This was 100% a Kanontsistóntie. For those of you who don’t know, Kanontsistóntie are from mohawk legends. They are big floating heads, no bodies. They fly around and chase you down so they can devour you. I grew up in Saratoga, my family has been here for years. My mom and her entire side of the family is Abenaki, so I grew up hearing the stories of our people and the warnings that come with the forest. Granted, we are rather far from where Abenaki threats would be, but we live in Iroquois territory now, and they have their own nightmares to deal with. I’ve had my run ins with other bad things in the woods, things such as Wendigo and the Stick Indians. But I have never seen Kanontsistónties. They’re terrifying too. I go to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) very often. Not only is it an awesome, outdoor concert venue in the summertime, but it also is a very large park where people are welcome to still visit and hang out, even when concert season is off. I find it very peaceful there and it is a great spot to spend the day. I usually go with a friend of mine, but she was away on a trip this particular week, so I spent time there alone. During the Dead and Co concerts, slightly less than a kilometer away from the main venue, there is a clearing, known as Shakedown Street, in the woods. There’s nothing too special about this spot, it is mainly for the dead heads to park their busses/vans and do some illegal activities or sell some things like food or art. I sometimes go there since there’s lots of cool things to find in that field and in the woods connected to it. I’ve found lots of crystals, jewelry, wallets, and even shoes in the past. I assume from the dead heads dropping stuff from their stands and forgetting to pick it up before leaving. Occasionally you can find some arrow heads and old tools from the tribes who lived here long before. Point is, it’s a cool spot I like to go to and feel very safe going to. Last time I went to this spot, I was over by shakedown street, right where the clearing meets the woods. I heard a horrifying WOOSH right over my head. I almost fell over, it startled me so much. I tried to look up and around to see what it was, I figured a crow or some other type of ballsy bird. What I experienced instead was even more horrifying. I noticed that right after that thing swooped by me, everything in the woods went quiet. No birds, no crickets, no frogs, nothing. Everything just went silent. I got this horrible feeling throughout my entire body, telling me someone or something is watching me. After a few seconds of that feeling, I hear several tree branches break. And the sound is getting closer and closer. I figure out which way the sound is coming from, (back, left, and up) and I began running to towards my back right. I stayed in the coverage of the trees, I thought it would be a bad idea to go into the open with nothing to hide behind. I ran as fast as I could, changing direction every now and then just for safe measure. I ran and ran, when it started to hurt to breathe, I climbed a tall tree. The tallest near me that I could find. I waited there for what felt like hours. I think I waited so long just out of sheer fear. I didn’t know what this was, and I didn’t know if it was dangerous. I called my mom, still in the tree, but realized I don’t know how to describe where I am. I don’t even know where I ran to. I started at shakedown, but did I run North? South? Neither? I had no clue how to describe where I was. My mom told me to climb the tree higher, look for some land mark to try and get to. So I climbed up as high as I could. I could see the venue and parts of downtown. I began looking for a place close by that I can dash to and hide in, but just as I turned my head to the other direction, I saw it. The big, decapitated head, just floating around, looking for me or some other person to eat. I hugged the tree like there was no tomorrow, crouching down on the branch I stood on, hoping to not be seen by this terrifying creature. I whispered to my mom what I was seeing, “mom, there’s a flying head with no body. It’s just floating around”. My mom went dead silent. I think she could tell she was freaking me out because before I could ask what’s going on, she said “stay exactly where you are, do not move, do not look at it, do not make a sound. Dad and I are coming to you.” I began to freak out. Because first of all, uhh, there’s a HUGE FLOATING HEAD, and second of all, what the fuck am I supposed to do?? What if it sees me?? I’m horrified. I’m not sure how my dad found me, but I heard him call to me. I was skeptical at first since by that time, the sun has set and it is getting dark very fast. But it was him. And he had his rifle and our big dog with him. No flashlight or anything. We had to make our way out of the woods with no lights. My mom was waiting for me in the car, where she hugged me and congratulated me on surviving a Kanontsistóntie. She then told me everything about them (from what others have learned before) and answered my questions. She couldn’t answer them all super well since this beast has never been seen from our tribe and she is technically learning about it too. But she still knew more than I did. I think from this experience I’ve learned that I will always learn about the creatures and beasts that live in the woods for the area I’m in. I have never been so afraid in my life. I have warned people of this horrible creature before but was met with laughs and jokes. And then I heard about this site, so maybe you all on this site will take my warning seriously.