WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:08.720 My wife and I are originally from Cincinnati. However, for the past thirty 2 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:13.439 years we've traveled all over North America with our camper and boat and enjoyed the 3 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:18.000 beauty and the bounty of this beautiful continent. We always make it back to 4 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:22.440 Cincinnati for the holidays with our children and grandchildren, but the rest of the 5 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:27.519 year we spend on the road. In nineteen ninety nine, we were in 6 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:32.439 a community in Alaska where we liked a salmon fish and to hunt cariboo. 7 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:37.359 We always gave ninety nine percent of our cats, along with two cariboo that 8 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:41.399 we took there once to the locals. The meat was more than we could 9 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:46.719 eat, and the indigenous people appreciated the extra food. It earned us some 10 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:51.759 lifelong friendships. You couldn't imagine our joy when on this year one of the 11 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:56.079 young tribe members offered to take us to one of his spots to fish, 12 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:02.560 a place where few outsiders have ever been. It demonstrated his trust in us, 13 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:07.120 which was a great honor. The sight was nothing short of amazing. 14 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:12.079 It was everything our young friend had promised, and the wide stream, nestled 15 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:17.879 between two small mountains and surrounded by woods, was no deeper than our knees. 16 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:22.680 The water was crystal clear with a sandy bottom, and it was teeming 17 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:26.480 with salmon. Two other members of the tribe were there when we arrived. 18 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:33.200 They recognized us and offered a friendly wave. The eight large bears were also 19 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:38.519 enjoying the abundant salmon. But our friend told us not to panic. Don't 20 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:42.480 bother them, and they'll leave you alone, he said. He explained that 21 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:47.359 they too were fishing for salmon and chasing us off would require too much energy. 22 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:51.040 And then he said, but if they grab one of our fish, 23 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:55.000 just cut the line and start over, or they will go after our catch. 24 00:01:55.439 --> 00:02:00.519 Just let them have it. There's plenty more fish out there. We'd 25 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:05.640 been fishing for two hours and everyone was catching enormous kings. The bears were 26 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:09.080 having a good day as well. We were all having a great time when 27 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:15.439 we heard a roar from across the creek. Two of the other fishermen left. 28 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:20.439 They didn't even gather their catch. The bears all stopped fishing and ran 29 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:24.080 into the woods away from the sound. Our guide said, we have to 30 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:29.599 go now. I must have given him a defiant look, because he added, 31 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:34.879 we need to leave now and leave the catch. We sensed the urgency 32 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:38.919 in his voice and we knew there was danger present, so we followed him 33 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:42.840 back to his truck. He didn't speak a word until we were back on 34 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.039 the main road, and I noticed that he kept checking his rear view mirror. 35 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:51.159 What's going on? I kept asking, was it a bear? What 36 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:55.680 made that noise? And why did the other bears run off? The suspense 37 00:02:55.800 --> 00:03:01.159 was killing me, but he would never answer. Finally, once we were 38 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:06.719 on the main road, he said, Kushtaka. What in the world is 39 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:10.960 Kushtaka? I asked. I could see that he was clearly upset to even 40 00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:15.280 speak of it. He paused for a minute and gathered his words before saying, 41 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:19.599 you do not live in this land, and you should not know all 42 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:23.560 of its secrets. But Kushtaka is he who rules over all the land. 43 00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:29.560 He paused for a minute, and then he continued, He lays claim to 44 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:34.000 all and requires tributes from us to hunt and fish his land. That is 45 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:37.919 why we left our catch. If we hadn't done that, it would have 46 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:43.319 brought bad luck to our people and we would have faced his anger. He 47 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:46.360 refused to speak any more about it, and when he dropped us off at 48 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:51.919 the small campground outside of town where we had made camp. He told us 49 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:55.719 to be ready to go by eight am tomorrow, and then he left. 50 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:01.639 We spent the night trying to envision exactly what Kushtaka was. Was it a 51 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:09.439 bear or some sort of monster. Years later we learned that Kushtaka is called 52 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:13.879 the otterman. At the time, we never would have come up with that 53 00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:18.600 in any way, shape or form or fashion. Over the next four days, 54 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:24.439 our guide took us to more commonly fished and therefore more crowded areas. 55 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:29.040 He refused to take us back to his honey hole, but on the fifth 56 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:31.519 day we told him we were going to go out on our own. We 57 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:35.560 found our way back up to the secret spot where the bear had returned and 58 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:43.600 were feasting on the fatty fish. There were no other fishermen around. Jesse 59 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:47.279 and I concealed ourselves in the thick brush along the creek and waited as the 60 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:51.040 bears walked within feet of us, not even giving us a second look. 61 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:58.199 At four pm, the roar bellowed again, sending the bears fleeing into the 62 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:03.519 bush and leaving the stream for Kushtaka. Once the bears were gone and everything 63 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:11.079 settled down. Three enormous creatures, a huge male, a female with sagging 64 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:15.879 breasts, and a younger male walked into the creek and began to grab fish. 65 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:20.160 They'd shoved the belly of one fish into their mouths and eat the eggs 66 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:25.360 with one hand while reaching down into the water to grab another fish with the 67 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:31.720 other. Their mouths seemed to stretch from ear to ear. The bodies were 68 00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:35.959 completely covered in hair except for their faces and the palms of their hands, 69 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:42.879 and their large black eyes were set further apart than a human's. Their noses 70 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:46.920 gave the appearance of being smashed into their faces. Their foreheads sloped back to 71 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:53.959 conical heads. We couldn't see their ears for all the hair. They stood 72 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:57.879 in the middle of the creek, knees bent and scooped up the salmon with 73 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:03.959 large hands that were attached to arms that extended below their knees. Eventually, 74 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.639 they squatted or sat down in the creek and used their arms to guide the 75 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:13.360 fish into their lips, and after they took one large bite from the fish's 76 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:17.920 bellies, they'd cast them aside and grabbed the next one. More fish bodies 77 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:24.759 floated past us than we could count The male stood nine feet tall, and 78 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:29.759 it was at least five feet across. His hair was black. Gray was 79 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:33.160 mixed in throughout his hair, but mostly concentrated on his chin and chest. 80 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:39.879 The female was more of a reddish brown. She stood two feet shorter than 81 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:43.720 the male, and the hair on her breast was much more sparse than on 82 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:47.040 the rest of her body. She wasn't nearly as broad as the male. 83 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:53.319 The juvenile was quite a bit smaller than either of the adults. He was 84 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:57.879 the same size as our young Indian guide and covered in deep brown hair. 85 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.759 Remained focused on the salmon for quite some time. They only stopped eating to 86 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:09.199 defecate or urinate. Even then, they didn't get out of the water, 87 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:15.120 which might be the reason their stool is never found. I brought my thirty 88 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:20.160 five millimeter camera and I managed to snap off two whole thirty six exposure rolls 89 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:27.439 of film unnoticed. The rushing water masked the clicking sound of the camera shutter. 90 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:31.000 A storm was approaching, and when the wind kicked up we retreated. 91 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:38.319 We were unobserved. I couldn't wait to see how our pictures turned out. 92 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:43.839 We drove straight to a little store to have them developed. That is how 93 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:49.439 it was before digital cameras, laptops in the Internet. Jesse and I had 94 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:55.879 just spent two hours observing three animals that were thought to exist only in myth 95 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:03.319 or at best, rarely seen from the Patterson Gimlin film. Most evidence was 96 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:07.800 footprints. But now we had solid proof that these animals exist and we could 97 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:13.839 give them the protection they need. As we watched, we'd heard them vocalizing 98 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:18.199 with each other. There was a mix of clacking and popping sounds made by 99 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:24.319 their lips and teeth, combined with purring and cooing. They even had a 100 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:31.879 language that sounded like Chinese or Japanese. Three days later, when we went 101 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:35.240 to pick up our pictures, we were heartbroken when we were handed an empty 102 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:41.759 envelope. We decided it didn't matter, though we were already planning our next 103 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:48.759 trip to the creek. We would get more pictures. Two elders were standing 104 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:52.919 by our truck when we walked outside. They asked us to join them for 105 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:56.720 a ride in their beat up suburban, and we excitedly jumped into the back 106 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:01.039 seat. When a ride was off, it usually meant that they were going 107 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:05.480 to show us something special, and in the past they'd taken us to see 108 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:11.279 several secret tribal areas, including burial grounds, totem poles, and some drawings 109 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:18.000 on cliffs and rocks. That day, there wasn't much conversation on the trip 110 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:22.360 other than a little small talk. We drove for half an hour along dirt 111 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:26.399 trails and creek crossings until we arrived in an old log cabin that looked like 112 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:31.559 it had been abandoned. The roof was peeled back, the windows were knocked 113 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:37.559 out, the door was missing. A few outbuildings looked like they had been 114 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:41.759 bulldozed over. It had been left to nature, and nature was greedily taking 115 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:46.679 it back. We pulled up to the cabin and the two elders got out 116 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:50.159 and went to sit on a couple of big rocks, and they waited for 117 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:54.000 us to approach them. Before the chief began to speak. We know of 118 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:58.080 your curiosity, and we worry about your lives as well as the lives of 119 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:03.200 our people when you leave. Your photos were destroyed, but we cannot stop 120 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.799 you from going back to take more. I want you to know everything that 121 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:13.960 will occur if you do. This cabin belonged to a family from the Lower 122 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:18.840 States, he said, gesturing with his hand. They wanted to live off 123 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:22.039 the grid, as they put it, to teach their children how to live 124 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:26.759 off the land. They lived here for a couple of years, and they 125 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:31.159 were well liked by our people. We shared many of our traditions with them 126 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:37.399 to help make their lives easier. To continue. The story was becoming difficult 127 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:43.480 for the chief, and the other elder took over. The father had constructed 128 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:46.960 a smokehouse for the salmon he had taken that year, and the bears toward 129 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:52.720 apart, stealing most of their catch. This led to concerns that there would 130 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:56.960 not be enough food to get through the winter. They drove to town and 131 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:01.759 bought several boxes of ammo for the hunting rifle. The next week, he 132 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:07.120 returned to town to buy more salt to cure the meat from a huge moose 133 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:11.480 he had harvested. He told us then that he was afraid the bear would 134 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:16.399 return. The old man lowered his head and thought for a moment before he 135 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:22.399 continued. We listened to his story about his moose hunt and about all of 136 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:28.559 his concerns, and we realized that this might be kushtaka. We advised him 137 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.919 to leave a quarter of the meat out further away from the house, but 138 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:37.679 he said they had taken enough and he wasn't giving up any more. That 139 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:41.559 night, he had strung cans with rocks in them to alert him of the 140 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.000 meat thieves, and sure enough, that night he heard something and ran out 141 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:48.720 to chase it offer to shoot it. We know he hit something from the 142 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:54.200 blood that trailed into the bush and the large footprints we found along the trail. 143 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:58.960 By this time, the chief regained his composure and continued the story. 144 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.879 We grew concerned a couple of days later when we did not see him or 145 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:09.679 his family back in town. They never came back. Several of our tribe 146 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:13.399 drove up there to find his cabin torn open like you see it now. 147 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:18.120 All the other buildings had been beat down to the ground, and there were 148 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:24.159 kushtaka footprints all over their home site. We found the father curled up right 149 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:30.480 over there. He pointed to an old mountain hemlock tree. He was clinging 150 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:33.879 to life, but twisted and beaten. His body was covered in blood and 151 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:39.840 his legs were broken, and we later learned that he'd suffered internal damage. 152 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:43.840 We rushed him to town, where he was taken by helicopter to anchorage for 153 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:48.440 treatment. He kept muttering they came, They came, and they took my 154 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:52.639 wife and daughter. He never said anything else, just those same words. 155 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:58.480 Over and over. State troopers came to investigate, and they questioned us. 156 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.679 They asked us if he could have killed his family, and we didn't believe 157 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:09.080 that he could have. The troopers concluded that it must have been a bear 158 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:13.480 that did all that damage. Again, the chief stopped and shook his head. 159 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.759 But we knew better. We are of the land and of the water. 160 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:22.799 We could see the tracks and the claw marks on the building. We 161 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:28.000 followed the blood trail before the troopers destroyed the evidence. We saw where the 162 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:33.360 injured kushtaka ran toward the river. We saw where it had fallen several times 163 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:37.639 before it was picked up and carried by other Kushtaka. We did not venture 164 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:43.200 further. We did not want to risk the consequences of trespassing on kushtaka land. 165 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:50.159 The chief's eyes filled with tears as he said the wife was nowhere to 166 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:56.440 be found, nor was the daughter. Our stories tell of many times when 167 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:01.799 kushtaka would come to our villages and take women and children. The chief told 168 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:05.200 us that he had driven to the hospital to visit the man, and he 169 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:11.000 found him curled up in his bed, repeating. They came. Over the 170 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:16.120 next five years, the chief made that same trip every year, and then 171 00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:20.320 some of his family from the Lower forty eight came and took the father home. 172 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.080 The chief told us that he felt responsible for what happened because he knew 173 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:30.159 that it was Kushtaka when the father first came to town for the AMMO, 174 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:33.799 but he didn't tell him about the beast, and he said he should have. 175 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:39.320 Several hunters from our village came up missing that year, and half of 176 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:43.639 our dogs disappeared. He said they were dragged away in the middle of the 177 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:48.039 night. Koshtaka came to take his revenge, and just like he took his 178 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:52.120 revenge on the father for shooting one of his own. He let him live, 179 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:56.879 but he broke his legs so he couldn't walk. He could only lie 180 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:03.360 there and watch. Hearing this story, Jesse and I began to think about 181 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:05.960 what would happen if we had taken those photos and then showed them to the 182 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:13.039 wrong people. This peaceful slice of heaven would be overrun with people trying to 183 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.480 kill or capture one and the people who would pay dearly for it would be 184 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:22.919 the local tribe. We decided to leave the Kushtak up beat. We made 185 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:26.559 a few more trips up there and tried to earn the tribes trust again, 186 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:31.960 but it was never the same. The community never showed the trust that they 187 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:37.600 once had. They were always nice to us and respectful, they just didn't 188 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:43.080 share stories or traditions with us ever again. We never returned to the God's 189 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:46.960 honey Hole after that. We saw the Guide a few times, but he 190 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:50.080 always turned and walked the other way. He never spoke to us again. 191 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:58.600 Jesse and I eventually decided never to return to the village. We'd lost the 192 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:03.320 joy we once felt by being there, and there was a costly lesson and 193 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:11.279 trust mmm.