Elder Reveals Indigenous Accounts of Tall Human-Like Beings

Posted Saturday, September 26, 2026

By Squatchable.com staff

A fascinating video surfaced recently on YouTube that dives deep into oral history passed down through generations, recounting encounters with the giants of the American West. The account comes from an 82-year-old indigenous elder named Thomas Red Elk, who shared stories that had been kept within his family for over a century. The video, posted by the channel Bigfoot Sasquatch Stories, weaves together family records, late 19th century railroad survey journals, and the elder's firsthand testimony to paint a picture of what his ancestors called "the long hunt." The story begins with Daniel Mercer, a local history researcher in Oregon, who stumbled upon an 1877 railroad survey journal that mentioned human footprints nearly two feet long. The journal also included a map with red routes running through several western states. When Mercer brought this to Thomas Red Elk's attention, the elder immediately recognized the network because it nearly matched hunting routes passed down in his family. This was the catalyst for Thomas to finally share the full story of what his people had carried in their memories for generations. What makes this account particularly compelling is how it describes the giants. Thomas was very clear that his ancestors never referred to them as animals. They were described as people, just unusually large ones. Adults stood between eight and more than ten feet tall, with shoulders much broader than an ordinary man. They had bare skin, long hair, men wore beards, five-fingered hands, and human-like faces. They wore animal hides, carried spears, stone knives, and simple tools. According to Thomas, they had families, territories, and rules of their own. This aligns with countless indigenous accounts across North America that have always maintained these beings were people, not creatures to be hunted like game. The long hunt, as the elders called it, spanned multiple generations and covered vast territories across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and Northern California. The stories moved from missing food and horses to the first ambush, including a harrowing tale of six warriors lured into a canyon. The hunters followed three sets of footprints as bait, only to find themselves trapped when a massive boulder blocked their retreat and eight giants appeared on the rocky ledges above them. It was a sobering moment when the warriors realized they were not hunting animals but facing groups of people with their own societies and ways of life. One of the most intriguing details comes from a 1934 record written by Thomas's grandfather, which revealed an area that had once been marked simply as "not ours." This suggests there were understood boundaries between the indigenous peoples and the giants, territories that were respected by both sides. The turning point in the long hunt came when the warriors recognized they were dealing with intelligent beings who had their own communities and rules, not just mysterious creatures to be driven away. The video does an excellent job presenting this material with the respect it deserves. Victor, the narrator, makes it clear from the start that he cannot verify whether these events are history, oral tradition, or a mixture of both. He asks viewers to listen with an open mind and draw their own conclusions. That kind of balanced approach is refreshing, especially when dealing with stories that have been passed down through so many generations. For anyone interested in the deep history of Sasquatch encounters with indigenous peoples, this video is absolutely worth your time. It adds another layer to the understanding that these beings have been known to Native American tribes for centuries, long before European settlers arrived on the continent. The fact that Thomas Red Elk's family preserved these stories, complete with maps and detailed accounts of encounters, speaks to the significance these events held for his people. The video runs through the entire conversation between Daniel Mercer and Thomas Red Elk, including the moment when Thomas brings out the old cardboard box containing papers that had been folded many times, passed down through generations. The maps drawn by his ancestors, with their pencil markings showing creeks, mountain ranges, and canyons, closely mirror the red lines on the 1877 survey map. This kind of corroboration between oral tradition and historical documents is exactly the kind of evidence that researchers dream about. If you want to hear the full story straight from the elder himself, definitely check out the video. It's a powerful reminder that the history of Sasquatch in North America goes far deeper than most people realize, and that indigenous knowledge holds keys to understanding these encounters that modern researchers are only beginning to appreciate.