Oglala Sioux Police Talk: Bigfoot Update
Posted by: Loren Coleman on April 12th, 2007
The Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation was the site last year and at the beginning of this one of several close encounters with what appeared to be a large Bigfoot (often called “Big Man”).
Various individuals have contacted me, via backchannels, from the southern South Dakota area, with news of their Bigfoot. All wish to keep their identities guarded, due to their various positions within the community and their links to the law enforcement units operating there. Nevertheless, the time seems appropriate to share the new notes that are being sent, as they appear to have overlapping tidbits of confriming information of interest here.
The Pine Ridge Police have had a low level of activity all winter. A lot less reports than last mid summer, but still one of two a week. Mostly b.f. “peeping tom” 911 calls of something tall and dark looking in windows.
It should be noted that law enforcement on Pine Ridge is a bit different than most areas. Pine Ridge is bigger than some New England States (2.2 million acres), and covered by less than a hundred officers. So officers will live all over the Reservation and if far from headquarters, deploy from their homes. Calling into dispatch when they start up their units (which are taken home) and then go out and patrol their district. So it can be 2-3 days before the officers way off on the far edge of the Reservation makes it in to headquarters. So when a report is investigated, it can be several days before the responding officer can be contacted.
So right now [in March 2007] there is a low level of continuling activity. But probably more is occurring outside, but due to the crummy weather in southern South Dakota, with people staying inside, it is a time when less is heard.Near Resident, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
I live in Pine Ridge and was there when the sightings were going on. I know many of the people who have seen it. As for the rumor of “it” being shot, I’m sure I would have heard that since one of my closest friends is the granddaughter of one of the men who supposedly shot it.
There are no myths or hoaxes going on here.
I did not believe this [creature] so much myself, at first. I would not leave my home because I was terrified I would see it [due to] all the sightings.
We called the police and we told the officer who came what we had just heard about this “it.” In the end it made us sound crazy. We didn’t think the officer would believe us. But then he told us he had just came from chasing it. So then I believed it.Self-named Informant calling himself “Real Indian,” Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
I do have some good news for you. We had [in January 2007] received 5 calls of a “large individual” causing a disturbance at a residence in the hill and pine covered area of the reservation in Wounded Knee, which is located north east of the village of Pine Ridge. My patrol partners and I have witnessed tracks measuring some 13 inches in length and 8 1/2 inches width. The first call was on the second snow fall of [January 2007].
We responded to a call of an “unknown large individual” causing a disturbance in the yard of the residence in question. The reporting party described a 7 to 8 foot tall, thick hairy man with no face and long hair as it would sway with the wind. The subject was said to take an interest in the pole yard light as it would look up at it and circle it. Their dogs were scared and hid under cars and the porch and were there upon our arrival. The family was so scared that we transported them to relatives in Pine Ridge.
We carry individual tape recorders in our units and pockets, and have recorded a yelling or scream. We also now carry digital cameras with some intresting pictures of prints with Tribal units and officers in the background as we were investigating.Tribal Police Officer, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
Will the forthcoming motion picture on Wounded Knee (the red dot on the map below) stimulate new interest in these mostly overlooked Bigfoot sightings?
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Awesome! Well, I hope the big guy and the people there can live together. Keep up the good work. Your job is tough enough just dealing with people going thru their day to day lives, then nature throws in the strange and unknown. I hope to see some video footage real soon, especially as things begin to warm up.
I find it interesting that the dogs in the last report were hiding. Normally when dogs are confronted with an unknown or known animal (to them) they will bark and bark until the threat is gone. With that being said, the dogs in the report were hiding under a deck and a car. I have never seen a dog get scared of another animal enough to hide and not bark. Unless these were incredibly timid and shy dogs then they were actually afraid of something BIG and scary in close proximity to them. Plus dogs are the most credible of all witnesses, even though they cant speak they definitely don’t lie. Judging by the dogs behavior alone in this case, I would have to say that there was definitely something huge around the area that night, and a good possibility that it was indeed Bigfoot.
On the Map above, where is all this activity taking place – near the red dot?
Noted in the blog: “Wounded Knee (the red dot on the map…).”
Wounded Knee and Pine Ridge are two settlements where the Ogala Souix people live, and where the Big Man/Bigfoot have been reported.
Dogs will cower if they are veiwing this BF as an Alpha. As domestic animals they will display these traits to other superior dogs and people. I’m sure they would have had run in’s with this BF prior to this incident therby order had already been established.
Just a thought.
hey loren wow thanks for the new informative update about the pine ridge sasquatch activity situation, please keep me updated on this ok. good morning bill green. very interesting indeed.
I really believe these people are seeing “something”. But the more I think about these things the more I adhere to the John Keel school of thought on this. Yes there are things out there, but they are not what we think they are.
Most big foot sightings are a “once in a lifetime” event. This seems to be an on going occurrence. I would think that a good number of the folks on the reservation would be keeping cameras handy. Why no photos?
Regards
Wow, I am really pleased to see this update on the Pine Ridge sightings. I had been wondering what ever happened to the events unfolding over there, so this is exciting to see! To me, this place seems to be a remarkably promising place for gathering evidence on Bigfoot. I look forward to more interesting things to come from Pine Ridge as soon as the weather warms up a bit.
As mentioned before, Pine Ridge is the poorest community in the nation. The Pine ridge reservation is the poorest rez in South Dakota, so it’s not like everybody can go out and just purchase a video camera any time they want. I grew up on the Crow Creek reservation in central South Dakota so I can tell you first hand that a video camera is not at the top of the list of necessities. I still live in central SD, so these sightings are very exciting! I’m planning to visit the area sometime next month to have a look around, hopefully I can get some good evidence for myself. The bad things about sightings on the rez is it just doesn’t seem to get covered very much here in the local media. Although the Rapid City Journal might have a snippet or two on the sightings but nothing like a front page article. Of course I don’t get the Journal here so I could be wrong about that.
If I remember correctly there have been other Bigfoot reports where the witness(es) reported that their dog/dogs had acted fearfully.
Concerning the behaviour of the dogs: I have a report in my files of a large German Sheherd, if I remember right, that fled into a house and refused to come out when the dog and his owner saw a bigfoot. It may be that some dogs are just unwilling to confront anything large and unusual even to the point of protecting their masters. This may say more about the individual personality of the animal than it does about canines in general when confronted with such a creature. In other words, some dogs may just be weanies 🙂
Sounds to me a team from that area needs to get the OK to do some checking around. Sounds like they may get some real good information, maybe get some good pictures and or sound recordings. Wish I lived in the area.
I’m a white boy from Pipestone, MN but am very at home with Lakota/Dakota culture. Don’t fall for the “mystical indian” stereotype. Or the “drunken indian” either for that matter!
If these folks are reporting a physical creature – that’s exactly what they’re seeing.
Tourism must be off and they may be trying to regenerate the bottom line by stimulating traffic at the local trading post. These reports are “nothing special nor unusual”. Special is a Washington State bigfoot ripping apart a german shepherd last fall, and pasting it’s owners dwelling with the dog’s blood, by apparently flinging the dog’s various body parts at the side of the home. Local tribal officers sought guidance from paranormal bigfoot expert. Now owner has new dog again, and no more problems so far. Now that news ought to add to the bottom line, and then again, maybe not.
The_Carrot: you remember correctly.
And Rillo777: let’s not be too liberal with the weeniecalling.
Dogs behaving with extreme fear – frequently the likes of which the witness has never observed in the animal before or since, over many encounters with all kinds of animals – are one of the most consistent features of sasquatch encounters involving them. Some are brave (and to read reports some get killed for it). But not most. It runs pretty consonant with another common feature of encounters: the almost preternatural calm noted by the witness in the area of the encounter, especially the complete absence of animal and bird calls which are an almost constant feature of the area under normal circumstances.
I live near the Wounded Knee area……….
Bigfoot seems to be harrassing my family when I’m not home. I’m a bit skeptical, but my wife claims that she heard “somthing heavy” walking around outside the house, the “sound of fingers running against the side of the house” of our thin walled mobile home.
I’m a bit skeptical, but I’ve ruled out the possiblitly of animals like horses and cows, because our home is fenced off.