The Great Basin, located in western United States, is home to the Owyhee country—a fascinating region on its northern edge. Here, remnants of early human struggles for survival can be found. While conventional theories suggest that humans settled in this area around 12,000 years ago, surface evidence reveals signs of hunter-gatherer activity from even earlier—ten millennia or more. But the Owyhee country may have housed something more significant much before that.
While mainstream scholars dismiss the idea of such an advanced society flourishing in our continent, Native American tribes have preserved oral traditions that speak of a time long ago when their ancestors encountered “giants” in the region. These tribal accounts bear resemblance to stories of a pre-flood world inhabited by giants found in the Bible. For example, Genesis mentions the Nephilim, believed to have possessed great strength and size. Legend has it that these giants came into being as a result of the union between fallen angels and the daughters of Cain.
These giants were known as the fallen angels or sons of God, the Wnai Elohim, assigned to watch over humanity. However, they were seduced and ultimately gave rise to a race of giants. These stories and legends about giants are not limited to Native American or biblical traditions; while varied from region to region, they share fundamental similarities that evoke a sense of commonality.
The giants were often depicted as having an insatiable thirst for blood. Their savage desires led to a great deluge that swept them away. Most of the giants perished, but a few managed to survive and spread across various parts of the world.
Scientists, who rely on solid evidence, dismiss these stories as mere fables. They explain the belief in giants in different cultures as a result of a “collective unconscious,” a universal fear of forces that are beyond human control. Similarly, conventional archaeologists deny the occurrence of any natural catastrophe powerful enough to wipe out a previous world order, such as a deluge. However, geologists continue to unearth evidence suggesting that catastrophic flooding occurred at the close of the last Ice Age around 12,000 years ago. These floods overwhelmed early human settlements in Europe and North America.
The violence of these cataclysms and the vast time gap of over ten millennia between then and now have obscured most physical evidence of the pre-diluvian era. However, the memories of tribal people, handed down through generations, are more indelible than any material artifacts. Such memories may have endured in the Owyhee country. In this region, a river known as the Bruneau River, named after a French fur-trader from the 17th century, flows through deep canyons where sunlight rarely reaches the banks far below.
According to legends, the Pine Nut Mountains along the Jarbridge River were once home to enormous Tsawhawbitts—evil spirits in superhuman form—who terrorized the Shoshone people, driving them away from their hunting grounds. These giants had an appetite for human flesh and could easily traverse creeks and scale mountains. They would capture people and imprison them in huge baskets, carrying them to mountaintops for cannibalistic feasts.
Some of these giants were said to have a singular eye or hopped around on one leg. They were often spotted digging for unknown objects high on rocky peaks. The natives learned to stay far away from these lofty crests as the giants, in addition to their immense size, possessed supernatural powers. With a single glance from their large, glowing red eyes, they could paralyze their prey before harpooning them with razor-sharp hooks.
The fear of these peaks remains prevalent among present-day natives, who still refer to Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains as the Coapiccan Kahni, meaning Giants House. According to Shoshone lore, there was a rocky giant named Tso’apittse, whose hands were covered in pitch and who fed on human flesh.
Tribal elders warned their young to be cautious around water springs, as these were known to be dangerous areas inhabited by evil giants. Staring into the water and allowing one’s reflection to be seen would summon the giants to the surface. Could this be a mythological recollection of the titans who supposedly succumbed to the Great Flood in antiquity?
According to the Shoshone legend, the giants could be killed either by fire or by ice, but it took immense courage and cleverness to do so. If a Tso’apittse was found in its deep cave, a large fire would be built at the entrance, eventually consuming the giant. Other stories describe the use of ice as a weapon. Once, a Tso’apittse kidnapped a little girl and devoured her. Driven by greed, the giant returned for the parents, aiming to add them to its collection. While pursuing the father, the giant captured and imprisoned him, but he managed to escape and rush ahead to the cave. Outside, a freezing blizzard raged while the father barricaded the cave’s entrance with trees and branches. Although the Tso’apittse tried to remove the obstructions, they were too firmly lodged. During the night, the father heard the giant’s mournful cries. By morning, the sounds had ceased—the Tso’apittse had frozen to death.
Stories like these have been orally transmitted through tribal communities for countless generations. Even today, many Native Americans consider these narratives to be factual accounts. Like all myths, they likely have a kernel of truth buried within their ancient tales.
These oral traditions eventually materialized in numerous rock petroglyphs found throughout the Sawtooth Mountain area. These petroglyphs, which continue to baffle academic scholars, hold the key to interpreting the past. Some researchers dismiss them as meaningless scratches made by bored Native Americans or idle scrawls and doodles. However, to a preliterate people, these images hold a deep significance, connecting them to a time when giants and monsters were purged from the Earth by a Great Flood. These petroglyphs are the only enduring memorials, preserved through ancient rock art and the collective memory of those who continue the traditions of old.
Original Source: by Thomas E. Farner, Ph.D., Ancient American, Volume 6, Issue 41, page 9.