The Yokut Tribe and "Hairy Man"
The Yokut Tribe is part of the Tule River Indians, and their land was located in south-central California. (The light yellow section on the map below)
Creation Lore
The Tule River Indians, specifically the Yokut people, include the "Hairy Man" in their Creation story and he is in a place of great significance. The Hairy Man is included in the Yokut creation story and was a part of figuring out how to create the first people. Hairy Man is always depicted as sad, though, because in the creation story, when the first people saw him, they were scared of him and ran away. When people took over the land, Hairy Man decided he would hide in the dark forest and only come out at night while people are sleeping. The stories of Hairy Man also describe him as wading in the rivers in the cool of the night to catch fish. Hairy Man is described as tall, hair-covered, and walks on two legs.
Hairy Man lore also includes stories of the creature sneaking into camps and stealing the fresh-ground acorn flour and other items. Children are warned not to go out at night, or else they may be taken into the woods by Hairy Man.
This famous painting located at Painted Rock in the Tule River Valley is thought to be over 1000 years old. The painting is said to depict a "Hairy Man" family -- dad, mom, and baby -- pianted in reds, whites, and black. The drawing below the photo is the outlines of the painting to better show the Hairy Men and also shows more clearly the humans in the painting. This is a good indication of how much bigger the Hairy Man was than the humans.