Sharon Eby

Bigfoot Beyond Belief Sharon Eby

This book is an ethnographic exploration and general overview of what people believe about the cryptid called Bigfoot, otherwise known in North America as Sasquatch. This anthropological study covers how and what people understand about Bigfoot and cryptozoology, but focuses on the perspective of believers. Those within the Bigfoot subculture have unique cosmologies, views, experiences, and biases that help them learn. understand, and define reality in their own ways, which colors their perspectives and aids them in their narratives to explain the phenomenon. The ethno-historical viewpoint, including Native/First Nations beliefs, are covered in this book, which describes folklore, legends, and myths about these Wildmen of the forest. Included are place-names maps, the 'five types of people', true skeptics, the Parks and Forest Service viewpoint, Bigfoot organizations and their research, cultural geography, the alleged new owner of the PG Film, what people think about physical and anecdotal evidence, the paranormal aspect, PTSD/trauma related incidences, the rhetoric around Bigfoot culture and language/communication, habituation techniques, the Relict Hominoid Inquiry, orang-pendek, Bigfoot in popular culture, as well as a deeper look into the symbolic-cultural projection effect, the pro-kill 'type' of Bigfoot believer, and more. This book is not set out to prove or disprove the existence of Bigfoot and is purposefully neutral in that regard. What the author does look for is the emic (inside) view of what believers believe, plus why and how that happens, presenting a strong cultural aspect behind these beliefs through cultural sharing and enculturation. But this also raises questions as to what people think Bigfoot might be based on eyewitness testimonies, especially in light of physical evidence or personal sighting accounts, and focuses on how people describe their experiences, which sometimes causes a liminal state where they go from 'unbeliever' to becoming a true 'believer'.