Sasquatch Days and Bigfoot Daze
Posted by: Loren Coleman on May 28th, 2012
Happy Memorial Day…plan your next excursion now…
Celebrating Sasquatch Days in Harrison Hot Springs
Stsailes (formerly Chehalis Indian Band) and the Village of Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia, send an open invitation to join in celebrating Sasquatch Days on June 9 & 10, 2012 in Harrison Hot Springs.
Sasquatch Days serves as an opportunity to share Stsailes heritage with surrounding First Nations, communities, and guests through war canoe races, medicine walks, cultural boat tours, and artisan demonstrations and sales. This engaging and entertaining experience is further enhanced by Sasquatch stories and discussion from local Harrison investigators and Stsailes oral storytellers. There is also the added bonus of a traditional salmon barbeque and cultural celebrations all along the beautiful backdrop of the Harrison Lake.
As a community we are quite excited for the revival of the Sasquatch Days, says Stsailes Chief Willie Charlie, It goes a long way in showing the partnership between Stsailes and the Village of Harrison Hot Springs to reignite this event after nearly 70 years since it was hosted at the [Harrison] Lake. Historically, Stsailes continued such celebrations through various events within our community village. Today, we are happy to return the celebrations to Qwó:ls, one of our traditional village sites. Qwó:ls refers to the boiling water or medicine water of the Harrison Hot Springs.
An intriguing part of this celebrated event is the Sasqauatch theme. The very word Sasquatch is an anglicised version of the Halqemeylem word Sasqets, which refers to this elusive creature that holds cultural and spiritual significance to First Nations, including the Stsailes. The Sasquatch will be celebrated throughout the weekend and featured in the Saturday morning procession that will open the weekend festivities.
Chief Charlie also shares that we know our land and our history, and we are taught to celebrate and to remember through stories, song and dance. Before there were roads and vehicles in our community we used the waterways and canoes to travel. The painted stone and rock formations along the rivers, lakes and streams are our ancestors physical reminders on how to conduct oneself as Xwelmexw – people of the land. Today, our canoe racers still have the good fortune of experiencing those reminders everyday on the water and on June 9 & 10 the rest of the people have the opportunity to tap into some of that experience.
For more information about the event go to click here.
Willow Creek, California’s Bigfoot Days are well known. But the custom is also found elsewhere in the USA.
Such as down in Washington State…
Bigfoot Daze 2012
Happy Bride to Wed Bigfoot! This is a recent press release headline issued by the Western Bigfoot Society, who sponsors the annual Bigfoot Daze at Bigfoot Park in Carson, WA, every last weekend in August since 1992.
At the beginning of 1999’s event, Society members Molly Atwood and Daren Richardson (who was dressed as the hairy house himself) got married on sight. Daren even claims to have seen the real Bigfoot before. Besides shows of such animal attraction, there will be educational seminars about this mythic creature, stilt races, a dance contest, horse shoe pitching, live music, a chili cook-off, a wedding cake competition and lots of good grub, including Bigfoot Hunter Burgers, Abominable Potato Salad, and Yeti Spaghetti. This event is free and open to the public. Bigfoot wigs and Bigfoot bad breath not included.
When: Last weekend in August every year
Where: Carson, WA, U.S.A.
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.
