A Native American artwork depicting the Dzoonokwa, a similar creature to the Stick Indian.

The Native American Salish tribe recounts tales of a cryptid known as the Stick Indians, which remarkably mirror many reported sightings of Bigfoot.

Description of the Stick Indians

Stick Indians are a nocturnal creature rarely sighted held in high regard by the Salish people. They are described as being hairy, humanoid creatures with a tall and slender frame. They are said to be able to move incredibly fast and silently.

The description of Stick Indians varies between tribes, with the Salish viewing them as large, hairy, Bigfoot-like beings, while the Cayuse and Yakama portray them as dwarfs of the forest.

In some tribal traditions, Stick Indians are believed to possess the power to paralyze, hypnotize, or drive humans insane. In other accounts, they simply lure people off their paths by creating spooky whistling sounds or laughter in the woods at night.

Stories circulate of Stick Indians potentially devouring humans who become their victims, abducting children, or harassing women. These entities are also said to seek fierce revenge against those who harm or disrespect them, even if such actions were unintentional.

Stick Indians reportedly speak a language resembling the sounds of birds and other animals rather than human speech.

Stick Indians are said to subsist primarily on hunting and fishing, and it appears they do not establish any permanent settlements, preferring a nomadic lifestyle. Their attire is reportedly made from deer skins and other elements found within the forest.

The origin of the term “Stick Indians” is speculated to come from their forest-dwelling habits and animal-like characteristics. Another theory suggests that the name derives from their mischievous behavior of inserting sticks into tepees, lodges, and even pranking sleeping individuals.

These entities show similarities to the Pukwudgies of folklore, primarily being harmless until provoked. In the darkness of the night, Stick Indians are known to engage in light-hearted mischief in nearby villages, such as pilfering fish from nets, sneaking away with food, or even undressing sleeping villagers.

However, these creatures’ true capabilities are said to surface when they are threatened or their lives are disrupted by humans. Known for their vengefulness, Stick Indians allegedly possess powerful mental influence abilities. These powers, reported to induce fear, confusion, and anxiety, vary in intensity and effect, with some accounts suggesting they can hypnotize or even drive people to insanity. They are particularly adept at disorienting travelers by mimicking animal noises and whistling.

Several instances of missing persons are often attributed to the Stick Indians, who are believed to abduct those who disrespect them as a form of retribution. The folklore especially warns children about wandering into the forest at night, as tales abound of Stick Indians kidnapping children and raising them as wives or slaves.

Living History’s Mysteries covers the Stick Indians

Stick Indian Sightings

A user on the HWHikers forum named kbatku posted his encounter with some Stick Indians back in 2008.

He recalled that on New Year’s Eve in 1991, him and his wife ventured into Boulder Cave to meet some friends and celebrate the New Year. Despite being dark, they were equipped with flashlights and warm clothes, and the trail was clear of snow.

As they navigated the trail through the pine forest, they started hearing distant noises resembling the laughter and shouts of playing children. They initially dismissed this, attributing it to a nearby cabin or camp, but there was no evidence of any other people in the area. The laughter seemed to fade in and out, as if carried by the wind, only to return moments later.

Once they reached the cave, they relayed their peculiar experience to their friends. However, as the night progressed with music, conversation, and laughter, the strange incident was temporarily forgotten.

When they started their journey back, the mood had changed, the forest seemed somewhat ominous. They discovered a peculiar object propped against the base of a tree, which they believed was left for them by whatever caused the laughter. The object was a small figurine made of tiny sticks, moss, pine needles, and lichen, intricately assembled, as if by tiny hands.

Taking it home, they scrutinized it for some time, but it eventually gave off a creepy vibe, and they discarded it. Years later, while recounting this experience to a Native coworker, he suggested that they had encountered “Stick Indians”.

Have you ever seen a Stick Indian? Tell us about it in the comments.

If you enjoyed learning about the Stick Indians you might be interested in similar creatures such as the Flordia Skunk Ape or the story of a bigfoot being hit by a train in the 1800s.

An artist’s interpretation of the Ohio Octoman. Image: Cryptopia

In the winter of 1959, at least five eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a huge, bipedal creature resembling an octopus in the area around the Ohio River.

Sightings of the Octoman

In the winter of 1959, the Ohio River and its tributaries became the stage for a series of bizarre sightings. Five terrified witnesses reported encountering a large, gray, octopus-like creature, which quickly gained infamy as the ‘Indescribable Octo-Man‘.

The creature first made headlines on January 29th, 1959, when a local Cincinnati newspaper ran a captivating headline: “What Is It? ‘Monster’ Churns Up the Ohio”. The article sparked a whirlwind of speculation, leading to numerous sightings of the Octo-Man, many of which were reported to the local police.

The creature was first sighted near the town of New Richmond by an anonymous man who described the creature as “indescribable”. His report was initially met with skepticism by the police until a second caller, a truck driver, phoned in with a similar sighting.

Despite some officers dismissing the reports as a prank, a number of dispatchers, including one Frank B. Heisler, stated that those making the reports sounded legitimately frightened and sober. In a strange twist of events, as the creature reports began to flood in, all the streetlights along a specific avenue, from Lunken Airport to Coney Island, Ohio, were suddenly extinguished.

While the sightings initially caused a flurry of panic, by Saturday the police announced that the calls had ceased and that the creature had seemingly disappeared. However, subsequent sightings of a similar creature were reported near Covington, Kentucky in February, suggesting the Octo-Man was still around.

Investigations into the Ohio Octoman

Renowned expert on mythical creatures, Loren Coleman, stated that no new sightings of the monster were reported until nearly 20 years later. In 1978, Dennis Pilchis, an investigator of UFOs and Bigfoot from Rome, Ohio, released a booklet called “Bigfoot: Tales of Unexplained Creatures”. As a local, Pilchis might have had a chance to hear more details from witnesses which were not covered in the press.

Pilchis noted that a woman from Covington reported seeing the creature in a bent over position. She described it as a bizarre, gray being with an uneven chest, ‘frightening’ tentacles, and layers of fat layered across a hairless head. According to her, the creature, with bulges of fat on its bald head, was an enormous, slimy figure that moved in an awkward manner. It was such a shocking sight that it deeply affected those who saw it.

This state of fear, particularly among the children in the area, was evidenced by a report in the Cincinnati Post & Times-Star. It recounted a phone call from an 11-year-old boy asking if “green men are emerging from the river in groups of twelve as his teacher claimed.”

By the following Saturday, local police announced that they received no more calls about the monster, implying that it had left the town. However, it may have been too early to make such a declaration.

In their 1982 book “The Bigfoot Casebook,” Janet and Colin Bord mention a report from a driver named George Wagner. He claimed to have seen a large, two-legged creature on a bridge over the Ohio River near Covington, Kentucky, in February 1959. We can assume this happened early in the month. Following Wagner’s report, it seemed like the bizarre, hairless, tentacled, two-legged creature had disappeared from our world. Or, it might have just returned to the murky depths of the Ohio River or one of its many tributaries, awaiting a time to re-emerge and cause chaos once more.

Theories about the Ohio Octoman

William Defalco covers the Octosquatch cryptid, a similar cryptid to the octoman seen in Ohio.

The Octo-Man, with its unusual, hybrid-like features, became the subject of many theories. Some speculated it was a new amphibious species, unknown to science. Others suggested it was a lost alien, an unlikely human-animal-plant hybrid, or even related to other local cryptids like the Loveland Frogmen or the Green Clawed Beast.

In the midst of the chaos sparked by claims of a monster sighting, a dispatcher from Clermont County, Heisler, suggested the witnesses may have mistaken a tree bobbing in the water for a creature. Local dam worker, William Sprague, agreed with Heisler’s theory. “I’ve been on duty since midnight. I’ve been keeping a close eye on the river and I haven’t seen anything unusual,” said Sprague. “There were strong winds all night, causing waves up to eight feet high. This could easily trick someone. The winds also caused a lot of driftwood to break loose. When you’re out on the river at night, these floating trees can look quite eerie under the dim light.”

Sprague’s driftwood theory doesn’t account for certain details reported by the witnesses. It doesn’t explain how something resembling a tree or wave could have feet or resemble an octopus. It also fails to address the claim of a witness who said they saw the creature jump onto a bridge.

Have you ever seen anything like the Octoman in Ohio? Tell us about your experience in the comments.

If you enjoyed learning about the Octoman you might be interested in similar cryptids like the Oklahoma Octopus or the Tsuchinoko.