Thanks to a local legend, coupled with several disputing archaeological finds, the hypothesis of a race of cannibal red-haired giants that had once inhabited areas of North America has been put forward.
Native Americans are familiar to numerous tales with a slightly different vision of the past than that of modern man. They remind of “star people” and “flying shields“ that have been constantly appearing to their ancestors, and also about a long-extinct race of giant humanoids with capabilities far exceeding that of ordinary men. These brutes are depicted as both courageous and savage, and with a cruel interest towards anyone interfering with their affairs.
The Paiute are a tribe that have made the Nevada region their home for thousands of years. These natives speak of a legendary race of red-haired giants known as the Si-Te-Cah. The forefathers of the Paiute recalled them as brutal and inhospitable cannibals.
In the Paiute dialect, Si-Te-Cah translates as “tule-eaters,” as from the rafts made using the stringy tule plant that had once helped these giants in crossing the ocean and settle to the Americas. This myth is not just some clositered folktale, but instead is heard all across the Americas, indicating that it could be a fragmented account of an actual event from remote ages.
But not only the native folk knows about this giants. Spanish conquistadores had also encountered supersized humanoids during their raids on South America. In fact, some of the scholars who had participated in those battles have documented them closely, including their alleged origins.
Sixteenth century Spanish conquistador Pedro Cieza de León reminds in his account “Crónicas del Perú” about an old Peruvian folktale describing how the South American giants came to be. In it, the author narrates how they “came by sea rafts of reeds after the manner of large boats; some of the men were so tall that from the knee down they were as big as the length of an ordinary fair-sized man.”
Maybe the Si-Te-Cah and the Peruvian giants have abandoned their land due to a merciless mass-cataclysm and so they took refuge on the newly discovered American continent? Upon their arrival, the Si-Te-Cah behaved in an aggressive manner and soon waged war on the Paiute and the rest of the tribes in the vicinity.
After years of strife and numerous casualties on both sides of the fence, the natives decided to end this giant threat for good by uniting under a single flag. It wasn’t long until the red-haired giants were crippled and forced out of their homes.
The giants retreated inside a cave, but were tracked down by the natives, and with a will to avenge their fallen brethren, they set up a considerable fire that had them all burnt or intoxicated. Those who ventured outside to try and escape the putsch were met with retribution to the last one.
The entrance to the cave was then sealed off in order to close a bloody chapter of history and it remained in obscurity until 1886 when the legend of the Peiutes had reached the ears of a mining engineer known as John T. Reid. Since the man was prospecting close to Lovelock, Nevada, he decided to have a look around to see if the stories he’d heard from the Indians had any truth to them.
Upon his inspection, Reid came across a cave matching the description. He was unable to start digging on his own, so he called for help in the nearby communities and the Lovelock cave was soon in the spotlight. At first, the yield consisted only of guano, but several decades later (1911) after David Pugh and James Hart had financed a mining operation to extract the precious fertilizer, various artifacts started to surface.
Lovelock cave, alleged hideout of the red-haired giants
An official expedition led by the University of California had followed in the year to come, and another one in 1924. Reports spoke of thousands of artifacts being retrieved, most of them having a peculiar nature.
Probably the most unusual, but nevertheless expected find consisted of the mummified bodies of giant humanoids with red hair pigmentation. Stretching between 8 and 10 feet in height, the well-preserved remains were dubbed the “Lovelock Giants.”
The unusual discovery hasn’t been confirmed in an official manner, but some elements discovered at the site consolidate this idea. Among the artifacts were a pair of worn 15 inch-long slippers, together with various other large items that are now resting inside warehouses and private collections.
Within the Lovelock Cave there’s an oversized hand print embedded on a rock, proving that this intriguing discovery could be indeed the graveyard of the Si-Te-Cah, the last red-haired race of giants, and fallen enemies of the Paiute.
Giant hand print inside Lovelock cave
Time however showed that this race of giants was not entirely exterminated, as another puzzling archaeological find had shown. An article published in the Nevada Review Miner from 1931 describes how two distinct giant skeleton remains were dug out from a dried-out lake bed in the vicinity of Lovelock, Nevada.
The mummified exhibits measured 8.5, and 10 feet in height respectively. The technique used in their mummification reminded of the methods used by ancient Egyptians. Probably the most intriguing find was the red hair samples recovered from both sites, the linking factor of this equation.
First thoughts on the origins of the reddish hair alluded to the environmental interaction that could have dyed the hair samples, but chances for such a scenario look slim. On the other hand, the unearthed mummies confirm the legend of the Si-Te-Cah, the kin of the red-haired giants of the Americas.
Advocates of alternative history refer to these merciless giant humanoids as none other than the Nephilim, offspring of the ‘Sons of God’ and ‘daughters of men.’ It’s challenging to confirm these fabulous claims since those who know the exact location of the sites have their lips zipped tightly, but if there’s some truth to these stories, it could be revealed in the years that follow.