Bigfoot has long captured the American imagination: A large humanoid creature that walks the forests, leaving behind purported footprints and other sightings but never proof of existence.
[Read: How Bigfoot entered modern American folklore.]
It can’t be physically found, so it must be physically recreated. A day spent in any Pacific Northwest city ensures multiple Bigfoot sightings—from street corners to bumper stickers.
But before it became a commodified pop icon, stories about a mysterious guardian spirit have long been passed down among Native American societies.
“— Acosia Red Elk (Umatilla/Cayuse/Walla Walla), world champion jingle dancerOur people always talked about how Bigfoot was our protector.”
The other popularized name for Bigfoot is Sasquatch, which comes from Sasq’ets, in Halq’emeylem spoken by the Stó:lō people in what’s now British Columbia.
Other names are less well-known.
In the canyonlands of the Nch’i-Wána, or Columbia River Plateau, Bigfoot is also known as Istiyehe and Stiyahama by Ichishkíin and Niimi’ipuutímt speakers from the Yakama, Umatilla, Nez Perce and Warm Springs Confederated Tribes.
“All communities across the Plateau may have a name — not just one name but many names for the being known as Bigfoot,” said scholar and artist Phil Cash Cash (Cayuse & Nez Perce).
“Some may actually have a very deep ongoing relationship to this being, and that much I know because they have their strong oral tradition.”
(L) Phil Cash Cash walks through the snowy lands of Pashwá’i, also known as Bend, Ore. (R) Acosia Red Elk takes a moment to reflect on Bigfoot stories on Umatilla land.
Cameron Nielsen / OPB
Most non-Native Americans may not realize how deeply ingrained belief in Bigfoot is for First Peoples today and since time immemorial.
Listening to the Nch’i-Wána region’s Native perspectives reveals a refreshing framework for understanding Bigfoot. Not as a being to be found and captured. Rather, as a spiritual guide that helps shape daily conduct, relationality with the land and a deeper connection with one’s self.
“When I powwow dance, I feel like the Bigfoot embodiment is within the confidence that I have when I dance. The freedom and the sovereignty to move freely,” said world champion jingle dancer Acosia Red Elk.
“When you believe in it, you have the ability to access it, to receive the protection from it, to be able to learn from it.”
For many Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, Bigfoot is a living and powerful part of their identities that requires zero proof of existence.
The documentary film “Guardian of the Land” by Warm Springs filmmaker LaRonn Katchia is available to watch now on OPB video streaming platforms and airs Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, at 9 p.m.
Learn more unique perspectives on Oregon’s Indigenous past and present: