The large, hairy creature in Salish folklore and later popularized as Bigfoot is Sasquatch.
The name comes from sasq’ets, a term in Halq’emeylem, a Salish language of southwestern British Columbia, commonly translated as “hairy man.” Indigenous stories about hairy, humanlike forest beings long predate the modern English Bigfoot legend, although details vary among nations and communities.
English-language interest grew during the 20th century. In 1929, J. W. Burns published stories about British Columbia’s “wild men” and helped bring the name Sasquatch into wider use. “Bigfoot” became the dominant American popular-culture label after reports of unusually large footprints in the Pacific Northwest during the late 1950s.
Sasquatch is often confused with the Yeti, but the Yeti belongs to Himalayan folklore. Unlike a documented animal species, Sasquatch remains a legendary creature; alleged footprints, photographs, hair samples, and recordings have not established its existence.