St Nick + Yeti = Santa

Okay, we have been accused of comparing Bigfoot to the European Wildman, The Jolly Green Giant, Enkidu from the Epic of Gilgamesh, even the werewolf. But Santa Clause? Come on BLC you go too far! Well, I can assure you, "Oh no we did-ent!"

The blame/honor/responsibility goes to Jeffrey Vallance of LA Weekly. In an article aptly titled "SANTA IS A WILDMAN!" he writes a riveting tale in the exploration of Santa's Origins. From the Bishop-become-Saint Nicholas to The Snämannen(snowman) a dark, Scandinavian ape-like creature covered in thick, dirty, stinky hair — more like the abominable snowman.

So you see we can hardly be blamed for making such an association when Mr. Vallance did it so eloquently himself.

Heres an excerpt about St. Nicholas:

ACCORDING TO ECCLESIASTICAL LEGENDS, St. Nicholas (A.D. 280-343) was born in Patara, Lycia (Turkey today). Nicholas became Bishop of Myra and was known for performing many miracles. One story tells how Nicholas preserved the chastity of three young girls. The saint discovered that a poverty-stricken man was about to sell his three virgin daughters into child prostitution. In the night, Nicholas threw three orbs of gold down the man's chimney, thus saving the girls from their unspeakable plight. From this source we now have Santa going down the chimney as well as the gleaming, orb-like Christmas-tree ornament.

In A.D. 540, an ornate basilica was constructed over St. Nicholas' humble tomb in Myra. In A.D. 800, the saint's legend was brought to Scandinavia by the Vikings, where it merged with much older pagan myths of trolls and elves.

And here is the Yeti-like Creature of Scandinavia:

A TYPE OF WILDMAN, THE SNÄMANNEN (snowman) purportedly inhabits northern Scandinavia in Lapland, including the Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden and Finland as well as Russian Lapland (the Kola Peninsula) and Siberia. The Lapp Snowman is not to be confused with the Christmas character Frosty the Snowman, a huge snowball with coal (soot) for eyes and mouth, a carrot for a nose, holding a broom like a chimney sweep. The Snämannen is described as a dark, ape-like creature covered in thick, dirty, stinky hair — more like the abominable snowman. His face is broad with prominent brow ridges, nose pressed flat, and a mouth that juts out from a huge jaw. His arms are larger than a man's, and his feet are enormous, with hairless soles. In mountainous regions, the Snämannen's coat turns silver or snow-white in winter. Snämannen's favorite food is cranberries.

Like the miraculous relationship between Peanut butter and Chocolate, those Scandinavians also saw the awesome value of combining two great things made even better by combining them:

When I first arrived in the Land of Hoarfrost, I was puzzled by the enigmatic heraldic symbol of Lapland, the wildman — a hairy, reddish, bestial character dressed in leaves, wielding a gnarled club. To me he looked like a typical prehistoric caveman or the Jolly Green Giant. I collected vague reports of an actual Swedish wildman (Snömannen), a yeti-like creature believed to inhabit the remote areas of the forest. One day when wandering through the wilds of Lapland, I beheld an astonishing thing: a colossal statue of the wildman painted bright red with a snowy white beard. From a distance it looked like Santa Claus. As I stood at the base, staring up at the Herculean statue, it hit me like a hunk of red-hot ejecta from Mount Hekla: Santa Claus, the wildman and Snömannen must spring from the same ancient source. I determined to find the connections between these enigmatic characters.

Still not conviced? Jeffrey Valance even produced a lovely Santa Family Tree. Click to enlarge.


I insist you read the original LA Weekly Article here
And you can read Mr. Vallance's other articles here

Mr. Jefferey Vallance Bigfoot Lunch Club Salutes you!

The Town That Bigfoot Built

The sign above is unique to a town called Honobia, placed in the greenest part of eastern Oklahoma. A town famous for embracing the multiple Bigfoot sightings. Embracing may even be putting it too lightly. Any town that hosts a Bigfoot Festival, as oppose to a Bigfoot conference or a Bigfoot Symposium may be more than just embracing Bigfoot--I think celebrating Bigfoot is more accurate.

The guys at Dense Films are filming a documentary capturing the personality of this town and their celebratory appreciation of Bigfoot. Judging by the trailer and the clip below, it looks promising. We will stay tuned and keep you up-to-date on their progress. For now, BLC salutes Bryce Holland and the rest the crew at Dense Films.

Here is an excerpt from the site:

Nestled in the heart of the Kiamichi Mountains of Oklahoma is the town of Honobia; a place that has managed to thrive due to the help of one of the most infamous creatures of all time.--Dense Films

The Town That Bigfoot Built TRAILER from Bryce Holland on Vimeo.

"The Town That Bigfoot Built" Night Vision scene from Bryce Holland on Vimeo.

Bigfoot Author, Blu Buhs, Blogs for Washington Post

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Joshua Blu Buhs who wrote Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend, guests blogs for the Washington Post. In the Blog, Buhs decides to throw in his hat and offers his reaction to the most recent Bigfoot encounters, the San Antonio 911 call and the Minnesota trail cam photo.

If you are unfamiliar with Joshua Blu Buhs, here is a quick synopses of his book:

"Independent scholar Buhs (The Fire Ant Wars) skeptically but affectionately surveys the evidentiary traces of bigfoot and his yeti and Sasquatch kin in sightings, tracks, sideshow exhibits and film, but his focus is on the megapod as cultural signifier. To the white working-class men who are his biggest fans, Buhs contends, bigfoot is an icon of untamed masculinity, a populist rebel against scientific elites, the last champion of authentic reality against a plastic, image-driven, effeminate consumer society."
--Publishers Weekly

Joshua Blu Buhs, has a certain perspective. He thinks Bigfoot is "...a product of the postwar ascendance of mass culture and a reaction to it..."

The New Yorker called some of of his assertions silly, in particular the quote,"...by imagining themselves into the body of Sasquatch, white working-class men could imagine themselves as black, as women, could come in contact with their own souls."

In his guest blog he full-on compares Bigfoot to Santa Clause.

Given the season, we might compare the interest in Bigfoot to affection for Santa Claus. Not strictly a legend -- no one seriously argues for the existence of him -- Santa Claus is still related to Bigfoot. Both are wildmen, part uncivilized, part human. Santa lives in the inhospitable North and is often decked in garlands of holly but is comparatively domesticated, his rough edges hidden behind a great white beard and cherubic cheeks. We tell stories about Santa Claus not because we believe in him, but because those stories convey messages we want shared -- about generosity and pure love and respect for others.

And that's why we tell stories about Bigfoot. Not only to argue for and against the existence of the Big Guy, but because through those stories we come to understand more about ourselves, our neighbors, and our place in this world.

I really enjoyed his book and find his take on Bigfoot interesting, but his blog has none of the eloquence or thoughtfulness I found in his book. Go ahead check out the blog for yourself at The Washington Post.

You can Also read an interesting interview of Joshua Blu Buhs at Bigfoot Books Blog