Mask associated with sasquatch lore returned to B.C. First Nation

VANCOUVER – Bigfoot sightings may be elusive, but a sasquatch mask missing for 75 years was easily found after a simple request from a British Columbia First Nation.

The Sasq’ets mask, commonly know as sasquatch, has been returned by the Vancouver Museum to the Sts’ailes (stah-hey-lis) First Nation near Harrison Hot Springs, B.C.

The mask was found during another repatriation ceremony in 2013, when band member James Leon asked to see the museum’s First Nations’ collection and spotted the carving, which had been missing since 1939.

The wood-and-fur covered, ape-like mask had been donated to the museum by a J.W. Burns, a teacher at the Chehalis Indian Day School who is often credited for bringing the word “sasquatch” into common use.

But the band says its carver, Ambrose Point, wouldn’t have given the mask to Burns and that it was taken without permission.

In First Nations lore, the Sasq’ets has the ability to move between the physical and spiritual realms, and a sighting with a Sasq’ets is viewed as a gift.