Alaska

1Kushtaka Told story

Humanoid · Southeast Alaska coast and rivers (Tlingit country) · first reported traditional · also called Kóoshdaa Káa, Land Otter Man

In Tlingit tradition, the Kóoshdaa Káa, often written Kushtaka and translated 'land otter man,' is a shape-shifter that can look like a person, a river otter, or something in between. It is said to imitate a crying baby or a person in distress, or even the form of a loved one, to lead people into the water, the woods or the rocks. Some victims drown; others are 'saved' by being turned into Kushtaka themselves. Tlingit elder David Katzeek describes it as a spirit that says you will be all right only if you become like it, and links it to real dangers like addiction and abuse. Hunters still tell of blackouts and strange urges to follow figures into the forest. This is a living tradition; this entry keeps to what elders have shared publicly.

• modernTold story Elder David Katzeek describes being tricked by what seemed to be family members appearing in the forest; an Outdoor Life writer recounts his father's unexplained blackouts while hunting. Source: outdoorlife.com

2Devils of Thomas Bay Told story

Humanoid · Thomas Bay, north of the Stikine River mouth near Petersburg · first reported c. 1900 (written 1925, published 1953) · also called Devil's Country

Thomas Bay, ringed by steep mountains and glacier streams near Petersburg, is known as Devil's Country. Prospector Harry D. Colp wrote a manuscript in 1925 describing what happened to him around 1900 when he went looking for a quartz ledge there: he was chased by a horde of hairy creatures with long claw-like fingers and running sores. He wrote that he could only call them devils, since they were neither men nor monkeys but looked like both. Other men in his stories went mad or vanished. Colp never published it; after his death his daughter Virginia released it in 1953 as The Strangest Story Ever Told, now an Alaskan classic. Many connect the creatures to Tlingit Kushtaka lore.

• c. 1900Told story Harry Colp says that while prospecting at Thomas Bay he fled from a crowd of hairy, clawed, sore-covered beings he called devils. Source: wrangellhistoryunlocked.com

Visiting: Thomas Bay is reached by boat or floatplane from Petersburg; Tongass National Forest.

3Illie, the Iliamna Lake Monster On the record

Water monster · Iliamna Lake, Lake and Peninsula Borough, Southwest Alaska · first reported traditional · also called Illie, Iliamna blackfish

Iliamna Lake is Alaska's largest lake, and people around it have long spoken of huge dark fish. A newsletter from the village of Igiugig notes that the lake's name refers to a mythical great blackfish said to bite holes in the kayaks of wrongdoers. Modern witnesses describe shark-like animals ten to twenty feet long, sometimes several together. In 1980 the Anchorage Daily News offered $100,000 for clear evidence. Marine ecologist Bruce Wright recorded moose hunters who said two giant pike-like animals ate a family of swans, one as long as their eighteen-foot skiff. In 2017 Mark Stigar found his longline anchor dragged fifty yards, hooks cut and snaps bent. Wright first suspected sleeper sharks, then giant northern pike; others suggest sturgeon.

• 1980On the record The Anchorage Daily News offered a $100,000 reward for proof during a five-month search; no one claimed it. Source: prideofbristolbay.com
• September (year not given)Investigated report Moose hunters told Bruce Wright they watched two huge fish pull swans under the surface; one was judged about eighteen feet long. Source: prideofbristolbay.com
• 2017Investigated report Retired colonel and biologist Mark Stigar found his 38-pound anchor dragged and his gear torn up; he and Wright later set an underwater camera in 2019. Source: vancouver.citynews.ca

4Nantiinaq of Port Chatham On the record

Ape-like · Port Chatham and Portlock, southern Kenai Peninsula · first reported 1905 · also called Nantinaq

Port Chatham, a Russian-Alutiiq village at the tip of the Kenai Peninsula, had a post office from 1921 to 1950, and then emptied out. Alaska Magazine reports that residents grew tired of a creature the Alutiiq called a Nantiinaq, 'half-man, half-beast,' and moved to Port Graham and Nanwalek. Stories include workers leaving in 1905 because of 'something' in the woods, logger Andrew Kamluck found dead from a blow to the head in 1931, a prospector who vanished, a goat hunter chased in 1968, and hunters in 1973 who heard something walking on two feet around their tents each night. Nanwalek elder Tommy Evans says families always warned children to stay away from Portlock, Port Chatham and Chrome Bay. A 2021 Discovery+ series, Alaskan Killer Bigfoot, explored the legend.

Full story: Bigfoot →

• 1931Told story Andrew Kamluck was found dead from a blow to the head while logging near Port Chatham; the death fed fear of the Nantiinaq. Source: alaskamagazine.com
• 1973Told story Three hunters said something walked upright around their tents every night. Source: alaskamagazine.com
• 2021Told story Nanwalek elder Tommy Evans told the Homer News about warnings to avoid the area, mimicking sounds and dogs acting strangely; a TV team reported knocking and clawed, uprooted trees. Source: homernews.com

5Hairy Man of the Y-K Delta Told story

Ape-like · Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta: Kwethluk, Chevak, Pilot Station, Tuluksak, Kasigluk · first reported traditional · also called Urayuli, Bushman, Big Man, Nant'ina, Woodsman

Across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of western Alaska, people speak of the Hairy Man. Delta Discovery describes him as a cross between a man and a gorilla, very large, a fast walker, with black, brown, auburn or white hair and almost no neck, so he turns from the waist. Reports come from Kasigluk, Chevak, Kotlik, Pilot Station, Tuluksak and along the Kuskokwim and Johnson rivers, and include tracks, glowing eyes, strong smells, thrown rocks, calls and occasional charges at hunters. One story from the 1960s says a boy named Gabriel Fox ran away from the Children's Home near Kwethluk and survived in the wild by becoming a Hairy Man. Local tradition distinguishes him from the Little People. See the main Bigfoot dossier.

Full story: Bigfoot →

• 1960sTold story A boy who ran from the Children's Home near Kwethluk is said to have survived in the bush by turning into a Hairy Man; the newspaper treats the story with open skepticism. Source: deltadiscovery.com

6Pal-rai-yuk Told story

Water monster · Waterways between the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers · first reported 1900 in print · also called Palraiyuk

Naturalist Edward W. Nelson recorded the pal-rai-yuk in his 1900 study The Eskimo about Bering Strait. In Yup'ik tradition it lived in the waterways between the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in an earlier, warmer time. Raven created these animals and warned the first people to be careful near lakes and rivers. It was a long, crocodile-like man-eater with six legs, small eyes, dark fur, and in some tellings horns, lying submerged to grab anyone at the water's edge or attack boats. Images of it were painted on umiaks, masks and dishes, sometimes with human remains shown inside its body. The last one was said to be killed by a hunter after it ate his wife.

7Tizheruk Told story

Water monster · Waters around King Island, Bering Strait · first reported traditional

The tizheruk is a sea serpent from Inuit tradition in the Bering Strait, tied to the waters around King Island. It is described as a large snake-like animal with a head about two meters long and a tail ending in a flipper. People said it could take someone right off a landing or pier before they knew it was there. It is often compared with the Ogopogo of the Okanagan peoples and the Haietlik of the Nuu-chah-nulth. Some modern writers merge it with the Yup'ik pal-rai-yuk, but the two come from different places and stories.

8Akhlut Told story

Beast · Bering Sea coast · first reported 1900 in print

Along the Bering Sea coast, Edward Nelson recorded the akhlut: a killer whale that can change at will into a wolf. It roams the land as a wolf, then returns to the sea as an orca, and was said to be very fierce and to kill people. Hunters pointed to wolf tracks that ran to the edge of the sea ice and stopped at the water, or began at the water and led ashore. Nelson suggested breaking ice explained those tracks. It reflects a coastal world where neither land nor sea is fully safe. Related stories tell of a white whale that could become a reindeer.

9Alaska Triangle On the record

Other · Between Anchorage, Juneau and Utqiagvik · first reported 1972 (Boggs-Begich disappearance)

The Alaska Triangle is a modern name for the huge wild region bounded by Anchorage, Juneau and Utqiagvik, where people and planes are said to vanish. Its anchor story is October 1972, when a small plane carrying House Majority Leader Hale Boggs and Alaska Representative Nick Begich disappeared between Anchorage and Juneau. Forty military and fifty civilian aircraft searched for 39 days and found nothing; Congress then required emergency locator beacons in civilian planes. Discovery reports a high rate of missing-person cases in Alaska. Explanations include rugged terrain, weather, and hidden crevasses that can swallow planes; folklore points to the Kushtaka. A 2019 Hulu series, The Alaska Triangle, collected the legends.

• Oct 1972On the record The plane carrying Hale Boggs, Nick Begich, aide Russell Brown and pilot Don Jonz vanished; a 39-day search found no trace. Source: discovery.com

10Ghosts of the Princess Sophia Told story

Other · Juneau Drug (Valentine Building), downtown Juneau; Vanderbilt Reef, Lynn Canal · first reported after 1918 · also called Juneau Drug haunting

In October 1918 the coastal liner Princess Sophia left Skagway with about 353 people aboard, struck Vanderbilt Reef in the Lynn Canal, and sank in a storm before rescue boats could reach it. About 180 bodies were recovered within days, too many for Juneau to handle, so they were stored in downtown cellars, including the basement of what is now Juneau Drug in the 1905 Valentine Building. Staff there report a little boy seen in the basement, a hand on the shoulder, breath on the face, phantom electric shocks and a heavy sense of dread, with activity said to rise in late October. Author Bjorn Dihle, who wrote Haunted Inside Passage, called it one of the few places that truly unsettled him.

• 2017Told story Juneau Drug manager Brenda Lamas and staff described touches, a child figure and shocks in the basement to the Juneau Empire. Source: juneauempire.com

Visiting: Juneau Drug is an operating business downtown; the Alaska State Museum has covered the Sophia's story.