The Hoopa Project - Book Review

The Hoopa Project is a culmination of Sasquatch investigative work in the Hoopa Valley area of Northern California by author, researcher and investigator, David Paulides. The book chronicles over two years of research into Native American Sasquatch encounters in and around the Hoopa Reservation. It includes detailed reports on over 40 individual witness accounts and over 30 individual sightings. Included in the book are more than fifteen Sasquatch forensic sketches completed during witness interviews by Forensic Sketch Artist, Harvey Pratt.

Background on the book, the research and the author's approach:
As one of the 'hotbeds' of Bigfoot activity on the west coast, The Hoopa Valley and Native American Reservation is located in Northern Humbolt County and follows the Klamath and Trinity River valleys (including the convergence of both rivers near the center of the reservation.) It's approximately 70 miles Northeast of Eureka, California and is bordered by the Six Rivers National Forest to the North; the Salmon Mountains and Trinity Alps Wilderness Area to the East and the Redwood National Park and coastal mountains to the West towards coastal highway 101. The Hoopa Reservation comprises over 144 square miles of mountainous territory.

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The area holds a rich tradition of Sasquatch sightings and encounters along with significant Tribal lore about the creatures. The infamous Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed encounter took place just to the Northeast of the Hoopa valley on Bluff Creek.

Paulides is the founder of the research group, The North American Bigfoot Search (NABS). He has over 20 years of experience in law enforcement, including extensive experience as a Police Investigator.

Paulides' research and investigation process presented in the Hoopa Project is both refreshing and intriguing.

What makes the Hoopa Project a great read and Paulides' approach so intriguing?

1. Forensic Investigative Experience: Paulides uses interview and on-site investigative techniques honed from his 20+ years of experience in law enforcement. The approach mirrors a criminal investigation. Paulides' in depth interviews include signed affidavits from witnesses - legal statements attesting to their truthful accounts of events described (like criminal trial depositions.) He brings both a professional and legal approach to the witness interview process.
2. Forensic Sketch Artwork: Detailed artwork sketches from Harvey Pratt bolster Paulides' forensic approach. Pratt is a Police Forensic Sketch Artist for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and brings over 35 years experience in law enforcement to the effort. He completed over 15 forensic sketches of Sasquatches during his own interviews with select witnesses in the book... and the consistency in sketch results and comparisons are striking.
3. Full-time Research: Paulides has the means and will to conduct his research full time. Now retired from law enforcement and the corporate world, he has made Sasquatch research his full-time endeavor. As so many of us part-time researchers know, conducting research in one's spare time has its inherent limitations. Paulides' focus and ability to do full-time investigative research should be applauded... Particularly given his specialized skill set and capabilities in professional investigation.

I contacted Mr. Paulides to get his perspective on his research approach and how he combined both research and writing for the book in tandem.

Comments from Author, David Paulides:

"NABS initially went through a process (as explained in the book) of siphoning the data to determine where the study would take place. Part of that process included making a pin map of sightings/encounters. This map led to Hoopa, see Northern California Bigfoot Sightings Map on our website. We started to gather and siphon data in late 2005.

We had made initial contacts and surveyed Hoopa, Weitchpec and Bluff Creek in late 2005 as part of a general understanding of terrain, region, accessibility, etc., before we made decisions on where we would conduct research. We spent significant time in the field with locals understanding topography, sightings, encounters, etc., prior to making any formal decisions about Hoopa.

Every night, after conducting research or meeting witnesses, I was in my motel room and I wrote the story behind the day's events. There was no specific time confined to a room writing the book - it was written as the research evolved, day by day. This was the best method for me to keep each day and witness events fresh in my mind and place it on paper.

Regarding my primary research for the book, that has never stopped. In fact, I made several additions to the book just before it was sent to the printer. The research has continued in Hoopa - even today. There have been tracks found in the Mill Creek area since the printing of "The Hoopa Project". There is much to learn in Hoopa and my trips have taken me back there since the printing of the book.

As interesting as Paulides' and Pratt's approaches and methodologies are, it's the results outlined in The Hoopa Project that are most intriguing. Those results include:

• Numerous witness accounts showing multiple encounters in the same general locations over many years.
• The encounters provide a baseline for the region, pointing to areas of frequent activity with behavioral and ecological implications on how and why these creatures may be habituating certain areas.
• The documented sightings, by and large, describe remarkably consistent creatures in appearance... and the forensic sketches provide detailed visual representations of the similarities.

The overall profile of the creatures and encounters described in the book are similar to what many of us have heard before:

• Extremely large creatures with pongid-like arms that reach to knee level.
• Hair covering virtually the entire body that can range in color based on individual.
• Massive shoulders and absence of any discernible neck.
• Behavioral consistencies in reported vocalizations, projectile throwing/intimidation, opportunistic feeding, forraging and predation techniques, etc.

Collectively, Paulides' and Pratt's work in The Hoopa Project also present new paradigms on the Saquatch phenomenon to consider.

What do these witness accounts and forensic sketches show that may surprise you?

What differs with many of the Hoopa encounters (compared with many other sighting encounters) is the witness descriptions of the creatures' heads and faces and Pratt's detailed drawings depicting them. The consistency in these descriptions reveal a creature with a remarkably human-looking face and head... human-like nose and lips... human-like teeth... hairless upper cheeks and forehead with a human-like brow-ridge... long, flowing hair from the top of the head down the center back and shoulders... and a rounded head with no saggital crest.

Indeed, it's the consistency in these descriptions and related sketches from multiple witnesses that is most stunning.... an upright creature with the body proportions of a long-arm ape/pongid yet a head and face that is remarkably human.

Taken in its entirety, The Hoopa Project provides a groundbreaking assessment of focused regional encounters with details and forensic drawings that not only present a strong argument for the existence of these creatures in Northern California... but implications that beg a fundamental question about these creatures:

Are they more human than ape?

A fascinating read, The Hoopa Project is an instant classic in the field of Bigfoot research. I highly recommend it to any researcher or enthusiast with interest in the subject.

P.S. Paulides reports that a sequel to the The Hoopa Project will be released in June 2009! (title TBD.) Stay tuned...