WHERE: Northern Minnesota (Exact location unspecified)

WHEN: Early 1990's

ACTIVITIES OF WITNESSES: One day my wife and I were talking to this older Native American friend of ours about spiritual subjects etc. when the topic of the Windigo came up. I asked him if in the culture they were refering to Bigfoot. He said he didn't think so because they had another word for wild hairy giant men. But he said speaking of Bigfoot, he and his son had a sighting several years ago. He said they were fishing on a river up north, his son on the bank and he was on the bridge. He happened to look further up the river from his higher vantage point and saw what he thought was either a bear or moose with its head coming out of the water. He is totally familiar with both, but at that distance he couldn't make it out. He yelled down to his son, asking "what's that across the river over there?" His son looked and to their suprise, whatever it was heard him yell also. He said it stood up and evidently had just been kneeling in sand or shallow water eating or something. Then it took off up the river bank on it's hind feet running like a human, only much faster. He further went on to say thatwhile we would have struggled to climb that bank, grabbing onto brush and such, it literally ran up it jumping over any bushes in the way, just like a deer. They decided not to stick around and left. On their way home they passed the local bait shop etc. and noticed the Sheriff's truck parked in front. They decided to make a report, and as they were walking uin, were met by a group of men, including the Sheriff, walking out with rifles etc. He jokingly asked if they were forming a possey, and the Sheriff said there had been some reports of a Skunk Ape in the area and they were going to do a little hunting. (It wasn't hunting season!)