"Bigfoot!" Research Paper: Part 2
Hi, bigfooters! Today I'm going to do my second chapter of my "Bigfoot!" paper from 6th grade last year. Ah, good times! And now, for the post of the blog, as Starfire would say.
What Are Some Theories of Bigfoot?
One theory of Bigfoot is that Bigfoots represent a lost species of hominid. A hominid is a primate of a family (Hominidae) that includes humans and their fossil ancestors, like neanderthals. Some people say that Bigfoot is part ape, and part human! Both of those creatures are primates. On the surface, this theory doesn’t seem that crazy. Well, to others, maybe. But, the deep forests and remote mountains of the world could hide few evolutionary offshoots, Bigfoot included. It’s a lot harder to hide a sustainable population, though. Within a single habitat, any population below about 500 would be considered severely endangered. While it is technically possible such populations of large primates could exist in several places throughout North America and have escaped detection or being proven to exist at all (Which means no bodies, abandoned nests, or bones being found.), it is incredibly unlikely. By the way, trying to deny the scientific implausibility of this theory gives rise to the very increasingly mysterious theories that follow!
Another theory of Bigfoot is that Bigfoot is a Native American nature spirit. In an early issue of the Bigfoot newsletter entitled The Track Record, Gayle Highpine surveyed the various attitudes of North American tribes toward Bigfoot. Lakota, Dakota, and Ojibway tribes consider Bigfoot to be a spirit guide and harbinger who brings “signs or messages that there is a need to change, a need to cleanse.” One Dakota tribe member told a local newspaper, “They exist in another dimension from us, but can appear in this dimension whenever they have a reason to.” Another dimension? Like, a ghost world? Maybe so.
Highpine also alludes to a very common Bigfoot theme- psychic powers:
The existence of Bigfoot is taken for granted throughout Native North America, as so are its powerful psychic abilities. (Native elders) say that Bigfoot knows when humans are searching for itself and that it chooses when and to whom to make an appearance, and that its psychic powers account for its ability to elude the white men’s efforts to capture or hunt itself down.
That would explain how Bigfoot exists, but no one has actually ever captured one.
In 2002, the documentary entitled Bigfootville, Native Americans in Oklahoma claimed that a Bigfoot could be standing right in front of you, but it could make you not see itself with its “magic hypnosis powers.”
In addition, another theory of Bigfoot is that Bigfoot is an alien. There have been a few documented UFO sightings in conjunction with Bigfoot sightings, lending a much stranger explanation to the question, “What is Bigfoot?” Some suggest that Sasquatch is linked in some ways to beings from another world: either planted here intentionally or brought to earth to serve some sort of purpose, such as learning more about humans. While sightings of Bigfoot and UFOs are occasionally reported together, it is unclear whether these reports are credible. Hey, it’s unclear whether any of it is credible!
My final Bigfoot theory is the theory that Bigfoot is a descendant of a race of now extinct giant apes called Gigantopithecus Blacki. They became extinct five hundred thousand years ago. Gigantopithecus Blacki lived in Asia and retreated into the Himalayas when it was alive. But, the only evidence we have of these giant apes are its teeth and jawbones. The first tooth was found in 1932 by a Dutch paleoanthropologist named G.H.R. Von Koeingswa in a Hong Kong apothecary shop. What a lucky find! Since that time, only a few jawbones and thousands of teeth have been found in China and India.
Like I said earlier, Gigantopithecus Blacki died out half a million years ago. But, its descendant Bigfoot could have possibly survived.
Stripped of its hair, the North American Sasquatch expresses many more human features that ape traits, like its hands. A very debatable statement since humans also have many ape-like qualities that they display without resorting to walking on all fours.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time at Bigfoot Girl! See ya later, non-Bigfoot hater! Soon a while, crocodile!
