Yakwawiak

Related figures in other tribes: Nyah-gwaheh, Katshituasku, Man-Eater,

• Name: Yakwawiak
• Tribal affiliation: Lenape, Mohican, Shawnee
• Alternate spellings: Yakwawi’ak, Ya’kwahewak, Yakwawi, Ya’kwahe
• Pronunciation: varies by dialect. Usually yah-kwah-wee-ock.
• Also known as: Big Rump Bear, Naked Bear, Amangachtiat, Amangachktiat, Amankaxkti’at Maxkwe, Ahamagachktiât Mecehquá, Ahamagachktiat Me-cehqua, Yagesho, Tagisho, Tagesho
• Type: Monster, stiff-legged bear

Hairless Bear Yakwawiak were described as monstrous, man-eating creatures resembling enormous stiff-legged hairless bears. (Yakwawiak is the plural form of their name; Yakwawi and Ya’kwahe are singular forms referring to just one giant bear.) Although this is the most common name for these monsters in the Lenape, Shawnee, and other northeast Algonquian tribes, it is not an Algonquian word, and is probably borrowed from the Iroquoian name Nia’gwahe (pronounced nyah-gwah-heh), which means “Great Bear.” Yagesho and Tagesho may be more corruptions of Iroquoian names. The original Algonquian name for the monster was probably one of the variants of Amangachktiat, which meant “big rumped” (“maxkwe” and “mecehqua” come from words for “bear.”) Some folklorists believe this creature may have been inspired by mammoths or mastodon fossils.