Professor Grover Krantz, an anthropologist, maintained a small museum in Johnson Tower of Washington State University in the late 1970s. My psychology grad student office was in the same building, and thus I wandered in to see what the museum held. The entire space was devoted to Krantz's research on Sasquatch (popularly known as Bigfoot).

Sasquatch, named by Native American Indians of northwest US and of Canada, is traditionally identified as a kind of ancestral spirit that manifests itself as a very tall, fur-covered human. Over the years, people have reported sightings of a Sasquatch, and there have been grainy photos and bits of video, but the shy Sasquatches largely keep to themselves. They've been reported to be comfortable in the wilderness, often at higher elevations.

There have been similar reports of such beings in the Himalayas, reports across many past centuries. They are known as Yeti (later Anglicized as 'the Abominable Snowman').

I know little about either the Yeti or the Sasquatch. Dr. Krantz's exhibit had reports of sightings, and plaster of Paris imprints of footprints, which were quite big, like that of a barefoot, flatfooted human. I knew secondhand of a respectable ranger at Crater Lake National Park around the same time who reported seeing one cross a back road. The ranger was experienced and accomplished at observing wildlife in the back country.

Any time I have looked them up, there are stories of sightings, and there are stories of jokes and hoaxes. Yet a serious and respectful thread keeps our awareness and interest alive. There are tribes, cultures, and varied individuals whose awareness of life in our world includes the mystic Sasquatch and Yeti.