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The 'Yeti' or 'Abominable Snowman' is an apelike cryptid said to inhabit the Himalaya region of Nepal and Tibet. The names ''Yeti'' and ''Meh-Teh'' are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region,^[1] and are part of their history and mythology. Nepalese have various names for Yeti like "Bonmanche" which means "wild man" or "Kanchanjunga rachyyas" which means "Kanchanjunga's demon."
Most mainstream scientists, explorers and writers consider current evidence of the Yeti's existence to be weak and better explained as hoax, legend or misidentification of known species. Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality, John Napier, , , , 2005, ISBN 0-525-06658-6 . Even today, the Yeti remains one of the most famous creatures of cryptozoology. As such, the Yeti can be considered a Himalayan version of the Sasquatch.

Contents

Name variations

The "Abominable Snowman"

Events and Studies

19th century

Early 20th century

The Pangboche Scalp

Late 20th century

Analysis

In Shamanism

In popular culture

References

See also

External links

Name variations

The name Yeti is derived from the Tibetan ''yeh-teh''. (), a compound of the words ''yeh'' () meaning "rocky" or "rocky place" and ''ti'', ''te'' or ''teh'' () which translates as "bear", the full name being "rock bear". The Abominable Snowman, Rev. Swami Pranavananda, , , Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 1957 , Stonor, Charles, , , The Statesman in Calcutta, 1954 Abominable Snowman, Swan, Lawrence W.,, , , Science New Series, 1958 The Abominable Snowman Adventure, Ralph Izzard, , , Hodder and Stoughton, 1955 On the Track of Unknown Animals, Bernard Heuvelmans, , , Rupert Hart-Davis, 1958,
Pranavananda goes on to illustrate the root of the words "ti", "te" and "teh" in that they are derived from the spoken word 'tre' (spelled "dred"), Tibetan for bear, with the 'r' softly pronounced as to be almost inaudible, thus making it "te" or "teh". The Abominable Snowman Adventure, Ralph Izzard, , , Hodder and Stoughton, 1955
Other terms used by Himalayan peoples do not translate exactly the same, but refer to legendary and indigenous wildlife.

★ 'Jo-bran, Kang Admi, Mirka, Migoi, Dzu-teh, Meh-teh' () translates as "man-bear" The Abominable Snowman Adventure, Ralph Izzard, , , Hodder and Staoughton, 1955

★ 'Dzu-teh' - 'dzu' translates as "cattle" and the full meaning translates as "cattle bear" and is the Himalayan Red Bear.^[2] More than Mountains, John A. Jackson, , , George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd), 1955,

★ 'Migoi' or 'Mi-go' () (pronounced mey-goo) translates as "Wild Man".

★ 'Mirka' - another name for "wild-man", however as local legend has it "anyone who sees one dies or is killed". The latter is taken from a written statement by Frank Smythe's sherpas in 1937.^[3]

★ 'Kang Admi' - "Snow Man"

★ 'Jo-bran' - "Man-beast"
Himalayan wildlife attributed to the Yeti sightings include the Chu-Teh, a Langur monkey [1] living at lower altitudes, the Tibetan Blue Bear, the Himalayan Brown Bear and the Dzu-Teh (commonly known as the Himalayan Red Bear).[2]
The term ''Yeti'' is often used to describe various reported creatures:

★ A large apelike biped (that some suggest could be a ''Gigantopithecus'')

★ Human-sized bipedal apes (the Almas and the Chinese wildman)

★ Dwarflike creatures (such as the Orang Pendek).
The term is often used to refer to creatures fitting any of the aforementioned descriptions. For example, the fear liath has been dubbed as the "Scottish Yeti".

The "Abominable Snowman"

The appellation "Abominable Snowman" was not coined until 1921, the same year Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Howard-Bury led the Royal Geographical Society's "Everest Reconnaissance Expedition" Some Observations on the Approaches to Mount Everest, Charles Howard-Bury, , , The Geographical Journal, ^[4] which he chronicled in ''Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921'' Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921, Charles Howard-Bury, , , Edward Arnold, 1921, ISBN=1-135-39935-2 In the book, Howard-Bury includes an account of crossing the "Lhakpa-la" at 21,000 feet (6400 meter) where he found footprints that he believed "were probably caused by a large 'loping' grey wolf, which in the soft snow formed double tracks rather like a those of a barefooted man". He adds that
his Sherpa guides "at once volunteered that the tracks must be that of "The Wild Man of the Snows", to which they gave the name "metoh-kangmi". "Metoh" translates as "man-bear" and "Kang-mi" translates as "snowman".^[5]
A bit of confusion exists between Howard-Bury's recitation of the term "metoh-kangmi" and the term used in H.W. Tilman's book ''Mount Everest, 1938'' Mount Everest 1938, Tilman H.W,, , , Pilgrim Publishing, 1938, ISBN 81-7769-175-9 where Tilman had used the words "metch" (which may not exist in the Tibetan language) The Abominable Snowman Adventure, Ralph Izzard, , , Hodder and Staoughton, 1955 and "kangmi" when relating the coining of the term "Abominable Snowman". Abominable Snowman, William L. Straus Jnr.,, , , Science, New Series, Further evidence of "metch" being a misnomer is provided by Tibetan language authority Professor David Snellgrove from the School of Oriental Studies in London (ca. 1956), who dismissed the word "metch" as impossible to conjoin the consonants "t-c-h" in the Tibetan language." Documentation suggests that the term "metch-kangmi" is derived from one source (from the year 1921).^[3] It has been suggested that "metch" is simply a misspelling of "metoh".
Like the legend itself, the origin of the term "Abominable Snowman" is rather colourful. It began when Mr Henry Newman, a longtime contributor to ''The Statesman'' in Calcutta (using the pen name "Kim") interviewed the porters of the "Everest Reconnaissance expedition" upon their return to Darjeeling,^[7][8][9]. Newman mistranslated the word "metoh" as "filthy" or "dirty", substituting the term "abominable", perhaps out of artistic license. ^[10] As author H.W. Tilman's recounts, "[Newman] wrote long after in a letter to ''The Times'': The whole story seemed such a joyous creation I sent it to one or two newspapers'".

Events and Studies

19th century

In 1832, the ''Journal of the Asiatic society of Bengal'' published trekker B. H. Hodgson's account of the Yeti in northern Nepal. His native guides spotted a tall, bipedal creature covered with long dark hair, which seemed to flee in fear. Hodgson did not see the creature, but concluded it was an orangutan.
An early record of reported footprints appeared in 1889 in L.A. Waddell's ''Among the Himalayas''. Waddell reported his guide's description of a large apelike creature that left the prints, which Waddell concluded were actually made by a bear. Waddell heard stories of bipedal, apelike creatures, but wrote that of the many witnesses he questioned, none "could ever give ... an authentic case. On the most superficial investigation it always resolved into something that somebody had heard of." [3]

Early 20th century

The frequency of reports increased during the early 20th century, when Westerners began making determined attempts to scale the many mountains in the area and occasionally reported seeing odd creatures or strange tracks.
In 1925, N.A. Tombazi, a photographer and member of the Royal Geographical Society, allegedly saw a creature at about 15,000 ft (4572 meter) near Zemu Glacier. Tombazi later wrote that he observed the creature from about 200 or 300 yards, for about a minute. "Unquestionably, the figure in outline was exactly like a human being, walking upright and stopping occasionally to pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes. It showed up dark against the snow, and as far as I could make out, wore no clothes." About two hours later, Tombazi and his companions descended the mountain, and saw what they assumed to be the creature's prints, described as "similar in shape to those of a man, but only six to seven inches long by four inches wide... The prints were undoubtedly those of a biped."

The Pangboche Scalp

The Pangboche Hand and Yeti "Scalp", 1954

Dr. Biswamoy Biswas examining the Pangboche Yeti scalp during the Daily Mail Snowman Expedition of 1954

The Daily Mail "Snowman Expedition" of 1954, on March 19 printed an article which described expedition teams obtaining hair specimens from a scalp found in Pangboche monastery. The hair was analysed by Professor Frederic Wood Jones, F.R.S, D.Sc., (who died on September 29 ''1954''^[11][12]) and an expert in human and comparative anatomy.
The research consisted of taking microphotographs of the hairs and comparing them with hairs from known animals such as bears and orangutans. Professor Woods-Jones concluded that the hairs of the Pangboche scalp were not actually from a scalp. He contended that some animals do have a ridge of hair extending from the pate to the back, but no animals have a ridge (as in the Pangboche relic) running from the base of the forehead across the pate and ending at the nape of the neck.
The hairs were black to dark brown in colour in dim light, and fox red in sunlight. None of the hairs had been dyed and were probably exceedingly old. During the study, the hairs were bleached, cut into sections and analysed microscopically. Wood-Jones was unable to pinpoint the animal from which the Pangboche hairs were taken. He was, however, convinced that the hairs were not of a bear or anthropoid ape. He suggested that the hairs were not from the head of a coarse-haired hoofed animal, but from its shoulder.^[13].

Late 20th century

Western interest in the Yeti peaked dramatically in the 1950s. While attempting to scale Mount Everest in 1951, Eric Shipton took photographs of a number of large prints in the snow, at about 6,000 m (19,685 ft) above sea level. These photos have been subject to intense scrutiny and debate. Some argue they are the best evidence of Yeti's existence, while others contend the prints to be from a mundane creature, and have been distorted by the melting snow.
In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reported seeing large footprints while scaling Mount Everest. But Hillary would later discount Yeti reports as unreliable.^[14]
During the Daily Mail 'Snowman Expedition' of 1954,^[15] the largest search of its kind, the mountaineering leader John Angelo Jackson, made the first trek from Everest to Kangchenjunga during which he photographed symbolic paintings of the Yeti at Thyangboche Gompa.^[16] Jackson tracked and photographed many footprints in the snow, most of which were identifiable. However, there were many large footprints which could not be identified. The flattened footprint-like indentations were attributed to erosion and subsequent widening of the original footprint by wind and particles.
Beginning in 1957, wealthy American oilman Tom Slick funded a few missions to investigate Yeti reports. In 1959, supposed Yeti feces were collected by Slick's expedition; fecal analysis found a parasite which could not be classified. Bernard Heuvelmans wrote, "Since each animal has its own parasites, this indicated that the host animal is equally an unknown animal." ^[17]
In 1959, actor Jimmy Stewart, while visiting India, reportedly smuggled remains of a supposed Yeti, the so-called Pangboche Hand, by concealing it in his luggage when he flew from India to London.^[18]
In 1960, Sir Edmund Hillary mounted an expedition to collect and analyse physical evidence of the Yeti. He sent a Yeti "scalp" from the Khumjung monastery to the West for testing, whose results indicated the scalp to be manufactured from the skin of the serow, a goat-like Himalayan antelope. But some disagreed with this analysis. Myra Shackley said that the "hairs from the scalp look distinctly monkey-like, and that it contains parasitic mites of a species different from that recovered from the serow."
In 1970, British mountaineer Don Whillans claims to have witnessed a creature when scaling Annapurna. While scouting for a campsite, Whillans heard some odd cries which his Sherpa guide attributed to a Yeti's call. That very night, Whillans saw a dark shape moving near his camp. The next day, he observed a few human-like footprints in the snow, and that evening, viewed with binoculars a bipedal, apelike creature for 20 minutes as it apparently searched for food not far from his camp.
Nothing was seen again.

Analysis

In his book ''Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality'', primatologist John Napier provides firsthand reports and analysis on the subject, and argues that amongst the evidence for the Yeti, "unlike the Sasquatch, there is little uniformity of pattern, and what uniformity there is incriminates the bear."
In 2003, Japanese mountaineer Makoto Nebuka published the results of his twelve year linguistic study postulating that the word "Yeti" is actually a corruption of the word "meti", a regional dialect term for "bear". As in other traditional cultures, the ethnic Tibetans fear and worship the bear as a supernatural being.^[19] Nebuka's claims were subject to almost immediate criticism, and was accused of linguistic carelessness. Dr Raj Kumar Pandey, who has researched both Yetis and mountain languages, said "it is not enough to blame tales of the mysterious beast of the Himalayas on words that rhyme but mean different things."^[20]
After reviewing eyewitness accounts and physical evidence, many cryptozoologists have concluded that Yeti reports are misidentification of mundane creatures. Even well-financed expeditions have turned up no positive evidence of its existence. One well publicized expedition to Bhutan reported that a hair sample had been obtained that, after DNA analysis by Prof. Bryan Sykes, could not be matched to any known animal.^[21] Analysis completed after the media release, however, clearly showed that the samples were from the brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') and the Asiatic black bear (''Ursus thibetanus'').^[22]
In 1997, South Tyrolean mountaineer Reinhold Messner claimed to have a face-to-face encounter with a Yeti. He has since written a book, ''My Quest for the Yeti'', and claims to have actually killed one. According to Messner, the Yeti is actually the endangered Himalayan Brown Bear, ''Ursus arctos isabellinus'', that can walk upright or on all fours.^[23]
Enthusiasts speculate that these reported creatures could be present-day specimens of the extinct giant ape ''Gigantopithecus'', as the only evidence recovered from ''Gigantopithecus'' (other than teeth) are jawbone remains indicating a skull atop a vertical spinal column (as in hominines and other bipedal apes such as ''Oreopithecus''). However, while the Yeti is generally described as bipedal, most scientists believe ''Gigantopithecus'' to be quadrupedal, and so massive that, unless it evolved specifically as a bipedal ape (like ''Oreopithecus'' and the hominids), walking upright would have been even more difficult for the now extinct primate than it is for its extant quadrupedal relative, the orangutan.

In Shamanism

In Nepal, the Yeti is known not as a creature, but as a shamanist god by the name of Banjankri. The Yeti is encountered only in a trance state.

In popular culture

An artist's impression of the Yeti (from Hergé's Tintin in Tibet). Notice the pointed head, based on the Yeti Scalp.

The Yeti has become a cultural icon, appearing in movies, books and video games. The creature is usually depicted as the scary "Abominable Snowman", but is occasionally shown as being misunderstood or used as comic relief.

References

1. The Sherpa and the Snowman, Charles Stonor, , , Hollis and Carter, 1955 Daily Mail,
2. , Rev, Swami Pranavananda, , , Indian Geographical Journal, July-Sept, 1955
3. Mount Everest 1938, Tilman H.W,, , , Pilgrim Publishing, 1938, ISBN 81-7769-175-9
4. Mount Everest" The reconnaissance: Discussion, Francis Yourghusband; H. Norman Collie; A. Gatine, , , The Geographical Journal,
5. The Abominable Snowman Adventure, Ralph Izzard, , , Hodder and Staoughton, 1955
6. Mount Everest 1938, Tilman H.W,, , , Pilgrim Publishing, 1938, ISBN 81-7769-175-9
7. Unknown Hominids and New World legends, Bacil F. Kirtley, , , Western Folklore,
8. The Abominable Snowman, John Masters, , , ,
9. On the Track of Unknown Animals, Bernard Heuvelmans, , , Rupert Hart-Davis, 1958,
10. The Abominable Snowman Adventure, Ralph Izzard, , , Hodder and Stoughton, 1955
11. Obituary: 79, Frederic Wood-Jones, F.R.S.: 1879-1954, Jessie Dobson, , , Man,
12. Frederic Wood-Jones, 1879-1954, Wilfred E. le Gros Clark, , , Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
13. The Abominable Snowman Adventure, Ralph Izzard, , , Hodder and Staoughton, 1955,
14. Man of Everest Everest - The Autobiography of Tenzing, Tenzing Norgay (told to and written by James Ramsey Ullman), , , George Harrap & Co, Ltd, 1955,
15. http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/snowman1954/1954-snowman-team.html
16. Adventure Travels in the Himalaya (pp135-152), John Angelo Jackson (pp136), , , , 2005, ISBN 81-7387-175-2
17. Loren Coleman, ''Tom Slick and the Search for Yeti'', Faber & Faber, 1989, ISBN 0-571-12900-5; Loren Coleman, ''Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology'', Fresno, California: Linden Press, 2002, ISBN 0-941936-74-0
18. Milestones -- Jimmy Stewart
19. Tibet: Mystic Trivia
20. BBC News -- Yeti's 'non-existence' hard to bear
21. The Statesmen -- Mystery Primate
22. Using Ancient DNA to Link Culture and Biology in Human Populations, Chandler, H.C., , , Unpublished D.Phil. thesis. University of Oxford, Oxford, 2003,
23. The Grizzly Truth About the Yeti -- Stalking the Abominable Snow-Bear


★ John Napier (primatologist) (MRCS, IRCS, DSC) "Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality" 1972 ISBN 0-525-06658-6.

★ Sir Francis Younghusband ''The Epic of Mount Everest'' by 1926, Edward Arnold & Co. The expedition that inadvertently coined the term "Abominable Sbowman"

★ Charles Howard-Bury, "Mount Everest The Reconnaissance", 1921, Edward Arnold, ISBN 1-135-39935-2.

★ H.W. Tilman, "Mount Everest 1938", Appendix B, pp. 127-137, Pilgrim Publishing. ISBN 81-7769-175-9.

★ John A. Jackson, ''More than Mountains'', Chapter 10 (pp 92) & 11, "Prelude to the Snowman Expedition & The Snowman Expedition", George Harrap & Co, 1954

★ Ralph Izzard, ''The Abominable Snowman Adventure'', this is the detailed account by the Daily Mail correspondent on the 1954 expedition to find the "Snowman", Hodder and Staoughton, 1955.

★ Charles Stonor, ''The Sherpa and the Snowman'', recounts the 1955 Dail Mail "Abominable Snowman Expedition" by the scientific officer of the expedition, this is a very detailed analysis of not just the "Snowman" but the flora and fauna of the Himalaya and its people. Hollis and Carter, 1955.

★ John A. Jackson, ''Adventure Travels in the Himalaya'' Chapter 17, "Everest and the Elusive Snowman", 1954 updated material, Indus Publishing Company, 2005, ISBN 81-7387-175-2.

★ Jerome Clark, ''Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena'', Visible Ink Press, 1993.

★ Bernard Heuvelmans, ''On the Track of Unknown Animals'', Hill and Wang, 1958

★ Reinhold Messner, ''My Quest for the Yeti: Confronting the Himalayas' Deepest Mystery'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000, ISBN 0-312-20394-2

★ Gardner Soule, ''Trail of the Abominable Snowman'', New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1966, ISBN 0-399-6064

See also

★ Bigfoot

★ Expedition Everest

★ Yeren

★ Yowie

External links

★ Yeh-teh "that thing out there"

★ Yeti: Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas

★ Swedish Yeti Association (This site is in Swedish)

★ Yeti, The Abominable Snowman - from Occultopedia

★ A theory of Yeti (This site is in French)

★ The Cryptid Zoo: Yetis

★ Migo

★ [4] A large reference network on the Abominable Snowman