All material (c)2019 Terry Hooper-Scharf and taken from Pursuing The Strange & Weird:A Naturalists Viewpoint some information has been removed but is included in the book.
No, no Sasquatch as such since that is a North American name for a North American hominoid. However, South America does have mystery hominoids. So, you might ask, “What is the difference?”
It is quite clear from years of investigation and studying reports and tracks that there are differing types of hominid. Orang Pendek of Sumatra is rather small and walks upright while the Yeti of the Himalayas is bigger but walks quadrupedally (on all fours) and bipedally (on two legs/upright). The Almas of Eurasia seems to almost be two types –tall, hairy hominid and shorter looking almost like primitive man. Sasquatch is between 6 feet 6 inches to 8 feet tall or taller and looks more like a huge gorilla-type man.
And South American has a mix of types.
The Fuegian Yagans, who lived in southern Argentina and Chile below the geographical marker of Lago Fagnano, (and whose last members, Lola Kiepja died in 1975, and Felipe "the Survivor" died in 1976) feared several man-like "ogres" that dwelt in the forests –one was the Selk'nam's and the other was the Hashi. These were very similar to the Yagan's "Hannush" -also known as "wild men".
The Reverend Thomas Bridges (1 & 2) described the Hannush as:
“a sort of demented or wild man of the forests… similar to man in shape,
living alone or in groups, but without wife or children; they were
always stalking, trying to come upon men, women or children to
kill them.”
Possibly the most scientifically accredited person to see and report on the Hannush was none other than Charles Darwin the “father of evolutionary theory”. Darwin had, in 1833, visited Tierra del Fuego aboard Captain Robert FitzRoy’s H.M.S. Beagle, and wrote (3):
“What the "bad wild men" were, has always appeared to me most
Mysterious… I should have thought that they were thieves who had
been driven from their tribes; but other obscure speeches made me doubt this;
I have sometimes imagined that the most probable explanation was that they
were insane.”
Even Captain FitzRoy wrote about these “wild men”, though did not see them. He wrote in his narrative on the Beagles surveying (4):
“A great black man is supposed to be always wandering about the
woods and mountains …who cannot be escaped”.
FitzRoys pilot, Mr. William Low, recorded that among the Chono:
“(They) believe in an evil spirit, called Yaccy-ma, who they think is
able to do all kinds of mischief, cause bad weather, famine, illness, &c.:
he is supposed to be like an immense black man”.
There was some speculation at one point that these “furry black men” might be a relative of the infamous De Loys ape or "Ameranthropoides loysi" (De Loy's Ape). This was an allegedly large primate encountered by François De Loys in Venezuela, circa 1920 but, apart from testimony of the claimed eye-witnesses, the only evidence of the animal is one photograph. Many have called this a hoax and Ivan T. Sanderson spared no bile in calling it such (5).
Above: the full un-cropped (rare) photograph taken by Francois De Loys of one of the mystery apes that attacked his group and was shot.
Only a few cryptozoologists still cling to this as being a mystery hominid photograph rather than a photo of a dead Spider Monkey. Some ask why, as the hardships hit the expedition and disease and native tribesmen took their toll of his men, De Loys thought that it might be a good idea to hoax a photograph rather than concentrate on surviving? Also, it was anthropologist George Montandan who found De Loys photograph in an archive and persuaded him to write about the event. This De Loys did and three scientific papers followed (6 & 7).
Personally, I have to say I side with Sanderson.
Obviously these “wild men” were human enough to be lucky to escape the fate that befell any potential scientific specimen –being shot. A pity that no one aboard had thought to draw what these wild men looked like.
The “Mwono” is known as “The Southern Abominable Snowman.” The Yagan’s neighbors, the Alakaluf (Halakwulup, Halakwalip), are also known as the Kawesqar (Qawashqar, Kaueskar), and live very much like the Yamana tribe to their east did. If not for the different language, they could be classified as cultural sub-groups of a larger tribe. Again, the Alakaluf are culturally extinct.
The Alakalufs land was one of jagged fjords and islands where the glaciers reach the sea calving icebergs into treacherous waters. The Alakaluf feared the Mwono –a “snow man” who, according to Emperaire (8) reigned supreme, inhabiting “the summits of the mountains and glaciers” and it was here that his tracks could be found. Even Chilean ethnologist Oscar Aguilera noted (9):
“ (This) ‘snow man’ is a fabulous and mythical animal that the (Alakaluf) say
lives in the glaciers and whose footprints they say that they have seen”.
One would think that learned persons might ask just what these foot-prints looked like. It seems that nobody bothered to ask. We do know that the Mwono was thought of as reclusive and peaceful, however, it would hurt those who entered its territory –here we see some potential parallels with the Sasquatch.
The Mapuche are the indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and south-western Argentina and they believed in several gigantic beings. One of these was the Trauko which dwelled along the banks of Collón Curá River and was a “terrible giant, man eater” monster, described as being hairy and having “a very long beard and… hair that seemed like rush stalks were fire red color.”
It is interesting how reddish coloured hair keeps cropping up in these reports and those of the Chinese Yeren and other hominds.
The Mapuche also talked of the Chilludo, a very large, hairy ape-like creature that was covered in a long, almost sheep-like fleece. The Chilludo is found in the isolated mountain regions of Northern Patagonia, Chile and in the western Neuquén province, Argentina.
Another creature described by the Mapuche is the Carcancho which lives a solitary existence in the mountains. However, it has been suggested that the Mapuche might be describing two types of hominid not one. The taller Carcancho lives in the mountains but is also seen in meadows feeding on tuber; this one can measure up to 6 feet 7 inches (2 metres) tall. There is another dwarfish Carcancho that has been described as 3 feet 3 inches (1 metre) tall and this one burrows underground. This could indicate that the smaller of the two is some unknown animal type though the suggestion of it being a juvenile hominid cannot be proven either way.
The third hominid (or possible fourth when you take into account the two Carancho types) is the Huitranalhue. It is taken from “huitran” (stranger) and “alhue” (spirit/ghost). This seems an odd name but as Austin Whittall points out, this creature is seen as a very big man, possibly dressed in animal furs and carrying a wooden club, that leads a solitary life. It walked in snow and left large foot-prints.
The Huitranalhue is thought to attack people and drink their blood or partake of their flesh. There are legends, amongst certain American First Nations people of cannibalistic Sasquatch but only when food is very hard to find.
It is very interesting that there are so many similarities between hominid appearance, behaviour and habitation around the world.
And there are reports of Patagonian giants. But are they all mystery hominids –cousins of the Sasquatch? According to Whittall it might be possible that the Hannush were homeless or cast-out Yagan natives who hid out and attacked and killed any possible threats to themselves. That is possible as I think was proven by the various wild-men accounts included in Some More Things Strange & Sinister.
Whittall also suggests that another possibility might –might- be some form of Homo erectus; something suggested by some researchers as a possible explanation
for the Almas. That, however, would raise such a barrage of anthropological fury that even I would think twice before raising such a suggestion.
The thing is that, outside of South and Central America, there is very limited information or literature on these creatures. The “tailed-men” of Patagonia might well have been an inbred, primitive people exhibiting a residual tail or simply fur- wearing "primitive men".
In Brazil there is the Mapinguari which is also referred to as Isnashi and is described as a tall black-furred hominid which is usually seen in the jungles along the 'Rio Araguaia', a large river in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. For over two hundred years there have been reports of these creatures though Mato Grosso do Sul seems to be the hot-spot for Mapinguari sightings. Reports describe the Mapinguari as a large and foul-smelling nocturnal animal said to be covered in red hair and with a frightful screaming cry. It is supposedly a vegetarian, with feet that are turned backwards and claws capable of ripping apart the palm trees it feeds on. There are many local names for this creature including; 'capé-lobo' (wolf's-cape), 'mão de pilão' (pestle-hand) and 'pé de garrafa' (bottle-foot).
There are many bizarre descriptions and attributes given this creature but some are quite interesting and worth noting.
When the Mapinguari feels threatened it is said to let out a truly vile stench like a mix of garlic, excrement and rotting meat from a “second mouth” which is said to be powerful enough to suffocate any attacker. This despicable odour means that the creature can be followed by a virtual cloud of flies -even the strongest of warriors are reported as fleeing from the smell of the monster alone. The animal is also said to be both bullet and spear/arrow proof. It is because of such reports that a small number of naturalists believe these creatures are a still surviving group of the giant ground sloth –Mylodons.
The Mylodon has generally been assumed to have died out around ten thousand years ago and they were red-haired vegetarians with large claws that curled under and faced backward when they walked on all fours. What is more, these giant marsupials could also stand on their hind feet like people and we do know some species had dermal ossicles -bony plates that made their skin very tough.
For this reason the Mapinguari is on the periphery of hominid research, though the possibility of two creatures –sloth and hominid- being mixed up in reports is a possibility. One set of incidents, in some ways similar to so-called US cattle mutilations has led to the theory that hominids might have a taste for tongue.
It was in March and April, 1937 that a Mapinguari supposedly went on a three week rampage at the Barra das Garças, a small farming town 300 miles southeast of the city of Cuiabá, the capital of the central state of Mato Grosso do Sul. In a series of attacks a large number of cattle were slaughtered by something with “super-human strength” - enough strength to have torn out the huge tongues of the cattle. There were some unconfirmed sightings, humanoid-like tracks measuring some 18 inches long and even a horrible roaring was heard from woods. It is claimed that over one hundred head of cattle were killed and incidents stretched all the way to Ponta Branca, 150 miles south of Barra das Garças. This Mapinguary rampage made the major newspapers in Rio de Janeiro and São Paolo.
The roaring from the woods is familiar in hominid reports but no one has so far tried linking North American mutilated cattle, with tongues torn out, with Sasquatch territory or reports. It seems extremely unlikely that a giant sloth went on a kill-spree and I know some will baulk at blaming a hominid for such kills –but what else?
And I ought not to forget Argentina. I have a report sent to me in the early 1980s from Pablo Latapi Ortega that I think worth printing in full (10):
“In one of the poorest and most desolate regions of Argentina there has been
detected the existence of a mythical giant; according to various testimony,
it is huge and similar to the Himalayan Yeti or the United States’ Bigfoot.
“A few months ago, taking advantage of the visit to our country by the
anthropologist Silvia Alicia Barrios, we had the opportunity to hear a series
of related tapes, about a strange ‘monkey’ that has been seen by many people
in the mountainous regions of northern Argentina. The mystery being’s
description coincides with that of the Yeti, with a few minor differences. It’s
known by the indigenous population as “Ucumar,” although the traditional
folklore of the country prefers to give him an endearing name –“Ucu.”
“The Ucu has been wovan into various legends involving popular fantasy but
some accounts are worth noting. Don Pepe, who lives on the Argentinean-
Bolivian border and often walks the mountains, has seen the Ucu on a number of
occasions and has this to say about it:
‘The Ucu lives in the hills, there in back of El Chorro (a mountainous zone
with tropical vegetation), and likes to scream at the cows and chickens. It’s
a “zuncho” (robust and bulky) animal and even though it doesn’t run a lot,
it’s very strong. It’s never come close to me but it has some of my countrymen.
I’ve seen Ucus, and Ucus trapping people. If the Ucu catches someone the best
thing to do is to urinate because it will then let go. The Ucu like to eat payo, the
plant whose inside is similar to cabbage. It’s big, the size of a fleecy dog
and always walks erect.’
Above: Sketch of an Ucu sent with Pablo Ortega’s report showing the tuft of hair and hand-cupping/clapping noted by observers. © Pablo L. Ortega
“Don Andres Olquin, who lives in the countryside, tells that a few years ago,
he accompanied two hunters who trapped a whole family of Ucus. According to
him, they were near a town called Fortin Pinado in the area of Chaco, when a
hunter found the Ucus. In one break, explains Mr. Olguin, ‘we got a mother
with two children. She fell broken into the trap and the hunters who were with
me killed her. They decided to take the two children to a zoo in Asuncion,
Paraguay. The hunters and their captives passed through several towns and
people in these remember them well. One night, while the captors slept, the
two small Ucu escaped into the mountains.’ The Ucus were described as
little black beings with little brown eyes.
“In most of the tales about the Ucu their description coincides with the
description of the captured black children. They are humanoid, very robust,
bodies covered by dark, almost black hair: one curious feature is the bunch
of hair that falls over their faces. The Ucus usually remain stationary while
being observed and clap their hands to create a “hollow” sound. They emit
a sound similar to the owl’s cry “uhu-uhu-uhu” –explaining how they got
their name? Don Andres Olguin describes their strength: ‘The Ucus are as
strong as two tigers. There is no puma or tiger that could overcome him. The
puma is larger than the Ucu but cannot hold him tight enough to kill him.” The
Ucu is said to be a very civilised animal, living in small caves and covering
the entrances with stones each time they go out hunting.
“Olguin says women have had Ucu babies. One woman was on her way to
school when she was raped by an Ucu and eventually gave birth to an ‘hybrid’:
she became crazed and could never speak again. For this reason women are
afraid of the Ucu more than men and don’t walk alone in the sierra except along
well travelled routes in daylight. People sense the Ucus presence more than see
it. To open seeds that are similar to nuts, the Ucu uses two rocks: if you hear
that sound you know it’s there and do not stray off the path if you want to stay
alive.
“In the state of Salta, there is a belief that the Ucu is a protector of local
fauna. A Dr. Escolastico Quispe Acoyte says that he saw an Ucu during
off-season hunting. The doctor fired his rifle at a deer but the bullet went
off its mark and the deer escaped: ‘I know that the Ucu worked some magic
so I wouldn’t kill the deer,” said the frustrated hunter.
“The place where the Ucu is seen most regularly are the foothills of the
Umahuaca and the state of Salto itself. No one has so far succeeded in
photographing it. Locals state that any Ucu captured usually escapes before
they can be caged or tied securely.
“The tales about this mysterious humanoid of the Argentinean Sierras never stop
amazing us! Although the tales have a certain amount of magic and folklore, you
cannot categorise them as a net product of popular fantasy. The stories comes
from towns far away from each other. Descriptions of the Ucu match-up as do
other details, though some say it makes a sound: “uhu-uhu-uhu” while others
that it is like “opu-opu-opu” –regional variations or calls for differing occasions?
“In our opinion, the mythical giant of South America should be included in the
gallery of unknown monsters that is headed by the Loch Ness Monster and Yeti.
Hopefully, the expedition to be mounted by our British colleague Terry Hooper,
though it may take some time, will answer many questions.”
Until re-reading this I had completely forgotten about the planned Ucu expedition! I checked and in my files is a note cancelling the expedition due to, in no little part, the Falklands/Malvinas War and my known association with people in the British military!
But there are aspects in Pablo’s report that will be familiar to those in hominid research in the United States. The use of basic tools such as stones, although this may well also be rock-knocking, to signify territories especially since locals hearing the noise know not to venture off paths.
There is also the aspect of females being abducted and mated with. This type of behaviour in Sasquatch has been noted in Native American lore. Interestingly, the black pigmented skin is also noted in other hominids from around the world. Then we have this hand-clapping; noted in chimpanzees, orang-utans and, to a degree, gorillas. As for the Ucus habitat of mountainous territory with tropical vegetation –where better for a mystery hominid?
Above: the photocopied photograph hasn’t aged well but the arrow points to Ucu witness Don Escolastico Quispe Acoyte. © P. L. Ortega
Although looking into the captured Ucu young was on the agenda of the expedition I have to say I do not believe it happened. Experience has taught me that pairs of hominids are often reported as being captured (as with the two captured in the Khamti Forest, India –details in Some Things Strange And Sinister) but either that’s all we hear or else they escape. Dr. Quispe, I believe, just missed but rather than admit it blamed the ‘magic’ of the Ucu he had seen.
There are many names and many descriptions, mostly matching-up but what is really needed is a full survey of these. Some may no longer be around but it is necessary to catalogue all hominid case histories as they might provide clues on those still existing.
South America has a wealth of material just waiting to explode into the study.
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