Community members gather for Sasquatch presentation

Community members gathered at the WSU Extension Center to hear Humanities Washington Speaker David Gordon present details of his book and his findings regarding the legend of Sasquatch.

Gordon’s book, “The Sasquatch Seeker’s Field Manual: Using Citizen Science to Uncover North America’s Most Elusive Creature”, shares stories and opinions about the controversial creature’s existence.

Gordon is a well-known author and has written 20 books on various topics including slugs, snails, orcas, and cooking with insects. Gordon has spent the last two years doing lectures for Humanities Washington about eating insects.

With science constantly evolving, Gordon stated science fiction has become factual as new species are being discovered

As a society, Gordon said people are always trying to create controversy and will sometimes manipulate images to start a dispute. Although a lot of the mythical creatures have been debunked, he urged participants to analyze photos carefully and do research before drawing conclusions.

Gordon stated the legend of the Sasquatch traces back to ancient Native American stories about a giant beast-like creature with the stature of a human. Native Americans would tell children the legend of the Sasquatch to scare them into staying close to the fire. The details of the story include the Sasquatch throwing the misbehaved children into a basket and eating them, he explained.

Legends from the United Kingdom also mention a spirit of the forest called, “the green man”, said Gordon. He added some individuals believe the creature is a reference to the Sasquatch and proves the legend has been around long enough for the confirmation of its existence.

Gordon said because a lot of people believe physical evidence is the key to proving a theory, the lack of evidence of the Sasquatch’s existence makes non-believers very skeptical. When critically thinking, he stated, “the absence of evidence is not evidence of an absence”.

The physical evidence gathered supporting the existence of the Sasquatch includes eyewitness reports and primarily footprints, he explained.

One of the first eyewitness reports occurred in 1957 when a road construction crew in North California claimed they saw large footprints in the dirt while working, said Gordon.

The famous giant footprint, which is believed to belong to the Sasquatch, is the most abundant evidence collected of the creature, said Gordon.

After meeting with several eyewitnesses and believers in the Sasquatch, he stated most people who share their experiences are not doing it for personal gain and the encounters are usually random.

This brought him to his second concept to be considered when using critical thinking, “extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”. Although a giant footprint may be extraordinary proof for some people, Gordon said many still question why additional evidence like bones and teeth have not been discovered.

During the presentation Gordon discussed one of the most compelling and well-known pieces of evidence is a video taken of a large man-ape looking creature walking through the brush. Some of the controversial debate about the footage includes the lack of information about the details of the video, he explained.

To collect additional evidence about the Sasquatch, Gordon said more people need to participate in citizen science.

Gordon said an example of a citizen scientist is Jane Goodall, who began her research out of pure curiosity and interest in the study of chimpanzees.

Gordon stated the best way to discover significant evidence about the Sasquatch would be to search for it in large groups, despite what many people warn about scaring the creature away.

In the chance of an encounter with a Sasquatch, Gordon encouraged participants to take notes of the details of the environment and the characteristics of the creature. Keeping and documenting evidence is a crucial part of providing accurate data, he explained.

For more information on the eyewitness reports and to view a map of Sasquatch sightings in North America, Gordon said to visit the Bigfoot Field Organization’s website.

To check out Gordon’s book or a variety of other books on the topic, visit the Ritzville Library’s website at http://www.ritzvillelibrary.com.