by Delta Discovery staff
Here is one from Rampart. It is one of the strangest Hairy Man stories ever told. The story is also told by Norma Cobb, in her book, “Arctic Homestead.”
In the interior of Alaska, the Hairy Man is known as the “Bushman”. There was an elderly woman who was known as a medicine woman because of her experience as a young girl.
She was out picking berries with others near Rampart when she was kidnapped by a Bushman. She was taken into the wilderness and brought to a cave, where she saw other members of the Hairy Man’s family or group.
In that cave, there were both male and female Hairy Man people, and even young ones. They were hairy and wore no clothes, and smelled badly. But one of the babies of the Hairy Man people was very sick.
Then she learned somehow that she had been taken and brought to the Bushman’s cave to help take care of the sick baby. They spoke to her without talking. She learned the Hairy Man people thought a human would help make the baby well, and that was why they took her.
After a time, the baby Bushman finally recovered, and after that they let her go because they thought she had helped make the baby get well. They also let her go as long as she didn’t tell anyone where they lived. They then brought her back to her village.
In “Arctic Homestead”, the author adds that the Bushman told the young girl they are afraid of showing themselves to humans, because humans chase them and shoot at them. That’s why they demanded she tell no one where they lived.