Sasquatch, The Native Truth

The native truth this story is trying to tell is that sasquatch is not the shy, peaceful creature the Finding Bigfoot shows portray, but that they are violent and dangerous. The author's family lives in a house her father made by hand in the mountains with felled trees, which he turned into lumber. They live off the land and their gardens, but every evening as the sun sets they are sheparded inside of their house by their parents when the mountain predators come out to hunt. The author's idyllic childhood is violently rendered asunder when she and her sister finally have their own frightening face-to-face encounter, they become bigfoot witnesses, when a nine foot sasquatch steps out of the shadows and walks off with one of their beloved dogs. The two girls run for their lives, but the older sister finds her horse killed and torn apart on the trail while her younger sister mysteriously disappears only to be found later by their father and their uncle's search party. She and her younger sister are never the same again.I liked the story, which was simple and matter-of-factly narrated by the older sister. I didn't like the editing, which detracted from the story, otherwise I would give this e-book 4 stars.The older sister's view of sasquatch is that they are an animal and a violent predator, which like a mountain lion is not to be trusted nor can be fed and habituated, because sasquatches (animals) are violently driven to survive by nature.

I chose this rating because the book is written pretty well and kept my attention. I say it's sad because clearly both the family and the Sasquatch were sharing territory, some of which the family was clearly a warned off of, probably because it had become a forest people nursery. Humans in this region called them savages and monsters. Although the humans acknowledged their respect for these forest people, that wasn't respectful.We have forest people here too. We share this land and there is mutual respect. They come and knock, whistle, hit my house with small pebbles, stomp, but in my mind it simply tells me they are passing through and letting me know. They have been kind and even helpful. They seem to protect us. It's really all in the relationship that's been developed over time. Sadly the author's local culture developed great fear and taught this to the children. Rather this reader suggests approaching this different race of people with an open mind, and certainly take territorial warnings seriously. And keep your big dogs contained.

Since I didn't get to do as much reading over the school year as I would have liked, I'm catching up this summer. From time to time, I'll write a little review and post it here. Such is the case with SASQUATCH: THE NATIVE TRUTH, narrated by Raven Darkhawk and written by Melissa George. After hearing someone reference the book on an episode of Seth Breedlove's SasWhat podcast a few weeks ago and seeing that it was only 116 pages, I thought I'd grab a copy and read it.For those rolling their eyes, I'm not a believer in Bigfoot so much as an intrigued follower of the phenomenon. I can't help but be curious about the possibility of some hulking, elusive species wandering through various forests, swamps, mountains and woodlands of the world, leaving little evidence of their existence, creating tons of controversy, and (perhaps most interesting of all) producing a variety believers who can't simply be thrown under the "drunken hillbillies" file (as was the case when the phenomenon really took off in the 70's). One of the intriguing things about this book is that it's the story of a Native American's experiences with the creature, and there's a reasonable amount of history and lore that I was unfamiliar with before reading.In this fairly short read, Darkhawk recounts the story of her family being haunted by the Kecleh-Kudleh, hairy savages that inhabited the forests adjacent to her and her family's reservation home. Raven initially believes the thing in the woods is a bear, and later, she and her sister think the family is being stalked by thieves. As the story unfolds, more and more clues suggest Sasquatch.The English teacher in me was seriously bugged by how many errors got past the editors. The word, "to" is used in place of "too" on numerous occasions, and there are more than a few tense agreement issues. Perhaps the biggest error happens in chapter two when Raven identifies herself as being 13-years-old and her sister as being 12, yet in chapter three she mentions that she and her sister had gotten older; "now twelve and eleven." The book is written chronologically, so this is a problem. Some of the sentence structure is over-simplified at times, making the book read like it was meant for a younger audience. As I read on, I found myself wondering if this was deliberate, or if it was the result of a storyteller who perhaps was not as comfortable with English language.Grammatical and other issues aside, Raven Darkhawk's story is simply spellbinding, and the storyteller and avid reader in me found myself hanging on to her every word. True or not, her story moves from simple, coincidental encounters to a terrifying climax that changes her and her family forever. What works incredibly well here is how close she is to the Kecleh-Kudleh throughout the story, yet how far she is from truly understanding and embracing what's going on until it's far too late. Both she and the author (who comes across more as simple recorder) make several claims that the story is real and based on genuine experiences, which I won't debate here. I will say that it comes across as a horror story, and the feel of claustrophobia - the inability to escape or shield one's self from the unknown but seemingly constant threat - works incredibly well to stoke fear and anticipation. She ends the book with a warning about things in the forest watching us all - and not with the best intentions. The message works well as the end piece to pacing that makes the reader feel like she/he has been exposed to these mythical creatures and may now be similarly cursed by association.I didn't want to like the book because of all of the aforementioned problems, because I feel like the author simply recorded the narrator's story and slapped it on paper without making any attempt to edit, and because I am a skeptic. Once I embraced this as a crude journal written by a much older woman remembering the horror of her childhood, I found myself liking it quite a bit.

I read "true stories" like this one all the time, scouring every word of every sentence for the slightest hint of lies or at the very least exaggeration. And believe me, the fibbers are out there, wasting my money over and over. That said, let me tell you that this story actually did happen and exactly as she tells it. Written as almost a report rather than campfire story, the author makes no attempt to fool you or insult your intelligence. Her own fear is plain as she unfolds the incidents in the chapters. You will be there with her, seeing what she did, feeling the terror in your own throat, your heart pounding with hers. A few grammatical errors, but so few out doesn't take away from the story. Well done.

I heard Melissa George on one or two podcasts and really wanted to get this novel. I like many people, have a passionate interest in Sasquatch. This story to my mind, had a nice style and cosyness to it, it is apparently a true account of what happened to a family, especially the two sisters. Having just come to the end, I have some questions, if Sasquatch is so dangerous why has the USA government not wiped out the species, (other animals have been brought to extinction by human hands, that were, for example considered pests). Why was the youngest girl not ever able to speak, there are other ways that she could have communicated what happened to her, such as writing, etc. I am really puzzled by this, so I am sorry if I am being insensitive. Also, there are other ways to find out what happened to the girl through observation, I understand various doctors were involved, but I am just baffled.

Dreadful ! A novel, not a documentary style account. Littered with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, poorly written indeed. I would have been disappointed even if this was free for the Kindle. It's a shame because it would have been really interesting to have had a native American docu-style book on the subject matter of sasquatch.

cool

This book is very well written, I enjoyed her descriptive writing style. It one of the best bigfoot books I have read. It is not the longest book but I enjoyed every minute of it. I highly recommend reading this story, it is great to hear about the protagonist bigfoot.

Memories of growing up on a reservation, very nicely written. If true, this provides some important insights into the behaviour of the Sasquatch. I feel bad for the family for what they have gone through, but perhaps they just didn't understand the Sasquatch and partially caused that themselves. All in all, a great book.