Sasquatch/bigfoot is referred to by several different names among the tribes comprising the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. But he is always considered to be a human being, members of their own species.

The Lake Band called him Skanicum or Stick Indian. They believed that Skanicum could turn himself into a tree. The following story explains why.

A group of the men followed a Skanicum into a ravine through which a stream flowed, lined with a heavy growth of trees, brush, and willows. After watching him disappear into the growth, the men settled on a hillside where they could keep watch for when Skanicum would come out of the ravine.

After a while, when he did not emerge, some of the men decided to go look for Skanicum while the rest remained on the hillside, keeping watch. There the searchers found no trace of Skanicum. And since no one saw it leave the ravine, then he had to have remained in the ravine, having turned himself into a tree.

After that, no Native dared to chop down a tree with an ax. Even today they know that Skanicum's color and natural camouflage enable him to stand motionless against a tree and be hardly seen.

There is another story of a daylight encounter with the "Wildman" of the Colville Indians, "s'cwebe'y'ti".

In June 1974, several members were walking along the Columbia River when they saw something 150 yards ahead of them. At first, they thought it was a dark-colored bear standing upright, about 8 to 9 ft. tall. But when it turned and walked upright to the river, knelt down on its knees, and began scooping water with its hands and washing its face, they knew it had to be something else. As the creature rose to its feet again, two of the witnesses moved closer for a better look. They watched the creature walk-in "completely bipedal fashion, stooped slightly forward, with its arms swinging". Its forehead sloped back into a dome; the head sat squarely on its shoulders; there was no visible neck.

Two of the other men whistled. The figure stopped, turned its body without moving its feet, and stared at them for a few seconds. It then moved about 20 yards in 4 to 5 strides, stepped up onto a 4-foot high bank, and moved rapidly into the trees.