Did Red-Haired Giant Cannibals Once Occupy the American West?

“There were giants on the Earth in those days.”

So it says in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. These giants supposedly lived before the Great Flood and are elsewhere identified in Genesis as the Nephilim, a race of supernatural beings spawned by unsanctioned unions between fallen angels and human beings.

If such beings existed in the ancient Middle East it of course raises an interesting question: did these mixed-species giants live elsewhere as well?

Some scholars say yes, and they point to a well-known Native American legend as proof.

The Si-Te-Ca  and the Paiute

The mythology of the Paiute Indians of the American West (Nevada and California) allegedly includes stories about a race of red-haired giants called the Si-Te-Ca who terrorized their ancient ancestors. These red-haired giants were ten-foot-tall cannibals with strange elongated skulls who lived on islands in nearby lakes.

Eventually this cave, which is now known as Lovelock Cave, was opened and skeletons were allegedly found that proved these red-haired giants actually existed. A treasure trove of tools and cultural artifacts were also discovered, demonstrating the Si-Te-Ca were a civilized race capable of impressive material achievement.

Unfortunately all of this amazing evidence has since vanished (or been suppressed?) and as a result solid evidence of the red-haired giants’ existence is lacking. Which is rather convenient, as skeptics point out.

Because of their extreme height and unusually shaped craniums, some Biblical scholars have concluded the red-haired giants referred to by the Paiutes were an offshoot of the Nephilim. Ancient astronaut theorists don’t disagree with that interpretation, but they believe giants who walked the Earth in the distant past were actually aliens, or alien-human hybrids, not semi-spiritual beings descended from angels.

Bigfoot, Maybe – Red-Haired Giants, Not So Much

The story of the red-haired giants and the Paiutes makes for interesting speculation. But documentation of its veracity is sorely lacking. In fact the real documentation contradicts it.

There were archaeological excavations in Lovelock Cave and both artifacts and skeletons were found. But the official written records of those expeditions includes no mention of giants. Meanwhile an extensive examination of Paiute mythology has also failed to turn up any reference to red-haired giants. Stories of an ancient cannibal enemy do exist, but these marauders are not identified as giants, red-haired or otherwise.

Despite claims to the contrary by amateur mythologists, it appears the legend of the red-haired giants who terrorized the Paiutes is a phony.  As in there is no such legend. Apocryphal elements have been added to a real story by persons unknown in support of an agenda that remains a mystery.

Whether giants did or did not walk the Earth in pre-Flood times, as alleged by the Bible, is open to debate. But if giants did exist there is no evidence to suggest they walked among the Paiutes, or any other Native American people so far as we know.

Unless of course we categorize Bigfoot as a race of giants. Dozens of Native American peoples have legends about them – but that is a story for another day.