
Depiction of the creature by https://www.deviantart.com/trendorman
Nûñ'yunu'ï, meaning "stone-dress" in Cherokee was a creature believed to inhabit Tennessee and Western North Carolina. In Tennessee, a creature described as a dwarf bigfoot or Slothfoot was sighted in a Hamblen County cave.
2009 Sighting[]

Tennessee State Cryptid by www.deviantart.com/nocturnalsea
In 2009, a woman named Leslie reported a strange creature in a cave in Hamblen County, Tennessee. The creature was described as "4 feet in length, no hair on face white skin human features. Body covered in brown hair, Short legs, heavy paws with claws that are flatten on the end. Can climb cave walls and freeze in place." Leslie suggest the creature be a "a cousin to the big foot but smaller."
Surviving Ground Sloth?[]
Some have suggested the creature being a surviving North American ground sloth, or Slothfoot. The creature was also described to have a 3 toed paw. There are two types of sloth, two-toed and three-toed. However, this can get confusing as both types have three claws, or 'toes', on their hind limbs. The two-toed sloth's closest relative was the extinct Megalonyx that inhabited the region during the late Pleistocene.
Cherokee legends[]
Leslie is a documented EBCI tribal member and also the Founder of the Bat Creek Stone to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Spearfinger, or U'tlun'ta, is a figure in Cherokee legend that lived along the eastern side of Tennessee and western part of North Carolina. "U'tlun'ta" translates from Cherokee to "the one with pointed spear”, which refers to her sharp fingers (claws). Sometimes, she was called Nûñ'yunu'ï, which means "Stone-dress". This name is from her stone-like skin. Buried in the skin of the mylodontid ground sloths—including the Harlan’s ground sloth, whose range extended from Florida to Washington state—were a series of small bony discs. Known as “osteoderms,” these little knobs (nickel-sized in Harlan’s ground sloth) were mostly clustered around the back, shoulders, and neck and would have acted like protective chainmail.
The Spearfinger is said to inhabit the Tunnel to Nowhere in Bryson City. The Spearfinger was the central figure being hunted in Season 6 of Mountain Monsters named "Quest for the Spearfinger". The Spearfinger is also a central figure seen in the mysterious So Joana Book and the related YouTube account. I the film ARTICHOKE the Spearfinger is seen along with the Bat Creek Stone and the Tunnel to Nowhere.
Sources[]
- https://www.thecryptocrew.com/2015/01/unknown-cave-creature-in-tennessee.html
- https://cryptozoologynews.com/woman-claims-encounter-dwarf-bigfoot-creature-tennessee-cave/