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Mountain Monsters; Tsul 'Kalu interpretation

Tsul 'Kalu (the Slant-Eyed or Sloping Giant), is a legendary figure in Cherokee Folklore who plays the role of "the great lord of the game", because the cherokee would blame for hunting everything. Tsul 'Kalu is also believed by some to be the Cherokee version of Sasquatch or Bigfoot because he seems to share several physical and behavioral traits with the creature. The creature supposedly is thought to be able to control and read minds, as discussed and proved on Destination America's hit show Mountain Monsters.

Origin[]

The tale is one of the best known Cherokee legends and was recorded by Europeans as early as 1823, often using the spelling Tuli cula. The name Tsul 'Kalu means literally "he has them slanting/sloping", being understood to refer to his eyes, although the word eye (akta, plural dikta) is not a part of it. In the plural form it is also the name of a traditional race of giants in the far west.

Dog-Killing Sasquatch[]

The Charlotte Observer and Thaindian News have reported that a Cleveland County man claims to have had a face to face encounter with the legendary beast known as Bigfoot after it killed one of his dogs.

BigFoot_Sighting_in_rural_NC

BigFoot Sighting in rural NC

According to the report, resident Tim Peeler informed the police of a bizarre encounter that occurred in the early-morning hours of June 5, 2010. Peeler told authorities that the hairy humanoid wandered onto his property in the rural northwest part of the county.

Peeler explained to deputies that he heard screeching and grunting sounds coming from outside his cabin, and went out to investigate, fearing that something may be tormenting his dogs. What he saw was a 10 feet tall creature, with a long beard and yellowish hair near his mountain home. At this point Peeler claimed he grabbed a large stick and made menacing gestures at the man-beast.

The beast left, but one of Peeler’s five dogs was not so lucky, as is indicated from the excerpt from his 911 call:

“This beast killed one of my five dogs. I threw a light on it but I could not hit it as I was very afraid. It seems like an ape with a human face… I’m going to kill him if he comes too close to me.”

Peeler lives northwest of the town of Casar, where there is little or no civilization between his property and South Mountain State Park, one of North Carolina’s least-developed recreational sites. Peeler, who claimed the creature had six fingers on each hand, said the Bigfoot left his abode, but came back a short time later.

“I rough-talked him and said, ‘You get away from here!’ And I said, ‘Get! Get!’ And he went back down the path again!”

These reports aren’t new to Cleveland County, although it has been three decades since KNOBBY — the county’s other well-publicized Bigfoot — was in the news.

In the winter of 1978 and ’79, a number of people in the area near Carpenter’s Knob, north of Kings Mountain, reported seeing a large creature with long back hair, walking on two legs. Authorities surmised residents were seeing a large black bear.

One property owner reported one of his goats died of a broken neck, and newspaper stories from the time report of “monster” hunts by some of the area’s braver residents. Those stories tell of large footprints being found, and of theories that the creature might have been a panther. Reports of the sightings died out in the spring of 1979.

The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office has filed the Peeler case as a “suspicious person report” but says it is keeping an open mind. Sgt. Mark Self says they patrols the area near Peeler’s property regularly and they’ll be on the lookout for anything unusual:

“If we see something, we’ll try to capture it and take it into custody.”

The Legend[]

Angryyy

The Dog Killer

A long time ago a widow lived with her one daughter at the old town of Känuga on Pigeon River. The girl was of age to marry, and her mother used to talk with her a good deal.

One day, her mother told her she must be sure to take no one but a good hunter for a husband, so that they would have some one to take care of them and would always have plenty of meat in the house.

The girl said such a man was hard to find, but her mother advised her not to be in a hurry, and to wait until the right one came.

Now the mother slept in the house while the girl slept outside in the âsï. One dark night a stranger came to the âsï wanting to court the girl, but she told him her mother would let her marry no one but a good hunter. "Well," said the stranger, "I am a great hunter," so she let him come in, and he stayed all night. Just before day he said he must go back now to his own place, but that he had brought some meat for her mother, and she would find it outside. Then he went away and the girl had not seen him. When day came she went out and found there a deer, which she brought into the house to her mother, and told her it was a present from her new sweetheart. Her mother was pleased, and they had deer steaks for breakfast. He came again the next night, but again went away before daylight, and this time he left two deer outside. The mother was more pleased this time, but said to her daughter, "I wish your sweetheart would bring us some wood."

Now wherever he might be, the stranger knew their thoughts, so when he came the next time he said to the girl, "Tell your mother I have brought the wood"; and when she looked out in the morning there were several great trees lying in front of the door, roots and branches and all. The old woman was angry, and said, "He might have brought us some wood that we could use instead of whole trees that we can't split, to litter up the road with brush." The hunter knew what she said, and the next time he came he brought nothing, and when they looked out in the morning the trees were gone and there was no wood at all, so the old woman had to go after some herself.

Almost every night he came to see the girl, and each time he brought a deer or some other game, but still he always left before daylight. At last her mother said to her, "Your husband always leaves before daylight. Why don't he wait? I want to see what kind of a son-in-law I have."

When the girl told this to her husband he said he could not let the old woman see him, because the sight would frighten her. "She wants to see you, anyhow," said the girl, and began to cry, until at last he had to consent, but warned her that her mother must not say that he looked frightful (usga'së`ti'yu).

The next morning he did not leave so early, but stayed in the âsï, and when it was daylight the girl went out and told her mother. The old woman came and looked in, and there she saw a great giant, with long slanting eyes (tsul`kälû'), lying doubled up on the floor, with his head against the rafters in the left-hand corner at the back, and his toes scraping the roof in the right-hand corner by the door. She gave only one look and ran back to the house, crying, Usga'së`ti'yu! Usga'së`ti'yu!

Tsul`kälû' was terribly angry. He untwisted himself and came out of the âsï, and said good-bye to the girl, telling her that he would never let her mother see him again, but would go back to his own country. Then he went off in the direction of Tsunegûñ'yï. (Mooney, 1900)

Defense[]

According to the Destination America hit show "Mountain Monsters", the Cherokee developed two ways to ward off the Tsul' Kalu. The first way was to keep it out of certain places, and this was done by making a "booger mask" which would be styled to look like the face of Tsul' Kalu, which would trick it to thinking it was a bigger Tsul' Kalu and would scare it away. The other option was used if captured by the Tsul' Kalu. the only way this could happen was if a person was completely alone, which would prompt the Tsul' Kalu out of spiritual form, and into physical form, in which it would grab the victim and attempt to hypnotized/take over the mind of him/her. At his stage, the person must have Cherokee blood, or it was said it would not work. The victim would have to say "Adanvsdi", which meant "leave" in Cherokee, which would make Tsul' Kalu release the victim.

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