Bukwas

Bukwas

The Wild Man of the Woods

ALSO KNOWN AS:

Bakwas; Bukwis

ORIGIN:

Kwakiutl

The Kwakiutl are the indigenous people of Vancouver Island and the adjacent Canadian mainland. Bukwas lives in the deep forests of the Pacific Northwest. He is a spirit of the dead identified with an afterlife realm inhabited by various ghosts, especially the souls of those who have drowned. Bukwas may serve as the psychopomp between realms. (Depending on the myth, Bukwas may also contribute more directly to their deaths.)

Bukwas lingers at the forest threshold or by forest paths, offering assistance and food to people who are lost. He seems helpful, but the end result is that people are lured to his Otherworld and may not return, at least not alive.

Bukwas emerges from the forest very early in the morning before too many people areabout. He goes to the seashore to collect his favourite food, cockles, and other shellfish. If it’s crowded, he will retreat to the woods, but he may approach a lone person and offer to share his food. Don’t accept. Those who eat Bukwas’ food end up in Bukwas’ realm of the dead.

In traditional Kwakiutl cosmology, Bukwas is clearly a spirit. He is the subject of carved shamanic masks and appears during rituals, especially the traditional winter dance. However, he is now sometimes also identified with Bigfoot or Sasquatch and thus assumed to be a cryptid, an as yet unidentified living being.

MANIFESTATION:

He resembles a gaunt, haggard wild man, dressed in ragged garments and with long, disheveled hair. (When identified as Bigfoot, he is described as being ape-like.)

ICONOGRAPHY:

Bukwas is depicted in the form of carved, wooden masks and statues.

Favorite foods: Cockles; shellfish

SEE ALSO:

Ghost; Psychopomp

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by :Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.