Sunday, March 23, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Bigfoot Casts on Display at U.C. Berkeley
Bigfoot in Berkeley? Yes, that’s what brought me there to the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology. There was a temporary display of casts donated by the late Dr. Grover Krantz who received his Masters Degree in 1958 at the university. The small, stand-alone case housed both left and right footprint cast copies from Bossburg, Washington and a brief explanation regarding the circumstances of the “cripple foot” flap of 1969.
The display was intended as a catalyst for interdisciplinary discussion according to Marco Centin, an exhibition designer at the museum. UC Berkeley’s public affair office authored an on-line article “Bigfoot Casts a Philosophical Shadow” on February 27, 2008 wherein they explained the process of putting these casts on display for 3 weeks. The casts were donated by Dr. Krantz in 1970 and were apparently last on public display a decade ago. Appropriately enough, the casts were on display on the 6th anniversary of Grover’s passing.
The museum steers clear of endorsing the authenticity of the casts or of the existence of these creatures. Centin states in the article:
“We’re always looking through our collection to see which pieces would offer this kind of opportunity.” When he first showed the Bigfoot prints to museum colleagues, he says, “The big question they had was, Why do we have them in the first place?” But he was struck by how many people seemed to have a “personal connection” with the legendary creature, and says he was drawn to what he calls “the ambivalence of this object.”
There wasn’t much to the display, but it can certainly be stated that a major university has such evidence in their collection and, now in 2008, on temporary display.
They also produced a very cool shirt to go along with it!
I should also note that I was amazed by the California Native American items on display at this museum, especially those belonging to Ishi, the last Yahi. I’ve read a few books on Ishi and to actually see his possessions was very exciting. I take an interest in the Native American tribes who reside in areas where we go searching for bigfoot. There is a small museum in Hoopa and some Tolowa tribal displays at their casino near the Oregon/California border. The displays here were extensive in a very small display area. I certainly plan to return just to view these artifacts again.
Ishi's Belongings
(Left: what he had when he emerged from the mountains...
Below: what he made while living at the museum in S.F.)
That’s about all the news I have to share with you. Here are some photos from the Hearst Museum of Anthropology. It is worth searching for the article from 2/27/08, as well as Loren Coleman’s piece on the exhibit at Cryptomundo.com (enter “bigfoot Berkeley” and you get them.) This was gratifying to see the casts on display, to refresh the memory of Dr. Grover Krantz and to see the native cultural artifacts from our research areas.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
"February Made Me Shiver..." a cold night in the Santa Cruz Mtns.
not really...but I love that song.
Not much happening...I've been staying busy in the bigfoot world with plans being made at the Bigfoot Discovery Museum for this year's bigfoot day...It will be on Saturday, August 9th in Felton and Santa Cruz...details in a week or so.
I had a night out in the very quiet (yet BEAUTIFUL!) Santa Cruz Mountains...it was more of a night to get the gear in order and hook up with friends. There's a lot to see over there esp. along the coast. Here are some photos...that's Bart, myself and Cliff at around midnight somewhere deep in the backwoods of Big Basin State Park...towering redwoods and the view along the coast from the Pigeon Point lighthouse.
We then attended the monthly meeting at the museum in Felton...The next meeting is SATURDAY, March 15th at 6:00 p.m. and it's purely a social event...watching old documentaries. Sounds like fun, huh? Yeah, we know how to have a good time! :-)
Here's a photo of the new P-G Film display at the bigfoot museum. Very nice! Have you been there? No? then GET ON OVER and check it out!
more in a day or so... I did make it to Berkeley to see Grover Krantz's Bossburg Casts on display at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology...I'll post some photos from that little excursion next time.