. Then I heard some very heavy footsteps right behind me in the trees. There was also a very strange odour, almost like a cross between a skunk and something dead.
Then the stillness of the night was broken by an eerie sound. The kind of scream no cougar or bear could ever squeeze from their throat. Piercing, echoing, guttural; a single, horrible high-pitched-yet-throaty, inhuman, unnatural sound that makes your skin crawl. This thing circled my campsite all night long. I didn’t sleep all night, I sat there and waited for daybreak, and in the morning I packed my gear and left”.
16-Jun-2003. Original headline: “Tracks in strawberry patch left by Sasquatch”.
Francis Joe kneels beside a trail of huge footprints crossing the strawberry field beside his home at the end of Boys Road. Francis Joe, 78, was born on the Native reserve south of Duncan and has never seen tracks like these before. He believes they belong to a legendary ape-like creature the Cowichan people call Thumquas and others call a Sasquatch or Bigfoot.
That’s not the tracks of an ordinary human. You could tell if it had shoes on,” he says. Something tramped across Joe’s fields sometime Sunday night, leaving a straight line of 15-inch tracks running north to south, three feet apart in soft soil. His fields are bounded by bush to the north and the Cowichan River to the south, likely ruling out a trespasser. Joe paid no mind to dogs yapping outside Sunday because they often “bark all night.” Local fishermen recently told him they’ve heard growling noises in the brush along the river.
The track also led to memories of when his three daughters saw what they think was a Sasquatch at the end of Wilseem Road about 30 years ago. “It was just getting dark and it was standing by a ditch just staring at us,” remembers daughter Jeanne Bob, who claims she saw a Sasquatch about 40 feet away. “It was really big, black and hairy, and had a very strong smell. I wasn’t kidding then and now I really believe it.”
John Kirk, president of the B.C. Scientific Crypto zoology organization, says the footprints in Joe’s berry patch are “a hoax or it’s the real thing.” The soil was too soft to reveal a double ball on the foot, an indicator some investigators believe sets real Sasquatch tracks from fakes. The double ball would be needed to carry the weight of an eight-foot creature, Kirk said. “Each foot print also has to be different because of walking mechanics. With fakes, every footprint is exactly the same.”
The footprints found in Francis Joe’s strawberry field are three inches deep, which Kirk says is very significant, because, “An imprint that much deeper than a human’s indicates a much greater weight”.
Is Sasquatch real? Like the cougar he’s rarely ever seen. Over the centuries the Cowichan tribe’s people who have witnessed it have become true believers of the existence of a species known to the Cowichans as Thumquas. One thing is undeniable; there is a substantial amount of evidence that supports the existence of such a creature.
Cowichan totems. A nice sample of their rich art
Source: http://www.joejack.com/sasquatch.html
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Cowichan Tribes is a group of Coast Salish peoples who live in the Cowichan Valley region on Vancouver Island. They lives mostly living along the banks of the Cowichan and Koksilah Rivers on the island. Over the centuries the Cowichan tribe’s people who have witnessed numerous of sighting of hairy creatures but believes they belong to a legendary ape-like creature. They called this mysterious creatures as Thumquas while others called sasquatch or bigfoot. There has been many hundreds of sightings of Bigfoot or sasquatch in different parts of the world such as in Tibet, Himalayan mountains, American and so forth. With so much evidence supporting their existence, they do exist after all. Interesting read.
Thank you for sharing.
So many names have been given to Sasquatch, Yeti and Thumquas. They are known by so many people and in countries all over the world.
It is fascinating to know about these mysterious beings who hide for good reasons from us. There are so many articles on Bigfoot on Rinpoche’s blog with many videos and researches done. Thank you for opening this hidden world to us.
There are other places in the world where people reported sightings of tall and hairy human-like creatures. In the Himalayan region, this type of creature is called Yeti. In China, it is called Yeren (wild man). In some Buddhist scriptures, there are also accounts on Yeti.
I think the bigfoot must be real, or there will not be sightings of creatures like this reported in different places in the world. Sometimes, some creatures don’t like to be disturbed or disturb others, therefore they are hard to be sighted. We have to be opened minded to other beings and be respectful to them so we can live in harmony.
Curious about the legendary Yeti? Not sure what to believe? Here is an article that explores a range of sources, from folktales to newspaper reports, detailing sightings and encounters with the elusive creature, who has been a part of the very fabric of various Himalayan communities for thousands of years. Read about religious beliefs, myths, fables and stories by scholars and travellers alike, and realise that there is more to the Yeti than you previously thought.
Imagining-the-Wild-Man-Yeti-Sightings-in-Folktales-and-Newspapers.pdf
This is a real awesome documentary on bigfoot. One of the best – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp5eV9nIEjk&feature=youtu.be
In 1967, Bob Gimlin and Roger Patterson stumbled across an incredible sight whilst out in Bluff Creek, in the California wilderness. At a creek which had been freshly washed-out by recent floods, they witnessed a female Bigfoot swiftly traverse the rugged landscape. Since their filmed encounter with the Bigfoot, who has since been nicknamed Patty, many have disputed the authenticity of their recording but no one has been able to successfully prove that it is a fake.
Credits for this video goes to entirely to windvale for the original footage. ?
Why is it always that people familiar with the land (like the Native Americans and the trappers and hunters and fur traders) sight creatures like the Thumquas, and it’s usually city-slickers who are the skeptics? Did you ever wonder why? Maybe Bigfoot can sense skeptics so they only appear to the believers hehehe
The people who sight them always observe the same markers of behaviour – the creature looks like a bear and then they do something that makes the observer realise it is not a bear. And whether the environment is dense undergrowth (like in the case of Cowichan Lake above), or heavy debris from flooding (like in the case of Patty), or snow (like in the multiple sightings of the Yeti), it’s always the same story = the creature traverses the difficult terrain with unmatched ease during their escape. The creature has a chilling howl, its presence is accompanied by a bad smell and they prefer to remain hidden rather than be exposed.
You’re talking about cultures and groups of people independently recording sightings of Bigfoot (or variants of such) long before the Internet, TV and radio existed, at a time when news travelled very slowly. How could they all have come to the same conclusions? How could they all have independently described and recorded the same markers of behaviour?
To the skeptics, come on – if it walks like a duck, if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, I’m going to call it a duck! Bigfoot is real and it exists!
I believe that this creature is not here to harm anyone. It is just that people get scared because they rarely seen these creatures.
I would really want to see Thumpquas…
I really wonder why people in the 1700 did not report anything about sighting this beast.
There are so many reports that people have sighted this ape like creature , that i can’t really say that it does not exist. It is very hard to say that Bigfoot does not exist when we have so much proof that he is roaming the world with us.
He might probably be a creature from another planet and is observing use.
I am very surprised that Thumpquas had not hurt or killed anyone yet.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting post with us.
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Though scientists have been getting more and more credible findings and hints pertaining to the existences of bigfoot, in the end the study offers no proof from the samples of yeti as provided. But the authority is careful to point out that however, the study did not prove that the study didn’t prove that the yeti doesn’t exist – It simply established that the authority still have no hard evidences for the yeti, therfore the search for the yeti is still on! The basic tenet is “science neither rejects nor accepts anything without examining the evidence, though they are convinced of its existence!
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing another interesting article about Big Foot. The picture of their foot print on the muddy land is sufficient to support the existence of Big Foot in Francis Joe’s strawberry field. Since the first time of Big Foot encountered by human many years ago, I am wondering why we still cannot find a way to communicate or stay with Big Foot like any other living beings on earth?
Whatever name they go by: Thumquas, Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Yeti, Abominable snowmen…. These creatures have always been my fascination since young. It would be fantastic that science could prove their existence, hopefully during my lifetime.
I’m sure they exist otherwise the Cowichan people won’t be making totems of them. There are many living beings and plants that scientists have yet to be discovered in the deep jungles and forests. So it is not surprising that many people have had encounters that are not documented by scientists.
Whatever it is, we are not alone in this vast universe. We are only a tiny insignificant speck in space. There are a lot more out there that we don’t know of. So never stop being curious and never stop being open. Learning is a never ending process.
Wow, seem like incredible but i think Big Foot is exist hence many evidences from research all around the world have proven it…
Thanks Rinpoche for sharing this article to make us eyes open for it, truly interesting (claps)…
There is joke in german. 2 Bigfoots come together and on of them says: Oh my god, you won’t belive who i met yesterday.Reinhold Messner!
Then the other bigfoot: What, i thought he isn’t real 🙂
There has been far too many occurrences and witness sightings to prove that Bigfoot or Sasquatch is more than just a myth. The many witness accounts have seem to match one another, and why would anyone in the first place come up such a story to want to prove that it’s fake in the end? I truly believe the existence of bigfoots, or any form of supernatural/paranormal beings because our existence on this earth, which is but a speck of dust in the entire solar system, does not define what exists or not, except within our limited perception.
Thank you for this post, Rinpoche.
Carmen
一开始，看到这些照片时，觉得有一点害怕。因为Thumquas 的长相异常于人。
由此，我才发现到原来我是多么的渺小。
感谢Rinpoche 的分享，因为我如此的幸运可以阅读他们的故事与由来。
佛学里常说的一切众生，也包括他们吧。既然，我们在这娑婆世界帮他们不多，祈望其他人可以发起慈悲心，不去伤害他们。。。
Dear Rinpoche very Interesting stories .Thank you Rinpoche for sharing such interesting article.
We live in a large world, a world that human can’t explore completely, i believe that there are more myths that actually exist, it just a matter of time to discover it out. Thanks Rinpoche for sharing such interesting article.
The picture show here the ‘Thumquas” look like human, it quite mysterious story… maybe they don’t want to be disturb..better to remain as mystery .
Thank you very much for the sharing.It is difficult to deny the existence of Bigfoot when there are so much sighting of such a creature.
They must be very shy or extremely intelligent to remain unseen for such a long time.Maybe it is better this way as curiosity of human are at time dangerous .For the sake of fame or wealth of finding such a rare creature might bring them more harm then good.
May the existence of the Thumkas remain felt but unseen……
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interested topic with us. Although scientists still not yet officially announce they have found the giant species- Bigfoot in the earth, however they are getting more and more credible findings and hints show that it does exists. In my opinion, I believe Bigfoot does exists in this planet as well. Those objects that we haven’t discover didn’t mean that it doesn’t exists, for instance many people believe God, spirits etc is exists, this is similar to Bigfoot as well. I hope that if one day those who manage to found ‘him’, please don’t harm ‘him’ as ‘he’ also is a sentient beings in Samsara as well.
Dear Rinpoche
‘Thumquas’会看這篇文章是因为对這英文字母好奇.原來在我們生活的地球上住了人类不为知另類生物,1905 被发现.北美洲.很高興能阅讀這篇文章.谢謝仁波切.
看不见不代表没有！常常都会听到 ＢｉｇＦｏｏｔ 与美人鱼的存在。我相信是真的，因为太多的证据！
Another great article on the elusive Big Foot. I do hope we can learn more about them, their languages and their habitat… that will be interesting…
So many reports and news have been made that people did see and had come pretty close with the big-foot. I believe they exist and they still. I wonder how they live, alone? Or many of them living together like a community? I think they can live very long like more than hundred years old. They are wild but I believe they are kind. Even a dog can be so kind of kept pushing the water to the fishes and wanted to help the fishes to live, so do the big-foot. I hope they are happy being living in their wherever they live now. I wished no one could ever find them nor disturb them because they belong to the nature.
It’s definitely exist with so many testimonials, witnesses and prove its existence, i have no doubt they are sharing the same woods with us in certain part of north america. But i can’t help but keep wondering what they really are. Are they a completely an unknown new species or an extinct species of human in the genus Homo, possibly a subspecies of Homo sapiens. I always suspect them are in fact The Neanderthals.
Interesting stories. With so many sightings and evidences like footprints, it is no doubt that Bigfoot do exist. I just wonder how they can escape without being captured till now… they have some kind of magical power?
Gim Lee
I am glad they are never ever really seen and captured! Knowing humans we will end up abusing it, taking it a part like a lab rat and caging like any other experiment! Not ever catching and some who still want to consider it a myth… may be a good thing for helping it to stay in existence. Maybe it holds some kind of “therma” for some high Lamas, and will only reveal it when the time is right 🙂