Missing for 75 Years, First Nation Sasquatch Mask Returns Home

A Sasq'ets mask, commonly know as sasquatch (photo: Cliff Barackman)

"Much of the [premier] episode was filmed on the historic Sts' Ailes First Nations Reserve in British Columbia. While there, I was allowed access to the traditional sasquatch mask that had been "lost" for 75 years..." --Cliff Barackman

Around May of 2014 the Canadian Press syndicated a story about a mask that was lost for 75 years. In the article it described a James Leon's 16-year journey to recover the Sasq'ets mask. The way he finally re-discovered the lost artifact was serendipitous.

Leon was at a repatriation event for another First Nations artifact held by the Vancouver Museum when he asked the lady sitting beside him if she knew of the ape-like mask partially covered in bear fur.

"Her eyes lit up and she said 'We were just looking at that mask the other day.' And they were gracious enough to go get it for me," he said with a chuckle.

The mask disappeared in 1939 from Sts'ailes First Nation, near Harrison Hot Springs in B.C.'s Fraser Valley.

Community elders told Leon that the mask had been taken by J.W. Burns, a teacher at the Chehalis Indian Day School, and a man obsessed with the sasquatch legend.

Burns, who is often credited for bringing the word "sasquatch" into common use, donated the mask to the Vancouver Museum.

Cliff Barackman posted on his Facebook page that the Season 9 premier episode of Finding Bigfoot will take him to the Sts' Ailes First Nations Reserve in British Columbia.

Photo from 1938 Sasquatch Days Festival

Although the First Nation people refer to the mask as sasquatch, some skeptics think we should be more cautious how we reference these artifacts. Sharon Hill of Doubtful News writes, "The article makes a connection to Sasquatch as described by indigenous people but I’m not clear how solid that connection is. How do we know that the mask represents the same entity that we now refer to as “sasquatch” or Bigfoot? Or are we jumping to conclusions?"

She ends the article with a warning, "It’s a potential hazard to jump to conclusions and call this a representation of Sasquatch."

It is not clear if the warning is for the readers or the aboriginals who actually refer to the mask as a representation of sasquatch. In fact, in the article itself, a representative of the Sts' Ailes people makes a direct reference to sasquatch.

"We do burning for the sasquatch. It's our belief that his primary role is to ensure that the land is being taken care of. Because everyone of us, as Sts'ailes people, we carry an ancestral name, a rich name from the land."

The video below is a video uploaded by Tom Yamerone. Known for his Bigfoot Songs.

Finding Bigfoot Premieres Ninth Season JAN 3 2016

Get Ready to Believe

The Finding Bigfoot teams for a brand new season of 'squatch hunting in a two-hour premiere, Sunday, Jan. 3 at 9/8c!

Animal planet is alreading promoting the next season of Finding Bigfoot with a video titled Get Ready to Believe. Watch the video below as well as the press release with details of the next season's episodes.

THE SEARCH RESUMES AS “FINDING BIGFOOT” RETURNS TO ANIMAL PLANET FOR AN ALL-NEW SEASON BEGINNING JANUARY 3rd

Season Premiere Determines Which is the Better Habitat for Bigfoot: The American or Canadian Bush?

(Silver Spring, Md.) -The natural world is full of discoveries to be made and truths to be uncovered. However, there is one legendary animal mystery that sparks passion unlike any other: the existence of Bigfoot. Animal Planet’s intrepid FINDING BIGFOOT team travels to the corners of the globe in hopes to, once and for all, prove that the elusive bigfoot (aka sasquatch) is out there.

The new season of FINDING BIGFOOT premieres Sunday, January 3, from 9-11 PM (ET/PT), as Animal Planet’s curious crypto-zoological team sets foot in new locations with modern technologies to progress the search. And in the two-hour premiere, Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BFRO) president Matt Moneymaker, researchers James “Bobo” Fay and Cliff Barackman and field biologist Ranae Holland split up to determine the better sasquatch habitat: the American or Canadian wilderness. While the countries share a border, they boast different landscapes, so Cliff and Matt investigate the Canadian bush while Bobo and Ranae scour their home turf for evidence.

This season, the team investigates the following states:

· Maine, Sunday, January 10, at 10 PM: A cornucopia of bigfoot artifacts exists in the Pine Tree State, so the team takes its first trip to Maine and heads deep into the woods to learn more within this east-coast squatching haven.

· New Hampshire, Sunday, January 17, at 10 PM: In picturesque Mount Washington, concerned resort owners reach out to the team with a slew of reported sasquatch sightings gathered throughout many years.

· Georgia, Sunday, January 24, at 10 PM: Military bases are some of the country’s most protected and secluded areas. In a top-secret sasquatch investigation, the team goes into full stealth mode and utilize tips from military members to investigate forests just off base.

· Oregon, Sunday, January 31, at 10 PM: The team has been to Cliff’s home state before, but they never have explored beyond Cliff’s usual spots. The team takes a helicopter trip deep into the Oregon wilderness to one of the most remote locations in the show’s history. And, for the first time, the team employs drones with infrared cameras.

FINDING BIGFOOT is produced for Animal Planet by Ping Pong Productions. Brad Kuhlman and Casey Brumels are executive producers for Ping Pong Productions. Keith Hoffman is executive producer and Sarah Russell is producer for Animal Planet.

Watch the 10 best Finding Bigfoot clips of 2015! 

Oregon's Largest Newspaper Writes Bigfoot Policy Speech for Donald Trump

Sasquatch feet aren't just big they are "Yuuuuge!"

"I would give the Northwest what it's never had, a winning Bigfoot policy." --The Oregonian's Fictional Donald Trump 

Some readers may recall that staffers of President George H.W. Bush referred to Portland as "Little Beirut" because of the protests encountered by Bush on his trip there. Donald Trump, as many other conservatives, may not campaign much in Oregon. With that on mind, The Oregonian, Oregon's largest newspaper, decided to try and imagine what a Trump campaign speech might sound like. It included fixing the Columbia River, being smarter than fish, having good relations with beavers and, most importantly, bigfoot policy. Read just the bigfoot policy excerpt below.

So you can see I could do amazing things for Oregon. Bigfoot won't come out and talk to anybody? He'll talk to me. More than anybody who has ever run for president, I know Bigfoot. I was on a talk show with Bigfoot — the network begged me to come on — and he's a good guy, although not as smart or good-looking as I am.

Between you and me, even my feet are bigger, although the media won't tell you that.

I would give the Northwest what it's never had, a winning Bigfoot policy. We've got a Bigfoot policy put together by losers, a Bigfoot policy run by people with small feet and smaller IQs. I could bring Bigfoot out by offering him a free week at a Trump hotel. Nobody would refuse that, because Trump hotels are the greatest places in the world.

SRC: David Sarasohn: What Donald Trump would say to Oregon (OPINION)