T. Peter Park
Fri, 10 Sep 2004 12:48:59 -0700
Dear all, Earlier today, I wrote, regarding Edgar Rice Burroughs' _Tarzan and the Ant Men_ (1921), that : <<With his 18-inch-tall "Ant Men," Burroughs anticipated more recent rumors of supposed ultra-pygmies only 2 or 3 feet tall, like the _alux_ of Yucatán, the Yushe along Peru's Curanja River, and Hawaii's _menehune_, as well as reports of encounters with "Mini-Men" only 6 to 18 inches tall. >> Official mainstream anthropology recognizes only two authenticated "pygmy" populations on our planet: (1) the Pygmies proper, Negrillos, or Twides of the West and Central African rain forests, usually considered dwarf offshoots or cousins of full-sized Black Africans, and (2) the Negritos of the Malay Peninsula, the Andaman Islands, and some remote inland mountain and jungle areas of the Philippines and New Guinea, generally considered a dwarfed offshoot of the "Australoid" racial group. Both populations consist of dark-skinned woolly- or curly-haired folk with an average adult height of between 4 1/2 and 5 feet on a "Stone Age" hunting-and-foodgathering cultural level living in isolated, hard-to-reach jungle, mountain, or small island areas. Officially, anthropology knows of no other pygmy groups anywhere in the world--certainly none of a White/Caucasoid, Oriental/Mongoloid, or Native American general racial type, and definitely none living anywhere in Europe, mainland Asia (aside from the Malay Peninsula), continental Australia, or the Americas. However, there are persisting rumors and occasional reported sightings of "ultra-pygmies" only 2 or3 feet tall from Oceania and the Americas. In their _Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide_ (Avon Books, 1999), Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe discuss the _alux_ of Yucatán and other rumored New World pygmies (p. 70), and Hawaii's _menehune_ and Fiji's _menehune_-like dwarfs (p. 148)--many of them reportedly encountered by 20th century witnesses as well as described in traditional legends and folklore. The _alux_ of Mayan tradition, depicted in Mayan temple bas-reliefs and reportedly still seen by modern Maya, are short men under 3 feet tall with big heads and long black beards, wearing _huipils_ or Mayan tunics. Tales and rumors of other pygmy-like beings, known by various local names, have been plentiful from the Yucatán down to the Guianas and Peru, according to Coleman and Huyghe, although reports extend down to Tierra del Fuego. In 1944, for instance, a timber hunter encountered two little people in the Honduras jungle. A 1970 publication of the Roman Catholic vicariate of Puerto Maldonada, Peru, mentioned a tribe of pygmies only 39 inches tall, the Yushe, living along the banks of the Curanja River. In Hawaii, Coleman and Huyghe note (_Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti..._, p. 148), 20th century eyewitness reports corroborate traditional legends of the _menehune_, short, hairy folk 2 to 3 feet tall with stout muscular bodies, red-skinned faces, big eyes, long eyebrows, low protruding foreheads, and short thick noses. In 1975, 6 eyewitnesses on Fiji saw 8 _menehune_-like figures 2 feet tall and covered with black hair, according to the July 19, 1975 _Fiji Times_ as cited by Coleman and Huyghe (p. 148) Best regards, T. Peter T. Peter Park wrote: > Friends, Forteans, Listmates! > With his 18-inch-tall "Ant Men," Burroughs anticipated more > recent rumors of supposed ultra-pygmies only 2 or 3 feet tall, like > the _alux_ of Yucatán, the Yushe along Peru's Curanja River, and > Hawaii's _menehune_, as well as reports of encounters with "Mini-Men" > only 6 to 18 inches tall. Except for his portrayal of bizarrely > reversed sex rôles, likewise, Burroughs unwittingly anticipated > real-life modern reports of alleged Neanderthal-like hominids with his > Alali (see Coleman and Huyghe,_Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti..._ , pp. > 23-26, 52-53, 90-911, 118-119 on modern "Neanderthaloids" from North > America, Europe, Central Asia, and China). By making the Alali > speechless, likewise, Burroughs unwittingly anticipated recent > palaeontological arguments over whether or not the Neanderthals could > speak or use language! > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/pyIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mythfolk/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/