Giants in the Americas

Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser, the first explorers to venture into the pathless northwestern areas of Canada, were cautioned by the native tribes he encountered that hideous, destructive creatures prowled the region: the tall peaks of British Columbia were home to eight-foot tall Sasquatches, the broad river to which Mackenzie would give his name was the lair of the "Brush Man of the Loucheaux", a yellow-eyed monster who, like Beowulf's Grendel, feasted on human flesh, showing preference for tender helpings of women and children. The rocky barrens held even greater terrors, such as the dreaded Weetigo, a fanged giant. Even scarier were the towering headhunters of the Nahanni Valley, and the invisible creatures said to haunt the shores of the Great Slave Lake. While primitive peoples are fond of creating all manner of monsters to occupy regions beyond their immediate scope of action, could it be that the Slavey and Dogrib tribes of the region may have actually based their tales on fact? These tribes also expressed a fear of the bleak stone barrens that separated them from Inuit territory, since it was the haunt of other giants, aside from the aforementioned Weetigo.