Was North America once inhabited by a
race of giants? According to an old legend supported by several
challenging archaeological finds, it is possible.
Many Native American tribes tell
stories about the long-forgotten existence of a race of humans that were
much taller and stronger than ordinary men. These giants are described
as both brave and barbaric and legends often mention their cruelty
towards whomever they pleased.
The Paiute, a tribe that settled in the
Nevada region thousands of years ago, have an outstanding legend about a
race of red-haired giants called the Si-Te-Cah. The ancestors of the
Paiute described them as savage and inhospitable cannibals.
In the Northern Paiute language,
‘Si-Te-Cah’ literally means ‘tule-eaters.’ Legend has it that the giants
came from a distant island by crossing the ocean on rafts built using
the fibrous tule plant. As odd as it may sound, this legend
repeats itself all over the Americas, suggesting it might be an
incomplete chronicle of a real event that happened long ago.
In Crónicas del Perú, sixteenth
century Spanish conquistador Pedro Cieza de León recorded an ancient
Peruvian tale about the origin of the South American giants. According
to legend, they “came by sea in rafts of reeds after the manner of
large boats; some of the men were so tall that from the knee down they
were as big as the length of an ordinary fair-sized man.”
Could the giants of Peru and the Si-Te-Cah have been survivors of a massive cataclysm who took refuge on the American continent?
Legend tells that the Si-Te-Cah waged
war on the Paiute and all other neighboring tribes, spreading terror and
devastation. Finally, after years of conflict, the tribes united
against the common enemy and began to decimate them. The last remaining
red-haired giants were chased off and sought shelter inside a cave. The
tribes started a fire at the cave entrance, suffocating and burning
alive the Si-Te-Cah. Those driven out by the smoke were also killed.
The tribes then sealed off the mouth of
the cave so that no one might set eyes on those who had once plagued
their land. They were all but forgotten until a random event brought
them back to light. In 1886, a mining engineer named John
T. Reid happened to hear the legend from a group of Paiutes while
prospecting near Lovelock, Nevada. The Indians told him that the legend
was real and the cave was located nearby. When he saw the cave for
himself, Reid knew he was onto something.
Reid was unable to begin digging
himself but news spread and soon, Lovelock cave was attracting
attention. Unfortunately, the attention was profit-driven as guano
deposits were discovered inside. A company started by miners David Pugh
and James Hart began excavating the precious resource in 1911 and had
soon shipped more than 250 tons to a fertilizer company in San
Francisco. Any artifacts that might have been discovered were probably
neglected or lost.
After the surface layer of guano had
been mined, strange objects started to surface. This led to an official
excavation being performed in 1912 by the University of California and
another one took place in 1924. Reports told about thousands of
artifacts being recovered, some of them being truly unusual.
Although their claims have not been
verified (it comes as no surprise), sources said the mummified remains
of several red-haired ancient giants were found buried in the cave.
Measuring between 8 to 10 feet in height, these mummies have since been
referred to as the Lovelock Giants.
Another intriguing find was a pair of
15 inch-long sandals that showed signs of having been worn. Allegedly,
other unusually large items were recovered but have since been locked
away in museum warehouses and private collection.
A piece of evidence that remains
on-site until this day is a giant hand print, embedded on a boulder
inside Lovelock Cave. We won’t go into further debate pertaining to this
aspect and its implications.
Needless to say, this discovery has led many into believing the Paiute legend of the Si-Te-Cah might be more than just folklore.
Around the same time as the second
Lovelock Cave excavation, another dig revealed a set of
equally-disturbing finds. According to a 1931 article published in the
Nevada Review-Miner, two giant skeletons had been found buried in a dry
lake bed close to Lovelock, Nevada. The over-sized remains measured 8.5,
respectively 10 feet in height and were mummified in a manner similar
to the one employed by ancient Egyptians.
Another common trait between these
mummified giant remains and the ones discovered as far south as Lake
Titicaca is the presence of red hair. While some scientists believe the
reddish color is a result of the interaction with the environment in
which they were buried, the mummies verify the legends, which described
the Si-Te-Cah and their kin as red-haired giants.
Proponents of alternative history
believe these violent giants were none other than the biblical Nephilim,
the forsworn offspring of the ‘Sons of God’ with the ‘daughters of
men.’
If this is true, there’s little chance
we might get to see any of the giant mummies. Those interested in
keeping history secret will never disclose their location.