There's legends of a sinister and deadly troll like creature called 'Pukwudgies' in Massachusetts (& Indiana).
The Pukwugie legends are from the Native American Tribe the Wampanoag. Interestingly, the Wampanoag are the tribe that celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims. I think that's a neat bit of history to know.
There's not much info on the internet about the pukwudgie, but here's the gist of what I found:
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Pukwugies of Indiana
Dark Destinations - Mounds state park
The Modern day sightings of the pukwugies in Indiana are described as
small, glowing, grey, about 2 ft tall, big noses-ears-fingers,
shapeshifters, killers, lures their victims with spirits.
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Pukwudgies of Massachusetts
The Pukwudgies: Myth or Monster website has a legend of the beginnings of the Pukwudgies.
A couple of the more modern day stories tell of different individuals that encountered a Pukwudgie in the woods and is seemingly stalked and observed by it ever since.
There's also a cliff in the area that has had a unexplained suicides by people who are seemingly happy and sane. The legend suggest that it's the pukwudgies that lure the people
to the cliff and through some type of negative encounter they cause the person to fall to their death.
excerpt from the website:
*Of all the unknown horrors that live
in Bristol County, the most feared is not a animal or a ghost or the members of Satanic cults that walk the forests, but a demon only two feet high, and if the history of the area represents the history of our America society, these Pukwudgies are the gatekeepers of our darker side. The Pukwudgies have haunted the forests of Massachusetts since
before the first European Settlers ever thought about setting out for a new land. For centuries they tormented the local Native Americans and crept their way into their creation myths and oral history. They could easily be passed of as legend, and in fact, their physical description is much like mythological creatures from other cultures in other times.
The difference is these demons jumped from the page and evolved as the people around them changed, changing from reluctant helpers to evil tormentors. The difference is these demons are still seen by people today.
read full article: Pukwudgies: Myth or Monster
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Pukwudgie (wikipedia)
excerpt:
*A Pukwudgie is a two or three foot tall troll-like being from the Native American Wampanoag. Pukwudgies' features resemble those of the Native Americans, but with enlarged nose, fingers and ears. Their skin is described as being grey, smooth and at times has been known to glow.
In Native American lore, Pukwudgies have the following traits and abilities;
* to appear and disappear at will
* to transform into other animals
* they are able to use magic
* they have poison arrows
* they can create fire at will
* Pukwudgies control Tei-Pai-Wankas which are believed to be the souls of Native Americans they have killed.
Native Americans believed that Puckwudgies were best left alone.
When you see a Puckwudgie you are not supposed to mess with them, or they will repay you by playing nasty tricks on you, or following you and causing trouble. They were once friendly to humans, then they turned against them. They are known to kidnap humans, push people off of cliffs, attack their victims with short knives and spears and to use sand to blind their victim.
read full wiki info: Pukwudgie
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Last month, on another paranrmal forum, happenstance brought me in contact with a man who fancied himself quite the knowledgeable character on Pukwudgies, apparently his
most prized possession was owning a children's book called "The Good Giants and the Bad Pukwudgies" by Jean Fritz, it's out of print.
During the course of my short discussions with him, he didn't say one thing that wasn't taken directly from the web pages that I had posted links too about the pukwudgies. I thought it was curious seeings how he was secure about his knowledge because of the children's book, ghost hunting, his own published ghost book and his youtube videos...
I quizzed him pretty good, but still the only difference between his knowledge and mine was that he had visited some of the places in Massachusetts and he owned the children's book. But not once did he quote from or even give a hint what was in the children's book...
Nor did he ever give further thoughts or speculations nor information other than what was online posted on other people's websites. Also he maintained that he had never hunted for a pukwudgie, he just did cursory visits to the areas when he was told of an encounter there...
Well, the pukwudgie discussion bugged me, but the holidays came up and then I got side-tracked for a couple of weeks and then while surfing around Amazon, I happened on the book title, "The Good Giants and the Bad Pukwudgies". It was for sale by one of their secondary sellers (or whatever their called) I ordered the book and happily it arrived in a few days. I read the book right away.
"The Good Giants and the Bad Pukwudgies" by Jean Fritz is an intriguing little book that tells of some really bad things that the pukwudgies did. It's not very thick or long, but says quite a bit and there's alot of the legend it doesn't talk about.
Basically the story is of the pukwudgies tormenting the people & giants living in the area.
They killed the giants 5 sons with poison arrows. The giants never conquered them.
I'm trying to be careful of copyrights with my description of the contents of the book.
After reading the book, I also understood why the man I encountered in December 08 didn't quote from or tell anything of the storyline.
There's a lot of it that doesn't match the online information (and it would have also confirmed my suspicion that while it's written in the manner of a children's book, it's not suitable for toddlers.)
Here's the basics of the differences between the book as compared with the info online:
It doesn't mention a shadow being or any type of entity that controls the pukwudgies.
It doesn't mention possession.
It doesn't mention that the pukwudgies turned bad out of jealousy.
It doesn't mention that they take the spirits of people and use them to lure folks away.
It doesn't mention a precursor of balls of lights, but it does mention they turn into fireflies.
I thought I'd tell you about this, in case you buy the book expecting them to be mentioned. I think they left alot of the legends out, because it's a children's book.
It does mention shape shifting: they turn into fireflies, mosquitoes (and drink the blood of folks.)
It does have a quick mention of them burning down houses and pushing people off cliffs.
It does mention they steal.
It does mention they love strawberry bread.
It does mention they shoot poison arrows.
It does mention they lure boys off trails into swamps with their lights when they turn into fireflies.
They were into all kinds of meanness and ugliness.
I'm glad I own the book because it makes a nice addition to my nature folk book collection. ;)
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Now for the Good Guys:
Puk-wud-jies of Indiana
The name is spelled different but the pronunciation is the same. Some of the Indiana pukwudjies are nicer than the ones spelled pukwudgie.
Modern day sightings of the Puk-wud-ies. Delaware Indian legend. They're a peaceful tribe of little people who are still living in the forest. People still report seeing them. They live in mounds in the area Alexandria (Anderson Area) Mounds
State Park and they dress in blue gowns.
Above info is a mix from the scant info on these following websites:
Haunted Indiana ABC - Locations pg 1
Haunted Places Of Indiana (Mounds State Park)
Indiana by Phyllis Thomas (posted on Google books)
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I found a video on the net. It's less than 4 minutes long. It was made in the Mounds Sate park Area in Indiana with one of the guides.
The first half speaks of the pukwudjies. She describes various aspects of size and the huts the little people would build.
The scenery in the first half is really pretty. I really like the music too, it's soothing. lol
Puk-Wud-Jies: The Legend of the Little People
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I apologize for the way this is reading and the sentences are broken. I tried to edit it, but I don't know if it'll make much of a difference.
Maybe you can basically follow my post anyhow.
