#816 The True Story Of Sasquatch

September 19, 2022

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CANADALAND

Every pop culture reference to Sasquatch or Bigfoot can be traced to one Macleans Magazine article from 1929, written by Indian Agent J.W. Burns, who stole the story of Sas’qets, a core part of Sto:lo cultural identity for thousands of years. Robert Jago is a Sto:lo writer and Sasquatch enthusiast who set out to take Sasquatch back. But the process of cultural appropriation turns out to be more complicated than passing a physical object back and forth, and Jago tells a unique story of how the Sts’ailes people kept their culture alive in the face of genocide, by appropriating appropriation.

Jesse Brown

Host & Publisher

Sarah Lawrynuik

Senior Producer

Tristan Capacchione

Audio Editor & Technical Producer

Robert Jago

Every pop culture reference to Sasquatch or Bigfoot can be traced to one Macleans Magazine article from 1929, written by Indian Agent J.W. Burns, who stole the story of Sas’qets, a core part of Sto:lo cultural identity for thousands of years. Robert Jago is a Sto:lo writer and Sasquatch enthusiast who set out to take Sasquatch back. But the process of cultural appropriation turns out to be more complicated than passing a physical object back and forth, and Jago tells a unique story of how the Sts’ailes people kept their culture alive in the face of genocide, by appropriating appropriation.

Links:

Macleans, 1929: Introducing B. C.’s Hairy Giants

https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1929/4/1/introducing-b-cs-hairy-giants

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre, by Max Brooks

https://www.amazon.ca/Devolution-Firsthand-Account-Sasquatch-Massacre/dp/1984826786

The Sasquatch, the Fire and the Cedar Baskets by Joseph (Tony) Dandurand

https://www.amazon.ca/Sasquatch-Fire-Cedar-Baskets/dp/0889713766

Additional music by Audio Network

Sponsors: St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, BC General Employees Union, Oxio, Article

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