What the Modoc Said About the Hairy Ones in the Lava Beds Documented in 1888

In the volcanic landscape of northern California, the Lava Beds — a vast field of lava tubes, caves, and jagged basalt formations — hold a significance to the Modoc people that goes far beyond their geological drama. This was the landscape of the Modoc War's final stand, where Captain Jack and his followers held off the United States Army for months within the lava's natural fortifications, and it is also a landscape whose oral tradition speaks of beings whose presence within the lava tubes predates any human memory the Modoc carry. In this video we explore what the Modoc oral tradition preserves about these beings, and examine what was documented about these accounts in 1888 — five years after the devastating conclusion of the Modoc War and the community's forced exile. 🕯️
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