Aloha Tide Riders and welcome to the third installment of our Native American Nightmares saga. This week on Strange Tides, we’re shrinking things down—way down—to explore the mysterious world of tiny tricksters in Native American folklore. These little beings might look small, but their legends loom large, stretching from the misty forests of New England to the rugged peaks of the Rockies. We’ll meet the Puckwudgies, those gray-skinned mischief-makers said to stalk the swamps of Massachusetts; the fierce Nimerigar of Shoshone and Arapaho lore, tiny warriors armed with poisoned arrows; and the Yunwi Tsunsdi of Cherokee tradition, playful forest dwellers who can guide—or totally mess with—the unsuspecting.

But this isn’t just old campfire talk. Modern-day sightings keep popping up, from hikers in Mounds State Park spotting strange little figures, to campers in the Bridgewater Triangle hearing eerie giggles in the dark. Some stories even link these beings to archaeological mysteries, like the San Pedro Mountains mummy, fueling theories that maybe—just maybe—there’s more to the legends than symbolism.

We’ll also dig into the big questions: are these little people just folklore, morality tales meant to keep us safe in the woods? Are they misidentified critters—owls, raccoons, or deer caught in the shadows? Or could they be something stranger, like elemental guardians of the land or interdimensional pranksters slipping through the cracks of reality?

We'll see if we can sort all that out in the Tinfoil Teepee, where we’ll toss around every theory from the fun to the fringe, mixing cultural symbolism with cryptid speculation. Think of it as a journey through myth, mystery, and the kind of weird that keeps the forest alive with possibility.

Links:

https://horroryearbook.com/whispers-in-the-woods-the-pukwudgie-returns-to-massachusetts/

https://www.slightlyoddfitchburg.com/2022/08/the-ultimate-guide-to-pukwudgies-part-3.html

https://themorbidlibrary.com/creepy-cryptids-the-bridgewater-triangle-part-iii/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cryptozoology/comments/1jiga7y

https://vocal.media/history/the-mysterious-and-eerie-activities-that-manifest-within-the-bridgewater-triangle

https://fairiesofnewengland.com/2024/08/27/a-few-hybrid-indigenous-and-european-fairies/

https://www.native-languages.org/memegwesi.htm

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Mannegishi

https://horroryearbook.com/whispers-in-the-woods-the-pukwudgie-returns-to-massachusetts/