Creature Feature Friday: The Pukwudgie
It’s Creature Feature Friday! It may be small, but it’s deadly, mean, and not to be trifled with. Take a look at 5 disturbing details about the magical cryptid known as the Pukwudgie:
1) One of the oldest “mythical” creatures in North America, the Pukwudgie is a cryptid out of Native American legend. These troll-like humanoids are a mischievous folk - if “mischievous” means pushing people off cliffs, stealing children, and transforming into dangerous animals. Friendly purple-haired troll dolls they are NOT.
2) The name “Pukwudgie” translates to “little wild man of the wood that vanishes.” Though they are most often sighted in Massachusetts, Pukwudgies have been known to stalk the woods of the northeastern United States, southeastern Canada, and the Great Lakes region.
3) Even though they are only two to three feet in height, the Pukwudgie is one dangerous creature. With a whole host of abilities (that kind of sound like they came straight out of Skyrim), the Pukwudgie is said to: appear and disappear at will; transform into a half-human, half-porcupine hybrid; attack people and/or lure them to their deaths; use magic; blind people with sand; fight with short spears, knives, and poison arrows; summon fire at will; and control Tei-Pai-Wankas, the souls of Native Americans they have killed.
4) In literature, the Pukwudgie is famously immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem “The Song of Hiawatha,” where they are depicted hunting and killing a Native American leader. Some of the text about their murderous antics reads:
This was Kwasind's fatal secret,
Known to no man among mortals;
But the cunning Little People,
The Puk-Wudjies, knew the secret,
Knew the only way to kill him.
So they gathered cones together,
Gathered seed-cones of the pine-tree,
Gathered blue cones of the fir-tree,
In the woods by Taquamenaw,
Brought them to the river's margin,
Heaped them in great piles together,
Where the red rocks from the margin
Jutting overhang the river.
There they lay in wait for Kwasind,
The malicious Little People.
5) Despite it’s silly-sounding name, it’s best to beware the Pukwudgie! Stay well away if you ever see one - remember the cat in Episode 50: “Haunting Stories of Onset, Massachusetts” who had its eyes gouged out? Although it isn’t described by name, the blinding of the cat and more creepy encounters from the episode are courtesy of the Pukwudgie.
Have you listened to Episode 50? Tell us what you think about the presumed Pukwudgie encounters in the comments!
