Don't Look Now Jeni McDonald and Will Hageman

This week we discuss Native American origin stories.  Just about every culture has a story for how the world was created that tells you something about it's core values and beliefs.  Many Native cultures in the Americas share a creation story involving the creation of the land on the back of a turtle.  For this reason, North America is sometimes referred to as Turtle Island.  Take a listen and learn a bit about the creation of the world.

In the late 60s people started reporting seeing the dead rising from Highgate Cemetery in London.  General wave of mass hysteria broke out leading mobs of people to flock to the cemetery with stakes to hunt the vampire.  It also produced one of the strangest rivalries between two occult "experts" who both claimed to have successfully hunted the vampire. 

There are legends among the Cherokee and other Native American tribes of a people that existed in North America well before the arrival of Columbus  that had very light skin and large "moon eyes".  Theories have abounded about who or what these Moon Eyed people were, from Albinos, to decedents of pre-Columbian  Welsh explorers, to Aliens (of course).  Take a listen and see what you think is behind the stories of the Moon Eyed People

Mankind has been practicing many forms of body modification for tens of thousands of years.  Most are aware of things like piercings and tattoos, but there are some more extreme forms that have been used across the globe at different times by different societies.  One of these, is intentional cranial deformation, or skull shaping.  Many groups have bound the heads of their children to create a particular skull shape that was considered aesthetically pleasing or a sign of high social standing.  Listen in and find out all about the art of shaping one's head. 

One of the most enduring myths from the time of Spanish conquest of the New World is the take of El Dorado, the city of gold.  We discuss the actual historical roots of the myth and how the Spanish and other colonial powers began to dream of cities full of gold.

This week's podcast details two tales of missing persons who were assumed dead in strange circumstances and were eventually found years later.  Always good when a disappearance has a happy (ish) ending.