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Page 404 gives another of the group, and page 436 shows + geographical location. + + From a photograph by Maudsley +] + + + + + The North-Americans + of Yesterday + + A Comparative Study of North-American Indian Life + Customs, and Products, on the Theory of + the Ethnic Unity of the Race + + By + + Frederick S. Dellenbaugh + + “But their name is on your waters, + Ye may not wash it out.”—_Mrs. Sigourney._ + + [Illustration] + + With over 350 Illustrations. And an Appendix giving list of stocks, + sub-stocks and tribes + + G. P. Putnam’s Sons + New York and London + The Knickerbocker Press + + + + + +Copyright+, 1900 + BY + FREDERICK S. DELLENBAUGH + + Fourth Printing + + + The Knickerbocker Press, New York + + + + + To + MAJOR POWELL + WHOSE COURAGE SOLVED THE PROBLEM + OF THE + COLORADO RIVER + AND WHOSE FORESIGHT ESTABLISHED + THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY + THIS BOOK + IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED + IN MEMORY OF DAYS + AFLOAT AND AFIELD + + + + + NOTE + +The author suggests the reading in conjunction with this volume of the +first four chapters of his _Breaking the Wilderness_: Also the article +in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for March 1906, by Charles M. Harvey: _The +Red Man’s Last Roll Call_. + + + + +[Illustration: MOKI DRAWINGS OF STARS] + + PREFACE + + +The basis of this volume is eight lectures given before the Lowell +Institute in Boston in 1894. They have been expanded by the addition of +further matter relating to the various subjects, but even with these +additions there is but a brief _résumé_ of the vast store of material +extant. + +The “Indian” has never seemed to me an abnormal factor, but rather a +natural part of our society, for it is now nearly thirty years since +I first associated with him in the Far West, and before that the +Iroquois were familiar to me as a small boy. When I first went among +the Western tribes, it was with the second Colorado River expedition +of that gallant explorer and foremost student of Amerindian affairs, +John Wesley Powell. His own works and the reports of the United +States Bureau of Ethnology, of which he has so long been the head, +and where he has gathered together so many eminent ethnologists and +archæologists, have furnished me with much material. These reports +form a fine library on Amerindian matters, and reflect great honour +on Professor Powell who conceived the idea, and on Congress which +has ungrudgingly supported it. A great and timely work has become +established, which to private enterprise would have been next to +impossible. Add to these the invaluable reports of the Smithsonian +Institution and the memoirs and reports of the Peabody Museum and +American Museum, and the student has before him a large fund of +material without seeking farther. Then there are the brilliant works +of Parkman, Brinton, Winsor, Bandelier, Putnam, Morgan, Schoolcraft, +Prescott, Maudsley, Goodman, Wilson, Keane, and many others, with the +huge production of H. H. Bancroft filling an important place. To all of +these and to others I owe much, and I have intended in every case to +give credit and references. Where these, in some cases, may not have +been properly awarded, it is due to oversight and not to intention. My +especial thanks are due to the Bureau of Ethnology for copies of all +the reports, and for permission to utilise the illustrations contained +in them, and to the American Museum, Archæological Institute, Field +Columbian Museum, Peabody Museum, and Smithsonian Institution for +similar generosity. I take pleasure also in acknowledging favours +from Professor Putnam, Professor Powell, Professor Mason, Dr. McGee, +Mr. Saville, Professor Seymour, Professor Langley, Mr. Bancroft, +Professor Holmes, Dr. Baum, and others, and from Mr. E. H. Harriman the +opportunity of visiting Alaska under the most favourable circumstances. + +The title, _The North Americans of Yesterday_, seems to me appropriate, +because while there are still some Amerinds extant, and a few are even +yet apparently leading the old-time life, nevertheless they are merely +remnants of a people whose sun has set, and who therefore properly +belong to yesterday. For this reason I have mainly treated them as a +bygone race. Between the so-called “Red Indian” of the United States +and northern regions and the so-called “Civilised Tribes” of Mexico +and southern regions I have made no race differentiation, because the +differences, whatever they may be, are discovered to be not of kind, +but of degree. Confusion was formerly caused by misconceptions and by +romantic ideas which have been dispelled by the more scientific methods +of later days. Some confusion has been caused also by the persistent +efforts to classify the progress of mankind as a whole into distinct +world-epochs or time periods. It seems to me that no such universal +epochs of even progress could have existed in past time any more than +in present time. Tribes of men are differentiated now, always will be, +and, I believe, always have been. Common world-planes of culture in +time periods are an impossibility. Such schedules as Morgan’s may apply +to tribes and stocks as indicating their special, individual advance, +but not to the whole world, except in a very general way. That is, +they may be _culture_ but never _time_ classifications. The closer we +approach the beginnings of man’s existence, the less marked, perhaps, +the differences in tribes, but differences certainly began at the +moment when one group of men left another group of men to live apart. +The environment and necessities of each group would cause differences +and varying rates of progress. One group would gain the bow a thousand +years before another. + +Long before the beginning of the glacial period, therefore, some groups +must have been far ahead of others, and in the manufacture of stone +implements some tribes excelled others; some making ruder ones than +others, and some perhaps making well-finished, polished tools. There +are a good many arrow- and spear-head shapes, and it is possible that +each form originated at a different time or in a different locality. +And in our present state of knowledge of these matters, no time +position can be assigned to many American stone tools, polished or +not. They may have been used over and over again by various tribes +for centuries, or for a thousand years, or they may have been made +by tribes of our own day. Some of these tribes made no smoothed or +polished implements, though otherwise of advanced type, and polished +implements have been found that may be many thousand years old. This +is no indication that tribes do not change, but that development +began and continues unevenly, and that tribes existed ten thousand or +more years ago that were in advance of some that are extant to-day. +Nobody can say whether the stone implements, rough or smooth, that +have been found in Chiriqui belong to comparatively modern or to very +ancient times. The whole subject of stone implements appears to be +in a chaotic state, mummified and petrified by a slavish respect and +devotion to European patterns. It is a case of cart before the horse. +It will be apparent that I do not consider the finish of stone tools, +in the present state of our understanding of them, any guide for a +world-classification of peoples in a time-scale, especially in North +America. This has been admitted by others back to a certain point, but +beyond that point they have continued to play follow-the-leader with +their world-classifications of “Paleolithic” and “Neolithic,” two of +the most confusing, misleading, and useless terms ever invented. Below +the limit of the ice action there is nothing to fix the age of stone +tools when found on the surface or near it. “Paleoliths” and “neoliths” +might therefore be picked up side by side, and the paleolith might +not be as old as the neolith, or both might be of the same age. And +if a well-made tool, or one resembling some of to-day, is found in an +ancient gravel, it does not necessarily mean an intrusion, but that +men lived in that far past who were more skilful than some of their +neighbours, and more skilful than we have heretofore been willing to +admit. That very ancient men made very rude tools is doubtless true, +but that _all_ ancient men made rough tools of the same style down to +a certain fixed time, and then all began on an improved or a smoothed +type, is undoubtedly wrong. + +How the Amerinds came here I explain by a theory that there was before, +or perhaps during the early part of the glacial period, a wider +distribution of land surfaces on latitudinal lines, which invited +latitudinal migrations.[1] These land surfaces may have been no more +than groups of larger or smaller islands which have been since wholly +submerged or have left only their highest parts above the sea. Before +the beginning of the glacial cold, a mild climate extended to the North +Pole, facilitating migrations also in that region. Changes in the +ocean’s bottom were probably greater in pre-glacial time than now, but +they have not altogether ceased. It is little more than fifteen years +since a new island appeared off the Aleutian chain, and I think it is +doubtful if any of that group existed above water six or eight hundred +years ago. I am also of the opinion that no human life was in Alaska or +in Northeast Siberia five hundred years back. + +Races not being all of an even grade of culture before the beginning +of the cold period any more than now, the tribes that found themselves +isolated on this continent by changes in the land levels and by the +southward extension of the glaciation, were unevenly developed, some +being in advance of others in various ways, though none, of course, +had passed beyond the use of stone tools, a condition in which they +practically continued down to the Discovery. In this respect the term, +“Stone Age,” as indicating a condition, is applicable, but it would +not be possible to differentiate it into “Paleolithic” and “Neolithic” +periods. The cold pushed them all southward, whether they came by +northlands or by latitudinal lands, or both, towards the narrow +funnel-like part of the continent, and also to the lower levels, +as there was no chance for latitudinal expansion as in the Eastern +Hemisphere, the most advanced tribes being the most southerly, if not +from original position, because they were able to choose. Eventually +communication with Asia and Europe by the north was by the glaciation +severed completely, as it had previously been latitudinally by the +disappearance of favourable land surfaces, and communication by the +north remained closed till within three or four hundred years. The most +crowded tribes developed most rapidly, because such development was +imperative for self-preservation, and their culture filtered through +in diminishing ratio, according to distance, to the less crowded +regions—that is, to the climatically less favourable regions; but all +who were closely crowded into the “funnel” progressed along similar +lines and in much the same degree, _without regard to relationships_, +so that we find in the narrow part of the continent, where the +largest number found refuge from the cold, many different stocks in +almost parallel stages of culture. There were no isolated “areas of +characterisation” as in the latitudinally broader lands of the Eastern +Hemisphere, though in some cases there were slight barriers tending to +produce or maintain slight variations. The long longitudinal chain of +the Sierra Nevada abounding in glaciers to a late date, and to a less +extent that of the Rocky Mountains, brought about a partial isolation +of the stocks in the great north-and-south migrations, maintaining +previous differences and originating others, so that now we distinguish +differences between what is called the Atlantic and what is called the +Pacific group, while they are yet practically the same.[2] The tribes +farthest advanced at the beginning of the isolation on this continent +would not necessarily continue at the front of progress, for a change +of conditions that might cripple such tribes might at the same time +be beneficial to others previously inferior. For instance, as the +heat gradually returned, the highly developed lowland tribes began to +find themselves at a disadvantage, which grew with the intensity of +the heat, while others, inured to harsher conditions, found warmth +stimulating, and they began to develop germs received from the superior +but now declining stocks. “The American Indians,” says Brinton, “cannot +bear the heat of the tropics even as well as the European.” The heat, +which at first seems to have been intense in the daytime, then caused +a decline of the highest stocks, and a corresponding progression of +lower stocks existing on, or migrating to, higher levels. The Yucatec +tribes declined, while the Nahuatls, at higher altitudes, began to +develop. The finest monuments of North American antiquity, for these +reasons, are generally found on comparatively low levels and below a +certain latitude, where conditions during the greatest cold were most +favourable; conditions that may have continued fairly favourable down +to within, say, a thousand years. + +Long before the dawn of the Columbian era, therefore, the Amerind +peoples had become, through the influences indicated, a world-race by +themselves, existing in various stages of the same general culture, +and with a rising and a declining of tribes and stocks directed by +environment and circumstances. The great stocks surviving at the +beginning of the Columbian era may be approximately traced by their +languages, in layers, from Panama northward, about as they expanded +mainly eastward of the Sierra Nevada in response to the gradual relief +from the pressure of the cold. The Yucatec tribes had held the region +south of the Tehuantepec isthmus, and owing to this slight barrier, +and perhaps to another barrier of a strait through the land about +on the line of the proposed Nicaragua canal, had developed somewhat +differently from tribes to the north, and may also have preserved +more of their original character. Thence stretching north far into +the United States was the great composite Shoshone, or Uto-Aztecan +family, in all its variations, with what appears to be an “island” of +Athapascans or Boreal men preserved in its midst by glacial conditions +lingering in the high regions near the Mexico-United States line; +then follows the Siouan; then the widespread Algonquian stock; next +the Athapascan; and finally the Eskimauan, which had always been held +against the edge of the glaciers by the back pressure of the southern +stocks, and being most remote was less affected by filtration from +the development centre, and thus remains to-day a more differentiated +stock than any other.[3] The western arm of these stocks was generally +farther north than the eastern because the climate was and is milder +in the west, the trend of the ice front being now, and apparently +always having been, N.W. to S.E. Distribution of skill in pottery +follows about the same lines, “petering” out with stocks farthest +from the Yucatec centre. The Algonquins crowded the Athapascans off +to the N.W., and together they crowded the Eskimo to the limits of +human subsistence. In California many stocks found refuge in a climate +kept comparatively mild by the ocean currents, where they secured +subsistence on fish, and went no farther south. Along the Gulf coast +were other tribes resting somewhat aside from the great continental ebb +and flow, while in Florida and in the islands of the Caribbean region +there was sufficient separation to produce a slight differentiation +from the surging continental stocks. Remnants of other stocks were +scattered here and there through the regions below the glaciated +area. Mingled with all these developments there were probably certain +traits and “tinges” derived from earlier ancestry, and these, with the +similarity of development of all races under like conditions prevailing +wherever human beings can live, fully account for resemblances to +other-world tribes and peoples that have caused so much speculation. + +There has been an error, I believe, in considering the glacial +period as of the remote past. It does not seem to have yet closed. +It influences our climate now, and probably a thousand years ago +its meteorological effects were marked as far south as Yucatan. The +glaciers of the Northern Hemisphere everywhere appear to be slowly +disappearing, and not so slowly either, if the Muir can be taken as a +gauge, for it has been for twenty years receding at the rate of 500 +feet per annum, and probably at the same rate before that. However +this may be, it is probably less than 5000 years since the ice front +was at Lake Erie. Eminent geologists have estimated it at less than +7000, based on the erosion at Niagara; but as the erosion immediately +following the disappearance of the ice is extremely rapid, it seems +safe to cut down the estimate. The subtleties of meteorology are far +from being understood also, and the theories as to the causes of the +cold seem mere guesses. Considerable heat there must have been during +the glacial period, or there would have been no glaciers. + +On the theory of the ethnic unity of the Amerind people, I have +briefly brought together in chapters notes on their chief habits, +products, languages, etc., so that the reader may be able to compare. +In collecting material that is now obtainable, but which will shortly +be gone forever, much remains to be done, and to be done quickly. If +this book helps to arouse a deeper public interest in the gathering of +this material, and in the general study of the subject, I shall feel it +needs no apology. + + +F. S. Dellenbaugh+ + ++New York+, January 31, 1900. + +[Illustration: MOKI DRAWINGS OF THE SUN] + +[Illustration: TERRA-COTTA FUNERAL URNS FROM A MOUND, VALLEY OF + OAXACA, MEXICO. + + Average height, 15 inches. This is a complete series preserved + in the order in which they were found. The usual number of these + urns in a series was five. Nothing was put in them and they were + not placed inside the burial chambers but in front of the door, on + the roof, fastened into the façade, or in niches over the door. + See _Funeral Urns from Oaxaca_, Marshall H. Saville, _American + Museum Journal_, vol. iv. pp. 49–60, and _Explorations in Zapotecan + Tombs_; same author, _American Anthropologist_, N. S., vol. i. + April, 1899. +] + + + + +[Illustration: MOKI DRAWINGS OF SQUASH-BLOSSOMS] + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + +Preface+ iii + + I—+Introductory+ 1 + + II—+Languages and Dialects+ 17 + + III—+Picture Writing, Sign-Language, Wampum, Cupped-Stones+ 39 + + IV—+The Mexican and Central-American Writing, Inscriptions, + and Books+ 68 + + V—+Basketry and Pottery+ 88 + + VI—+Weaving and Costume+ 123 + + VII—+Carving, Modelling, and Sculpture+ 161 + + VIII—+Shelters, Dwellings, and Architecture+ 194 + + IX—+Weapons, Armour, Implements, and Transportation+ 248 + + X—+Mining, Metallurgy, and Science+ 285 + + XI—+Musical Instruments, Music, Amusements, and Games+ 308 + + XII—+Works and Agriculture+ 332 + + XIII—+Customs and Ceremonies+ 352 + + XIV—+Myths, Traditions, and Legends+ 390 + + XV—+Organisation and Government+ 410 + + XVI—+Origin, Migrations, and History+ 428 + + +Appendix—Containing a List of North-American Stocks, + Sub-Stocks, and Tribes+ 461 + + + NOTE + + Particular attention is called to the appendix by means of which + the linguistic stock to which a tribe belongs may be readily + found. First refer to the _list of tribes_ where the abbreviation + following the tribal name, will indicate the family or stock to + which that tribe belongs in the _list of stocks_. Example: “Navajo. + _Ath._” refers to “_Ath._ +Athapascan+,” in the stock list, + Athapascan being the linguistic family to which the Navajo belong. + The geographical range of the stock follows. + +[Illustration: MOKI DRAWINGS OF RAIN CLOUDS AND LIGHTNING] + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + +Teocalli of the Sun, Palenque, Yucatan+ Frontispiece + + +Moki Drawings of Stars+ iii + + +Moki Drawings of the Sun+ ix + + † +Gargoyle—Serpent Head+ 1 + [From débris of temple, Copan] + + * +South Portion of the Tewa Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico. + Adobé Construction+ 3 + + † +Seated Figure Carved in Trachyte+ 5 + [From débris of hieroglyphic steps, Copan. Slightly larger + than life size] + + * +Kicking Bear, Sioux+ 7 + + +A Corner of a Mitla Ruin, Mexico+ 9 + [From Bandelier’s _Archæological Tour_, published by the + Archæological Institute of America] + + † +Sculpture from Terrace East of the Great Plaza, Copan+ 11 + + * +A Kieskabi, or Covered Passage, at Walpi, Arizona+ 13 + + * +Moki Mask of Pawikkatcina+ 15 + + † +Specimen of Sculpture on Hieroglyphic Stairway, Copan+ 16 + + * +Eskimo Jade Adze+ 17 + [Drawn by Mary Wright Gill] + + † +“Singing-Girl” Sculptured in Trachyte+ 19 + [From débris of Temple 22, Copan. Slightly larger than life] + + * +Terra-Cotta Stool, Chiriqui+ 20 + + +Altar Q, Copan, Honduras+ 21 + [From photograph by M. H. Saville. American Museum] + + +South-West Corner of the Temple of Xochicalco, State of Morelos, + Mexico+ 23 + [Photographed by M. H. Saville for the American Museum of. + Natural History] + + * +Polished Black Ware, Santa Clara, New Mexico+ 27 + + +Eastern Façade of the Temple of Xochicalco, State of + Morelos, Mexico+ 31 + [Photographed by M. H. Saville for the American Museum of + Natural History] + + +Amerind Linguistic Map of North America+ 33 + [After the one prepared by the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology] + + * +Fac-Simile of a Cherokee Manuscript+ 35 + + [Written in Sequoyah’s Syllabary] + + * +Petroglyphs near Wrangell, Alaska, probably Tlinkit+ 37 + + * +Human Forms, Moki+ 38 + + * +Omaha War Club+ 39 + + * +Painted Petroglyphs, Santa Barbara County, California+ 40 + + * +Petroglyphs in Brown’s Cave, Wisconsin+ 41 + + * +Painted Petroglyphs, Southern Utah+ 42 + + * +Petroglyph at Millsboro, Pennsylvania+ 43 + + * +Petroglyphs in Georgia+ 44 + + +Runic Inscription on Stone Found at Igalikko, Greenland+ 45 + + * +Dighton Rock, Massachusetts+ 45 + + +Illustration of the “Walam Olum” of the Lenapé+ 46 + [From Brinton] + + +Katcinas in the Somaikoli Ceremony, Cichumovi, Arizona, + November, 1884+ 47 + [Photograph by the Author] + + * +Killed Two Arikarees+ 48 + + * +Petroglyphs on Paint Rock, North Carolina+ 49 + + +Landa’s Maya Alphabet, after Brasseur+ 50 + [From Bancroft’s _Native Races_] + + * +Fac-Simile of the Lord’s Prayer in Micmac Hieroglyphs+ 51 + + [From Le Clercq] + + * +Sequoyah’s Cherokee Syllabary+ 52 + + * +Lean Wolf’s Map, Hidatsa+ 54 + + * +The “Penn” Wampum Belt+; * +Strings of Wampum+ 55 + + * +Orca or Killer-Whale Decoration, Haida+ 56 + + * +Haida Tattooing+ 57 + + * +Eskimo Drawing—“The Man in the Moon Comes Down”+ 58 + + * +Eskimo Picture-Writing+ 59 + + * +Specimens of the Dakota Winter Counts+ 60 + + * +Killing a Bison+ 61 + + * +Shell Disc, Tennessee+ 62 + + * +Shell Gorget, Tennessee+ 64 + [Actual size] + + +Cup Markings+ 65 + + * +Cup from Chiriqui+ 67 + + * +Terra-Cotta from Chiriqui+ 68 + + +Page from an Aztec Book+ 70 + [From a copy in the possession of M. H. Saville] + + +Mexican Writing of Name of Montezuma+ 71 + [From Brinton] + + * +Part of Plate 65, Dresden Codex+ 72 + [Maya] + + † +Vase from Labna, Yucatan, with Peculiar Markings+ 74 + + * +Convex Discoidal Stone, North Carolina+ 75 + + † +Female Head in Trachyte+ 79 + + +Usual Type of Sculptured “Yokes,” Central America+ 81 + + [Field Columbian Museum] + + +A Suggestion of the possible Scheme of Maya Numerals. Wholly + Tentative+ 86 + [From drawing by the Author] + + * +Omaha Calumet+ 87 + + * +Omaha War Club+ 88 + + * +North-West Coast Feather Ornamentation on Baskets+ 89 + + * +Eskimo Bag-Basket+ 89 + + * +Moki Wicker Water-Jug+ 89 + + * +Havasupai Clay-Lined Roasting Tray+ 90 + + * +Iroquois Birchbark Vessel+; * +North-West Coast Basket+ 91 + + * +McCloud River Basket, California+ 92 + + * +Moki Food Basket+; * +Klamath Basket+ 93 + + * +Moki Food Tray+; * +Moki Floor Mat+ 95 + + * +Eskimo Whalebone Dish+; * +Clallam Basket, Washington+ 96 + + * +Amerind Wicker-Work—Apache Basket; Pai Ute Water-Jug; + Moki Food Tray; Klamath Basket+ 97 + + * +Modelling an Olla at Hano+ 100 + [Photograph by the Author] + + * +Clay Nucleus+ 100 + + * +Method of Building up Coil+ 100 + + * +Ware from Moki Region, Arizona+ 102 + + * +Cup from Arizona+ 103 + + * +Vase from Arkansas, Showing Lines Made with a Sharp + Point before Firing+ 103 + + * +Bottle-Shaped Vase, Arkansas+ 105 + + * +Earthenware Burial Casket, Tennessee+ 106 + + * +Death-Mask Vase, Tennessee+ 107 + + * +Fluted Vase, Arkansas+ 109 + + * +Impression of Parts of Basket Mould on Pottery+ 109 + + * +Vase from Chiriqui. Decorated in Black, Red, and Purple+ 111 + + +An Ancient Figure of Terra Cotta from the Valley of Mexico+ 113 + [From photograph by American Museum of Natural History] + + * +Coil Indented for Decoration+ 114 + + +Zapotecan Terra-Cotta Funeral Urns Found on Cement Floor in + Front of Tomb 1, Mound 7, Xoxo, Oaxaca, Mexico+ 115 + [Photographed by M. H. Saville for the American Museum of + Natural History] + + * +Pot Showing Diagonal Grooves across the Lines of the Coil + Made by the Hand in Smoothing up. Mancos Canyon, Colorado+ 116 + + +Zapotecan Terra-Cotta Tubing Found Leading down into a Field + from the Centre of Mound 7, Xoxo, Oaxaca, Mexico+ 117 + [Photographed by M. H. Saville for the American Museum of + Natural History] + + * +Pueblo Pot. Pattern Produced by Obliterating Pinch Marks+ 118 + + * +Pinch-Marked Coil+ 119 + + * +Engraved Ware, Arkansas+ 120 + + * +Engraved Ware, Arkansas+ 121 + + +Black Cup, Chiriqui+ 122 + + * +Woven Moccasin from Kentucky Cave+ 123 + + * +Menominee Beaded Garters+ 125 + + * +Navajo Woman at the Loom+ 127 + + +Part of the Somaikoli Ceremony at Cichumovi, November, 1884, + Showing a Sacred Blanket on Figure in Foreground+ 129 + [From photograph by the Author] + + * +Details of Navajo Loom Construction+ 131 + + * +A Puebloan of San Juan, New Mexico+ 135 + + * +Method of Making Feather-Work+ 137 + + * +Chilkat Ceremonial Shirt+ 139 + + * +Chilkat Ceremonial Blanket+ 142 + + * +Moki Wall Decoration. Pink on a White Ground. Mishongnuvi, + Arizona+ 144 + + * +Bellacoolas+ 145 + + * +Top View of Conical North-West Coast Hat+ 146 + + +Wonsivu, a Pai Ute Girl+ 147 + [Posed by Thomas Moran] + + +A Navajo Leader in Native Costume+ 148 + [Figure from photograph by the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology] + + * +Interior of a Moki House, Arizona+ 149 + + * +Pueblo Head Mat+ 151 + + * +Navajos+ 152 + + * +Seminole Man’s and Woman’s Costume+ 154 + + * +Ear-Perforating and Hair-Dressing of Seminoles+ 155 + + * +The Ghost-Shirt, Simple Form+ 157 + + * +Eskimo Boots+ 158 + [Drawn by Mary Wright Gill] + + * +Rain Hat, Haida+ 160 + + * +Toucan of Squier and Davis, Really a Crow+ 161 + + +Deserted Village near Cape Fox, Alaska+ 162 + [Photographed by the Harriman Alaska Expedition, 1899] + + +Interior House-Column+ 162 + [Sketch by Author from post at Cape Fox Village, Alaska] + + +Major Part of Interior House-Post from Cape Fox Village, S. E. + Alaska+ 163 + + +Totem Pole with Bear on the Top, Wrangell+ 164 + [Sketch by the Author] + + * +Terra-Cotta Statuette, Chiriqui+ 165 + + * +The Bear-Mother, Haida, N. W. Coast+ 165 + + * +Wooden Masks, N. W. Coast+ 166 + + * +Kwakiutl Carving, N. W. Coast+ 167 + + * +Eskimo Carved Ivory Drum-Handles+ 168 + + * +Specimen of Moundbuilder Sculptural Skill with Human Figure+ 170 + + * +Stone Pipe from North Carolina Mound+ 171 + + * +So-Called Elephant Pipe, Iowa+ 172 + + * +Toucan of Squier and Davis, possibly Meant for a Young + Eagle+ 172 + + * +Tripod Vase, Chiriqui. Legs Modelled to Imitate Fish+ 173 + + * +Shell Gorget, Missouri+ 175 + + * +Bird-Shaped Earthen Bowl, Arkansas+ 176 + + * +Shell Mask, Virginia+ 177 + + +Moki Sculptural Skill with the Human Figure+ 178 + + +The Alosaka (Moki)+ 179 + [After drawing by A. M. Stephen] + + * +Sculptural Art of Chiriqui+ 179 + + * +Shell Gorget, Tennessee+ 180 + + +The Aztec “Calendar” Stone+ 182 + [From Bandelier’s _Archæological Tour_] + + +Aztec Sculpture, the Indio Triste+ 183 + [From Bandelier’s _Archæological Tour_] + + +Sanctuary Tablet Temple (Teocalli) of the Sun, Palenque+ 185 + [Field Columbian Museum] + + † +“Altar” in Front of Stela D, Copan+ 186 + + † +Stela No. 6, Copan; Back of Stela No. 6+ 187 + + * +Puma-Shaped Stool of Grey Andesite, Chiriqui+ 188 + + † +Head Sculptured in Stone. Chultunes of Labna, Yucatan+ 189 + + +Large Built-up Head at Izamal+ 191 + [From Stephens] + + * +Stool of Grey Basalt, Chiriqui+ 192 + + * +Copper Bell from Tennessee+ 193 + + * +Pueblo Mealing Stones+ 194 + + +Pai Ute Wikiups, Northern Arizona+ 195 + [From photograph by Colorado River Expedition, 1872] + + * +Moki Kisi Construction+ 196 + + * +Primitive Amerind Ladders+ 197 + + * +A Navajo House+ 198 + + * +A Sweat House+ 199 + + * +An Omaha Tipi+ 201 + + * +A Seminole Dwelling+ 203 + + * +Mississippi Valley Method of Using Jacal Construction, + according to Thomas+ 206 + + * +Cliff Outlook, Canyon del Muerto, Arizona+ 207 + + +Hall of Columns, Mitla+ 209 + [Field Columbian Museum] + + +Transverse Section (somewhat Generalised) Showing Construction + of Palenque Buildings, Yucatan+ 210 + [Field Columbian Museum] + + * +Some Details of Pueblo House Architecture—A Triangular + Sipapu or Sacred Kiva Orifice; Moki Doorway with Transom;. + Pueblo Roof Construction; Some Moki Roof Drains+ 211 + + * +Moki Notched Doorway, so Made that Large Bundles could be + Taken in+ 213 + + +A Zuñi Chimney, Moki the Same+ 215 + + +One Form of Moki Chimney Hood+ 215 + + * +Ground Plan of Eskimo Snow Iglu+ 217 + + * +Section of Snow Iglu+ 218 + + * +An Alaska Eskimo Winter House, Point Barrow+ 219 + + * +Interior Ground Plan of a Moki House+ 220 + + * +An Alaska Eskimo Winter House of Wood and Earth, Point + Barrow+ 221 + + * +Interior of Wood and Earth Iglu+ 221 + + * +Stone Steps at Oraibi+ 222 + + * +Cliff-Dwelling, Eastern Cove of Mummy Cave, Canyon de + Chelly, Arizona+ 223 + + +Houses in Walpi, One of the Moki Towns, Arizona+ 224 + [Photograph by U. S. Geological Survey] + + * +General View of a Group of Cavate Lodges, Arizona+ 225 + + * +Plan and Sections of a Cavate Lodge+ 227 + + * +Diagram Showing Pocket at Back of some Cavate Lodges+ 228 + + ‡ +Theoretic Roof Construction of Mitla+ 230 + + * +Ground Plan of a Kiva and Ceiling Plan of Another+ 231 + + +Chaco Ruins Masonry; Chaco Ruins, Ground Plans+ 232 + [From _Report_ of Hayden Expedition] + + * +Ruin Called Casa Grande, Arizona+ 233 + + ‡ +Transverse Section of an Ordinary Yucatec Building+ 235 + + ‡ +Forms of the Maya Corbel Vault+ 237 + + ‡ +Ground Plans of Yucatec Buildings+ 238 + + ¶ +Kwakiutl House Front+ 239 + + ¶ +North-West Coast Houses and Totem Poles+ 241 + + ‡ +Ruin of East Façade and Iglesia, “Palace,” Chichen-Itza, + Yucatan+ 243 + + ¶ +Elevation of Kwakiutl House+ 244 + + * +View in the Moki Town of Mishongnavi, Arizona+ 245 + + * +Eskimo Horn Dipper+ 247 + + [Drawn by Mary Wright Gill] + + * +Horn Arrow Straightener+ 248 + + * +Modern Iron Arrow-Heads of the Omahas+ 248 + + * +Forms of the Bow+ 249 + + +Pai Ute Palm-Drill+ 250 + [Drawn by the Author] + + ¶ +The Palm-Drill (Fire-Making); The Pump-Drill (Fire-Making)+ 251 + + * +Eskimo String-Drill (For Fire-Making with Mouthpiece)+ 251 + + * +Pueblo Pump-Drill (For Boring)+ 251 + + * +Drill-Point of Chipped Flint+ 251 + + ¶ +Set of Fire-Making Tools, Bristol Bay Eskimo, Alaska+ 253 + + * +Eskimo Bow-Drill+ 254 + + ¶ +Modern Rod Armour of the Klamaths, Oregon+ 255 + + ¶ +Hupa Rod Armour, California+ 255 + + ¶ +Eskimo Plate Armour, Diomede Island, Bering Strait+ 257 + + ¶ +Tlinkit Skin Armour, Alaska+ 258 + + ¶ +Prehistoric Aleutian Rod Armour+ 259 + + * +Chipped Flint; Chipped Flint Blunt Arrow-Head, Georgia; + Chipped Flint Implement, Tennessee; Specimen “Cores,” or + Blocks of Flint; Specimen of Chipped Flint Discs, called + “Turtleback,” Mississippi Valley; Grooved Stone Axe, + Tennessee (Ground)+ 261 + [Drawn by Mary Wright Gill] + + * +Diagram Explaining Terms to be Used in Describing Stone + Weapons+ 263 + + ¶ +Tlinkit Slat-and-Rod Armour, Alaska, Front View+ 265 + + * +Apache War-Bonnet+ 266 + [Drawn by Mary Wright Gill] + + * +Eskimo Throwing-Boards for Darts+ 268 + + * +Eskimo Bird Bolas+ 268 + + * +Amerindian Knives+ 269 + + * +Moki Throwing-Stick, or Putchkohu; Pueblo Planting Stick; + Zuñi Wooden Spade+ 270 + + +A Moki Throwing the Putchkohu+ 271 + [From a drawing by the Author] + + * +Shell Spoon, Mississippi Valley+ 273 + + * +Pueblo Mountain Sheep-Horn Spoon+ 274 + + * +Menominee Wooden Mortar and Pestle+ 274 + + * +Stone House-Lamp, Point Barrow, Alaska+ 275 + + * +Eskimo Sledges+ 277 + + * +Central Eskimo Dog Harness+ 278 + + ¶ +Enclosed Canadian Toboggan or Travelling Sled+ 279 + + * +Eskimo Snow-Shoe, Point Barrow, Alaska+ 280 + + ¶ +Canoes of the North-West Coast+ 281 + + * +Umiak of the Central Eskimo+ 282 + + * +Eskimo Kayaks+ 283 + + * +Method of Attaching Oars to Umiak+ 284 + + * +Method of Tying Frame of Kayak+ 284 + + * +Thin Plate of Copper Wrought by Repoussé Method, Illinois + Mound+ 285 + + * +Amerindian Method of Mining Steatite for Utensils+ 287 + + * +Chipped Spade+ 289 + [Drawn by Mary Wright Gill] + + * +Eskimo Stone Maul+ 290 + [Drawn by Mary Wright Gill] + + * +Small Figure of Frog in Base Metal, Plated with Gold, + Chiriqui+ 292 + + +Coppers from the North-West Coast; Painted Design in Black + Representing a Sea Monster with Bear’s Head; Painted Design + Representing a Hawk+ 293 + [U. S. National Museum] + + * +Hollow Silver Beads of Navajo Make, Arizona+ 294 + + * +Navajo Silver Work, Arizona; Engraved Button; Bracelet+ 295 + + ¶ +Kwakiutl Chief Holding his Copper, North-West Coast+ 297 + + * +Triple Bell or Rattle of Gold from near Panama+ 302 + + * +Bronze Mexican Bell+ 302 + + * +Bronze Bells, Plated or Washed with Gold, Chiriqui+ 304 + + * +Small Metal Figure, Chiriqui+ 306 + + * +Silver Plate with Spanish Coat of Arms+ 307 + + * +Moki Rattle of Animal Hoofs+ 308 + + * +Amerindian Rattles; Gourd, ; Earthenware Rattlee from + Chiriqui; Tin, Ojibwa+ 309 + + * +Omaha Large Flute+ 310 + + * +Drum of Terra-Cotta, Chiriqui+ 312 + + * +Menominee Tambourine Drum+ 313 + + * +Omaha Box Drum+ 314 + + ¶ +Set of Playing Sticks+ 315 + + * +Pueblo Rattles—Turtle Shell with Hoofs of Goats or Sheep, + Fastened to the Rear of the Right Leg near the Knee in + Dancing; Painted Gourd with Wood Handle+ 317 + + * +Zuñi Dance Ornament+; * +Moki Notched Stick+; ¶ +Kwakiutl + Double Whistle, with Four Voices+ 319 + + ¶ +The Awl Game+ 320 + + ¶ +Amerind Gambling Tools—Set of Bone Dice, Arapaho; Set of + Counting Sticks, Blackfeet; Set of Plum Stones, Arikaree+ 322 + + * +Terra-Cotta Rattle from Chiriqui+ 325 + + * +Cat-Shaped Whistle of Terra-Cotta, Chiriqui+ 327 + + ¶ +Mandan Game of Tchungkee+ 328 + + * +Double Whistle in Terra-Cotta from Chiriqui+ 330 + + ¶ +Set of Staves for Game+ 331 + + * +“Banner-Stone,” Tennessee+ 332 + + * +So-Called Elephant Mound, Wisconsin+ 334 + + * +Ancient Fabric Design, from Impression on Pottery, Utah+ 335 + + * +Ancient Fabric, Preserved by Copper Celt, Iowa+ 336 + + * +Large Mound of the Etowah Group, Georgia+ 337 + + +A Votive Adz of Jadite from Mexico, Showing Front and Side+ 339 + [American Museum, Kunz Collection] + + +Back of Votive Adz+ 341 + [American Museum] + + * +Patterns of Ancient Fabrics from Pottery; from New York; + from Illinois; from Tennessee+ 344 + + * +Eskimo Mechanical Toy+ 345 + + ¶ +Máhtotóhpa (The Four Bears), a Mandan Chief+ 347 + + +An Onyx Jar from Mexico in Process of Manufacture+ 349 + [American Museum] + + ¶ +Wooden Food Bowl, Haida+ 351 + + * +Dancing Mask of the Makahs, Washington+ 352 + + ¶ +Moki Wicker Cradle with Awning; Carrying Basket of the + Arikarees+ 353 + + ¶ +Tlinkit Man and Woman Thirty Years Ago, or about 1870+ 355 + + +A Pawnee in Battle Array+ 357 + [Photographed by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geological Survey] + + ¶ +The Kwakiutl Wolf Dance, called Wālasaxa, North-West Coast+ 359 + + ¶ +Ute Woman Carrying Child+ 361 + + ¶ +Keokuk, a Sauk Chief+ 362 + + ¶ +Shrine of the War-Gods, Twin Mountain, Pueblo of Zuñi, New + Mexico+ 365 + + ¶ +A Costume of a Hāmatsa in the Kwakiutl Cannibalistic + Ceremony, where Slaves and Corpses were Formerly Devoured+ 367 + + ¶ +Mexican Operating the Palm Drill for Fire+ 368 + + ¶ +Zuñi Woman Carrying Water+ 369 + + ¶ +Ute Cradle, Frame of Rods Covered with Buckskin+ 372 + + ¶ +Eskimo Woman of Point Barrow Carrying Child+; * +Apache + Woman Carrying Child+ 374 + + * +Moki “Snake dance” at Walpi+ 376 + + * +Amerindian Picture-Writing+ 377 + + * +Beginning of the Moki “Snake Dance” at Walpi+ 378 + + ¶ +Horned Rattlesnake, Crotalus Cerastes+ 380 + + ¶ +The Okeepa Ceremony of the Mandans, Lasting Four Days+ 382 + + * +The Sacred Pole of the Omaha+ 383 + + +Cruciform Stone Tomb, Oaxaca+ 384 + [American Museum] + + +Ground Plan of Cruciform Tomb, Oaxaca+ 385 + + * +Amerindian Art+ 387 + + +Moki Earthen Canteen, Arizona+ 388 + + ¶ +Modern Laced Sandal of Leather from Colima, Mexico+ 389 + + * +Eskimo Pipe with Stone Bowl+ 390 + + +Teocalli (Temple) of Tepoztlan, State of Morelos, Mexico+ 391 + + [Monumental Records] + + ¶ +Kwakiutl Wood-Carving of the Sīsul North-West Coast+ 392 + + ¶ +Rushing Eagle, 1872+ 394 + + * +Fine Cloth Preserved by Copper Beads+ 395 + + * +Ancient Fabric-Marked Potsherds, with Clay Casts by Holmes+ 398 + + ¶ +Ehtohkpahshepeeshah, the Black Moccasin, Chief of the + Minatarees, over One Hundred Years Old+ 400 + + +Lacandon (Mayan) Amerind from Chocolhao, Yucatan+ 402 + [Photographed by M. H. Saville] + + +One of the Buildings of the Palenque Group+ 404 + [Photographed by M. H. Saville] + + ¶ +Costume Worn in the Kwakiutl Festivals, called Laōlaxa, + North-West Coast+ 406 + + +God-Houses of the Huichols at Teakáta, near Santa Catarina, + State of Jalisco, Mexico+ 409 + [American Museum] + + * +Eskimo Mask of Wood, Prince William Sound, Alaska+ 410 + + +Plenty-Horses, a Cheyenne+ 413 + + [U. S. Geological Survey] + + ¶ +North-West Coast Basketry Hats+ 415 + + ¶ +North-West Coast Mortuary and Commemorative Columns+ 417 + + ¶ +Ancient Puebloan Moccasins of Fibre, Arizona+ 422 + + ¶ +Chimmesyan Head-dress Representing the White Owl+ 426 + + ¶ +Wooden “Seal” Dish, Haida+ 428 + + +Tlinkit Summer Camp+ 429 + [Photographed by the Harriman Alaska Expedition, 1899] + + +Eskimo Summer Camp, Port Clarence+ 431 + [Photographed by the Harriman Alaska Expedition, 1899] + + * +Wooden Snow Goggles of the Central Eskimo+ 433 + + +Principal Known Ruins of Central America+ 436 + [American Museum] + + * +Necklace of Dried Human Fingers Obtained on Battlefield of + Wounded Knee by Captain Bourke+ 437 + + +Principal Known Ruins of Mexico+ 438 + [American Museum] + + +Probable Aspect of Alaska Summer Landscape some Six Hundred + Years Ago+ 440 + [Harriman Alaska Expedition, 1899] + + * +A Puebloan Warrior of Nambé, New Mexico, in Battle Array+ 442 + + ¶ +Apache Woman Carrying Water in a Wicker Bottle+ 444 + + +Group of Eskimo, Port Clarence, Alaska+ 446 + + [Photographed by the Harriman Expedition, 1899] + + * +Shell Spider Gorgets+ 447 + + ¶ +Black Hawk+ 448 + + +Portion of the So-Called “Palace” of Labna, Yucatan+ 450 + [American Museum] + + +Musical Bow of the Southern Tepehuanes and the Aztecs, + Mexico+ 451 + + [American Museum] + ¶ +General Type of Chimmesyan, Haida, and Tlinkit Chief’s + Costume, North-West Coast+ 452 + + * +Perforated Discoidal Stone, Illinois+ 453 + + +Hobobo, the Fire Katcina, in the Somaikoli Ceremony, Cichumovi, + 1884+ 454 + [From a drawing by the author] + + +Circle of Dancers in the Intervals between the Appearances of + the Various Katcinas in the Moki Somaikoli Ceremony, + Cichumovi, Arizona, 1884+ 455 + [Photographed by the author] + + +Front of the House of Columns, Mitla, Oaxaca+ 457 + [American Museum] + + +A Costumed Human Figure from Tampico, Washington+ 459 + + +Entrance of a Tomb at Culapa, Mexico+ 460 + + * +Stick Used in the Awl Game+ 461 + + ¶ +Wooden Seal-Dish, Haida, North-West Coast+ 478 + + ¶ +The Swastika+ 488 + + + * U. S. Bureau of Ethnology. + + † Peabody Museum. + + ‡ Field Columbian Museum. + + ¶ U. S. National Museum. + + + + + NOTE + +The cover, designed and drawn by the author, has for its central +feature a sketch of a stone animal head removed from one of the +buildings at Copan and brought to the Peabody Museum by Saville. The +sacred butterfly of the Mokis fills the four corners of the space +around this, and above and below an arrangement of Puebloan scrollwork +completes the composition. On the back is a figure representing the +terra-cotta statue shown more exactly on page 113, with a further +arrangement of scrollwork and some minor Moki symbols. + + + + + THE NORTH-AMERICANS OF + YESTERDAY + +[Illustration: TERRA-COTTA FUNERAL URN FOUND IN FRONT OF A TOMB AT + CUILAPA, MEXICO + + Height: 2 feet 3¾ inches. Shows traces of four colours: white, + yellow, red, and blue + + Marshall H. Saville +] + + + + + [Illustration:GARGOYLE—SERPENT HEAD + + From débris of temple, Copan] + + + THE + NORTH-AMERICANS OF YESTERDAY + + + CHAPTER I + + INTRODUCTORY + + +When those rapacious enthusiasts, the Spaniards of the sixteenth +century, had unfolded some of the mysteries of the great half-world +that the resolution and daring of Columbus had opened to them, they +found it everywhere already peopled, though often sparsely, by a race +strange to the other half, with totally different ideas and customs, +existing in various degrees of sylvan felicity, or in the budding +promise of a civilisation. They also found imposing ruins that told of +the long previous departure of some of the occupants of this land into +the vaster unknown, and indeed evidences of still earlier hosts that +had travelled the dim pathway through the outer darkness. These new +lands were believed to be some part of India, and because of this first +error the inappropriate title of “Indians” was bestowed on the natives, +and this name continued to cling after the mistake was discovered, +growing more and more confusing as intercourse increased with the real +Indians, till now in our day it is exceedingly troublesome, and we +are compelled to differentiate, when accuracy is desirable, by saying +“East Indian,” “Red Indian,” or “American Indian,” etc. To add further +to this confusion, many persons persist in considering the Algonquin +and Iroquois as the type specimens of “Indians,” and exclude all who +do not accord with this limited and erroneous standard. The natives of +the Western Hemisphere appear all to have been of one race, for there +are only minor differences, which will be shown in following pages, and +there is therefore a necessity for a broad designation for all these +people. When these words were first written I had determined to adopt +the term “Redskin” for use in this book, but learning that Amerind, +compounded of the first syllables of American and Indian, had been +suggested by the Anthropological Society of Washington, I gave it the +preference over Redskin, and on full examination was convinced that it +is a satisfactory and useful substitute for “Indian,” and, in order to +avoid the latter, have used it exclusively in these pages, except where +another writer is quoted. + +This Amerind people were indeed more remarkable than has been popularly +appreciated.[4] They possessed, as a rule, strong personality, great +physical vigour, quick intelligence, and dauntless courage. Their +brain power was of a high order and the cerebral quality extremely +fine; capable through the processes of time of a development second to +none. They had their trials, their wars, their sicknesses, and their +various tribulations before the Europeans fell down upon them; but had +the cargo of misery, disease, and death for them which freighted the +bold caravels of Columbus possessed tangible weight in proportion to +its magnitude, those vessels would have plunged to the depths of the +unknown sea. But Destiny had traced another course for events, and +thus the gay banners, glowing on one side with Hope for one race and +black on the reverse with Despair for another, flaunted at length their +ominous folds in the sunshine of the Amerind continent. Great good +fortune it was for the Europeans, especially for the Spaniards, but the +latter failed to read their star aright. Upon the conquered tribes, an +easy prey before the superior weapons of the invaders, they lavished a +cruelty which eclipsed that of savages, and settled like a blight over +the country, to finally stifle by just retribution the haughty power of +Spain herself, and wrench forever from her the last foot of the domain +which the unfaltering courage of the Adelantados had bequeathed to her. +To attempt to gloss over the oppression of the Spanish rule of the +Amerind people would be fruitless. There is no excuse for it. Fresh +from the methods of the Inquisition, the Spaniards themselves perhaps +were not wholly aware of the horror of their acts. Unfortunately, they +do not stand alone as sinners in this respect, and the contemplation of +the early intercourse of Europeans and Amerinds is not likely to give +a candid person an agreeable sensation, as it is frequently difficult, +if not impossible, to decide which race is the one to whom rightfully +belongs the description, “treacherous, bloodthirsty, and savage.” +Certain it is that the Amerinds from the very beginning had numerous +vivid lessons from the whites in murder, treachery, and kindred +crimes.[5] They were frequently slain without cause or mercy; they +were enslaved when possible; their records were destroyed; and, most +terrible of all, they were burned alive at the stake. But this latter +diversion had been practised in Europe, where St. Ferdinand with his +own hands heaped the fagots on the blazing pile. The Conquistadores of +the sixteenth century were versed in as much cruelty as the Amerinds +had ever dreamed of; yet in the midst of it all there were men like Las +Casas and Viceroy Mendoza, who had no sympathy with the barbarities +practised, and whose characters bring relief in the broad and hideous +blackness. Ship-loads of slaves were carried off each year, and the +system of _repartimientos_ placed every Amerind in bondage. + +[Illustration: SOUTH PORTION OF THE TEWA PUEBLO OF TAOS, NEW MEXICO + + Adobé construction +] + +Opposition was punished in the most terrible ways possible to devise. +In one instance the offenders, seventeen or eighteen caciques, were +strangled and mangled by dogs kept for the purpose, the execution +taking place in the public square, so that the struggles of the +unfortunates might make a spectacle. Again the Spaniards invited some +chiefs to a conference, as told by Brinton, in a large wooden building, +which was then burned up with the chiefs in it. But it is not necessary +to go back so far for examples of the treacherous brutality with which +the whites have treated the Amerinds. Were it so, the cruelty and +injustice might perhaps be regarded as merely circumstances of the +period, but Beckwourth, in his _Narrative_,[6] relates an incident, +also referred to by Washington Irving, quite as horrible as any that +occurred in the sixteenth century. Beckwourth came upon some white +trappers who had captured two Amerinds from a party of Arikarees who +had stolen their horses. The Arikarees offered to return some, but not +all, of the horses in exchange for the prisoners, but the trappers +declared they would burn their captives alive if all the horses were +not returned. The threat was disregarded. Thereupon the logs on the top +of a huge fire were separated, the two helpless, chain-bound prisoners +were dropped into the red furnace, and the flaming logs replaced. +“There was a terrible struggle for a moment,” says Beckwourth, “then +all was still.” And thus was another lesson of the mercy and justice of +the White rendered unto the Red. + +[Illustration: SEATED FIGURE CARVED IN TRACHYTE + + From débris of hieroglyphic steps, Copan. Slightly larger than life + size +] + +Nearer to us than this we have an incident even more diabolical, +because without the provocation the trappers had. Horse stealing down +to recent times in the West has always been liable to punishment by +death, so the trappers might be somewhat excused on that ground in +the minds of some, but in the year 1898, in the Indian Territory, +two Amerinds were burned alive at the stake by a mob of whites. The +accusation, too, was a mere suspicion, and it was later established +that the Amerinds were perfectly innocent. After such deeds we may well +pause when our inclination is to vaunt the superiority of the white men +over the red. + +Notwithstanding the popular idea that the Amerinds were devils +incarnate, many tribes when first encountered were kindly, and trusted +the newcomers till the moment came, as it soon did, when they were +basely deceived. That all tribes were trusting is not claimed, but it +is well known that many explorers found the Amerinds ready to receive +them fairly and honestly. Neither Cartier nor Roberval met with +hostility from natives, and the success of the straightforwardness +of Penn in his dealings with them is unquestioned.[7] It has been +stated that the European is no more than a whitewashed savage, and +his intercourse with the Amerind people bears out this description. +There was often provocation on both sides, augmented by the complete +ignorance of each other’s ways and customs. Actions which were correct +according to the manners of the Amerinds were offensive to the whites, +and _vice versa_, and, to add to the ever-increasing hostility, the +whites resented upon all Amerinds the crime or indiscretion of one +or a few members of a particular tribe. If an Amerind committed a +crime, the next one met with suffered for it. When Walker, in 1833, +treacherously abandoned the line of work Bonneville had laid out for +him and struck down the Humboldt for California, one of the men had his +traps carried off by some of the Shoshokoes. He swore to kill the first +one he should meet, and so their trail was one of blood. At one place +they murdered no less than twenty-five unsuspecting red people without +provocation. This was the manner in which these pioneers exhibited +their superiority. There have always, too, been certain whites, more +or less outlawed, like one Rose, who have struck up a friendship with +the worst tribes for the purpose of inciting them against the whites to +advance their own profit. + +[Illustration: KICKING BEAR, SIOUX] + +Previous to the European invasion the Amerind was not always at war, +though many seem to think that he was. His territorial lines were +generally well defined, and, as a rule, he stayed within them. Their +villages, for the Amerind was always a village dweller, were far apart +north of Mexico, and as long as there was no contention over property +or water rights, things went smoothly, and even during hostilities +intercourse was not always entirely broken off. So that there was +frequently a large measure of security and periods of uninterrupted +peace. He _worked_ at hunting, fishing, and, in all the tribes east +of the Mississippi, in Mexico, and many tribes west, at agriculture. +The arrival and the westward movement of the Europeans crowded back +the tribes across boundaries and upon lands they had no right to, and +frequent wars were the inevitable result. Finally the acquisition of +the horse gave facility of movement never before possessed, and made +quick journeys and night attacks feasible, while the desire to secure +as many of the valuable animals as possible added a new and great +incentive to theft and consequent warfare. The Amerind began to change, +in fact, the moment he acquired the horse and the gun, adapting both +to his needs and using them with consummate skill. The whites did not +try to understand him, nor were they superior to him in the matter of +patience or forgiveness. One thing was well understood by the whites, +however, and continues to this day, and that was that an Amerind has +no rights that a white man is bound to respect, or even to consider. +The natives north of the Aztec country were regarded as vagabonds +and vagrants who had no right to anything, while those of Mexico, +whom the Spaniards had meanwhile reduced everywhere to abject slaves, +were believed to be a different race, with former qualities that were +greatly exaggerated by the Europeans. And then, later, in the effort +to counteract the extravagant notions entertained of the Aztecs, their +remarkable growth, and that of the Mayas, was by some writers reduced +to the level of that of the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico and Arizona, +which is undoubtedly a serious error in the other direction. Montezuma +was probably not a king nor an emperor as those terms are understood +by us, but it is difficult to accept him as little more than a Moki +war-chief, especially as one can readily see that a few steps farther, +even in the line of Moki development, might have produced a form of +government partaking of the monarchical, but different from anything +that we know about.[8] Ever since I saw one of our Arizona Pai Ute +guides, a chief of his band, command a follower to take off his shoes +as he reclined by the fire, I have suspected the existence among the +Amerinds of a latent germ of aristocracy. + +[Illustration: A CORNER OF A MITLA RUIN, MEXICO + + From Bandelier’s _Archæological Tour_, published by the + Archæological Institute of America +] + +In the first flush of the discovery of America, Europe was wild +with the romance of it, and mystery was the order of the day. More +wonderful things still were expected. Fables that had done good service +for centuries were transported to the new lands, and there blazed up +with the mysterious uncertainty of the _ignis fatuus_, luring and +deceiving, till the gold-thirsting Europeans struggled in the pursuit +of such phantoms as the “Seven Cities.” The most extraordinary tales +appeared tame in that atmosphere of dazzling imagination. Exaggeration +of one kind or another has ever since been the inheritance of the +Amerind people, and it is only within a comparatively few years that +these “Americans of Yesterday” have been scientifically studied and +their real character and attainments given proper places. The whole +matter of American ethnology and archæology is new; so new that it is +impossible to speak with decision on a great many points. In the United +States we have usually regarded the Amerind as the incarnation of evil; +a treacherous demon with a bloody knife in one hand and a scalp-lock in +the other, and we have generally refused to consider the finer traits +of his character. So callous have we become to his good points that +Cooper is ridiculed for his delineation of Amerinds that have instincts +or principles above the brute, and yet Cooper’s chief models were the +Iroquois who established a remarkable political organisation. + +It is not necessary to be what has been scornfully called “an Indian +lover” to be interested in this extraordinarily homogeneous race that +was scattered from Alaska to Patagonia. Such interest should be a +matter apart from sentiment. We are interested in the primitive man of +Europe; few would have been pleased to live with him. So the question +whether we “like” the Amerind people and would enjoy social intercourse +with them is not to the point. It is a matter of education; a matter, +in fact, of the study of ourselves as others saw us some thousands +of years ago, for the Amerind people were passing through phases of +human existence which, in all probability, our remote ancestors also +passed through; so that by examining this kind of life we are holding +up the mirror to ourselves. Till recently the apathy shown on this +subject was surprising. People generally were not aware that there +were differences in “Indians,” or that they spoke different languages. +The idea that there was any profit in studying them was popularly +considered ridiculous. He was a “good-for-nothing,” and that was all +that there was about it. But we can no more find fault with the Amerind +for not being a European than we can with a stage-coach for not being +a locomotive. We must accept him as he was, and as he is, and wherever +possible study him and write him down so minutely that generations +of ethnologists to come will shower blessings on our heads. We must +constantly remember that the Amerind point of view is different from +ours, and that we too are only in a transitional stage. + +[Illustration: SCULPTURES FROM TERRACE EAST OF THE GREAT PLAZA, COPAN] + +The Amerind people, like ourselves, represent merely a stage of human +progress. Our stage is in advance of theirs, but it is by no means +perfection. We do not scalp, but the revolver is quite as active as +their scalping-knife, and we require a great number of policemen to +keep us civilised. As for war, the European race has certainly not +been backward in that respect. In Europe to-day vast bodies of men +are withdrawn from every other service and trained for war with a +completeness that the Amerind never dreamed of; and in the United +States we have probably already killed more men in wars than ever +at one time peopled it in aboriginal days. For in those days the +various groups of Amerinds were separated by tracts of unoccupied +territory; unoccupied except as the hunters roamed over it in search +of their food, and the population outside of the Aztec country and +Central America was generally sparse. Nor was the distribution of this +population always the same as it was revealed to us by the Discovery. +Tribes developed, rose to power, declined and passed away, leaving +little, where their art development was slight, to indicate their +former presence, no matter what may have been the degrees of their +political attainments. Had not our own history come in to rescue the +confederacy of the Iroquois, their remains, assuming them to have +declined without further art development, would have conveyed no +suspicion of their political organisation. + +Back and forth the Amerind race moved, up and down, across the face +of the American continent through the forgotten ages in ever shifting +waves impelled, in the main, by climatic conditions and food quest, +some leaving behind no record, others bequeathing to the future +monuments and edifices that astonished the world and gave birth to +elaborate and far-fetched theories to account for a development that +seems to have required no more than time and the circumstances which +existed. All the remains on this continent appear to be palpably +American; the work of the Amerinds in their various degrees of +progress. Whether they came from one source or several, they have been +long enough here to become homogeneous from one end of the hemisphere +to the other, and this, it is evident, would require a great stretch +of time.[9] They clearly separated from the other inhabitants of the +world, in any case, at a period before those inhabitants had developed +present characteristics. From the time the human race was born, whether +as an ape or as it now stands, there was differentiation of habits, +customs, and knowledge which has never ceased and which never will +cease. But as light, air, and natural conditions are similar or the +same the world round, and as cerebral matter seems to be practically +the same in all peoples, humanity has passed everywhere through about +the same stages of development, and each stock or tribe in time has +arrived at about the same place on the road of progress because they +could not help it. Conditions might force one people ahead while +other conditions might be retarding another, but whatever progression +there has ever been was made on practically the same lines. The same +race, however, does not throughout always develop evenly. Sir John +Lubbock has said that “different races in similar stages of development +often present more features of resemblance to one another than the same +race does to itself in different stages of its history,” and to-day in +Arizona there exist near to each other two branches of the widespread +Shoshonean[10] stock, the Pai Utes and the Mokis, who exhibit the most +marked differences of customs, the latter living in substantial houses +of stone while the former occupy the rudest kind of brush wikiups. + +[Illustration: A KIESKABI, OR COVERED PASSAGE, AT WALPI, ARIZONA] + +The Amerind people were living in various stages of progress at the +time of the Discovery. The Mexicans, according to Lewis Morgan, were +“one stage higher than the Mohawks and one stage lower than the +warriors of the _Iliad_.” Accepting this as correct, we would be able +to trace human development back of the Greeks through the Amerinds of +North America. Morgan suggested the classification of mankind in three +broad ethnic stages: Savagery, Barbarism, and Civilisation,[11] the +first ending with the acquisition of the bow and arrow, represented +here by the Pai Utes; the second ending with the smelting of iron +ore, represented by the early Greeks; and the third beginning with a +phonetic alphabet, and represented by ourselves. In this scheme the +Mexicans would fall in the middle period of Barbarism. This is a fairly +good working basis, but, like all generalisations, it is only general. +It must not be rigidly adhered to. The conditions on this continent +were quite different from those in Europe, and consequently the line +of development could not be precisely the same. There seems to be no +good argument yet advanced and no archæological data yet exhibited +that compel us to seek an outside derivation for the Amerind race; and +this being so, it is about as reasonable to search this continent for +the original home of the yellow race as to go to Asia for that of the +red. That they may have come from there is possible, and so also it is +possible that they came from Europe. Nor should we at present exclude +even the lost Atlantis,[12] for the geography of the world was not +always as it is now, and the elevation and subsidence of lands are +still in progress. This, of course, is admitted, as also that there was +a land connection across the Atlantic before man appeared in the world; +but man may have appeared earlier than we suspect, and this lost land +may have been in sunshine later than we believe.[13] + +[Illustration: MOKI MASK OF PAWIKKATCINA] + +The Amerinds of North America were practically a people of stone +culture, because while some had developed an ability to employ copper +to a limited extent, they used stone tools for most of their work; +their highest government appears to have been the confederacy, with in +some cases perhaps a monarchical tendency; they were without domestic +animals; without beasts of burden; without fireplaces or chimneys; +without inside stairs; and without wheeled vehicles. There was no +mystery about them. They ranged the continent, as has been noted, +impelled by food quest and climate. They lived bravely and they died +without fear. The following chapters will tell some of the things they +did, with the hope that readers may arrive at a better understanding of +the people that so long had a half-world to themselves. + +[Illustration: SPECIMEN OF SCULPTURE ON HIEROGLYPHIC STAIRWAY, COPAN] + + + + + [Illustration: ESKIMO JADE ADZE] + + CHAPTER II + + LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS + + +There were many tribes and many tribe-groups, or, as the latter are +usually designated, “stocks,” among the Amerinds. These various stocks +differed considerably from each other in manners, customs, possibly in +origin, and in languages, the last often being widely different.[14] +Yet there was a homogeneity binding them all together as one distinct +race while at the same time separating them completely from other races +of the world as now constituted. The subdivisions of the Amerind stocks +were not always contiguously distributed on the continent, but, as +in the case of the Navajo-Apache branch of the Athapascan, sometimes +separated from their kindred by wide stretches of territory peopled +by other stocks, and also, as in the case of the Navajos, somewhat +altered by absorption of people of another stock. Various methods of +arranging the distribution and classification of these stocks have +been attempted, but the basis of language appears to offer the most +advantages and the greatest accuracy. There are some who dispute the +correctness of the present analysis of the Amerind languages, and +deprecate the classifications obtained by this means,[15] but foremost +students, like Brinton, Gatschet, Powell, Steinthal, and others, have +pronounced unequivocally in favour of its value when applied with +judgment. + +“Nothing is so indelible as speech,” wrote George Bancroft; “sounds +that in ages of unknown antiquity were spoken among the nations of +Hindostan still live in their significancy in the language which we +daily utter.” And this fact has been the corner-stone of the modern +science of linguistics, which maintains accordingly that the possession +of similar _language roots_ and grammatical construction by two +otherwise distinct tribes proves a relationship or a common descent. +In this way, as is well understood, the Indo-Germanic—that is, our +European stock—has been traced back toward its origin. The accuracy +of this has been questioned, but it doubtless affords the best method +attainable.[16] The same principle is applicable to the American +languages, which afford an immense field for linguistic study in their +great diversity. This diversity is not popularly understood, the +majority of our people believing that if a person can speak “Indian” he +could converse with every tribe on the continent. Yet within a limited +area in Arizona he would find useless in four different tribes the +language he had learned, say, in California; and in California itself +some twenty or thirty tribes would listen to his words, as well as to +those of each other, without a gleam of understanding. And not one of +the languages of any of these tribes would serve him in the Mississippi +or in the Atlantic region any better than English, for the Iroquois +and the Algonquin and other Eastern tongues are as widely different +from those of California as they are from each other, while every +one contains numerous dialects, or what may be called sub-languages, +also exhibiting great variations. The early missionaries were slow to +discover these facts, and it was a source of discouragement for them to +learn that, after long study to acquire a language, it was spoken by +only a single group of the natives, while adjacent to them dwelt others +who spoke a totally different one.[17] + +[Illustration: “SINGING-GIRL” SCULPTURED IN TRACHYTE + + From débris of Temple 22, Copan. Slightly larger than life +] + +Even where a group of Amerinds speak related languages, or dialects, +there are, and were, such wide variations that the one is not +understood by those speaking the other. Therefore we have in North +America not only a large number of distinct languages, but within these +separate languages an immense number of dialects or sub-languages, +sometimes as many as twenty in one stock varying from each other as +much as, say, English and German. At least sixty-five of the separate +stock languages are distinguished in North America which appear so +radically separated from each other that it is believed impossible +that they ever should have sprung from the same parent, unless it may +have been at a time so remote as to be beyond the scope of present +investigation. In the classification according to these languages it +has been necessary to have a general designation for each stock, and in +selecting the names to be thus used, Powell and others have observed +the law of priority of mention, as far as possible, and have derived +the stock name from the author first mentioning it in print since 1836, +the date of Gallatin’s great work, which is taken as the foundation. +The termination “an,” or “ian,” is added to distinguish the family or +stock name from a tribal name, for often a tribe bears the name given +to the whole stock. As examples, Algonquian may be mentioned as a stock +name taken from the tribal name of Algonquin, and Mayan from the tribal +name, Maya. This is not always strictly adhered to outside of the +Bureau of Ethnology because of its frequent inconvenience, and in the +case of Mayan the term Maya is preferably used by some investigators +and writers as being simpler, and Brinton gives it as the stock +name.[18] Following the distribution of tribes as closely as possible +at the time of the first contact with white men, Powell and his able +associates of the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology in Washington have produced +a map, based on Gallatin’s.[19] The separate stocks north of Mexico +are each represented by a different colour, every colour standing for +a variation in language as great as that between Hebrew and English, +not related as English and Spanish. Fifty-eight are thus shown, but +south of the Mexican border are perhaps a dozen more. Continuous study +may succeed in bringing some of the stocks into relationship or in +dividing them still further. In their beginning, languages probably +changed rapidly; memory was deficient, intercourse slight, and +comparatively short separations of tribes speaking originally the same +tongue were sufficient to establish entire new sets of words. These +separations were apt to occur frequently when methods of subsistence +were crude and difficult, migrations frequent, and population sparse. +As races developed memory grew to better proportions, and after the +introduction among the Amerinds of mnemonic records and other memory +devices their languages became more crystallised, till within the later +centuries changes have come about slowly. That many more languages +once existed on the American continents than we have any trace of is, +therefore, probable. By intercourse, by intermingling, by the crossing +and absorbing of stocks was finally produced what we find to-day, or +did find yesterday, a reduced number of different stocks, but still +so many that the archæologist views the field with amazement, and the +layman looks upon it with incredulity. + +[Illustration: TERRA COTTA STOOL, CHIRIQUI] + +[Illustration: ALTAR Q, COPAN, HONDURAS + + From photograph by M. H. Saville, Museum of Natural History +] + +And these Amerind languages are as remarkable for their separation in +a body from the Old World languages as they are in their separation +from each other. This in itself seems to bestow upon the Amerind people +a vast antiquity in their isolation from other peoples, and adding +to it the testimony of their art works, their implements, and their +pictographs and hieroglyphs, there seems to be no escape from granting +them to be a division of mankind by themselves. + +Not only does the differentiation of the stock languages indicate +antiquity, but that of the dialects adds strong testimony. Brinton +cites Dr. Stohl’s opinion that “the difference which is presented +between the Cakchiquel and the Maya dialects could not have arisen in +less than 2000 years.”[20] + +It may be urged that the Amerind languages are loose and shifting +and that a few centuries would be sufficient to bring about on this +continent a complete and total difference in a language from its mother +tongue in, we will say, Siberia; but the more closely the matter is +studied the more apparent is the tenacity with which each stock retains +its special form. Of this tenacity a modern example exists in the +village of Tewa (or Hano) now forming one of the seven villages of the +Moki, and situated on what is known as the “First or East Mesa.” The +people of this village are not Hopi (Moki) stock, Hopi being the Moki +name for themselves,[21] but belong to a Rio Grande stock, the Tañoan +of Powell, and the Tehua of Brinton, having come from the Rio Grande +country to their present location somewhere about 1680. The Moki, who +are believed to belong to the Shoshonean stock (though they are +probably composite), permitted them to repair and occupy old houses +which stood on the site of the present village and there they have +lived amicably ever since, to all appearances completely amalgamated +with the Moki. The ordinary observer sees little to distinguish them +from the other Amerinds of the locality, and they speak the Moki +language like Mokis, but within their own village and by their own +firesides they largely use the speech of their forefathers, and to all +appearances will go on speaking it till the end. Here, then, is this +little community separated for a long period and by many miles from +their immediate kindred, mingling daily with people of another stock +and another language, yet preserving their own language intact.[22] +And if this has happened once within historical times it may have +happened before any number of times, and goes to prove that these +various languages have in them elements of stability greater than +has heretofore been admitted. Powell says that in his long study of +savage tongues he has everywhere been “impressed with the fact that +they are singularly persistent, and that a language which is dependent +for its existence upon oral tradition is not easily modified.” On the +other hand John Fiske expresses the opinion that “barbaric languages +are neither widespread nor durable. In the course of two or three +generations a dialect gets so strangely altered as virtually to lose +its identity.” The Algonquian languages were spread over an immense +area, and the Shoshonean had an even greater range. + +[Illustration: SOUTH-WEST CORNER OF THE TEMPLE OF XOCHICALCO, STATE OF + MORELOS, MEXICO + + Photographed by M. H. Saville for the American Museum of Natural + History +] + +Brinton contradicts the assertion of Waldeck “that the language (of +the Mayas) has undergone such extensive changes that what was written +a century ago is unintelligible to a native of to-day. So far is this +from the truth that, except for a few obsolete words, the narrative of +the Conquest, written more than three hundred years ago by the chief, +Pech, could be read without difficulty by any educated native.” Thus +it seems probable that the Amerind languages extant have been spoken +nearly as we know them to-day for a great many centuries, and that +modifications crept in slowly; so slowly that the language roots and +grammatical construction of the various stocks are so distinct that +they form the safest guide now available in the classification of the +various branches of the Amerind race; and furthermore that, judged by +these tests, these languages have no relationship to any other group. +Powell places more reliance, as a test, in the lexical elements,—that +is, in the _language roots_,—than in the grammatical structure, as the +latter is constantly changing. “The roots of a language,” he maintains, +“are its most permanent characteristics, and while the words which +are formed from them may change so as to obscure their elements or +in some cases even to lose them, it seems that they are never lost +from all, but can be recovered in large part.” If there should be +advanced the criticism that these Amerind languages had little or no +literature, and therefore are not equal to languages so recorded, as a +test of affinity, it may be noted that the largest number of languages +throughout the world have produced no literature. Max Müller says: +“It is a mere accident that languages should ever have been reduced +to writing.” However this may be, such an accident appears to be in +the line of regular human development, and when a people arrive at the +right point in their mental evolution they invent a means of recording +their thought. It seems, therefore, to be rather a state of mind than +an accident. The Mayas of this continent had reached the point for +speech recording and, following the natural order, they invented a +system and made books of record. + +Because of certain similarities of physique, of words, or of myths, +or of customs, however slight, the Amerinds have been identified with +almost every people under the sun.[23] These similarities are only such +as might occur where similar organisms are continuously subjected to +similar conditions, and the really remarkable fact is that there are +not more and even closer resemblances. Some of the arguments advanced +to uphold the so-called identifications are extraordinary. In language +the Amerinds have been found to speak—or at least have been claimed +to speak—Irish, Welsh, Norse, Chinese, and many other independent +or interrelated tongues, yet with the exception of the Basque, the +structure of all the Old World languages has little in common with the +Amerind. Brinton has shown[24] that a number of Maya words resemble +our English words of the same meanings, as, bateel and battle, hol and +hole, hun and one, lum and loam, pol and poll (head), potum and pot, +pul and pull, and so on, but nobody has yet ventured to deduce from +this that the Mayas are first cousins of the English.[25] The Maya +language certainly does differ from almost all others on the continent +in its construction. Before Gallatin’s time, the wildest statements +flourished because the few linguists who had paid attention to Amerind +languages had worked in rather a desultory manner and had made no +determined effort to systematise them and group them under their stock +names. Gallatin was the first to bring order out of what appeared +to be an almost hopeless tangle, and Powell, Brinton, and others, +supplementing and developing these labours of Gallatin, have been able +to present the subject in definite shape with a promise of greater +accuracy in the near future. Many languages which are known to have +existed at the beginning of European acquaintance with America have +disappeared with the tribes which used them. Some of these were spoken +by mere handfuls of people, while others were wider spread. + +With so many distinct languages on the continent, and with many +tribes totally ignorant of the speech of their neighbours, there +became necessary a means for the interchange of ideas which should +not entirely rely on spoken words, and this means was found in a +“sign-language” assisted by a few words of each spoken language which +were simple and commonly known, or by words which belonged to no spoken +language but which through accident were attributed by each side to the +other. This sign-language was of extensive development and existed not +only among the Amerinds but all over the world, and bore a resemblance +to the sign-language now used in some of our deaf-mute schools. This +peculiar sign-language possessed varieties like spoken language +corresponding to dialects. For a time its existence was disputed, but +the work of Mallery and others has established it beyond question. + +Besides the gesture language, tribes not understanding each other’s +speech had recourse to a medley of corrupted words from each language, +from other languages, and from no language at all but springing into +being through misunderstandings and necessities. When white men came +upon the scene they often thought they were talking “Indian,” while +the Amerinds thought it was the white man’s tongue, and neither +was talking the language of the other at all or of any other people +in existence. It was a jargon. If the whites had previously learned +something of another Amerind tongue, for example Algonquin, and they +were trying to talk to Dakotas, they would use Algonquin terms, +supposing them to be intelligible to the Dakotas, and the latter would +suppose them to be English words. These would gradually accumulate +through usage, together with nondescript terms, until a working jargon +was formed. In this may perhaps be discovered one of the causes +that led to the former belief that Amerind languages were loose and +changeable. + +[Illustration: POLISHED BLACK WARE, SANTA CLARA, NEW MEXICO] + +One of the most important and most interesting of the jargon languages +is that known as the Chinook,[26] in the north-western United States, +along the Columbia River, which grew into such proportions that it +formed at length the principal language in a wide district. It is made +up of words from Chinook, Chehali, Selish, Nootka, English, French, and +other languages, with a large number of words that belong nowhere else. +This same process in earlier times going on between several different +tribes doubtless gave birth to permanent languages, which in their turn +were again modified. Even in our own every-day English we use hundreds +of borrowed words and also some that, like “skedaddle,” “mugwump,” +etc., were coined for special occasions. We hardly give a thought to +the origin of these words which are seen side by side with others that +have come to us through a thousand years and still others that were +only yesterday the gift of the Amerind. How few realise when they +say chocolate, squash, mush, hominy, pone, succotash, or other terms +equally familiar from Amerind sources, that they are talking “Indian”! +Tobacco, of course, all understand came from the native language, but +it is generally supposed to have been the name of the plant, when in +reality it was the name of the roll of leaves from the plant, which was +called “a tobacco,” as we now call it a cigar. + +Sometimes words appear similar when they have no shadow of +relationship, the resemblance being purely accidental. Powell cites +the word “tia,” meaning deer in some of the Shoshonean languages. This +was at first supposed to be an attempt on the part of the Shoshones to +pronounce our own word “deer,” but further investigation has shown it +to be the original Shoshone name for deer, and that in some dialects it +was called “tiats” and in others “tiav.” Brinton, as already mentioned, +calls attention to similar resemblances between Maya and English words. + +A tribe would often possess two languages, one known only to the +priesthood and the other the language of the people, the priest +language being the older, just as to-day we find the priests of the +Roman Catholic Church using a dead language in their sacred functions +while the parishioners use the ordinary one. Bourke believed that +the Zuñis and the Mokis each have a language of this kind,[27] and it +is thought that the Central-American tribes also had. Such hieratic +languages would necessarily be far older than the languages in common +use, therefore if the latter tend to indicate a great antiquity for the +Amerind race, we should be carried still farther back by the hieratic +languages. Occasionally tribes have spoken two languages, both familiar +to the common people, as in the case of the Tewas speaking Moki as well +as their own language, already referred to. The Tubares of Mexico, +nearly extinct, are said to have spoken two different languages among +themselves, one a dialect of the Nahuatl.[28] + +Gatschet, the eminent student of Amerind languages, declares that “the +majority suppose that an Indian language is simply a gibberish not +worth bothering about, but languages that can preserve identity for +centuries are certainly something more than gibberish.” He further +points out that while “the Indian neglects to express with accuracy +some relations which seem of permanent importance to us, as tense and +sex, his language is largely superior to ours in the variety of its +personal pronouns, in many forms expressing the mode of action, or +the idea of property and possession, and the relations of the persons +addressed to the subject of the sentence.” + +Again it is said by some persons, “Why study languages which have no +literature, and dialects that are known only to savages?” but Max +Müller insists that “dialects which never produced any literature at +all, the jargons of savage tribes, the clicks of Hottentots, and the +vocal modulations of the Indo-Chinese, are as important, nay, for the +solution of some of our problems, more important, than the poetry of +Homer or the prose of Cicero. We do not want to know languages; we want +to know language, what language is, how it can form a vehicle or organ +of thought; we want to know its origin, its nature, its laws.” + +Here in North America exists a splendid field for this study, but until +recently it has been sadly neglected. This neglect has been largely +due to the attitude of the people at large, an attitude of apathy and +contempt for anything “Indian.” Opportunities that can never come +again have been allowed to pass heedlessly away. We have not half +realised the importance of collecting the linguistic treasures that +are scattered across the length and breadth of the country, partly +because of the foolish and narrow estimate of the Amerind which for so +long a time dominated the public mind. We have despised his languages +because we thought he did not bathe with sufficient frequency! “To +draw conclusions from the exterior appearance of a people on their +language,” exclaims Gatschet, “and to suppose that a man not worth +looking at cannot speak a language worth studying, would be the acme of +superficiality.” Remnants of tribes have died out and their language +unrecorded has died with them even within a comparatively few years.[29] + +As an example of the necessity for prompt investigation, an incident +mentioned by Putnam may be cited. In a conversation with a gentleman +whom he had recently met, he learned of Mrs. Oliver’s acquaintance with +the Karankawas of Texas, and her knowledge of their language. Now it +happened that Gatschet had made a fruitless search in Texas for some +trustworthy information regarding the language of this extinct tribe, +and when Putnam sent him Mrs. Oliver’s vocabulary he was delighted and +immediately paid a visit to the old lady, obtaining much additional +information about these Amerinds, among whom Mrs. Oliver had spent her +early life. Within three months afterward she died. + +That the Amerind has no literature is true if by literature we mean +only written books, for outside of Yucatan and Mexico there were no +native books, and the Spaniards burned all they could find of these, +but if we accept the enormous number of legends, myths, songs, and +ceremonial lore mnemonically recorded, as literature, and they surely +become literature when we write them down, then the Amerind is not so +poor in this respect as has been generally considered. + +[Illustration: EASTERN FAÇADE OF THE TEMPLE OF XOCHICALCO, STATE OF + MORELOS, MEXICO + + Photographed by M. H. Saville for the American Museum of Natural + History +] + +In North America, as in other parts of the world, the various language +stocks occupy areas differing enormously in proportions. Some are +confined to small tracts, while others, as mentioned above, are spread +over wide territory. The Algonquian stock, for instance, occupied +an immense area while the Zuñian is a mere spot in the expanse of New +Mexico. More than thirty of the stocks lie within the Pacific region, +six on the banks of the Klamath River alone. + +The Amerind languages, with the exception of the Maya and possibly +one or two others, are polysynthetic, and no other languages of the +world have exactly this construction, though, as has previously been +stated, that of the Basques has a construction somewhat similar. By +polysynthetic is meant a language that permits the incorporation +of a great many words in one sentence, till all are fused into one +“bunch-word” of from ten to fifteen or more syllables. Examples are +often quoted from Eskimo[30] which in our eyes appear ridiculous in +their cumbersome length, but they are as intelligible and valuable +to the Eskimo as our words are to us. While the Basque more nearly +resembles the Amerind languages than does any other Old World tongue, +it stops short of the incorporating power of that of the Amerinds. In +Basque this is restricted to the verb and some pronominal elements, +but in the Amerind it embraces all parts of speech. It is specially +interesting to note also that Basque in the Old World is an isolated +language, the only one there of its kind. The Amerinds who look +alike are not always the ones who speak the same language. Quite +different-looking Amerinds will sometimes speak the same tongue, while +others who look the same will speak different ones. The Pueblos of +New Mexico and Arizona, while apparently of one race, speak several +different stock languages, while some of the natives of Labrador, who +are of apparently different stocks, speak dialects of one language. +Nor, as has been mentioned, is the area occupied by one stock always +continuous.[31] The Athapascan, next to the Eskimo, is the most +northerly stock, yet three small branches are found south, on the +Pacific coast of the United States, while two large branches, the +Navajos and the Apaches, extend through Arizona and New Mexico, the +latter far into the country of Mexico proper. In the same way the +Siouan[32] lies in the middle region of the United States, but a +small band still lingered, at the beginning of the Columbian era, +on the Gulf coast in Mexico, and another smaller band in eastern +North Carolina, having for a near neighbour still another, which +spread itself over three States. These detached bands indicate great +movements on the part of the various stocks. One Amerind language, +the Eskimo, has been traced across Bering Strait into Asia, but +thus far no language has been traced from Asia into America. When +the Asiatic and North-west Coast investigations instituted by the +American Museum of Natural History, under the auspices of Mr. Jesup, +are completed, something more definite will be known on the subject +of possible affinities. In addition to the great difference in their +formation, some of the Amerind languages do not possess sounds common +to European languages, and on the other hand they sometimes have +sounds rarely heard elsewhere. The Pai Utes have no “f,” and when they +try to pronounce “fire” they can only say “piah.” The Moki cannot +say “s” before “k” or hard “c.” In trying to pronounce “school” they +say “cool.” There is no “r” in Huron, Mexican, Otomi, and some other +languages, and several have no “i.” The Iroquois have no labials, and +do not articulate with their lips. Cherokee has the same peculiarity, +as it is an Iroquoian language. The Karankawa contains sounds rarely +heard in European languages, while other sounds common to the latter +are absent altogether from the Karankawa, so that in this language is +found not only a complete difference from European tongues in grammatic +structure and lexical elements, but a complete difference in phonetics +as well, and in the last respect it differs also from other Amerind +languages. Altogether the Karankawa shows many peculiarities, and it is +unfortunate that the authentic material relating to it is so limited. +In the Navajo there is a common combination of “tl” with a peculiar +explosive click.[33] The tongue is placed with the tip against the roof +of the mouth and pressure as for “t” made against it, the “l” sound +immediately following by an explosion at the side. It is a peculiar +sound, and the Navajo language is filled with it.[34] + +[Illustration: AMERIND LINGUISTIC MAP OF NORTH AMERICA, AFTER THE ONE + PREPARED BY THE U. S. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY] + +In recording these Amerind languages and their peculiar sounds, no +definite system was employed till recently. Travellers wrote the +Amerind words down with ordinary letters as they understood them, thus +producing great diversity in method and results. Differences are due +sometimes to a lack of perception on the part of the recorder, and +also sometimes to a difference in pronunciation on the part of the +Amerinds themselves, and again to differences of methods of recording. +To catch the exact sounds of a new language requires a musical ear. +I do not mean a knowledge of music, but an ear that follows a tune +easily. Without such an ear a person is not fit to record language +sounds that are novel no matter how good a linguist he may be. +Investigators ought to have their ears tested for sound-perception as +the eyes of locomotive engineers are tested for colour. + +[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF A CHEROKEE MANUSCRIPT + + Written in Sequoyah’s Syllabary. See cut on page 52.] + +Recognising the importance of a system in the recording of the Amerind +languages—the importance of systematising the orthography of these +languages—the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology published an _Introduction to +the Study of Indian Languages_, in which an alphabet was advocated that +was adapted to recording harmoniously the Amerind languages. In this +over sixty separate sounds are given by signs following as closely as +possible our own alphabet. This is complicated and many investigators +use their own systems and translate afterwards into the more general +one. The great difference in the Amerind sounds necessitates many +different characters and inverted letters standing for peculiar sounds. + +Of all the Amerind languages of North America, that of the Eskimo is +probably the most homogeneous. Its dialects are alike from one side of +the continent to the other, following similarity in other respects. +Dall states there is a saying “that a man understanding thoroughly +the dialect of either extreme, could pass from village to village, +from Greenland to Labrador, from Labrador to Bering Strait, and thence +southward to the Copper River, staying five days in each halting place, +and that in all that journey he would encounter no greater differences +of speech and customs than he could master in the few days devoted +to each settlement. Probably there is no other race in the world +distributed over an equal territory, which exhibits such solidarity.” +They do not take to new languages. Though the Eskimo of Alaska have +had long intercourse with English-speaking men, their English is very +limited. Like most of the Amerinds, they prefer to invent their own +terms for articles that are new to them. The Aleutian Islanders are of +Eskimo stock, but their language is different from the main body of the +family, and would not be understood by them. + +The writings of the Cherokees in the syllabary of Sequoyah are +of sacred formulas. These were written out by the shamans and are +thoroughly Amerind. “They are not disjointed fragments,” says Mooney, +who made a careful study of the subject, “of a system long since +extinct, but are the revelation of a living faith which still has its +priests and devoted adherents.” The language used is full of archaic +forms and figurative expressions, some of which even the shamans +cannot now understand. Some of these are highly poetical, especially +the prayers “used to win the love of a woman or to destroy the life of +an enemy, in which we find such expressions as: ‘Now your soul fades +away—your spirit shall grow less and dwindle away never to reappear.’ +‘Let her be completely veiled in loneliness,—O Black Spider, may +you hold her soul in your web, so that it may never get through the +meshes!’ ‘Your soul has come into the very centre of my soul, never to +turn away.’”[35] + +[Illustration: PETROGLYPHS NEAR WRANGELL, ALASKA, PROBABLY TLINKIT] + +In nearly all the Amerind languages there was a poetical touch. But +what seems to be poetry to us arose partly from the inability of +the Amerind to express himself in a spiritual way. As his religion +was chiefly zoötheistic, and the heavenly bodies and natural forces +were personified as animals, his comparisons and references were not +intended for metaphor, but were merely the ordinary workings of his +mind on the material at his command. + + + NOTE + + As it is sometimes useful to have at hand an orderly geographical + and cultural classification of tribes, this one used by Livingston + Farrand is here given: I, Eskimo; II, North Pacific; III, Mackenzie + Basin and High Plateaus; IV, Columbia River and California; V, + Plains; VI, Eastern Woodlands; VII, The South-west and Mexico. + +[Illustration: HUMAN FORMS, MOKI] + + + + + [Illustration: OMAHA WAR CLUB] + + CHAPTER III + + PICTURE-WRITING—SIGN-LANGUAGE—WAMPUM—CUPPED-STONES[36] + + +Our pre-columbian knowledge of the Amerind people is at present meagre. +The majority of the different stocks had not arrived at the point where +they understood how to record their thoughts and their doings. Outside +of the Maya and Nahuatl stocks, and others in that region, there is +nothing but rude picture-writing to refer to besides an abundance of +traditions, legends, and other oral matter. All the Amerind languages +are capable of being readily written, being possessed of grammars +and of copious vocabularies, but none of the tribes north of Mexico +had made the discovery that marks can represent sounds. We trace our +alphabet back to the Romans, still farther to the Greeks, and yet +farther back to the Phœnicians, and then another stage back to even +ruder characters connecting the chain of its development with the end +links of such writing as that of the Mayas, and exhibiting writing in +all stages, from rock scratching or picture-writing, through all phases +down to the work of the writing and printing machines of to-day. + +Mankind are all alike, merely exhibiting different degrees of culture. +As the rills in the mountains born of the rains and the snows are +all the same and reach the ocean by various devious and complicated +courses, so the races of men, emerging from the darkness of the past, +follow, because of the immutability of natural law, practically the +same lines of development through savagery, barbarism, civilisation, +toward a common goal of unification and enlightenment. The progress +of humanity from earliest times to now appears to be divided, in each +race evolution, into several epochs by certain great inventions or +discoveries which seemed to spread themselves over the world either +from one centre or from several. Of these the most important are, +first, fire; second, the bow; third, smelting; fourth, phonetic +writing; and fifth, printing. This progression is not even, but a +people may stand still for a long time and then suddenly become +active in one particular line, or in many lines.[37] Ours is the age +of mechanical development; the Greeks made a stride in art. When +development reaches a certain point and conditions are favourable for +an invention, it springs into being not in one individual alone but +usually in several widely separated ones, as if the seed of it had +been sprinkled over the earth. It may have germinated before when +conditions were not ripe, but it then died before even sprouting. +Environment cultivates the mind, and the mind feeds on environment. +Only a small portion of those to whom an idea occurs endeavour to carry +it out, and often other subsequent inventions are necessary to success. + +[Illustration: PAINTED PETROGLYPHS, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA] + +[Illustration: PETROGLYPHS IN BROWN’S CAVE, WISCONSIN] + +On the Amerind continent before the advent of the European the various +stocks and tribes were rising and falling under the influence of the +moulding conditions, and rising again or giving place to more highly +vitalised stock which might succeed in fertilising in the brain of a +Hiawatha or a Quetzalcohuatl great ideas that should lift them onward. + +In the matter of writing, these races were moving toward success, and +had their isolation been maintained they would in time have come to +the full measure. As it was, the Mayas[38] had reached a considerable +degree of efficiency, and the Aztecs were following close. The more +northern stocks, however, had not passed beyond the elementary +stage. In the sense in which artists now use the word “drawing,” +it hardly existed anywhere on this continent; that is, there was +little exactness and delicacy of delineation, but it was mainly an +offhand representation of objects in a barbaric fashion. There was +considerable merit in some of the work executed by the sculptors, +but it was nevertheless as a whole aboriginal and primitive. In the +middle region the drawings and rock peckings[39] have no artistic +merit whatever, and are like the work of little children; nor are the +Eskimo efforts much better. The Eastern States do not afford the same +abundance of characters pecked and scratched, and sometimes painted on +the rocks, that exists in the Rocky Mountain region, and particularly +in the South-west, where they are found everywhere.[40] This may be +due to the more verdant nature of the eastern part of the country, +and also to the fact that the broad, smooth surfaces of sandstone +exposed so universally in the South-west are generally absent in the +East. Another reason may be that the Amerinds of the various Pueblo +stocks and allied tribes were more given to inscribing the rocks in +this manner. Certain it is that wherever evidences exist of the former +occupation of a locality by Amerinds of the Pueblo kind, there rocks +will be found covered with markings and paintings. These people went +everywhere in their region, and they generally left some record on the +rocks, as they do to-day. If one thinks he has found a place where +they did not arrive in that vast land of cliffs and canyons, he is +sure soon to be undeceived. Once I reached a little platform on the +face of a cliff in Arizona by hard scrambling, part of the way through +a narrow crevice, and as I stood viewing the valley a thousand feet +below, I thought, “Now, at last, I am on a spot where the Shinumo[41] +never stood.” As I turned to make my way down again I was confronted +by a lot of pictographs spread across the whole of the smooth wall +behind. Thus it was almost everywhere: in the deep gorges of the +Colorado River, in its side canyons, in the cliffs above and around, +and all along Green River, at least as far north as the lower end of +Split-Mountain canyon, these pictures occur. The climate is dry, and +there is little change from one century’s end to another.[42] Some are +comparatively recent, while others, even some of the painted ones, +are old; how old it is impossible to estimate, but many of them are +found in regions where no Amerinds of the Pueblo type[43] have lived +within historical times, or within the memory of those Amerinds who +now occupy the region. Some of the painted figures in sheltered places +appeared fresh, but they must have been at least a century or two +old. The other Amerinds, while they also executed picture-writings of +various kinds, did not so often decorate rock surfaces with them. They +were more inclined to drawing and painting on buffalo robes and other +skins, on bark, on trees, shell, pottery; even the human form in some +regions not being exempt. The Puebloans, while utilising most of these +methods, also used the rocks a great deal, the country they occupied +abounding in broad, smooth faces attractive for this purpose. In the +settled East the perishable substances have long ago disappeared, +except those fortunately preserved in museums or private collections. +Comparatively few rock inscriptions are found there, and these have +created considerable discussion and the usual number of theories. The +markings, undoubtedly Algonquian, on the now widely known Dighton Rock +in Massachusetts were for a long time ascribed to the Northmen, and +were copied in a great many different ways.[44] The trouble arose from +the same reason that has led to so many mistaken theories regarding +the Amerind race—that is, an underestimate of their intellectual side, +so far as those north of Mexico are concerned, and an overestimate of +those in the latter region. Brinton asserts that the Algonquins had +developed the picture-writing _farther than any other stock north of +the Aztecs_. “It had passed,” he says, “from the representative to the +symbolic stage, and was extensively employed to preserve the national +history and rites of the secret societies. The figures were scratched +or painted on pieces of bark or slabs of wood, and as the colour of the +paint was red, these were sometimes called ‘red sticks.’” Some of these +slabs, or “red sticks,” like the _Walam Olum_ (_walam_ = painted, and +_olum_ = scores or notches on a stick) of the Lenapés,[45] have been +preserved. Many of the figures executed by the Amerinds, not excepting +the Aztecs and the Mayas, were grotesque, and even childish. Their +strangeness is frequently due to our unfamiliarity with the originals, +figures with queer hair-dressing, masks, or complete ceremonial +costume, which, if we could see them to-day, would resemble nothing we +had ever imagined or viewed before. The extraordinary make-up of these +people for their ceremonials is beyond anything our race can imagine. +Those who have witnessed Pueblo ceremonials will understand how unlike +any human being the wearer of the strange costumes can become. The +_katcina_[46] is fearfully and wonderfully made, and, especially +if represented with the half-skill of the Amerind, would baffle +classification by anyone not familiar with the actual object. Among the +early tribes there were undoubtedly many of these ceremonial dresses +and costumes that we can now have no conception of, and where we see +them represented in sculpture or drawing they have a most uncanny and +diabolical appearance. Even to-day were we to see a representation +in their crude way of a simple little Moki girl, with the singular +arrangement of her hair in flat, circular puffs, like huge wheels, one +on each side of the head, and had never seen or heard of this fashion +of hair-dressing, we should be puzzled as to what it meant. + +[Illustration: PAINTED PETROGLYPHS, SOUTHERN UTAH] + +[Illustration: PETROGLYPH AT MILLSBORO, PENNSYLVANIA] + +[Illustration: PETROGLYPHS IN GEORGIA] + +[Illustration: RUNIC INSCRIPTION ON STONE FOUND AT IGALIKKO, GREENLAND. + + Introduced here to show contrast to the Amerind writings or + pictographs. + + Translation: “Vigdis, Mars’ daughter, rests here. May God gladden + her soul.” +] + +[Illustration: DIGHTON ROCK, MASSACHUSETTS] + +[Illustration: ILLUSTRATION OF THE “WALAM OLUM” OF THE LENAPÉ, FROM + BRINTON + + 1. Sayewitalli wemiguma wokgetaki.—At first, in that place, at all + times, above the earth. + + 2. Hackung kwelik owanaku wak yutali kitanitowitessop.—On the earth + (was) an extended fog, and there the great Manito was. + + 3. Sayewis hallemiwis nolemiwi elemamik, kitanitowitessop.—At + first, forever, lost in space, everywhere, the great Manito was. + + 4. Sohalawak kwelik hakik owak awasagamak.—He made the extended + land and the sky. + + 5. Sohalawak gishuk nipahum alankwak.—He made the sun, the moon, + and the stars. + + 6. Wemi-sohalawak yulik yuchaan.—He made them all to move evenly. + + 7. Wich-owagan kshakan moshakwat kwelik kshipe helep.—Then the wind + blew violently, and it cleared, and the water flowed off far and + strong. + + 8. Opeleken mani-menak delsin-epit.—And groups of islands grew + newly, and there remained. + + 10.—Owiniwak angelatawiwak chichankwak wemiwak.—To beings, mortals, + souls and all (spoke the Manito). + + There are sixty of these figures painted on the sticks. Each one + recalls to the memory of those who have become acquainted with the + associated idea, that special idea, and as an example nine of the + signs are given here in connection with the associated idea, and + also with the translation into English. + + There is seen here at once the resemblance to Genesis, and it is + difficult to believe that this portion of the _Walam Olum_ was not + inspired by the teachings of the missionaries. But Brinton says: + “This similarity is due wholly to the identity of psychological + action, the same ideas and fancies arising from similar impressions + in New as well as Old World tribes. +] + +[Illustration: KATCINAS IN THE SOMAIKOLI CEREMONY, CICHUMOVI, ARIZONA, + NOVEMBER, 1884 + + Photograph by the author +] + +[Illustration: KILLED TWO ARIKAREES] + +Some of the ordinary rock pictures may have been carved for simple +amusement, but the majority were made with a purpose, and this was +usually the communication or record of an idea. The Amerind records +may be divided into two and perhaps three general classes: first, the +mnemonic; second, the ideographic; and, third, the phonetic. Brinton +suggests for the writings of the Aztecs, which were partly ideographic +and partly phonetic, the term _ikonomatic_,[47] and used it in his own +works. The ideographic class are those which represent an idea, as +a man striking another, like the accompanying illustration from the +autobiography of Running Antelope, who thus records his killing of two +Arikarees. The mnemonic class do not represent an idea, but simply are +memory helps, like a string tied around one’s finger, a good example +being any numeral, say the figure “9.” The phonetic class represent +sounds, like the letters of our alphabet, say the letter “e.” It is +believed that the Maya writings were largely phonetic, but the phonetic +quality is not well established. + +[Illustration: PETROGLYPHS ON PAINT ROCK, NORTH CAROLINA] + +It is supposed that the mnemonic symbols originated in sign-language. +One of the most striking examples of the universality of the +sign-language is the case, cited by Mallery, of a professor in a +deaf-mute college, who, visiting several wild tribes, was able to +communicate freely with them though he knew nothing of their spoken +languages. It was a natural thing that races should attempt to record +these signs, and some early hieroglyphs in Egyptian can clearly be +traced to them. These same efforts occurred amongst the Amerind +stocks in varying degree. Picture-writing, the world over, as well as +particularly in North America, probably grew out of sign-language, +giving, as the first stage in the development, sign-language, second +pictographs, third alphabet. These merge into each other, as there +was not a series of jumps, but a slow and gradual progression. Many +pictographs are merely representations of natural objects and had +no special significance, others were guide marks to springs, others +recorded visits to certain localities. Mallery states a particularly +interesting fact, that within “each particular system ... every +Indian draws in precisely the same manner.” Therefore, if a perfect +understanding of each tribal system is obtained, the various rock +markings and other pictographs can be classified. Sometimes frauds[48] +have been attempted by white men, one well-known case being where +an Illinois blacksmith copied on six copper plates designs from a +Chinese tea-box, and then claimed that the plates had been found in +a mound. Recently a most ingenious counterfeiter of stone implements +was discovered in Dane County, Wis. He had been selling the spurious +implements for years. They are usually of bizarre patterns.[49] +Bandelier says that “it is certain that some of them [pictographs in +Mexico] were manufactured after the Conquest, not with the intention +of fraud, but with a view to a compromise between the new method +of recording and the old one, which the new teachers were loath to +comprehend and which they refused to adopt.” Powell classifies all +the picture-writings as: (1) Mnemonic—songs, traditions, treaties, +war, and time; (2) Notification—departure, direction, condition, +warning, guidance, geographic features, claim or demand messages, and +communications and record of expeditions; (3) Totemic—tribal, gentile, +clan, and personal designations, insignia, tokens of authority, +personal names, property marks, status of individuals, signs of +particular achievements; (4) Religious—mythic personages, shamanism, +dances, ceremonies, mortuary practices, grave-posts, charms, fetiches; +(5) Customs, habits; (6) Tribal history; (7) Biographic. + +[Illustration: LANDA’S MAYA ALPHABET AFTER BRASSEUR + + From Bancroft’s _Native Races_ +] + +On this continent no true alphabet, so far as now known, was produced, +unless we accept that recorded by Bishop Landa, and ascribed to the +Mayas. Landa was the second bishop of Yucatan, and he did his best to +destroy the Maya records and everything else that in his estimation +linked them with the devil. But he did construct an alphabet after +theirs, for the purpose, no doubt, of putting before them the Holy +Gospel, and it is this alphabet that has been preserved. It has been +the basis of many vain attempts to decipher the few ancient Maya +documents that are known, and the failure of these attempts has caused +some investigators to consider the alphabet a pure fabrication, but the +identity of the characters with many of those in the ancient writing +completely disproves this charge. Besides the alphabet, Landa left +some other information concerning the Mayas, and Goodman thus presents +his respects to his memory[50]: “It is a signal instance of the irony +of fate that this bigoted destroyer of the fruits of Maya science and +art—the pietist whose zeal rendered him avid of the obliteration of +every vestige of their impious learning—should have been the only one +to leave a clue by which the mysterious codices and inscriptions will +yet be deciphered. Nevertheless he left such a clue—slight and vague, +it is true; but, when carefully followed up, it broadens and leads into +an open way where everything will presently become self-evident.” The +alphabet was probably modified by a desire to make it conform to the +Spanish, and it is this foreign element possibly that has led to the +unfavourable opinion expressed in some quarters concerning it. + +[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF THE LORD’S PRAYER IN MICMAC HIEROGLYPHS + + From Le Clercq +] + +[Illustration: SEQUOYAH’S CHEROKEE SYLLABARY] + +North of the Mexican country certain alphabets were invented by the +European priests for the purpose of furthering the introduction +of Christianity among the Amerinds. Of these the Micmac is a good +example.[51] They were not drawn from pictographs, and were used only +for teaching the Bible. In that field they did not serve to preserve +Amerind history, traditions, and legends. After long contact with +Europeans there was invented but one alphabet, and he who accomplished +this was a half-breed. In 1821, George Gist (or Guess), whose native +name was Sequoyah, a Cherokee, who spoke little if any English, but +whose father was a Dutch peddler and whose mother was of mixed blood, +produced an alphabet, or, more correctly speaking, a syllabary, which +was immediately adopted by his tribe, and enabled them to record their +traditions, sacred formulæ, prayers, etc., which to-day form a valuable +portion of the information we possess of these Amerind people. Many of +the symbols were adapted from our alphabet, an old spelling-book having +found its way into Sequoyah’s hands, but it was the forms which were +utilised, the sounds they represented being usually different. By means +of this syllabary the members of the Cherokee tribe were able to learn +in a few hours to write words, and the system is used to this day. + +The endeavour to prove the descent of the Amerinds from one of the +numerous foreign sources that have from time to time been advocated +has at least resulted sometimes in the accumulation or reproduction +of some interesting material. Lord Kingsborough became so infatuated +with the idea that the Amerinds were the Lost Tribes of Israel that +he attempted to prove it in a number of splendid volumes, which also +contain admirable fac-similes of some old Amerind manuscripts.[52] He +spent his fortune on this work, and through a business dispute with +the merchants who furnished the paper he was thrown into Dublin Jail, +where, unfortunately, he died. + +To explain the methods employed in the ruder attempts at recording, +the map made by Lean Wolf, a Hidatsa, who once made a trip from Fort +Berthold to Fort Buford, Dakota, with the ambition of stealing a horse, +is a good example. In the illustration the returning horse-tracks +indicate that he was successful and rode home. 1 is Lean Wolf himself; +2, the Hidatsa lodges; 3, Lean Wolfs tracks on his outward course; 4, +government buildings at Fort Buford; 5, several Hidatsa lodges whose +occupants intermarried with Dakotas; 6, Dakota tipis; 7, small square, +a white man’s home, with a cross indicating that he had married a +Dakota woman; 8, horse-tracks; 9, the Missouri River and tributaries. + +[Illustration: LEAN WOLF’S MAP, HIDATSA] + +Frequently the marks on the rocks merely record the visit of someone +to the place, exactly as when we visit the birthplace of Shakespeare +we write our names in a large book kept there for that purpose; or, +perhaps, as some persons carve their names on public buildings and in +other conspicuous places. Gilbert found a number of such records at +Oakley Springs, Arizona, and old Tuba, a Moki, explained them to him. +Tuba said that the Mokis go to a place in the canyon of the Little +Colorado for salt, and they stop on the return trip at this spring, +where each draws his totem mark, or crest, on the record rocks once, +and once only, for each trip. There are many repetitions of the same +sign, showing that the owner of that particular sign, or totem, had +made that many journeys to the salt mine. Tuba gave the name of the +totems, and they were all animals. + +One cannot be too careful in taking statements from Amerinds, for, +like some of their white brethren, many of them will lie for the fun of +it, or just to experiment as to the probable result. Sometimes, too, +when they are telling the truth they tell only part of it. This is +particularly the case with regard to springs, sacred rites, and other +matters which are specially cherished. Some objects in the custody of +the heads of the secret orders are never shown in public, or are only +shown on special occasions. Pictographs representing them, therefore, +should any happen to be made, would not be intelligible to any persons +but the initiated. + +[Illustration: THE “PENN” WAMPUM BELT] + +[Illustration: STRINGS OF WAMPUM] + +Another class of symbols was worked out in wampum. The popular idea +of wampum seems to be that it was a kind of Amerind money, but the +money function was only one of its uses. There was another, a mnemonic +use, of more importance—that is, it was a means of recording and +of communicating mnemonically among the tribes of the North-east. +The Iroquois used it chiefly in the form of belts. The beads were +generally white, and were used in strings as well as belts, other +colours being mingled with the white, as purple and white, or black and +white. These strings had important functions in summoning officers, +in representing persons, and in conferring authority. But all wampum +had a meaning only to those who remembered the particular association +of particular forms of it, and the knowledge once entirely forgotten +could never be regained. Consequently the ideas with which the belts, +etc., were associated had to be regularly brought to mind. Once a year, +therefore, they were exhibited in public, and the story connected +with each carefully rehearsed so that it should not be lost through +forgetfulness. This custom is still kept up among the remnants of the +wampum-using tribes. In other tribes, formulæ and drawings were often +preserved by certain orders who rehearsed them in the privacy of the +kiva. The wampum beads were generally ⅛ inch by ¼ inch diameter—that +is, flat discs of shell. They were sometimes also ¼ to ½ inch thick, +with the same diameter. When the white men discovered the valuation the +Amerinds placed on these beads an attempt was made to introduce some +of European manufacture, but it met with only partial success.[53] The +average width of a belt is three inches and the length three feet. + +[Illustration: ORCA OR KILLER-WHALE DECORATION, HAIDA] + +By some tribes the human body was also used as a surface for the +display of pictographs. Among all primitive people the body has been +often decorated to a greater or less extent by means of pigments or +by tattooing, and even to-day the practice lingers among civilised +races, in their sailors and soldiers especially. The primitive totem or +tattoo marks are frequently highly elaborate, but the work is not all +accomplished at one time. Years sometimes pass before the drawings +are complete. The Haidas of the North-west coast are specially given +to this form of decoration, and their bodies bear carefully prepared +symbols. They are heraldic signs, or the family totem, of the clan to +which the person belongs. + +[Illustration: HAIDA TATTOOING] + +Pottery was also a medium, and some of the designs contained upon +earthenware unfold a whole legend to the knowing eye of the native. The +designs that are woven into blankets, baskets, and scarfs of Amerind +manufacture are also, to a certain extent, symbolic. The Navajos, who +weave a superior kind of blanket, put into it a variety of designs, +that are carried entirely in their memory. It is asserted that the +majority of these designs are Pueblo. The Navajos no doubt absorbed +many of the Pueblos, who must have been in the country they now occupy +when they arrived. There is some intermarriage of Navajos and Mokis in +these latter days.[54] + +Everything the Amerind does pertains to his religious belief, and these +symbols, totems, and pictures play an important part in his life. Some +sign or token occurs on almost every article of his manufacture. + +[Illustration: ESKIMO DRAWING—“THE MAN IN THE MOON COMES DOWN”] + +Excellent examples of Algonquin mnemonic records are found in the songs +of the Midē society, which have been preserved for many generations +by means of their picture-writing, and some of the records are +exceedingly elaborate. The method is to associate certain devices with +songs or with parts of songs to recall the words to the memory of the +singer when he beholds the pictures, and in this way they have been +handed along through the centuries. There is reason to believe that +almost all important legends are recorded in this mnemonic way among +the tribes of North America. Of course the memory is likely to fail in +some details and so the songs become more or less changed as time goes +on, but it is not probable that the changes are of much importance, for +where the memory is trained in this way it grows remarkably accurate. +There was much practising of the various songs at each particular +season, under the guidance of some veteran singer. + +The Eskimo, in their picture-writing, seem now to be rather a class +by themselves. Whether the suggestion of perspective found in some +pictures was a result of contact with the whites I am unable to state, +but it seems probable. In the above illustration the suggestion of +perspective is clear. There is a landscape with houses, with the moon +in the sky, and with a perfectly evident effort to make the foreground +and middle and background take their proper places. Such a thing is not +to be found throughout all the other Amerind stocks. + +From Alaska come some good examples of the ideographic, by way of +San Francisco, where one Naumoff, an Alaskan native, made them. They +are written on strips of wood and placed in conspicuous places as +notifications. + +[Illustration: The irregular line indicates the contour of the country. + The traveller is seen starting out at the left. He presently leaves + a stick with a bunch of grass to show direction, and stops with a + friend at night—the division of days represented by a line upright. + Next morning, on the second hill, he discovers game, etc. +] + +Some tribes have a system of enumerating the members of it and keeping +a kind of clan roll. Chief Big Road, a Dakota, was one day brought +to the agency and required to give an account of his followers. He +submitted a roster, made on common foolscap paper with black and +coloured pencils. The names, represented by pictures, were Big Bear, +Bear-looking-behind, Brings-back-Plenty, White Buffalo, and so on. +This is also an example of the ideographic. Red Cloud had a similar +census of his warriors. It was prepared under his supervision at the +Pine Ridge Agency. Owing to some disagreement, the agent had refused +to recognise Red Cloud’s leadership and named another man as chief. +Thereupon the adherents of Red Cloud prepared this document, and +sent it to Washington to establish his claim. The names pictorially +represented are Shield-Bear, Sees-the-Enemy, Biting-Bear, Cut-through, +Red Owl, etc. + +[Illustration: SPECIMENS OF THE DAKOTA WINTER COUNTS + + Dates determined by counting back from great events The left: + 1788–89. Very severe winter. Crows were frozen to death. + “Many-crows-died-winter” Middle: 1789–90. Two Mandans killed by the + Minneconjous Right: 1790–91. “All-the-Indians-see-the-flag-winter” +] + +In this same line are the Dakota winter counts collected by Dr. +Corbusier. The years are counted by winters, as the winter among the +Dakotas makes the deepest impression. These records have been kept for +many years and are used in computing time and to aid the memory in +recalling names and events of different years. The enumeration is begun +at the winter last recorded and carried backward. There are at least +five of these counts kept among the Oglalas and Brules by different +men.[55] + +From the manuscript drawing-book of an Amerind prisoner at St. +Augustine we have a “conversation” about the lassooing, shooting, and +final killing of a bison which had wandered into camp. “The dotted +lines indicate footprints. The Indian drawn under the animal having +secured it by the forefeet, so informs his companions, as indicated by +the line drawn from his mouth to the object mentioned. The left-hand +figure, having secured the buffalo by the horns, gives his nearest +comrade an opportunity to strike it with an axe, which he no doubt +announces that he will do, as the line from his mouth to the head of +the animal indicates. The Indian in the upper left-hand corner is told +by a squaw to take an arrow and join his companions, when he turns his +head to inform her that he has one already, which fact he demonstrates +by holding up the weapon.”[56] + +[Illustration: KILLING A BISON] + +The Navajos have a singular kind of picture-writing which has been +called “dry-painting.” These dry-paintings are made on the ground with +dry sand of various colours.[57] All the designs are made with the +utmost care and precision, being drawn according to an exact system, +except in minor points, where the artist is left to his imagination. +So far as known this system is not recorded in any way, but depends +entirely on the memory of those in charge. Changes must therefore occur +in the course of time. The sand is trailed out of the hand between the +thumb and forefinger, and when a mistake is made it is corrected by +renewing at that point the surface of the sand which forms the general +ground for the work. No less than seventeen ceremonies are illustrated +by drawings of this kind. Sand enters into some of the kiva ceremonies +of the Moki, but in a different way. It is used more to maintain in +position certain objects that belong to the ritual. + +[Illustration: SHELL DISC, TENNESSEE + + Diameter, 4.4 inches + + After Dr. Jones +] + +The mounds of the Mississippi valley have yielded antiquities of great +interest, but thus far nothing that is beyond the ability of the +ordinary Amerind to execute. Some shell discs, which Holmes suggests +may have been time symbols, attract special attention. There are +generally thirteen small outer circles on the discs, and thirteen is +a number that occurs frequently in Amerind chronology. On other discs +various objects are drawn, the one first to fix the attention of the +white race being the figure of the cross because of its connection +with the Christian religion. But it had no similar significance with +the Christian cross. Crosses were found among almost all the tribes of +North America, because a cross is an easy and a most natural figure to +construct. Another emblem found throughout the world, and next to the +cross the simplest figure to make, is that called the swastika, merely +a cross 卐 with the arms broken at right angles. The Mormons firmly +believe, along with Kingsborough, that the Amerinds are the Lost Tribes +of Israel, and one of their elders has succeeded in translating some +picture-writing thus: “_I, Mahanti, the 2nd king of the Lamanites in +five valleys in the mountains, make this record in the twelve hundredth +year since we came out of Jerusalem. And I have three sons gone to the +south country to live by hunting antelope and deer._” Like the power to +divine the future, the power to translate picture-writings is rare. + +In some of the Moundbuilder work there is a suggestion of a position +for the makers intermediate between, say, the Algonquin and the Nahuatl +or Aztec tribes. Their serpent symbols strongly resemble those of more +southern tribes, and also some of the figures in shell and copper. + +The fact that the serpent was a prominent object with them as with +the Nahuatl tribes tends to link the tribes who made these symbols +with the Nahuatl tribes. The serpent symbol, especially the feathered +kind,[58] belongs mainly to the tribes of the Mexican region, where the +rattlesnake exists in its greatest variety. The rattlesnake was highly +venerated, and tribes as far north as the Moki country in the West, +and perhaps as the Ohio in the East, might be correctly called the +Snake people. There is nothing improbable in supposing that some of the +tribes of the Mississippi valley, if they were not of the same stock as +the Aztecs, were in tolerably close communication with them, or with +tribes intermediate between the two. + +[Illustration: SHELL GORGET, TENNESSEE] + +Sometimes there occur markings on the rocks in the South-west that +would be a puzzle to us did we not know, through the Mokis, who are +still making them, just what they are. There is therefore no room +for the imagination; the long scratchings are only grooves made in +sandstone by the Moki farmer sharpening his planting stick. + +[Illustration: CUP MARKINGS] + +Another kind of rock markings, the so-called cupped-stones or cup +markings, about which there has been a vast amount of discussion, may +be considered here because they have generally been thought to have +symbolic significance. That some of them may have had such significance +is admitted below, but the bulk of those on this continent it seems +possible to explain without resort to symbolism. An explanation which +I offer, for what it may be worth, I have never seen suggested, though +the idea may not be new. It is well known that the common form of +fire-drill in use from one end of this continent to the other was that +in which the end of a straight stick is made to rotate back and forth +in a rounded cavity in another stick of softer wood called the hearth. +In order that the operation should be speedily successful in producing +fire, it was necessary to have the end of the drill convex, so that +it would immediately bear as nearly as possible on the whole surface +of the hearth cavity. In order to produce this convexity, the Amerind +pecked a small cavity on a slab or rock of sandstone, and when he had +it in the proper condition, he could bring his drill very quickly +to the desired convexity, and also give it a roughness of surface +that would contribute to the friction. As the fire-drill was long in +constant use, many cavities were necessary, for a cavity would grow too +deep, or for some other cause would not be adequate. A new hole would +then be made, and thus in the course of time there would be numbers of +the cavities on a rock or slab, which was convenient or had been found +to possess the right texture for the purpose. My opinion, therefore, +is that these so-called “cup markings” or “cupped” stones were in +America the result of the sharpening of fire-drills, just as the long +grooves seen at the Moki towns to-day are the result of the sharpening +of planting sticks. Gerard Fowke describes the cupped-stones in the +Bureau of Ethnology collection,[59] as follows, and it will be noticed +that thin pieces have cups on both sides, while the large blocks have +them only on one. This was because it was convenient to turn the small +stones over. In some cases where a cup had worn too large, another +was started in the bottom of it, perhaps because the rock at that +particular spot suited the fancy of the individual. Fowke says: “The +cupped-stones in the Bureau are almost invariably of reddish sandstone, +of varying texture, from a few ounces to thirty pounds in weight. The +holes are from one to twenty-five in number, of various sizes, even in +the same stone, and follow the natural contour of the surface even when +that is quite irregular; the stone is never flattened or dressed to +bring the cups on a level; none show any marks of work, but are rough +blocks or slabs in their natural state. Many of the holes are roughly +pecked in, but the larger ones are usually smooth, as if ground out, +and almost complete hemispheres. They range from a pit only started or +going scarcely beyond the surface to one two inches in diameter. The +smaller ones with one cup pass into the pitted stones. Occasionally +at the bottom of a large cup there is a small secondary hole as though +made by a flint drill. Slabs or thin pieces nearly always have cups on +both sides, while blocks or thick slabs have them on one side only.” + +In the case of the cup markings of the Eastern Hemisphere, their +frequent peculiar arrangement accompanied by grooves and circles may +have pertained to some ceremony connected with the drill-dressing. It +may have been thought that the fire would come quicker, be better, or +last longer when the drill was dressed in holes of a certain type; or +special stones and holes of peculiar arrangement may have been required +for dressing the drill-end that was to be used by the priest in the +sacred ceremony of producing the “new-fire.” In this manner a primitive +custom might become sacred and be surrounded with symbolism exemplified +in cup markings the world over. + +[Illustration: CUP FROM CHIRIQUI] + + + + + [Illustration: TERRA COTTA FROM CHIRIQUI] + + CHAPTER IV + + THE MEXICAN AND CENTRAL-AMERICAN WRITING, INSCRIPTIONS, AND BOOKS + + +While there are found in the mounds of the central Mississippi +region, and also among the living natives of the North-west coast, +resemblances to the art work of the Aztecs, Mayas, and other tribes of +the Central-American region, there is no evidence that there was any +approach, in these localities or elsewhere, to any kind of record to be +compared with the proficiency of the South. What there may once have +been in the way of writings on bark or wood we can only conjecture. The +Davenport tablet has been pronounced, on good authority, to be within +the powers of the Dakota tribes. Other tablets and inscriptions of the +Eastern region are surrounded with doubt. + +The Mexican, that is, the Aztec, writing was more pictorial than +that of the Mayas. It was cruder in every way, and comparing the +two in the pages of Kingsborough and later reproductions, it is +easy to distinguish a superior culture indicated by the writing of +the Maya. We are more fortunate in the number of Aztec manuscripts +preserved. The Spanish priests did what they could to obliterate the +books existing when they came into the country, and Bishop Zumarraga +made a fine bonfire out of a lot of them. But some escaped. Some +priests sent copies or originals back home as curiosities, thinking, +doubtless, that this took them out of the sight of the natives quite +as effectually as the burning, and the natives themselves succeeded +in preserving in secret some of the ancient documents. None of the +oldest, however, have been found, but in time the number known to us +may be considerably increased. One by one they turn up unexpectedly. +That called the Codex Borgia was in use as a plaything of children +of the Gustiniani family, till rescued by Cardinal Borgia, and only +recently another one has been found dating from the year 1545,[60] +wherein there are pictorial combinations never before seen. Thus +gradually our data are increasing, and with the awakening interest in +Amerindian archæology that seems to have come in these latter days of +the nineteenth century, a century that has let slip much valuable data +never to be recovered, further finds may be expected from time to time. +The style of the Aztec documents is different from that of the Maya and +Brinton believes them to be independent developments. It is possible, +however, that both were derived from the same source and developed +independently.[61] The Aztec writing is of a “rebus” character, and +Brinton has applied to it the term _ikonomatic_, which he explains +as follows in his _Essays of an Americanist_[62]: “All methods of +recording ideas have been divided into two classes—Thought Writing and +Sound Writing. The first, simplest and oldest, is Thought Writing. +This in turn is subdivided into two forms—Ikonographic and Symbolic +Writing. The former is also known as Imitative, Representative, or +Picture Writing. The object to be held in memory is represented by its +picture drawn with such skill, or lack of skill, as the writer may +possess. In Symbolic Writing, a single characteristic part or trait +serves to represent the whole object; thus the track of an animal +will stand for the animal itself.... It will be observed that Thought +Writing has no reference to spoken language; neither the picture of +a wolf nor the representation of his footprint conveys the slightest +notion of the sound of the word _wolf_. How was the enormous leap made +from the thought to the sound—in other words, from an ideographic to +a phonetic method of writing? This question has received considerable +attention from scholars with reference to the development of the two +most important alphabets in the world, the Egyptian and the Chinese. +Both these began as simple picture writing, and both progressed to +almost complete phoneticism. In both cases, however, the earliest steps +are lost, and can be retraced only by indications remaining after a +high degree of phonetic power had been reached. On the other hand, in +the Mexican and probably in the Maya hieroglyphics, we find a method +of writing which is intermediate between the two great classes I have +mentioned, and which illustrates in a striking manner the phases +through which both the Egyptian and the Semitic alphabets passed +somewhat before the dawn of history. To this method, which stands +midway between the ikonographic and the alphabetic methods of writing, +I have given the name _ikonomatic_, derived from the Greek εικων-ονος, +an image, a figure; ονομα-ατος, a name.... It is this plan on which +those familiar puzzles are constructed which are called rebuses and +none other than this which served to bridge over the wide gap between +Thought and Sound Writing. It is, however, not correct to say that it +is a writing by _things_, rebus; but it is by the _names_ of things, +and hence I have coined the work ikonomatic to express this clearly.” +The position of the signs often had important significance, just as it +has in some of our puzzles, like the following: + + WOOD + JOHN + MASS + +which is said to have been the address on a letter that found its +destination in John Underwood, Andover, Massachusetts. It might be +supposed that, having acquired a knowledge of the method of the Aztec +writing, the general principles of which, according to Brinton, were +known many years ago, we would now be able to translate the Mexican +documents with little difficulty. The trouble lies, however, in the +lack of exact knowledge of the Nahuatl language itself, and till +that is acquired small progress will be made. It will be necessary +to understand this language before its modern additions and changes +came in, in order to connect it with the picture-writing, or rather +the ikonomatic writing, of the fifteenth and previous centuries. It +has been doubted whether there is any phonetic element in either the +Aztec or the Maya hieroglyphics, but the evidence seems to indicate +that there is a phonetic element, notwithstanding that there has been a +following in many cases of rather slender threads of evidence. + +[Illustration: PAGE FROM AN AZTEC BOOK (from a copy in the possession + of M. H. Saville) + + Plate 67 of the Nahuan precolumbian Vatican Codex, No. 3773, Loubat + edition. This is the 19th page of the Tonalamatl, the sacred + astrological calendar of the Aztecs. The seated figure is the + goddess Xochiquetzal, and on the left is the god Tezcatlipoca. The + book is in size about 5 × 6 inches. +] + +[Illustration: MEXICAN WRITING OF NAME OF MONTEZUMA + + From Brinton +] + +Brinton gives the accompanying illustration of the character of the +Aztec writing, this being the name of Montezuma, but really reading +Moquahzoma. As most writers spell this name to suit themselves, judging +from the great variety of spellings, we may as well accept Moquahzoma +too. Indeed, as this seems to be supported by the evidence of the +writing, it is more likely to be correct than the others. The picture +at the right is of a mouse-trap, _montli_ in Nahuatl, “with a phonetic +value of _mo_ or _mon_; the head of the eagle has the value _quauh_, +from _quauhtli_; it is transfixed with a lancet _zo_ and surmounted +with a hand _maitl_, whose phonetic value is _ma_, and these values +combined give _Moquahzoma_.” + +[Illustration: PART OF PLATE 65, DRESDEN CODEX + + Maya +] + +When Mendoza was viceroy of New Spain, he caused a specimen of Aztec +writing and book-making to be prepared and sent to Charles V., with +an explanation in Spanish. Copies of this exist to-day; one in the +Bodleian Library, Oxford, and another, which Prescott thought was the +original, though Bancroft believed it to be a copy, in the Escurial +Library. This Codex Mendoza was in three parts: 1st, historical; 2d, +tribute rolls; 3d, descriptive of the domestic life and manners of the +people. Besides this and the Borgia, there are the Codex Vaticanus, +in the Vatican Library, another in the same place written on skin; +the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, in the Bibliothèque National, Paris; +the Codex Bologna, in the library of the Scientific Institute, and +a number of others in divers places.[63] The remnants of the native +Tezcucan archives were inherited by Ixtlilxochitl, lineal descendant of +the last “king” of Tezcuco, who used them in preparing his historical +writings. The collection afterwards disappeared. + +Many of the manuscripts were merely chronological, but there were also +tribute rolls, law codes, court records, historical records, and all +the varied writings that belong to an active and intelligent people. +The priests executed and held in their possession the important books, +and seem to have been the leaders of whatever learning existed. “These +writings,” says Bancroft, “were a sealed book to the masses, and even +to the educated classes who looked with superstitious reverence on the +priestly writers and their magic scrolls.” + +The paper used was usually made from the leaves of the maguey. It is +probable that the Aztecs learned to make it from the Mayas or from +some intervening tribe who had learned from the Mayas. Sometimes the +books were long strips of cotton cloth, or even a kind of parchment. +They were either rolled up or folded like a screen, and frequently had +covers of wood. A great deal of ingenuity and skill were bestowed on +the preparation of these books and the writing they contained. + +The appropriate name of “calculiform”[64] has been given to the Maya +hieroglyphics because of their resemblance to pebble forms. Besides +the inscriptions carved on stone from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to +the northern border of Honduras, there are some on wood and in stucco, +but there exist, so far as known, but very few of the numerous records +and books of perishable material which the pious zeal of the Spanish +priests hastened to gather together and purify of heresy and wickedness +in the fires of bigotry. Bishop Landa says: “As they contained nothing +that did not savour of superstition and lies of the devil, we burnt +them all, at which the natives grieved most keenly and were greatly +pained.” The practice of the Mayas, it is said, was to bury the books +with the priest who had written them, in which case large numbers of +the writings must have been disposed of before the Spaniards took a +hand. Doubtless, however, only certain books were thus buried with the +authors, and perhaps copies of these may have been preserved. At any +rate, unless some of the books have been protected in an absolutely +dry place, tomb or what not, or there were also writings on tablets of +clay or stone, we are not likely to have our present scanty knowledge +of the ancient Mayas much increased through this channel. There are +possibilities of discovery in many ways, even amongst the papers in +forgotten archives. + +[Illustration: VASE FROM LABNA, YUCATAN, WITH PECULIAR MARKINGS + + Diameter at top, 5 inches; diameter at bottom, 4 inches; height, 4½ + inches +] + +In the Peabody Museum at Cambridge I saw a small vase from Labna +that fixed my attention at once, and I understand there are others +in existence of a similar character. It bears certain marks in the +clay that suggested to my mind an alphabetic system. The marks are in +groups, each group contained in a space that apparently corresponds +to the calculiform inscriptions of the monuments. It seems possible, +therefore, that this may be a development out of the calculiform. +Afterwards I found a reference apparently to this same vase in +Brinton’s _Primer of Mayan Hieroglyphics_. He says: “There is some +reason to suppose, however, that in this part of the Mayan territory +there had been a development of this writing until it had become +conventionalized into a series of lines and small circles enclosed in +the usual square or oval of the katun. I have seen several examples of +this remarkable script, and give one, Fig. 79, part of an inscription +on a vase from Labna, Yucatan, now in the Peabody Museum.” If these +marks should turn out to be alphabetic, then we may expect to find +slabs and tablets similarly inscribed. + +[Illustration: CONVEX DISCOIDAL STONE, NORTH CAROLINA] + +We are but at the beginning of our investigation of the Amerind field. +Only recently Saville discovered an entirely new form of hieroglyphic +in Oaxaca in a tomb believed to be Zapotecan. Organised and exhaustive +exploration will yield fine results. “Such organised and exhaustive +exploration is the more to be desired,” says Goodman, “for the reason +that all the inscriptions so far brought to light are of a purely +chronological character, destitute of any real historical importance. +They are merely public calendars, as it were, showing that at specified +dates certain periods of their scheme would begin or end, or that a +correspondence would occur between two or more of their different +plans for computing time. Aside from the circumstance that the initial +date in most instances undoubtedly marks the time at which the temple, +stela, or altar to which it belongs was erected, I do not believe there +is the record of a single historical event in all the inscriptions at +present in our possession. That a people as cultured as they should +have had no historical records at all, would be a presumption too +absurd for credence, even without the testimony of the early Spanish +authorities to the contrary. The actual question is whether any of +them will ever be discovered. If they were inscribed upon paper or +parchment and buried with their priestly owners, as we are told, there +is very little hope that any vestige of them remains, unless there may +have been some instance of almost miraculous preservation. Still that +remote chance is worth a vast amount of research. But a better hope +... is that in crypts or tombs or other unexplored receptacles may be +collected historical tablets of durable material—stone, stucco, baked +clay, or even metal—which patient excavation will yet unearth.” Chance +has played the chief part in the preservation of the few documents that +have come down to us. In the Bibliothèque National at Paris the Maya +one now known as the Codex Peresianus had been neglected amongst a lot +of old papers where De Rosny happened to discover it. It has generally +been assumed that because there was found one form of writing on the +monuments and a similar form in the few documents preserved there was +but the one method. This, however, does not necessarily follow. The +monumental records and the chronological books may have been written +by the priests in the archaic style while the ordinary and common +style was something quite different.[65] Pio Perez has been followed +with great faith, but Goodman thrusts him aside in the following +paragraph: “The man who led everybody astray ... was Don Pio Perez.... +In the absence of any regularly ordained authority, he was at once +accepted on his own bare assumption as a leader and lawgiver, and then +began that journey through the wilderness which has lasted more than +forty years.... I ran in the ruck for seven seasons.... Then I turned +and went back to Landa—to whom all desirous of reliable information +concerning Maya chronology must go at last.”[66] The trouble with +following Landa has been the inaccuracy of the translation by the Abbé +Brasseur as well as a certain confusion existing within the original +manuscript.[67] + +Brinton says: “The Mayas were naturally a literary people. Had they +been offered the slightest chance for the cultivation of their +intellects, they would have become a nation of readers and writers.” +Instead of having this chance they were crushed by the Spaniards and +never rose again. But the decline of the Mayas cannot be altogether +laid at the door of Spain. The remnant of the stock encountered by +the Spaniards was already on the down road and had been for a long +period.[68] That the Mayas had long passed the zenith of their progress +is generally admitted, and we are not entirely sure that the people we +know as Mayas were the original stock or only a mixture of the original +and an inferior, wilder stock which mingled with them in the days of +their decline. When a stock declined or became extinct, other stocks +from contiguous territory or from farther off were likely to come in +and possess themselves of whatever they found that was valuable and +also become permanent residents of the country, just as the Navajos +took up their home in a land that was formerly the residence of a +different, house-building stock of whom the Navajos preserve, so far +as I am aware, barely a reminiscence. Berendt thus describes the +neighbourhood of Cintla: “Not a single tradition, not a single native +name survives to cast any light upon these ruins. The whole of this +coast was depopulated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries owing +to the slave-hunting incursions of the filibusters and man-hunters. +The Indians who are now found in the neighbourhood have removed there +from the interior since the beginning of the present century, and are +absolutely ignorant of the origin or builders of this city.” + +Not until we are in possession of historical data from the Mayas +themselves, if that happy time ever arrives, can we be absolutely +certain as to the present descendants. + +“In Yucatan,” says Brinton, “the books of the Mayas consisted of a +kind of paper made by macerating and beating together leaves of maguey +and afterwards sizing the surface with a durable white varnish. The +sheet was folded like a screen, forming pages about nine by five +inches. Both sides were covered with figures and characters painted +in various brilliant colours. On the outer pages boards were fastened +for protection, so the completed volume had the appearance of a bound +book of large octavo size. Parchment was sometimes used instead of +paper. It was made of deerskin cured and smoked. Twenty-seven rolls +of such parchments covered with hieroglyphics were among the articles +burned by Bishop Landa at Mani in 1562.” “None of them, however,” +remarks Goodman of the Maya books that have been found, “can be of +much assistance in solving Maya historical problems, as they are all +merely text-books explaining the meaning of signs, the elementary +principles of their respective calendars and certain phases of lunar, +solar, and in a few places, bissextile and chronological reckoning. I +believe the figures usually supposed to represent deities to be only +personifications of different periods or phases of time, and that most +of the glyphs are merely numerals or symbols used for the occasion in +their numerative sense only.” + +It is plain, therefore, that much of the supposed interpretation of +the Maya inscriptions has had little solid foundation, has in fact +been little better than guesswork. There was one sanguine translator +who was discovered to have begun at the _wrong end_ of the book! +The readings of the Maya inscriptions sometimes suggest that other +mysterious operation of certain brilliant scholars of our time, the +discovery and reading of the Shakespeare-Baconian cipher. The lack +of real understanding of the Maya subject is pretty well indicated +by the various estimates of the value of Landa’s legacy. One author, +Holden, states that it was a positive misfortune, while Goodman, after +following other lines for a time, returns to Landa as the only real +foundation for accurate study. There is even yet difference of opinion +as to the proper directions, left to right or up and down, etc., in +which the works are to be read when they are read. Apparently the first +sensible thing to be done is to gather together all that Landa wrote +and reduce it to a shape that will place it before the greatest number +of students, in connection with specimens of every kind of a mark or +picture that by any possibility might have alphabetic significance. A +striking peculiarity of the Maya remains is that there are not found +any preliminary or originating forms of the glyphs. “We are compelled +therefore to admit,” says Thomas, “that the origin of this writing is a +mystery we are unable to fully penetrate.”[69] It may be that the forms +from which it was derived were recorded on skins, on wood, or on bark, +and in that case they probably disappeared before the beginning of the +Maya decline. “A difference, it is true,” says Thomas,[70] “in the +forms and ornamentation, and, to a certain degree, an advance toward +a more perfect type, can be traced, but no examples, so far as the +writer is aware, of the first rude beginnings or the original forms +have been found. Some comparatively rude are found painted on pottery, +scratched on shells or other soft material, but these belong to what +may be termed demotic writing and are not primitive forms. Comparing +the characters of the various inscriptions which have been discovered +and those found in the few remaining pre-Columbian manuscripts, the +result is as follows: _First_, it is apparent that the characters in +the manuscripts have been adapted from those of the inscriptions. In +other words, inscriptions preceded the manuscripts; hence we must look +to the former for the older forms. What appear to the writer to be the +oldest forms of the glyphs yet discovered are seen in those of Palenque +and some of the inscriptions found by Charnay at Menche (Lorillard +City), though others discovered by him at this same place belong to +the later and more ornamental type, discovered in the Peten region, +that is those carved in wood discovered by Bernouilli at Tikal, a type +also found at Copan and Chichen Itza, but in none of the inscriptions +at Palenque.” For my part, I cannot see that Thomas has exactly proved +that the manuscripts were later than the stone-carved inscriptions, but +his knowledge of the subject is so great and his methods so cautious +that I am glad to give his statement in this connection. + +[Illustration: FEMALE HEAD IN TRACHYTE + + From slope north of Temple 22—Copan. +] + +The Maya glyphs probably developed out of something like the Mexican or +Aztec writing; and the step was not a very long one from writing of the +character of the Lenapé _Walam Olum_ to that of the Aztec, and again +it was not a long step from the ordinary picture-writing to the _Walam +Olum_, so that it would seem that in these various writings we have +an interesting series of steps from the crudest attempts at records, +nearly, if not quite, to the highest, for it must be borne in mind that +the step from the Maya glyphs to a true phonetic alphabet would be even +shorter than any of the others. It is not impossible that something +of the kind may yet be discovered. While the Mayas had made little +progress in mechanical inventions, their progress in architecture, +art, writing, and in astronomy is a proof that they were a thinking +people, and, had conditions continued favourable to their progress, the +Spaniards would have found them not easy to vanquish. The prominent +and striking quality of the calculiform style has had a tendency to +obscure the point that there may have been another system in vogue, +more simple, more modern, in short purely phonetic. Perfected phonetic +characters are simple characters and are likely not to attract notice, +especially when attention has been fixed on other forms. + +So far as now understood, there is no relationship between any kind +of Amerindian writing and that of other races. Like everything else +pertaining to the Amerind people, the development appears to have been +purely indigenous. Le Plongeon, however, asserts that “abundant proofs +of the intimate communications of the ancient Mayas with the civilised +nations of Asia, Africa, and Europe are to be found among the remains +of their ruined cities.”[71] The grounds accepted for this statement +do not seem to be sufficient to satisfy other investigators. Certainly +if there was any inter-communication, it was before the acquirement of +iron-working in other countries, as so far no prehistoric iron has been +found in the ruins of Yucatan. + +[Illustration: USUAL TYPE OF SCULPTURED “YOKES,” CENTRAL AMERICA + + 15½ inches long; 14½ inches wide; thickness, 3½ × 4½ inches + + Substance: Dark, greenish grey, very compact, chlorite; surface well + polished. Carving of a frog or toad + + W. H. Holmes +] + +After the coming of the Spaniards, some of the Mayas soon learned their +alphabet and the missionaries added, says Brinton, “a sufficient number +of signs to it to express with tolerable accuracy the phonetics of the +Maya tongue. Relying on their memories, and, no doubt, aided by some +manuscripts secretly preserved, many natives set to work to write out +in this new alphabet the contents of their ancient records. Much was +added which had been brought in by the Europeans, and much omitted +which had become unintelligible or obsolete since the Conquest, while +of course the different writers varying in skill and knowledge produced +works of very various merit. Nevertheless each of these books bore the +same name. In whatever village it was written, or by whatever hand, it +always was, and to-day still is, called ‘_The Book of Chilan Balam_.’ +To distinguish them apart, the name of the village where a copy was +found or written is added. Probably in the last century almost every +village had one, which was treasured with superstitious veneration.” +Sixteen of these curious books are known to exist, but there has never +been a complete translation of any of them. The following specimen is +from _The Book of Chilan Balam_ of the town of Mani, and is taken from +Brinton’s _Chronicles of the Maya_.[72] + +“_Lai u tzolan katun lukci ti cab ti yotoch Nonoual cante anilo +Tutulxiu ti chikin Zuiua u luumil u talelob Tulapan chiconahthan._” + +Translation: “This is the arrangement of the katuns since the departure +was made from the land, from the house Nonoual, where were the four +Tutulxiu, from Zuiva at the West: they came from the land Tulapan, +having formed a league.” + +The strange title of these books is derived from that of the priests +or shamans, who were believed to have divine powers. They date from +1595. The Maya books at present known are three, one in two parts, with +these titles: 1. _Codex Tro_ or _Troano_, 70 pages, found by the Abbé +Brasseur at Madrid; 2. _Codex Cortesianus_,[73] so named because of a +belief that it was brought to Europe by Cortes, also at Madrid, and +believed to be a part of the Troano; 3. _Dresden Codex_, 74 pages, in +the Royal Library, Dresden; 4. _Codex Peresianus_, 22 pages, the one +discovered in the Paris Bibliothèque National by De Rosny, and given +its title from the name “Perez,” written on the outer wrapper. Besides +these it has been supposed that there are several in private hands. The +Quiches, of Mayan stock, had a sacred book called the _Popol Vuh_,[74] +and the allied Cakchiquels had their _Records of Tecpan Atitlan_. +Other tribes or stocks of the Mexican region undoubtedly had books and +records also, but in the present state of knowledge nothing definite +can be said about them. But there was a general high development of +all, or at least, the majority, of the stocks occupying Mexico and +Central America in the fifteenth century and before, so that it is +entirely reasonable to expect a considerable corresponding development +in the line of picture-writing, hieroglyphs or alphabets. These, in +some cases, will come to our knowledge, just as the new hieroglyph +attributed to the Zapotecs recently rewarded the investigations of +Saville. + +The numeral systems of these people were well developed, and they were +able to make exact calculations in astronomical, and in all other +matters. The Aztecs used dots from one to ten, or twenty, and then +symbols. The Mayas used dots only to four, and then dots and lines +to nineteen, beyond which little is known of their method. Like all +the rest of the Maya subject, there is in this line of investigation +considerable confusion and great uncertainty. The table herewith given +is a suggestion of a possible line of study. It seems to me to be the +_method_ that was followed, though my arrangement or even the figures +are not correct. I introduce it here, before bestowing upon it further +study, because it may contain an idea that will start someone else +on a right track. It has been generally accepted that one dot • is +one, two dots •• two, and so on to four ••••, after which five was a +straight line, [symbol]. Here arises a question. Did the dots and lines +mean the same when horizontal as when vertical? They occur both ways +in the inscriptions and in the manuscripts, and Goodman takes them to +be the same. Vertical and horizontal occur together frequently, thus: +[symbol] from Pl. 51, Dresden Codex. A doubt fills my mind, however, +on this point. It is possible that when vertical the dots and lines +had a different meaning. On this assumption, the two, three, etc., +horizontally placed would mean either one, two, three, etc., or some +higher figures, leaving the vertically placed ones to take their place +as one, two, three, etc. I assume that the vertical ones were the +beginning. The Maya system was a vigesimal one, that is, a counting by +twenties. Every new twenty, therefore, would be represented by a new +symbol. Referring to the table, it will be seen that the dots and lines +vertically placed and combined carry the table easily to nineteen, +that is, a dot beside the five line gives six, two five lines give +ten, three, fifteen, while the addition of the dots carries the count +quite naturally to the nineteen. It is now necessary to adopt a sign +for twenty, and there have been adopted by various authors as many +various signs, with several variants in each lot. Once settle on a +symbol for twenty, and the road is easy to twenty-nine by placing the +dots and lines horizontally. Thomas gives this figure [symbol] for +twenty,[75] but I do not believe it is twenty, and for convenience will +adopt this [symbol]. Then to get twenty-one it would be simple for the +Maya to put a little cross on each side of the dot, that is above and +below, [symbol]. This figure is frequent, and it is varied sometimes +by this [symbol], and by this [symbol], which Brinton assumes all to +be variants of twenty. I take it they are variants of twenty-one and +twenty-two, or of one and two. Running down to twenty-nine by means of +the dots and lines, we arrive at the necessity for a new symbol for +forty, and I take a common symbol in the inscriptions, [symbol]. To +follow precisely the method indicated by progress thus far, we would +put a dot inside of this for forty-one, but the Maya does not seem to +have done this, but made a slight change, perhaps to avoid confusion, +and he put the dot outside and to the left, [symbol]. Four of these +dots make forty-four, and then forty-five is represented by a straight +line vertically within. Dots now outside as before carry to forty-nine, +when a vertical line replacing the dots gives fifty. Adding dots again +as before leads to fifty-four, while doubling the lines with the dots +produces all figures up to fifty-nine, [symbol]. Then once more a new +character is needed to go on, and one is chosen that is very common +in the Dresden Codex, occurring in a number of different forms. It +is this [symbol] in its simple form. Thomas takes it in this form +[symbol] for naught, and Försteman for the same numeral in this form +[symbol]. The difference between these two is immediately apparent, +and it seems that both these able investigators have made a mistake in +this respect. It is as if some future investigator should give as our +naught the figure 6 and the figure 9. The simple form is possibly one +of the chief Maya numerals and the enclosed lines give it the necessary +differentiation. Some change occurs again here, in the system I have +attempted to outline. There are used lines instead of dots, though dots +also were used, and the horizontal line does not appear to have been +doubled; at least I have been unable to find an example of it, though, +as the number of manuscripts is limited, I could hardly expect to find +examples of all the figures in them. The carved inscriptions being, as +is believed, older than the manuscripts, there would be a difference +between the numerals in them and in the books. But we will take the +simple character [symbol] for, say, sixty. It may be mentioned again +that these selections and their order are merely tentative. Only by +long study might the matter be determined. Adding lines transversely +as found in the Dresden Codex, we arrive easily at sixty-four. +Following the previous system, a horizontal line with an upward curve +then gives [symbol] sixty-five, and transverse lines again take us +to sixty-nine. A horizontal line with a down curve produces seventy +[symbol]. Seventy-four would then be [symbol], and as the horizontal +line seems not to have been doubled we are forced to choose another +character for seventy-five [symbol]. A down curved horizontal line +then gives seventy-six [symbol], while for seventy-seven an entirely +new form is used. The reversal of seventy-five and seventy-six carries +to seventy-nine. The cross lines in some cases appear to have been +used up to sixty-seven. There are so many different figures of this +kind that it is possible they were used interchangeably in some cases. +For eighty a new figure is required, and I have selected one that +occurs frequently in the Dresden book, in shape something like a bow, +[symbol]. A series of dots readily carries to eighty-four, and then the +substitution of a line like a bow-string gives eighty-five [symbol]. +The next step at ninety would be to double this bow-string, but this +seems not to have been done, as I can find no example of it. But I do +find a differentiation in another way, probably because in this figure +doubling the string would be clumsy. The difference is made by a rider +on the string, and there are two kinds of rider, one a point or +triangle, and the other a double square. Taking one of these riders for +ninety, and then the dots beside it, we find ourselves at ninety-four +[symbol]. Then with the other rider on the string for ninety-five we +arrive by means of the dots at ninety-nine [symbol]. Then comes a +demand for a character for one hundred, and this appears to have been +merely a circle. A dot beside it would give 101, and so on by adding, +out or in, the various symbols 199 is reached. To get to 299 it is only +necessary to add another circle. For 500 some other symbol must be +adopted, and the apparent one is a sort of circle with a kind of scarf +knot at the top, or perhaps it can be described as a knotted scarf, +[symbol]. Taking this as 500 we can easily arrive [symbol] at 599. +An extra circle within will then carry to [symbol] 699, and so on by +adding circles up to 1000. Thomas in one of his admirable discussions +of Maya writing[76] is puzzled by what he terms ornamental loops around +some of the numerals, but if the line I have indicated here has any +sense in it these ornamental loops would be 602, 604, etc., or some +other numbers depending on the proper place for this symbol in the +general scheme. The series of “loops” mentioned by Thomas is this: + + [Illustration] + +Something might be determined by a comparison of these symbols with the +known names of numbers. The Mayas counted into the millions, so they +must have had a perfected system. + +[Illustration: A SUGGESTION OF THE POSSIBLE SCHEME OF MAYA NUMERALS. + WHOLLY TENTATIVE + + Founded on figures in the codices and on tablets + + From drawing by the author +] + +[Illustration OMAHA CALUMET] + + + + + [Illustration: OMAHA WAR CLUB] + + CHAPTER V + + BASKETRY AND POTTERY + + +Almost every tribe the world round seems to have acquired at a very +early stage in its progress a knowledge of plaiting rushes, strips +of bark, or other simple substances, for use as beds, covering of +shelters, etc., and in this knowledge may be discovered the beginnings +of several arts of the first importance to man: basketry, weaving, +and pottery. Basketry and pottery are mother and daughter. Plaiting +together straws or rushes was a simple operation and must have occurred +to the most primitive tribes spontaneously as the need for some such +thing arose. Having produced a mat and used it for various purposes, +the turning up of the sides, or edges, for the purpose of retaining +things upon it, thereby producing a shallow basket or tray, was an +easy step, and by such stages did basketry grow to perfection.[77] The +Amerinds excelled particularly in this art, and there were few tribes +without ability to make baskets and other wicker-work, the character +and excellence of which depended to a considerable extent on the +material available. + +Wicker jugs, rendered water-tight by means of pitch, were invented and +used for cookery, hot stones being introduced through the wide mouth, +to bring the contents to the required temperature, and it was the +effort to protect the basketry used in the various culinary operations +from the effects of the heat that led to coatings of mud or clay, +which being hardened by the fire, disclosed the great secret. There +is still in use among some of the more primitive tribes of America a +“boiling-basket,” that is, a wicker jug rendered waterproof, and in +which food is cooked as indicated. In Zuñi this basket was known as a +“coiled cooking basket,” and the corrugated earthen pot used to this +day is called a “coiled earthenware cooking basket.” And the Navajos +still call earthenware pots, “kle-it-tsa” or mud-basket. In these +terms is seen a clear indication of the origin of pottery among the +Amerinds in basketry. Cushing found these boiling-baskets in use a few +years ago among the Havasupai, who live an isolated life in northern +Arizona, and I saw similar jugs among the Amerinds of Utah twenty years +ago, and some more recently among the Moki, the latter, however, not +using them for boiling purposes, and perhaps not being the makers of +them. They are bottle-shaped, but with wide mouths, and provided near +their rims with a sort of cord or strap for a handle attached to two +loops or eyes. In some of the pots derived from this form these loops +are represented by little knobs of clay, or by an ornament. + +[Illustration: NORTH-WEST COAST FEATHER ORNAMENTATION ON BASKETS] + +[Illustration: TINNÉ WORK-BASKET] + +[Illustration: MOKI WICKER WATER-JUG ] + +[Illustration: HAVASUPAI CLAY-LINED ROASTING TRAY] + +Cushing describes the Havasupai in Arizona as using a wicker tray lined +with clay for the purpose of roasting or parching seeds, and this +was probably used by all primitive peoples. The seeds were placed on +the clay-lined tray and agitated with live coals. Naturally the clay +is hardened by the heat of the coals, and would be sure to suggest +the making of utensils from it by means of fire. The turning up of +the edges would follow the use of the first trays made of clay, in +imitation of wicker bowls, and so would other forms of basketry be +imitated, as well as forms in horn, wood or shell. Perhaps the wicker +jugs may have been coated with clay on the outside for protection, and +eventually the heat not only baked the clay but destroyed the wicker +framework that had supported it. Thus jugs of clay may have been made +by burning away the framework every time, just as Lamb’s discoverer of +roast pig could find no other way of securing his toothsome morsel than +that of burning down the house. Or the jar may have been modelled on +the inside and then the wicker burned off. When we speak contemptuously +of primitive peoples it is well to remember that they were inventors as +well as ourselves. + +[Illustration: IROQUOIS BIRCHBARK VESSEL + + NORTH-WEST COAST BASKET +] + +When the art of pottery was discovered basketry remained in use, for +pottery could not take its place in many uses then any more than it can +to-day. The environment and habits of a tribe controlled the amount, +the quality, the character, of both basketry and pottery. A tribe +possessing plenty of good clay would make more and better pottery than +one finding clay difficult to acquire, provided both had reached the +same degree of proficiency in this art, but mere abundance of good +clay would not necessarily make skilful potters; that is, the degree +of progress in culture of a tribe and other factors of environment +than the presence or absence of good clay in quantity had much to do +with pottery-making. For example, the Pueblos and the Navajos occupy +the same kind of a region, or rather the same region, with plenty of +clay and a similar abundance of yucca, willows, etc., for basketry, +yet the Pueblos carried pottery-making to a high degree of excellence, +while the Navajos produced only a limited amount of inferior ware. Nor +is this a matter of intelligence, for the Navajos are as intelligent +as any Amerinds living, and besides, as has been mentioned, probably +have a strong infusion of Pueblo blood. While the Navajos have gone +farther in silver- and iron-smithing, they have lagged behind in +pottery and house-building. So it is also with basketry. While the +Pueblos no longer make boiling-baskets or jugs, or at least, if they +do occasionally make them, they do not use them for cooking purposes, +yet they produce some fine trays and bowls.[78] Inclination and fancy, +as well as necessity, have much to do with the development of the +arts. Tribes might attain a wonderful development politically, like +the Iroquois, and yet possess hardly any proficiency in any art, while +others, like the Navajos, with scarcely any political development, +possess high artistic skill in weaving and metal-working, but none in +pottery. Great in war and government the Iroquois certainly were, but +they had not reached the border line of artistic development. Neither +weavers, potters, nor builders were they (though Bandelier maintains +that their long-house was as difficult of construction as any house +the Pueblos build), and, outside of the idea of the league, their +government was not much superior to that of the Pueblos. Their pottery, +limited in quantity, was very inferior to that of many other Amerinds. +It is probable that following the line of race development they would +eventually have produced excellent ware, but the iron pot made its +appearance and progress in pottery was doomed. On the North-west coast +little or no pottery is found. Quality and quantity increase as we +approach Yucatan. + +[Illustration: MᶜCLOUD RIVER BASKET, CALIFORNIA] + +Tribes with unfavourable environment would find it next to impossible +to acquire skill in pottery. The Eskimo, with a temperature for the +greater part of the year near or below freezing, and a scarcity +of fuel, would find moulding forms out of wet clay about the last +occupation to think of. The Eskimo, therefore, made almost nothing of +clay except occasionally a lamp.[79] The Kutchins of the Yukon country +make pots and cups of clay, but in the main the Far Northern people +rely on basketry, soapstone, and on metallic vessels obtained from the +whites. Nor is the North land entirely favourable to basketry, yet +the Aleut basket-work is exceedingly fine in texture, some of their +productions being almost a cloth. This is specially true of baskets +made on the island of Attu of the Aleutian chain. These are usually +cylindrical, sometimes fitted with a cover of the same material. So +soft and pliable are they that they can barely sustain an upright +position. This fine texture is a characteristic of all the basketry of +the North-west coast, but there is not much variety in form and the +artistic shapes so common with the Amerinds southward of the Columbia +are absent. The decorations are similar to those of other Amerinds and +are woven in with quills, grasses, feathers, bits of silk, or worsteds, +appropriately coloured. In the interior of the Northern lands, the +Kniks and others make a substitute for baskets out of thin boards +steamed and bent around a flat bottom piece which fits into a groove +in the board. It is fastened in place with split roots or skin thongs. +Among the Eskimo sealskin cups and buckets are used, and some made of +whalebone, but they also make a basket out of coiled grasses, which is +artistic and has a variety of interesting forms. East of Point Barrow +baskets are rare. Birchbark vessels of various kinds were used by many +tribes as substitutes for baskets, and doubtless some forms in pottery +were derived from these vessels as well as from baskets. Some tribes +made pottery and then, as circumstances changed, they abandoned its use +and finally forgot how to make it. Dorsey states that “pottery has not +been made by the Omaha for more than fifty years. The art of making it +has been forgotten by the tribe.”[80] + +[Illustration: MOKI FOOD BASKET.] + +[Illustration: KLAMATH BASKET.] + +Various conditions might cause a tribe to cease making pottery, if +it were not a sedentary tribe. One constantly on the move would +either never learn to make pottery, or if, during some sedentary +period, it had acquired this art it would soon drop it, because in +primitive travel basketry and gourds are lighter and more serviceable +than the crude pottery they could produce. Thus if a tribe living a +comparatively quiet life and developing the potter’s art came into +possession of the horse, the pottery might be abandoned because it +could not readily be transported. This would apply only to tribes +making rude pottery, for where a people had attained great proficiency +in this direction they would not give it up, except, as in the case +of Taos, they could purchase nearby a sufficient supply. Proficiency +would only accompany a sedentary life, so that great skill in pottery +would be a rather sure index of the character and progress of a +people in other directions. While a people might achieve progress +without doing much in pottery, if they did excel in pottery it +would be an indication of excellence in other lines. Pottery is +well-nigh imperishable, and therefore it is often the chief record +that a departed people has left behind. Where almost every other +distinguishing vestige has completely disappeared, we may frequently +still discover scattered on the surface fragments of pottery, or buried +in the soil complete specimens, which by their form, texture, or +decorative treatment tell what manner of people these were who lived +their lives and passed away; tell the limits of their distribution, +and also to what other tribes or people they were related. Pottery +therefore, next to actual records and inscriptions, is probably the +most valuable as well as often the only kind of remains, that a race +has left. + +[Illustration: MOKI FOOD TRAY.] + +[Illustration: MOKI FLOOR MAT.] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO WHALEBONE DISH] + +[Illustration: CLALLAM BASKET, WASHINGTON.] + +[Illustration: AMERIND WICKER-WORK + + APACHE BASKET. + + PAI UTE WATER-JUG. + + MOKI FOOD TRAY. + + KLAMATH BASKET. + + For an excellent review of this subject, see “Basket-work of the + North American Aborigines,” by Otis T. Mason, _Report of the U. + S. National Museum, Part II of the Report of the Smithsonian + Institution for 1884_. +] + +European pottery has long received close attention from archæologists, +but it is only within recent years that it has been thought worth +while to study that of the Western continent. Like the other remains +of the Amerinds, their pottery was not considered of much importance +by archæologists, and while American money and talent were being +bestowed upon the well-worked European field, our Amerind pottery was +abandoned to the curiosity hunter. The artistic qualities of the Old +World pottery fascinated the student, and this, together with a natural +deep interest in peoples closely associated with our own past, served +to obscure the real value of an investigation of the Amerind field for +the information that might be disclosed concerning the character and +distribution of Amerind tribes, for its bearing on the history of the +ceramic art in general, as well as for its story of primitive effort +and invention. Pottery is said to have been invented 2698 years +B.C.+ +by the Chinese emperor Hoang-ti, but of course it was made by some +tribes long before this. Like every other art, it existed among some +tribes, while other tribes had no knowledge of it. There was never +a time, and there never will be a time, when all people possess an +equal degree of information or skill, so that when something has been +invented or discovered by one tribe or people it may have been in use +for a long period by another. At the beginning of the Columbian era, +most of the Amerinds knew how to make some kind of earthenware. Various +methods were used in various places to produce the pottery. Some was +modelled in baskets or on basket forms, right side up or up side down +as happened to be necessary, some was modelled in a hole in the ground, +or in the lap, and still other groups were produced by coiling round +and round slender ropes of clay, which were afterwards smoothed off or +not as suited the knowledge or desire of the potter. The progression +in a general way was probably about this: 1. Made on the inside of +a wicker form—confined chiefly to bowls; 2. Made on a netting in a +mould hole; 3. Coil-made; 4. Free-hand modelling; 5. Wheel-made, which +Amerinds appear never to have attained. There was doubtless no sharp +line of separation between these various processes, but they merged +into each other. The coil process was about the highest development of +the Amerind potter’s skill, and it was in use all over the continent. +As Holmes points out in his admirable paper,[81] the Pueblos are the +only people who used the coil as a means of decoration as well as +construction, so far as now known. All the other potters smoothed the +coils off so that no trace eventually was left of them, and this is +the practice of the modern Moki potters. They work by no special rule. +According to my own observation, the making of pottery is a desultory +occupation and is done by the women. Sometimes I saw a woman toiling +alone with her ropes of clay, out-of-doors, and again several women +would form a gay, laughing party in the sunlight. When the work is +dry the painting and decorating are done by means of a little, long, +string-like brush made of yucca fibre. This brush is like a piece of +coarse twine, about three inches long, without a handle, very limber, +and apparently entirely inadequate, yet they easily accomplished all +they desired to do with it. In order to turn the work while in process +of manufacture, and not injure it or destroy its shape, it is generally +built upon a wicker tray. In this way it can be readily swung round and +round, as the potter pays out the clay rope and adjusts it in place. +This is the nearest approach to the potter’s wheel that seems ever to +have been known on the American continent. While many shapes are based +on some form in basketry, or wood, or horn, or shell, or bark, a great +many are pure inventions, the result of fancy or inclination. + +In preparing the clay, sand or pulverised potsherds were mixed with it +to temper it and prevent cracking. This was sometimes so coarse and +abundant in the old pottery that in the fragments picked up one can +frequently see large grains of sand. + +[Illustration: MODELLING AN OLLA AT HANO + + The potter was not aware of being photographed + + From photo by the author, 1884 +] + +[Illustration: CLAY NUCLEUS] + +[Illustration: METHOD OF BUILDING UP COIL] + +All pottery of primitive races belongs to the class known as _soft_ +pottery, as distinguished from what we call stoneware or _hard_ +pottery in its different forms. The Amerinds were no exception, and all +their pottery is soft unglazed ware.[82] The reason for this lies in +the fact that the making of hard pottery requires not only an extensive +knowledge of the properties of clay, but, what is more, a temperature +for firing of about 4000° Fahrenheit,—a temperature which can be +obtained only in a furnace or retort, of which Amerinds were apparently +ignorant, their pottery being burned, in historic and prehistoric +times, in the open air. The common modern method among the Pueblos is +to burn with sheep dung, but they are said to have used in ancient +times deadwood, common wood, and coal. The method was usually the same +in all cases; the ware was piled up and then covered with the fuel in +such a manner that there would be as little as possible direct contact. +They also sometimes baked the ware in hot ashes with a fire above, and +sometimes they dug a pit which they lined with the fuel. A rich shiny +black ware was obtained in some localities by allowing the ware to +come in contact with the fuel and, at a certain period in the burning, +smothering the fire. This produced an apparent glaze as well, an effect +obtained also by rubbing and polishing before the firing. But there is +no true glazing in any Amerind ware, at least not north of Mexico. Even +had they known the process they would have been baffled in attempting +to put it in practice, for glazing requires a temperature of at least +1300° Fahrenheit, and they apparently had no means of securing it.[83] +All of their ware can be scratched with a knife, which is a test of +soft ware, and while some of it seems to have lustre, it is the lustre +of polish, not of glaze. Some ware, however, recently found in the +Central-American region appears to have a true glaze. Some tribes make +a variety of kinds of ware, while others confine themselves to some +special kind, and still others, as mentioned in the case of Taos, buy +all they use and make none. The Pueblos to-day are extensive potters, +especially the Zuñis and the Mokis, and produce large quantities of +varied ware, which, while similar in many respects to that of the +ancients of the region, is not so fine nor so well formed. At the +Chaco ruins Pepper found a number of tube-shaped vases, about four +inches diameter and a foot high, with four small perforated handles. +In the course of time enormous quantities must have been made in the +South-west, for the ground is everywhere strewn with fragments of it. +This would indicate either a dense population or a very long occupation +by a comparatively sparse one, and thus far the evidence is in favour +of the latter hypothesis. In such a dry climate as exists in the +South-west, even soft pottery is almost indestructible when not exposed +to river or ice action. In such cases it would soon be destroyed. +Though the Colorado River runs through the length of the ancient Pueblo +country, and receives many branches whose valleys, like its own, reveal +myriads of fragments, I never found a specimen in the river gravels. +If this is the case, how could we expect to find remains of pottery in +glacial drift? + +Another kind of pottery has lately been found by Lumholtz at +Teuchitlan, State of Jalisco, Mexico. It is a sort of cloisonné, +apparently made by firing the plain ware and then applying a thick +slip which, when dry, was engraved with a pattern down to the baked +surface. The parts cut away were then smoothly filled in with a white +paste and with paste of other colours, producing some excellent +effects. Another firing then fixed the superimposed paste. + +[Illustration: WARE FROM MOKI REGION, ARIZONA.] + +[Illustration: WARE FROM MOKI REGION, ARIZONA.] + +There are numerous specimens in the American Museum. + +[Illustration: CUP FROM ARIZONA.] + +[Illustration: VASE FROM ARKANSAS, SHOWING LINES MADE WITH A SHARP + POINT BEFORE FIRING.] + +The valley of the Mississippi is as prolific in its yield of pottery +as the South-west, though most of it is found in mounds. It has +therefore been attributed to a departed and mysterious race which has +been called “Moundbuilder.” These mounds, however, were clearly the +work of different tribes and were erected for different purposes, and +there is no evidence to show that the builders were not Amerinds, +similar to tribes that were encountered by our people. True, some of +these tribes or stocks may have become extinct before whites entered +the region, for tribes rose to power, dwindled, and disappeared, but +that does not prove that they were anything but Amerinds, even though +they may have developed qualities and arts not practised by Amerinds +we have known. That there are some marked differences between some +of the so-called Moundbuilder ware and some other Amerind pottery +is freely admitted, but why this should indicate that there was any +mystery about the former is not intelligible, for there are many +differences in the products of existing tribes and stocks.[84] As has +been mentioned, the Pueblos are extremely good potters, while their +neighbours the Navajos practically are no potters at all. Had the +Pueblos become extinct before the appearance of the European, what a +fine chance this would have been to speculate on who these mysterious +and departed people were who built superior houses of stone and made +splendid pottery! Oh no, they could never have been common “Indians,” +they must have been a migration from China, or Japan! Unfortunately for +writers of the romantic school, the Pueblo is still there, and he is an +ordinary Amerind, in some ways hardly as intelligent as his neighbour +who makes no pottery and builds no houses. There is no reason, then, +for assuming that there was anything extraordinary about any of the +former occupants of the Mississippi valley. They were, at least some of +them were, skilful potters, and some had sense enough to dig out copper +and hammer it into shapes; but what is there in this that should lead +us to exalt them above other Amerinds? Progress in the arts may vary +among associated stocks, and also among different branches of the same +stock. In the Mississippi-valley pottery there was a tendency toward +upright bottle-shaped vessels with long necks, while the tendency of +the Pueblo ware is in the direction of the bowl. There are also long +tray-like vessels in the Mississippi valley, which do not occur at all +amongst the Pueblo ware, and there are more animal shapes, birds, etc. +A series of the Mississippi-valley forms suggests a knowledge of the +wheel, but it is not likely that they had it, though it is possible. +Anyone who has watched the progress of a common jug turning on one +of our potter’s wheels, must be struck by the series of fine shapes +the lump of clay passes through before assuming its last form. Such +a progression appears in the Mississippi valley ware, but these jars +were all probably made by the “coil” process, which was still in use in +the Mississippi valley after the advent of our people. Holmes states +positively: “The wheel or lathe has not been used.”[85] The pottery +of Chiriqui, a province near Panama, is remarkable for perfection of +finish and execution and a similar suggestion of mechanical aids. In +this case Holmes says: “Notwithstanding the fact that only primitive +methods were known, The high-necked Moundbuilder bottle is rarely +found in other parts of the United States, but it occurs in Mexico and +in South America. Ladles, common in Pueblo ware, are of rare occurrence +in that of the Moundbuilders, while rectangular box-like vessels are +found, which, though rare, are of wide distribution. One remarkable +object found in Tennessee is an earthenware burial casket formed of two +parts, a body and a lid, and it still bears marks of the baking. It +contains the remains of a small child, reduced to dust, except portions +of the skull and limbs; and two or three dozen small shell beads. It +weighs altogether 12¼ pounds. Another peculiar vessel was shaped like a +shallow trough, with a flat lip or projection at each end. While there +was undoubtedly in all tribes a certain progression of forms based on +those of basketry, etc., as before noted, it must not be forgotten that +there is a parallelism with wheel-made ware that cannot but strike the +student with amazement. So great is the symmetry and so graceful are +the shapes that one is led to suspect the employment of mechanical +devices of a high order.”[86] + +[Illustration: BOTTLE-SHAPED VASE, ARKANSAS.] + +The high-necked Moundbuilder bottle is rarely found in other parts +of the United States, but it occurs in Mexico and in South America. +Ladles, common in Pueblo ware, are of rare occurrence in that of the +Moundbuilders, while rectangular box-like vessels are found, which, +though rare, are of wide distribution. One remarkable object found +in Tennessee is an earthenware burial casket formed of two parts, a +body and a lid, and it still bears marks of the baking. It contains +the remains of a small child, reduced to dust, except portions of the +skull and limbs; and two or three dozen small shell beads. It weighs +altogether 12¼ pounds. Another peculiar vessel was shaped like a +shallow trough, with a flat lip or projection at each end. While there +was undoubtedly in all tribes a certain progression of forms based on +those of basketry, etc., as before noted, it must not be forgotten that +the Amerind, like all other human beings, did some things from pure +inspiration or invention and with no previous model of any kind. + +[Illustration: EARTHEN WARE BURIAL CASKET, TENNESSEE.] + +The Mississippi valley, according to Holmes, may be divided into three +districts as far as the pottery is concerned: the upper, the middle, +and the lower districts. This would seem to indicate as many different +tribes or stocks, or even different periods of occupancy by either the +same stock or by different stocks. The most northerly examples are +the rudest and most different from the others. Some of the pottery +that is advanced as showing a skill in sculpture not possessed by +Amerinds of the North can be explained in another way than by assuming +that the makers were different from other Amerinds of the Mississippi +valley as we have known them. As I pointed out elsewhere,[87] these +head-shaped vases are death-masks.[88] It does not require a second +look at the illustration below to see that the features are those of +death reproduced in a manner that no aboriginal potter could possibly +accomplish by free-hand method. “Here we look on a face perfect in its +proportions, accurately modelled, and, above all, depicting death with +a master-hand; yes, more, presenting to the spectator death itself as +it seized this personage in the long-forgotten past. Here is death +present with us as plainly as it is in the well-preserved features of +an Egyptian mummy.... Soft clay was pressed upon the dead features, and +when sufficiently dry it was removed and other soft clay thinly pressed +into the mould obtained. The mask thus made was built upon till the +jar before us was completed.... The interior of the wall follows the +exterior closely except in projecting features. The potter, finding +it difficult as well as unnecessary, to work the clay evenly into the +projections of the mould, filled them up more or less solidly.” This +vase is five inches in height and five inches wide from ear to ear. +It is open at the top, and has a perforated knob over the middle of +the forehead, perhaps for attaching a head-dress, and the ears are +perforated. These holes also would permit cords to be attached, by +which the jar could be hung, probably in a dead-house where the body of +the deceased original was laid. It has been stated that the features +exhibited in this vase are not “Indian,” but there seems to be no +ground for such a statement. The features are apparently those of an +Amerind boy fourteen or sixteen years of age. + +[Illustration: DEATH-MASK VASE, TENNESSEE.] + +Of the basketry of the Mississippi valley there are, of course, no +ancient specimens. Wicker-work would not last long in that climate; +but there must have been baskets and plaited implements of various +kinds, because people do not make pottery without passing through the +basketry stage. The Amerinds of that region also made good baskets when +first met with, and we know that they did some fairly good weaving both +in ancient and modern times. Some of the ancient fabrics have been +preserved in the mounds by contact with copper, by being charred, and +in other ways, and the ingenuity of Holmes has given us fac-similes of +some of the old netting.[89] He noticed curious markings on certain +fragments of pottery, and took clay casts of them, thus producing +positive from negative, and revealing the fact that the peculiar +markings were the impressions of fabrics. He believes these fabrics +were impressed on the ware for purposes of ornament, and while this may +in some instances have been the reason, in my opinion, the chief object +of the netting that made the impression was to lift the freshly made +jar out of a hole or a wicker form where it had been modelled. Very +early pottery was doubtless built on or in wicker-work—that is, early +in the practice of any particular tribe. This was specially the case +with the Amerinds of the Atlantic coast, as is plainly indicated in the +casts made by Holmes from fragments of pottery from that region. “The +earlier potters probably used baskets that came up to the curved-in +part of the jar, which was continued above the basket by deft handling, +or, if a basket of the same form was followed, the basket was destroyed +in the firing process. This would seem to the modern mind a great +waste of time and material, but it must be remembered that the Indian +potter had not learned modern haste, and besides could turn up a coarse +basket in a very short time. Therefore it does not seem improbable that +he may, in the early stages, have modelled his jar on the _inside_ +of a basket frame of similar form and then allowed the basket to be +consumed in the baking process when it could not be separated from the +vessel. Even when he developed to a point beyond and modelled the upper +portions with a free hand, he would find great trouble in separating +his jar from its framework. What, therefore, would be the following +step? It seems to me it would have been the placing between the clay +and the mould of a piece of netting, which would permit him to lift +out his jar easily and intact, and transport it to the drying place. +He would then speedily discover that his basket was not necessary—was +not so serviceable, in fact, as a hole in the ground, for the sides of +the hole could be plastered with a layer of very sandy clay, and thus +would all sticking of the vessel to its mould be avoided. The netting, +or fabric, having been spread as evenly as possible over the inside +surface of the mould hole, the upper edges were allowed to lie out upon +the ground. The soft clay being now pressed evenly upon the fabric to +the required thickness, the sandy surface of the mould hole easily gave +it shape, and gave the potter no anxiety about the outside surface. +Indeed, he had but one surface to watch till he came to the in-curve, +if his vessel was to have a narrow mouth. Then, I surmise, he built +up roughly a clay mould, well sanded, pressing what was left of his +fabric into the inside of this mould as he built his vessel upward. +Frequently, doubtless, the fabric was not sufficient to go to the +top, which explains why sometimes only a part of a jar shows the cord +markings.... The distorting and overlapping of the meshes observed by +Holmes were probably due to the gathering in to fit the interior of the +mould, for it must be borne in mind that the fabric was not shaped in +any way to fit the mould, but was doubtless a fragment of some squarely +woven article. Thus gathering and overlapping were necessary to make it +conform to the inside surface of the mould....” + +[Illustration: FLUTED VASE, ARKANSAS.] + +[Illustration: IMPRESSION OF PARTS OF BASKET MOULD ON POTTERY] + +“When coarse basketry was used for a mould that was intended to +be removed before firing, the interstices of the basket work were +probably rubbed full of a mixture of sand and clay to prevent the +finished vessel from sticking or catching, which explains, I think, +the peculiarity of design in some cases, for only the more prominent +features of the basket work would impress the vessel.... In some kinds +of basketry more filling was necessary than in others, which explains +the frequent greater separation and irregularity of the markings.”[90] + +It seems, then, that the pottery of the Atlantic region was very rude +and was modelled chiefly on wicker moulds, and was not abundant[91]; +that the lower Mississippi valley and the South-west were the +regions within the United States where pottery attained its highest +development; that as one proceeds northward pottery diminishes in +quantity and in quality till it disappears; and that in a southerly +direction it increases in abundance and in excellence of manufacture +and artistic design. The pottery area is fan-shaped, with Central +America for a handle. This would all appear to indicate that the +pottery wave rolled up from the Far South, and that the Moundbuilders +and the Pueblos acquired their art from that direction, or brought +it north as they came on the retreat of the cold. Attempts have been +made to connect the Pueblos with the Moundbuilders, and both with the +Aztecs, but there is no good evidence now known which substantiates +any such claim. Even if they did come from the South, it does not +make a mystery nor does it necessarily prove any direct relationship +between these branches of the Amerind race. Those nearest the great +culture centre acquired most culture, hence the farther north the less +pottery. The homogeneity of the Amerinds was due to causes operating +on this continent at a very early period, and the same causes may +explain why the Moundbuilder, the Pueblo, and the Southern stocks were +good potters, while the Algonquins, the Dakotas, the Athapascans, and +other Northern stocks were so inferior in this respect, while not being +inferior in others.[92] + +[Illustration: VASE FROM CHIRIQUI. DECORATED IN BLACK, RED, AND PURPLE] + +The Aztecs, Zapotecs, Mayas, and other people of the Mexican region +were expert potters; and it was in this region that working in clay, +like everything else, was carried to the highest degree of perfection +on this continent, and where evidence is found of seemingly true glaze. +Not only ordinary pottery of beautiful shapes and excellent texture +was made, but large funeral vases of elaborate form, terra-cotta +water-pipes, and terra-cotta figures, some of them of almost or +quite life size. Saville recently found some of these funeral jars +and terra-cotta figures in the Zapotec country, south of the city of +Mexico, in the province of Oaxaca, and there are specimens in the +Museum of Natural History in New York. The principal terra-cotta figure +he found is thus described by Saville[93]: “Another trench was started +at the eastern side of this mound, and after working down to the level +of the surrounding fields near the centre of the mound just back of the +tomb, there were found the scattered fragments of what will be, when +restored, the largest specimen of terra cotta ever found in America, +and I do not know of so large a specimen ever having been found +elsewhere. It represented a warrior, and the different pieces of the +figure were scattered over a space of about fifteen feet. The central +fragment was the head, upper torso, and right arm, lying face upward; +the open mouth revealed the teeth painted white and filed, as in the +case of the funeral urns. The eyes were well modelled and painted white +and red; the head was covered with a turban of feathers, somewhat +resembling the head-dress of Chac Mol, found by Dr. Le Plongeon in +Yucatan. A closely cropped beard covered the lower portion of the face, +the upper part being pitted as though marked by smallpox. The ears had +curious circular ornaments pendent by a string passed through holes +pierced in the lobes. The nose was ornamented with a long cylindrical +bead attached by a string fastened at the top and bottom through +the septum. The breast was painted red and white and additionally +ornamented with curious designs made by circular indentations. The +legs, which lay quite separated from the body, were bare, and the feet +were covered with sandals having beautiful heel-pieces. Around each +ankle was a line of bells. Both the toe- and the finger-nails were +painted white; the right arm, bent at an angle, grasped a pole or staff +of which about a foot remained. These fragments are now in the Museo +Nacional, City of Mexico. The entire length of the figure, according +to measurements made of the detached pieces, was nearly, if not quite, +six feet.” + +[Illustration: AN ANCIENT FIGURE OF TERRA COTTA FROM THE VALLEY OF + MEXICO + + The height of this figure is 150.9 cm. Breadth of shoulders, 46.0 cm. + + From photograph by American Museum of Natural History +] + +[Illustration: COIL INDENTED FOR DECORATION] + +The specimen now in the New York Museum, page 113, is about five feet +in height, and while, artistically, it is crude, it exhibits great +skill in the potter’s art. The walls are thin and it must have taken +much labour to build the figure and successfully file it. It is in +three parts. There are also in the Museum several of the funeral urns +found in this locality. They are about fifteen or twenty inches high +and skilfully made. These urns were found “in series of five in front +of tombs, on the roof, or fastened into the façade.” They are usually +of grotesque design like most of the Amerind figures, and evidently +represent personages arrayed in the regalia of certain orders or +societies, or possibly the same personage in his various offices, or +attended by representations of other officers of some society to which +he belonged. Saville says of one group: “Resting directly on the cement +floor at the centre of the mound were five large funeral urns, page +115, representing seated figures, placed in a row facing west. The +urn in the centre has a remarkably well-modelled face, undoubtedly a +portrait of some ancient Zapotecan personage. The two on either side +are of the same general size and character, with the exception of the +face, which is covered with a mask in the form of a grotesque face, +possibly the conventionalised serpent, as the bifurcated tongue is +one of the most prominent characteristics.”[94] These are some of the +most important terra-cotta productions ever found on this continent. +Some terra-cotta tubing also found at this place is unique. Saville +says: “No such terra-cotta tubing has ever been discovered elsewhere +in Mexico, and a new problem is therefore presented.” One end of this +tubing was three feet below the surface in a field, while the other +was in the mound excavated. “It was laid in short sections, of varying +length, one end being smaller than the other, the small end of one +tube being fitted into the large end of the next, page 117. Several +of the joints still preserved the cement with which they were made +tight. The exploration did not reveal the use of the pipe.” The fact, +however, that the tubes were so carefully fitted into each other with, +apparently, the joinings all on the down slope, that is, connected +in such a way that water would flow continuously without waste, and +that the joints were made tight with cement, is good evidence that +these pipes were laid for conducting water. It seems probable that +this tubing was a part of some water-supply or irrigating scheme, +which had been abandoned before the mound covering a part of it was +constructed. As the valley where these interesting finds were made, as +well as neighbouring valleys, contain many more mounds, it is probable +that the future exploration of them will produce much more material +of value. If the terra-cotta tubing had a mythological significance +it will be found in other mounds, and if it belonged to an irrigating +scheme, or water-works, it will be explained by other finds. Effigy +jars were not confined to Mexico, for they are found in various parts +of the United States, especially in Tennessee, but they are nowhere +anything like those described from the Zapotec country. The Tennessee +specimens artistically and mechanically are exceedingly crude, as are +all attempts to delineate the human figure by the northerly Amerinds. +Some of the most elaborate and at the same time artistic forms in +Amerind pottery are found in Chiriqui,[95] a province just below +Costa Rica. The old occupants of this region seem to have excelled in +metal-working, stone-carving, and pottery, and probably in other arts +the products of which are of a more destructible nature. As the line of +demarkation between the North- and South-American cultures runs along +the southern side of Nicaragua, practically on the line of the proposed +Nicaragua Canal, the consideration of the Chiriqui products should +belong perhaps with the South-American division, but being above the +isthmus, they may be mentioned here for the sake of comparison. “The +casual observer,” says Holmes, “would at once arrive at the conclusion +that the wheel or moulds had been used, but it is impossible to detect +the use of any such appliances.” And further: “On the exposed surfaces +of certain groups of ware the polish is in many cases so perfect that +casual observers and inexperienced persons take it for a glaze.”[96] +There was extraordinary variety in this ware. There are whistles, +drums, rattles, round vases with necks and without necks; vases of +simple and vases of complex form; vases and jars with elaborate +handles; vases with annular bases or feet; and vases with short or +long legs, three in number generally. This field is so rich that it is +practicable to give here only a suggestion of what it affords, and the +reader is referred to the admirable paper by Holmes.[96] + +[Illustration: ZAPOTECAN TERRA-COTTA FUNERAL URNS FOUND ON CEMENT + FLOOR IN FRONT OF TOMB 1, MOUND 7, XOXO, OAXACA, MEXICO + + Photographed by M. H. Saville for the American Museum of Natural + History + + From the _American Anthropologist_ +] + +[Illustration: POT SHOWING DIAGONAL GROOVES ACROSS THE LINES OF THE + COIL MADE BY THE HAND IN SMOOTHING UP. MANCOS CANYON, COLORADO] + +[Illustration: ZAPOTECAN TERRA-COTTA TUBING FOUND LEADING DOWN INTO A + FIELD FROM THE CENTRE OF MOUND 7, XOXO, OAXACA, MEXICO + + + Photographed by M. H. Saville for the American Museum of Natural + History + + From the _American Anthropologist_ +] + +[Illustration: PUEBLO POT. PATTERN PRODUCED BY OBLITERATING PINCH + MARKS.] + +[Illustration: PINCH-MARKED COIL] + +[Illustration: ENGRAVED WARE, ARKANSAS.] + +In the matter of decoration there is found a general similarity of +methods in the different regions. Apparently the first decorations +were the unavoidable result of methods of manufacture, whether moulded +or coil-made. In the first instance the meshes of the wicker mould, +or such part of them as could not easily be covered up with a sandy +paste to prevent adhesion, impressed themselves upon the soft clay; +or the fabric that was employed to remove the work from a mould made +impressions upon the ware. If coil-made, the pinching of the clay rope +into position left marks of the finger-tips and the finger-nails with +a regularity that doubtless came to be admired and then modified to +conform to fancy, and finally finger markings and other markings and +indentations grew, especially in our South-west, into a regular system +of decoration. The irregularity due to pinching the rope in place is +less with the expert than it was with the primitive potters, and it +is now smoothed off entirely with a “rib,” the left hand being placed +opposite the pressure applied with the right.[97] In the earlier forms +the fingers of the right hand held stiffly downward seem to have been +used to even up the irregularity of the coils to some extent, as may be +discerned in figure page 116, where there are diagonal grooves across +the lines of the coil, evidently made, the left hand being inside the +jar, by drawing the fingers of the right, or rather the forefinger +braced against the others, diagonally upward upon the outer surface. +The operation would be almost identical with the modern practice except +that the fingers were used instead of a “rib.” Indentations were also +made with a sharp instrument in a pattern, and another method seems +to have been to smooth off all the pinch marks, except in certain +areas that when left would form a pattern. Thus in the latter case the +pattern was produced by a system of obliteration. In figure on page +118, a vase from the Moki country, of the ancient Pueblo manufacture, +shows this method of making a pattern by smoothing down pinch marks. +To do this the pinch marks would intentionally be made with some +regularity. + +[Illustration: ENGRAVED WARE, ARKANSAS.] + +[Illustration: BLACK CUP, CHIRIQUI.] + +Another method of ornamentation was that of scratching or engraving +the ware after it had been fired. This is seen in figures on pages +120 and 121, from Arkansas. Still another method of ornamentation was +produced after the ware was smoothed to its finish, whether coil-made +or not, by drawing on it with a point. An example of this is seen on +page 103, also from Arkansas. The method that was most employed by the +ancient Amerinds, and is used by those of to-day, as well as by most +potters the world round, is colour. A slip or wash of fine clay was +given to the ware, and polished and decorated in colours before firing. +In this way many beautiful results were obtained in all the regions of +North America. Almost every colour was used, but white, black, red, +and yellow are most common. These pigments were laid on in a single +wash, or were applied in more or less elaborate patterns. The Pueblos, +ancient and modern, have produced an astonishing variety of designs, +and the same may be said of the Mexicans, Mayas, Zapotecs, Chiriquis, +and other stocks of the South. A large volume could barely do justice +to this subject, but enough has been given here to show the nature, +distribution, and trend of pottery making by the Amerindian Tribes.[98] + + + + + [Illustration: WOVEN MOCCASIN FROM KENTUCKY CAVE] + + CHAPTER VI + + WEAVING AND COSTUME + + +The first article of dress of primitive people was not a woven stuff, +but nevertheless weaving, like pottery, begins in plaiting and +basketry, and is an ancient art. The first clothing, a necessity of +climate, was made of skins of animals where they could be obtained, and +where they could not primitive man walked in a state of nature. His +desire for clothing was one purely of comfort; modesty, as we define +it, was unknown. Modesty, so far as it relates to concealment of the +body, is the child of climate and fashion. A Breton peasant girl does +not mind if her legs are seen, but she is shocked if caught with her +hair down or without her cap; one of our own ladies thinks nothing of +exhibiting her bare shoulders and bosom at the opera under gaslight, +but she would not do it in daylight. On the beach it would also be +improper, but there she is not troubled if her lower extremities are +seen. In some of the milder climates to-day clothing is scanty, while +with the Eskimo in the Far North it is composed of warm furs. Cold was +responsible for the first clothing, and is to-day responsible for a +good deal of it. The idea of utilising feathers and broad leaves as +well as skins would soon occur to a people, especially if they found it +difficult to secure the skins, and with these some kind of a string was +necessary to hold them together, and if no sinew or thong was at hand +the want would be supplied by twisted grass or bark, and this twisted +grass or bark then came itself to be combined in the form of mats for +sleeping on or covering sticks to produce a shelter. This was plaiting, +and it is the first step to basketry and weaving. Many of the simpler +arts are native in the brain of man, and the expression of them at the +proper time is as easy and natural as it is for a birdling to fly, a +kitten to catch a mouse, or a baby to walk for the first time. It is, +like sight, or thought, or articulate speech, a direct and unconscious +result of the innate composition of mankind. It is impossible to tell +why a spider builds a web of even proportions instead of one that +is irregular, or when it acquired the skill to perform its feat of +engineering, or why it builds a web at all, and does not, like a cat +and some species of spiders, rely on springing upon its prey. The +spider does this the world round because it is a spider, and because +its prey also has, the world round, its own habits. So with man. +Everywhere he learned to plait mats, make wicker-work and pottery, and +a thousand other things simply because he was everywhere _the same +man_. If you examine articles of primitive manufacture from various +parts of the globe, you will find them all practically alike, because +the men who made them were practically alike and their wants and +surroundings were practically alike. They plaited together strips of +bark or twisted grasses, or rushes, because they had to have them, and +they went on finding out the properties of the materials that compose +the world just as they are doing to-day, till they made cloth and made +it on a machine. Primitive fabrics were everywhere about the same, +and when the loom was invented it was and is, where still used in its +primitive form, very much the same. That in use to-day by the Navajos +is much like that used by the Orientals. The Navajos are probably not +the inventors of it, but borrowed the idea from the Pueblos, or at +least derived it through a mixture of Pueblo blood. Their cousins, the +Apaches, do not weave, and they are probably better representatives of +the original Athapascan stock than the Navajos. + +The Mexican loom was similar to that of the Navajos, and it is probable +that some of the tribes of the Mississippi valley were acquainted with +one built on a like pattern. The product of these primitive looms was +also much alike in its character; some of the Oriental rugs that we see +now strongly resemble the blankets of the Mexicans or Navajos. + +[Illustration: MENOMINEE BEADED GARTERS] + +This is because weaving is a simple art; and until the invention of the +Jacquard principle complex patterns were produced only by great labour, +as all the different colours had to be adjusted by hand, which is still +the case in many fine products like the Turkish rugs or the shawls of +Cashmere. + +The primitive products of the loom were square in shape, and when used +as garments they were not cut to a pattern or altered, but were worn +as they came from the loom. To make a dress, it was only necessary to +fasten two of these mats or blankets together, just as the Moki women +do now. This combination was then slipped over the head, with one +corner on the right shoulder and one under the left, and a belt around +the waist. This was the costume complete. There was no fitting the +fabric to the body. + +Thread, cord, twine, and rope were made by the Menominees chiefly +out of the “inner bark of the young sprouts of basswood. The bark is +removed in sheets and boiled in water to which a large quantity of lye +from wood ashes has been added. This softens the fibre and permits +the worker to manipulate it without breaking. The shoulder-blade of +a deer or other large animal is then nailed or otherwise fastened +to an upright post, and through it a hole about an inch in diameter +is drilled; through this hole bunches of the boiled bark are pulled +backward and forward, from right to left, to remove from it all +splinters or other hard fragments. After the fibre has become soft and +pliable, bunches of it are hung up in hanks, to be twisted as desired. +The manner of making cord or twine, such as is used in weaving mats and +for almost all household purposes, is by holding in the left hand the +fibre as it is pulled from the hank, and separating it into two parts, +which are laid across the thigh. The palm of the right hand is then +rolled forward over both so as to tightly twist the pair of strands, +when they are permitted to unite and twist into a cord. The twisted +end being pushed a little to the right, the next continuous portions +of the united strands also are twisted to form a single cord. The same +process is followed in all fibre-twisting, even to the finest nettle +thread.”[99] In the matter of thread some fine results were obtained +by various Amerinds. Holmes says: “The finest threads with which I +am acquainted are perhaps not as fine as our number ten ordinary +spool-cotton thread, but we are not justified in assuming that more +refined work was not done.”[100] Sage-brush, yucca, and other plants +were used for making thread and cord. + +[Illustration: NAVAJO WOMAN AT THE LOOM] + +In order to weave, it is first necessary to reduce your fibre, or +wool, or cotton, to more or less even threads or yarn. The Amerind +way of doing this was the same, practically, wherever spinning and +weaving were attempted, from Central America northward. The spindle is +a round, slender, pointed stick, a foot to about fifteen inches long, +put through a disc, generally of flat, hard wood, four to six inches in +diameter, which acts as a flywheel to keep up the momentum. It is the +simplest form of top. The operator holds the wool or cotton, previously +prepared, in his or her lap, and attaching one end of it to the top +arm of the spindle, above the disc, gives the spindle a twirl, either +by the thumb and forefinger or by a dexterous sweep of the palm of the +hand along the thigh. The fibre, or wool, that was attached to the arm +of it winds round till it reaches the tip, where it clings and takes +on the rotary motion of the stick to which it is fast, being twisted +thereby into yarn. It continues to spin with the spindle for some +seconds, about fifteen or twenty, and when the momentum slackens below +the necessary speed, the yarn thus far made is wound on the spindle +and it is started afresh, with more wool paid out to the twisting. The +operation is repeated over and over till the spindle is full, and it +is surprising to see how rapidly it can be done. I have only seen this +performed amongst the Moki, but the descriptions from other places +show it to be done in about the same way everywhere. In the Mexican +region the spindle-discs were made of pottery. In Nicaragua both wood +and terra cotta were employed, and it is likely that wood was also +used by some part of the people in Mexico and other places where the +terra-cotta discs are now found. + +Weaving was not confined to the Pueblo and Mexican country when the +whites first came to the continent, but was in vogue amongst many +different tribes, who used various substances in the manufacture of +rugs and blankets. Cotton amongst Southern and South-western tribes +was a favourite material, and in other places hemp, and the hair of +animals, and birds’ feathers were used. The Kwakiutls of the North-west +coast “made blankets of mountain-goat wool, dog’s hair, feathers, or a +mixture of both.”[101] And the tribes of Puget Sound and the Straits +of Fuca “attained considerable skill in manufacturing a species of +blanket from a mixture of the wool of the mountain sheep and the hair +of a particular kind of dog, though in this art they never equalled +the more northern tribes.”[102] It is extremely probable that some +of the Pueblos, before the introduction of the sheep of Europe, used +the hair or wool of a mountain sheep or goat for weaving, and it is +possible that they had to some extent domesticated that animal or some +similar one; at least they may have kept it imprisoned for its wool in +much the same way that they now keep eagles for their feathers. Fray +Marcos relates that one of the natives he met with in 1540 told him +that the people of Totonteac made cloth, much like the garment he had +on, from the hair of certain small animals. These animals have usually +been supposed to have been dogs, but as the Northern Amerinds used +mountain-goat’s wool, it is possible that the Pueblos, who were in +advance of them in all that pertains to weaving, had not only succeeded +in weaving such hair or wool garments, but had conceived the idea of +holding the animals in captivity. It has been supposed by some that +they had an animal of the vicuna kind. Terra-cotta images have been +found in the Salado ruins of Arizona that are difficult to identify, +and are believed by some zoölogists who have seen them to represent “a +creature allied to the South-American Camellidæ.”[103] + +[Illustration: PART OF THE SOMAÍKOLI CEREMONY AT CICHUMOVI, NOVEMBER, + 1884, SHOWING A SACRED BLANKET ON FIGURE IN FOREGROUND + + From photograph by the author +] + +“It has been surmised that such animals continued to be domesticated +by the sedentary Indians of Arizona and New Mexico down to historic +days and became extinct only when the more serviceable European sheep +was introduced by the Spaniards.... Fossil bones of an animal of this +family have been found in the South-west; but its bones were not +identified in the Salado ruins.”[103] + +The Pai Utes made a garment of rabbit-skins which was very warm. The +skins were twisted and attached one to another end and end, making a +sort of fur rope, and this rope was tied in parallel lines, forming +a kind of large cloak which was most serviceable in winter. Flax, or +a plant closely allied to it, also grew wild all over Arizona and +New Mexico, and was used for garments. The bark of the sagebrush was +used to make cord and mats. Yucca also furnished a supply of valuable +fibre. Cotton was grown by many of the Pueblos and is still cultivated +by the Mokis, who manufacture a sacred blanket from it that is sought +after at good prices by the Pueblos of other districts. It is a finely +woven white blanket, with a broad red stripe transversely at each end. +It is worn by women in the ceremonials. The Mokis are good weavers, +using a loom similar to that employed by the Navajos. The Moki loom +is generally set up in the kiva[104] where often there are permanent +attachments for it, and there the men, who do all the weaving among +this tribe, patiently execute their plans. Most of the Moki blankets +are of low colours and simple design, dark blue being, with black, the +favourite tint. The usual material is the wool of the European sheep, +which has flourished among the Pueblos ever since it was introduced by +the Spaniards. The sheep are herded on the plains during the day and at +night are driven up the talus of the cliffs to corrals that lie just +below the plateau on which the villages are built. The Navajos living +in the surrounding country have far larger flocks than those of the +Moki, and weave only wool. In fact, there are amongst the Navajos more +than a million and a half head of sheep and goats. Most of the wool +from these they usually sell to dealers at four or five cents a pound +and then purchase for their blanket-work at high prices Germantown +wools of brilliant colours, which colours they cannot obtain with their +own dyes, though the colours they do secure are far more artistic. +Formerly, to get the brilliant red of which they are so fond, they +would buy a Mexican cloth, called _bayeta_, a sort of flannel, and +ravel it, to reweave it in their blankets. The women do most of the +weaving amongst the Navajos. The colours are usually bright, though +the every-day serviceable blanket is of dark blue and white or black +and white, or of the natural grey of the wool. The greater gaudiness +of much of the Navajo work has given it a reputation of superiority +to that of the Pueblo, which, in my opinion, is not wholly correct. +Washington Matthews,[105] who has so carefully studied the subject, +states that there is a constant deterioration in Pueblo weaving, which +may be true in general, but hardly applies to the Moki. I have a sample +of Moki work which, so far as weaving skill is concerned, is as fine +as any Navajo work I have ever seen. The Moki do not turn out as much +as the Navajo, because they are a far smaller tribe; and their product +is dark, as a rule, in colour, as they use their own dyes, but its +texture, and especially the texture of the sacred cotton blankets, is +extremely fine, even finer and better as an example of weaving skill +than many Navajo blankets. “In some Pueblos,” says Matthews, “the skill +of the loom has been almost forgotten.” + +[Illustration: DETAILS OF NAVAJO LOOM CONSTRUCTION] + +The Navajo loom is set up anywhere and a shelter of boughs built over +it. As the rainfall is light in the Navajo country, it is not necessary +to provide permanent shelters. The loom is worth a careful description, +and as I do not know of any better, or indeed so good as that given by +Matthews, it is here quoted entire: “Two posts, a a, are set firmly +in the ground; to these are lashed two cross pieces or braces, b c, +the whole forming the frame of the loom. Sometimes two slender trees, +growing at a convenient distance from one another, are made to answer +for the posts, d is a horizontal pole, which I call the supplementary +yarn-beam, attached to the upper brace, b, by means of a rope, e e, +spirally applied, f is the upper beam of the loom. As it is analogous +to the yarn-beam of our looms, I will call it by this name, although +once only have I seen the warp wound around it. It lies parallel to +the pole, d, about two or three inches below it, and is attached to +the latter by a number of loops, g g. A spiral cord wound around the +yarn-beam holds the upper border cord, h h, which, in turn, secures +the upper end of the warp, i i. The lower beam of the loom is shown +at k. I will call this the cloth beam, although the finished web is +never wound around it; it is tied firmly to the lower brace, c, of the +frame, and to it is secured the lower border cord of the blanket. The +original distance between the two beams is the length of the blanket. +Lying between the threads of the warp is depicted a broad, thin, oaken +stick, l, which I will call the batten. A set of healds attached to a +heald-rod, m, are shown above the batten. These healds are made of cord +or yarn; they include alternate threads of the warp, and serve when +drawn forward to open the lower shed. The upper shed is kept patent by +a stout rod, n (having no healds attached), which I name the shed-rod. +Their substitute for the reed of our looms is a wooden fork, which will +be designated as the reed-fork.”[106] + +All the Navajo and Pueblo weaving is the same on both sides. Most of +it is straight weaving, but there is a good deal of diagonal work. +This is true also of the Moki. The diagonal weaving produces a diamond +figure that is very pretty, but I have never seen it used in any of the +finest Navajo work. As to the designs, Matthews says that “in the finer +blankets of intricate pattern, out of thousands which I have examined, +I do not remember to have ever seen two exactly alike.”[106] Doubtless +while some of these designs, or even many, are drawn from Pueblo +sources as noticed, the weaver introduces original features and often +invents new patterns. The blankets are woven, as a rule, in two ways, +the tight method for protection against rain, and the loose method for +protection against cold. The loose, soft blanket is worn under one of +the harder ones in wet or windy weather.[107] The Navajos also weave +garters and long sashes. The garters are similar to the sashes, only +smaller. They are used to hold leggings in place. Small blankets are +made to put under the saddle, and these are often very fine in texture +as well as in pattern. Similar ones are made for children. + +“Previously to the seventeenth century,” says Bandelier, “the +aboriginal dress consisted largely of cotton sheets, or rather simple +wrappers, tied either around the neck or on the shoulder, or converted +into sleeveless jackets.” Of the fibre of the yucca, the Zuñi Indians +made skirts and kilts; of rabbit-skins very heavy blankets were made. +The northern Puebloans, of New Mexico, nearer to a game region, dressed +in buckskin in preference to anything else. But still, even when cotton +was unobtainable for whole garments, they sought to secure cotton +scarfs and girdles woven in bright colours, which were used for belts +as well as for garters, etc. The dress was more simple than that of +to-day. Leggings of buckskin were worn in winter only, and then mostly +by the northern Pueblos. The moccasin, or _tegua_, protected the feet. +It is explicitly stated that while the uppers of this shoe without heel +were of deerskin, the soles were frequently of buffalo hide.”[108] The +moccasin of the South-west is generally soled with rawhide of some +kind, the sole being slightly turned up all round. + +Another material for garments was feathers. These were utilised all +over the continent, to a greater or less degree, by various tribes, but +it was the Mexicans who carried the work in this line to perfection. +“Nothing could be more picturesque,” says Prescott, “than the aspect of +these Indian battalions with the naked bodies of the common soldiers +gaudily painted, the fantastic helmets of the chiefs glittering with +gold and precious stones, and the glowing panoplies of feather-work, +which decorated their persons.... The common file wore no covering +except a girdle round the loins. Their bodies were painted with +appropriate colours of the chieftain whose banner they followed. The +feather-mail of the higher class of warriors exhibited also a similar +selection of colours for the like object, in the same manner as the +colour of the tartan indicates the peculiar clan of the Highlander. +The caciques and principal warriors were clothed in a quilted cotton +tunic, two inches thick, which, fitting close to the body, protected +also the thighs and the shoulders. Over this the wealthier Indians +wore cuirasses of thin gold plate or silver. Their legs were defended +by leathern boots or sandals, trimmed with gold. But the most +brilliant part of their costume was a rich mantle of the _plumaje_, +or feather-work, embroidered with curious art, and furnishing some +resemblance to the gorgeous surcoat worn by the European knight over +his armour in the Middle Ages. This graceful and picturesque dress +was surmounted by a fantastic head-piece made of wood or leather, +representing the head of some wild animal, and frequently displaying +a formidable array of teeth. With this covering the warrior’s head +was enveloped, producing a most grotesque and hideous effect. From +the crown floated a splendid _panache_ of the richly variegated +plumage of the tropics, indicating, by its form and colours, the +rank and family of the wearer. To complete their defensive armour, +they carried shields or targets, made sometimes of wood covered with +leather, but more usually of a light frame of reeds quilted with +cotton, which were preferred as tougher and less liable to fracture +than the former. They had other bucklers, in which the cotton was +covered with an elastic substance, enabling them to be shut up in a +more compact form, like a fan or umbrella. These shields were decorated +with showy ornaments, according to the taste or wealth of the wearer, +and fringed with a beautiful pendant of feather-work.... Such was the +costume of the Tlascalan warrior, and, indeed, of that great family of +nations generally who occupied the plateau of Anahuac.[109]... They +were particularly struck with the costume of the higher classes, who +wore fine embroidered mantles, resembling the graceful _albornoz_, or +Moorish cloak, in their texture and fashion.[110]... Here they were +met by several hundred Aztec chiefs, who came out to announce the +approach of Montezuma, and to welcome the Spaniards to his capital. +They were dressed in the fanciful gala costume of the country, with +the _maxtlatl_, or cotton sash, around their loins, and a broad mantle +of the same material, or of the brilliant feather-embroidery, flowing +gracefully down their shoulders. On their necks and arms they displayed +collars and bracelets of turquoise mosaic, with which delicate plumage +was curiously mingled, while their ears, under-lips, and occasionally +their noses, were garnished with pendants formed of precious stones, +or crescents of fine gold[111].... Montezuma wore the girdle and ample +square cloak, _tilmatli_,[112] of his nation. It was made of the +finest cotton, with the embroidered ends gathered in a knot around +his neck. His feet were defended by sandals having soles of gold, and +the leathern thongs which bound them to his ankles were embossed with +the same metal. Both the cloak and sandals were sprinkled with pearls +and precious stones, among which the emerald and the _chalchivitl_—a +green stone of higher estimation than any other among the Aztecs—were +conspicuous. On his head he wore no other ornament than a _panache_ of +plumes of the royal green which floated down his back, the badge of +military, rather than of regal rank.”[113] + +[Illustration: A PUEBLOAN OF SAN JUAN, NEW MEXICO] + +These quotations from Prescott will give an idea of the costume of the +Mexicans, and of the beautiful feather-work which formed so important +a part of it. Though the language of Prescott may somewhat exaggerate +the quality and beauty of the Mexican garments, we know from what +the Mexicans and Pueblos manufactured afterward that much skill must +have been displayed in these various fabrics. The cloak of cotton was +probably no more a cloak or mantle than the blankets woven by the +Pueblos and Navajos to-day; that is, it was a square of cloth worn +about the shoulders. If one should describe the Pueblo in Prescott’s +delightful language, we should think him and his houses and garments +far finer than they really are. To describe a breech-cloth as a girdle +round the loins; to speak of blankets as mantles and robes; moccasins +as sandals, and otherwise gild description, makes pleasant reading, but +is liable to convey erroneous impressions. Prescott’s lack of general +knowledge of Amerind customs gave him a free rein and his poetical +temperament finished the picture. + +[Illustration: METHOD OF MAKING FEATHER-WORK] + +Montezuma wore on his head “a _panache_ of plumes, ... the badge +of military, rather than of regal rank.” And this is exactly what +Montezuma was, a war-chief. But Prescott drew his material from the +Spaniards, and where he describes what they saw, he is not, in all +probability, far from the mark, although his language may be sometimes +rather flowery. The feather-work was one of the remarkable products +of the Aztecs. In an ornamental way it is still practised in Mexico, +and the birds and other objects made from feathers exhibit a wonderful +skill. Mantles of fur are mentioned as being used by the Aztecs, +but these were probably constructed in much the same manner as the +rabbit-skin robes of the Moki and the Pai Ute, that is, by twisting +the skins into ropes and then tying them together. The cotton weaving +was done on a loom similar to that now in use by the Navajos and the +Pueblos. The feather-work was probably made in much the same way as +that of Peru, specimens of which have been preserved in the tombs. The +figure on page 137 shows the way the Peruvians attached the feathers +to the cloth underground, but in many cases the feathers were woven +in with the warp and woof, instead of being attached to the surface +in this way. This use of feathers was not confined to any particular +locality, but, like almost all the arts in use on the continent, was +widely distributed. Turkey feathers were used in Virginia for this +work, and in Louisiana the same bird was called upon. “The feather +mantles,” writes Du Pratz in his history of Louisiana, “are made on +a frame similar to that on which the peruke makers work hair; they +spread the feathers in the same manner and fasten them on old fish-nets +or old mantles of mulberry bark. They are placed, spread in this +manner, one over the other and on both sides; for this purpose small +turkey feathers are used; women who have feathers of swans or India +ducks, which are white, make these feather mantles for women of high +rank.”[114] Feather mantles of fine quality were also made by the +Lenapé. + +Almost every Amerind tribe could make thread, cord, nets, mats, and +some kind of woven stuff. The Mexicans, Mayas, and other tribes of the +Central region excelled in these things, but the Pueblos, and Navajos, +as we have seen, execute in modern times some admirable fabrics, which +the Pueblos also constructed before the advent of the whites. + +“The Mexicans had also,” says Prescott, “the art of spinning a fine +thread of the hair of the rabbit and other animals, which they wove +into a delicate web that took a permanent dye.... The women, as in +other parts of the country, seemed to go about as freely as the men. +They wore several skirts or petticoats of different lengths, with +highly ornamented borders, and sometimes over them loose flowing +robes, which reached to the ankles. These, also, were made of cotton; +for the wealthier classes, of a fine texture, prettily embroidered. +No veils were worn here (Mexico) as in some other parts of Anahuac, +where they were made of the aloe thread, or of the light web of hair +above noticed.”[115] Biart[116] says the women wore “a piece of cloth +_cueitl_, which they wrapped around their bodies, and which descended +a little below the knee; over this skirt they wore a sleeveless chemise +called _huepilli_.” + +[Illustration: CHILKAT CEREMONIAL SHIRT] + +The Mayas and other Amerinds of the Central region used woven cloths +similar to those of the Aztecs. Of the dress of the modern Amerinds +of Nicaragua, Squier says: “It is exceedingly simple. On ordinary +occasions the women wear only a white or flowered skirt fastened round +the waist, leaving the upper part of the person entirely exposed, or +but partially covered by a handkerchief fastened around the neck. +In Masaya and some other places, a square piece of cloth of native +manufacture, and precisely the same style and pattern with that used +for the same purpose before the Discovery, supplies the place of a +skirt. It is fastened in some incomprehensible way without aid of +strings or pins and falls from the hips a little below the knees.... +The men wear a kind of cotton drawers, fastened above the hips, but +frequently reaching no lower than the knees. Sandals supply the place +of shoes, but for the most part both sexes go with bare feet.”[117] +The costume of the women of Louisiana as depicted by Du Pratz in an +illustration in his history, is almost, if not quite identical with the +costume of the women of Nicaragua. + +Fine dressing was not confined to the Mexicans. Other Amerinds gave +some attention to their personal appearance as well as the tribes of +Mexico. In the following description by a Miss Powell, who visited an +Iroquois council on Buffalo Creek, in 1785, of Captain David, if the +worthy Captain had been described as a “lord,” and Miss Powell had been +less skeptical about his ablutions, he might easily have ranked with +some of the “lords” of Anahuac who are so conspicuous in the charming +works of Prescott. Miss Powell declared, “that the Prince of Wales +did not bow with more grace than ‘Captain David.’ He spoke English +with propriety. His person was as tall and fine as it was possible to +imagine; his features handsome and regular, with a countenance of much +softness; his complexion not disagreeably dark, and, said Miss Powell, +‘I really believe he washes his face.’... His hair was shaved off, +except a little on top of his head, which, with his ears, was painted +a glowing red. Around his head was a fillet of silver from which two +strips of black velvet, covered with silver beads and brooches, hung +over the left temple. A ‘foxtail feather’ in his scalp-lock and a black +one behind each ear waved and nodded as he walked, while a pair of +immense silver ear-rings hung down to his shoulders. He wore a calico +shirt, the neck and shoulders thickly covered with silver brooches, the +sleeves confined above the elbows with broad silver bracelets engraved +with the arms of England, while four smaller ones adorned his wrists. +Around his waist was a dark scarf lined with scarlet which hung to his +feet, while his costume was completed by neatly fitting blue cloth +leggins, fastened with an ornamental garter below the knee.”[118] This +elegant gentleman belonged to no vanished or mysterious race; he was +a modern Iroquois. Undoubtedly his ancestors had, many of them, with +the means at their command, dressed with equal splendour, and we may +wonder what kind of a description of them we would have had from the +romantic Spaniards if they had happened to meet with them. Even this +well-balanced American lady was considerably overcome, for she says: +“Captain David made the finest appearance I ever saw in my life.” About +this same time, or to be accurate, in 1776, Father Escalante met with +Amerinds in Utah whose dress was very different. “Their dress,” he +says, “manifests great poverty; the most decent which they wear is a +coat or shirt of deerskin, and big moccasins of the same in winter; +they have dresses made of hare and rabbit skin.”[119] In the latter we +recognise the same twisted skin garments that are still used, or were +a few years ago, by the Pai Utes and the Mokis. In central Georgia in +Soto’s time the women wore a kind of shawl, “for covering, wearing one +about the body from the waist downward, and another over the shoulder +with the right arm left free.”[120] Spinning and weaving were long +supposed, by those who had not investigated, to be practised only by +the Mexican and Pueblo tribes, and by the Navajos, but the Pimas and +Maricopas of Arizona were adepts in these arts in 1857. The government +agent reports at that time: “They also spin and weave their cotton, by +hand, into blankets of a beautiful texture, an art not acquired from +the Spaniards, but found among them more than three hundred years ago, +when the Spaniards first penetrated the country.”[121] The Algonquins +of Connecticut dressed in skins “cured so as to be soft and pliable, +and sometimes ornamented with paint and with beads manufactured from +shells. Occasionally they decked themselves in mantles made of feathers +overlapping each other as on the back of the fowl, and presenting an +appearance of fantastic gayety which, no doubt, prodigiously delighted +the wearers. The dress of the women consisted usually of two articles: +a leather skirt, or under garment, ornamented with fringe; and a skirt +of the same material, fastened round the waist with a belt and reaching +nearly to the feet.... Their hair they dressed in a thick heavy +plait which fell down upon the neck; and they sometimes ornamented +their heads with bands of wampum or with a small cap. The men went +bare-headed, with their hair fantastically trimmed, each according to +his fancy. One warrior would have it shaved on one side of the head +and long on the other. Another might be seen with his scalp completely +bare, except a strip two or three inches in width running from the +forehead over to the nape of the neck. This was kept short, and so +thoroughly stiffened with paint and bear’s grease as to stand straight +after the fashion of a cock’s comb, or the crest of a warrior’s +helmet. The legs were covered with leggins of dressed deerskin, and +the lower part of the body was protected by the breech-cloth, usually +called by the early settlers, Indian breeches. Moccasins, that is, +light shoes of soft dressed leather, were common to both sexes; +and like other portions of the attire, were many times tastefully +ornamented with embroidery of wampum. The men often dispensed with +their leggins, especially in summer; while in winter they protected +themselves against the bleak air by adding to their garments a mantle +of skins. The male children ran about in a state of nature until they +were ten or twelve years old; the girls were provided with an apron, +though of very economical dimensions.... The women ... used the paint +as an ornament, while the men seldom applied it, except when they +went to war and wished to appear very terrible in the sight of their +enemies. Sachems and great men had caps and aprons heavily wrought with +different-coloured beads. Belts were also worn of the same material, +some of which contained so great a quantity of wampum as to be valued +by the English colonists at eight and ten pounds sterling.”[122] + +[Illustration: CHILKAT CEREMONIAL BLANKET] + +Here we discover the same desire for distinction of individuals by +dress that exists in all races, and the same desire to dress richly +on the part of those possessing wealth or station, for it must be +understood that wealth and station have their degrees amongst the +rudest Amerinds as well as amongst the highest and amongst the +Europeans. The dress in the summer always differs considerably from +that of winter. In many tribes little is worn by the men in summer but +the breech-cloth, and sometimes not even that. I recall one morning +when I was living in the Moki village of Tewa, in Arizona, one of +the dignitaries came to call upon me, as was a common custom, and he +had wrapped about him a native blanket. When he temporarily let this +covering drop away from his person, I noticed that there was not even +a breech-cloth beneath. The small children of both sexes played about +in a state of nature, though some wore a shirt, and the women appeared +to have on only the one garment, made of two small black blankets sewed +together on their side edges and caught over the right shoulder and +under the left. The Moki women wear moccasins only in the ceremonials, +or on some state occasion, or when travelling. They rarely travel. + +Catlin gave a great deal of attention to the costumes of the Amerinds +he travelled amongst and painted, and a reference to his works opens +up a world of detail that cannot be presented here. Some of his most +interesting work was amongst the Mandans, of Dakota stock, in the year +1832.[123] I will quote from him some general remarks on the Mandan +costume. “The Mandans, in many instances, dress very neatly, and some +of them splendidly. As they are in their native state, their dresses +are all of their own manufacture, and, of course, altogether made +of skins of different animals belonging to those regions. There is, +certainly, a reigning and striking similarity of costume amongst most +of the North-western tribes, and I cannot say that the dress of the +Mandans is decidedly distinct from that of the Crows or the Blackfeet, +the Assiniboins, or the Sioux[124]; yet there are modes of stitching +or embroidering in every tribe which may at once enable the traveller +who is familiar with their modes to detect or distinguish the dress +of any tribe. These differences consist generally in the fashions of +constructing the head-dress, or of garnishing their dresses with the +porcupine quills, which they use in great profusion.... The tunic, +or shirt, of the Mandan men is very similar in shape to that of the +Blackfeet—made of two skins of deer, or mountain-sheep, strung with +scalp-locks, beads, and ermine. The leggings, like those of the other +tribes of which I have spoken, are made of deerskins and shaped to fit +the leg, embroidered with porcupine quills, and fringed with scalps +from their enemies’ heads. Their moccasins are made of buckskin, and +neatly ornamented with porcupine quills. Over their shoulders (or, in +other words, over one shoulder and passing under the other) they very +gracefully wear a robe from a young buffalo’s back, oftentimes cut +down to about half of its original size, to make it handy and easy +for use. Many of these are also fringed on one side with scalp-locks, +and the flesh side of the skin curiously ornamented with pictured +representations of the creditable events and battles of their lives. +Their head-dresses are of various sorts, and many of them exceedingly +picturesque and handsome, generally made of war-eagles’ or ravens’ +quills and ermine. These are the most costly part of an Indian’s dress +in all this county, owing to the difficulty of procuring the quills and +the fur; the war-eagle being the _rara avis_, and the ermine the rarest +animal that is found in the country.” Catlin gave two horses for one of +the head-dresses. This specimen came down to the wearer’s feet. These +are now called “war-bonnets,” and are still in use among the Sioux and +other tribes. “There is occasionally,” continues Catlin, “a chief or a +warrior of so extraordinary renown that he is allowed to wear horns on +his head-dress, which give to his aspect a strange and majestic effect. +These are made of about a third part of the horn of a buffalo bull, the +horn having been split from end to end, and a third part of it taken +and shaved thin and light and highly polished. These are attached to +the top of the head-dress on each side in the same place that they rise +and stand on the head of a buffalo, rising out of a mat of ermine skins +and tails, which hang over the top of the head-dress somewhat in the +form that the large and profuse locks of hair hang and fall over the +head of a buffalo bull.” This head-dress with horns “is used only on +certain occasions, and they are very seldom.”[125] + +[Illustration: MOKI WALL DECORATION. PINK ON A WHITE GROUND. + + MISHONGNUVI, ARIZONA] + +[Illustration: BELLACOOLAS] + +[Illustration: TOP VIEW OF CONICAL NORTH-WEST COAST HAT + + Made of spruce roots, ornamented in red and black paint, with + totemic device of a raven + + See figure page 160 +] + +Among the Omahas, also of Dakota stock, garments, Dorsey says, “were +usually made by the women, while men made their weapons.... There is no +distinction between the attire of dignitaries and that of the common +people.”[126] + +[Illustration: WONSIVU, A PAI UTE GIRL + + Posed by Thomas Moran + + From photograph by the Colorado River Survey, 1874 +] + +The Makahs of the North-west region (U. S.) manufacture a kind of cloth +out of cedar bark. “The inner bark is selected, boiled, or macerated, +and then pounded and hatcheled out. The bark is made to form the warp, +the woof being made of grass thread. This stuff is pliable, and makes a +convenient outer garment. Very pretty capes, edged with sea-otter skin, +are made of it. This tribe also are the principal manufacturers of the +cedar mats which are used on the Sound. These are entirely of bark, +formed into narrow strips, and woven on the floor. They are thin and +perfectly even in texture.”[127] Among the tribes of the North-west: +“The women universally wore a breech-clout of strands gathered around +the waist and falling usually to the knees.... With the men no idea of +modesty existed.”[128] They sometimes wear a bearskin with the hair +out tied around the throat. “Their hats, when they wear any, are of +the conical form common along the coast.”[129] A conical wicker hat +similar to the Japanese shape is found among the Tlinkits (Koluschan) +and Chimmesyan up on the Alaskan coast. I saw several at Sitka in the +summer of 1899, but not in use. The head covering of various tribes +differs considerably. The skull-cap, woven like a basket, was never +found, so far as I know, in the Mississippi region. The Pai Utes +formerly wore caps, or at least some of them did, the men wearing a +little buckskin affair tied under the chin with strings. The remainder +of their costume often consisted of a string around the waist from +which was suspended front and rear a cloth of buckskin reaching half +way to the ground. Others wore fine buckskin suits; a fringed shirt +and fringed leggings reaching, like those of the Dakota, to the waist. +The southern Utah women wore conical caps of wicker-work, like a bowl +upside down, except that they had a little point at the top.[130] The +women’s garment was of buckskin, attached at the neck and hanging down +before and behind to below the knee, open at the sides, and bound +around the waist by a buckskin sash. There was a plentiful adornment of +buckskin fringe also. The feet were bare except in cold weather, when +moccasins were worn. The younger women wore a narrow band around the +brow composed of two buckskin strings, covered with porcupine quills, +which were interwoven to hold the strings together, and the men +often wore a head-dress of feathers, which stood straight up around +the crown. In both men and women the hair was allowed to hang down, +brushed back from the face without braids of any kind. The Navajo men +wear a sort of turban; a piece of red cloth or a bandana twisted around +the brow, the hair being done up in a kind of Greek knot behind. Their +clothes consist of a shirt or jacket of cotton goods, and trousers +of the same stuff reaching to just below the knee and slashed up on +the outside for about eight inches. They sometimes wear close-fitting +breeches with leggings. This garment is generally held at the waist +by a belt, which is often richly decorated by discs of silver about +two by four inches elaborately engraved in their native style. The +trousers are sometimes bound inside the leggings. Their leggings are +of buckskin, red or black, frequently fastened on the outside by a row +of silver half-globe buttons of their own make and woven garters, some +three feet long, twisted around above the calf. The leggings are also +applied without any buttons when they are held by the garters. The +moccasin is one finely made, red or black, or the natural tan colour, +with a rawhide sole turned up all round, and, like the leggings, often +fastened by several silver buttons. The Navajos are extremely fond +of black. The hair of the women is parted and tied in a knot behind +very much the same as that of the men. Their dress is now very like +that of Moki women, that is, a garment that is attached over the right +shoulder, under the left, and falls about half way between the knees +and the ground, usually caught in at the waist by a sash or belt. +Also like the Moki women they wear a kind of combined moccasin and +legging, on certain occasions. This is a rawhide-soled moccasin with +a long narrow top-piece which is wound round and round the leg after +the moccasin is put on, and gives an almost straight line from the +knee down, almost exactly the same as the Moki custom. In fact, so far +as garments are concerned, it might often be difficult to tell Navajo +and Moki women apart. The Moki women wear their hair differently; the +married ones making two cues of it which hang down on each side of the +face, usually in front of the shoulders, while the unmarried ones have +theirs done up in two extraordinary wheels or discs standing parallel +with the side of the face or head, and attached to it by a sort of axle +wound round with string. This effect is obtained by first dividing the +hair into two equal parts, drawing each part to its side of the head +and winding it with string just above the ear, and a little behind +it. Each division is then again divided, horizontally, into two equal +parts, and these parts are carefully brushed around a curved stick, +like a letter U, held with the opening sidewise, the upper one down +and around and the lower one up and around, till they are completely +wound over the U and spread out as much as possible at the same time. +Then they are tied in the middle with a string, that is, between the +arms of the U, and finally, before withdrawing the U, the two portions +are fully spread, till when the U is taken out, and they are further +arranged, they almost meet and form a perfect wheel or circle. In +ordinary practice they do not meet, but resemble a well tied bow-knot +of broad ribbon; but when a girl has a fine head of hair that has been +well cared for, and her mother takes a pride in dressing her hair for +any ceremony or feast day, the wheel is almost perfect. This peculiar +method of hair-dressing is now found nowhere else in the world, except +among the unmarried women of the Coyotero Apaches, who are said to wear +a coil something like it. + +[Illustration: A NAVAJO LEADER IN NATIVE COSTUME + + Figure from photograph by the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology +] + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A MOKI HOUSE, ARIZONA + + Unmarried women grinding corn; married women baking _piki_, or + “paper” bread. From a model in the National Museum +] + +[Illustration: PUEBLO HEAD MAT] + +Some of the Pueblo women tie their hair in a knot behind like the +Navajo women; in fact, both Navajo women and men closely resemble the +Pueblo in their dress, the reason in my opinion being that advanced +before: namely, the incorporation of Pueblo stock. The Moki men also +sometimes wear their hair like Navajos, but full-blood Navajos have +taken up their residence with the Moki, so it may be confined to these +and their children. The regular Moki method of dressing a man’s hair +is to “bang” it across the eyebrows, cut the side locks straight back +on the lower line of the ear, and gather the remainder into a knot +behind.[131] The brush used is composed of a bunch of stiff grass tied +round the middle with a string. Both Navajo and Moki men as well as +those of other tribes now wear white men’s trousers when obtainable. +The costumes worn in the various ceremonials of the Navajos, Pueblos, +Iroquois, and other Amerinds are so numerous and so varied that there +is no space in a chapter like this for a description of them. + +[Illustration: NAVAJOS] + +In the line of embroidery comes the beadwork, see p. 125, the +ornamentation with quills, and embroidery with yarns. I will only +mention the embroidery of the Mokis, which is done on the ends of broad +cotton sashes, with coloured yarns. This is the only form in which I +have seen it. The pattern is elaborate, and often a foot or more at +each end of a sash will be thus ornamented. The Pueblo women wore a +roll on the head on which a water-jar was balanced. Coronado mentions +this thus: “I also send two rolls, such as the women usually wear on +their heads when they bring water from the spring, the same way that +they do in Spain. One of these Indian women, with one of these rolls +on her head, will carry a jar of water up a ladder without touching it +with her hands.”[132] Some of the Pueblo women still use rings to carry +water-jars on their heads. See figure on page 151. + +Jaramillo speaks of the natives of the first village of “Cibola” as +having clothing of “deerskins, very carefully tanned, and they also +prepare some tanned cowhides, with which they cover themselves, which +are like shawls and a great protection. They have square cloaks of +cotton, some larger than others, about a yard and a half long. The +Indians wear them thrown over the shoulder like a gypsy and fastened +with one end over the other, with a girdle, also of cotton.”[133] +Other Pueblos of New Mexico he describes as having “some long robes of +feathers which they braid, joining the feathers with a sort of thread; +and they also make them of a sort of plain weaving with which they +make the cloaks with which they protect themselves.” In the _Relación +Postrera_, the Cibola dress is described also, and I add it here +because these accounts show so conclusively that the art of weaving was +in full practice in this northern country before the Europeans entered +it. “Some of these people wear cloaks of cotton and of the maguey (or +Mexican aloe) and of tanned deerskin, and they wear shoes made of these +skins, reaching up to the knees. They also make cloaks of the skins of +hares and rabbits, with which they cover themselves. The women wear +cloaks of the maguey, reaching down to the feet, with girdles; they +wear their hair gathered about the ears like little wheels.”[134] I +would specially call attention to the similarity to the costume of +the present Moki, even to the hair-dressing. The Seminole men had a +singular way of wearing their hair. It was cut “close to the head, +except a strip about an inch wide, running over the front of the scalp +from temple to temple, and another strip, of about the same width, +perpendicular to the former, crossing the crown of the head to the +nape of the neck. At each temple a heavy tuft was allowed to hang to +the bottom of the lobe of the ear. The long hair of the strip crossing +to the neck is generally gathered and braided into two ornamental +queues.”[135] The mustache is worn among the Seminole, Navajo, +Tlinkit, Eskimo, and other tribes. Some Eskimo shave a round place on +the crown of the head. Some Amerinds also wear a small beard. + +[Illustration: SEMINOLE MAN’S AND WOMAN’S COSTUME] + +Many Amerinds, especially the men, wore, as before mentioned, nothing +whatever in mild weather, and even in winter the dress of some, +especially in the more southerly regions, was far from elaborate. I +remember one February, in the mountains of Arizona, visiting a camp of +Shevwits to have a talk with the chief. Proceeding toward his wikiup, I +found him near it lying naked, basking in the sun, only partly covered +by a rabbit-skin robe. He seemed to be warm and happy, the spot being +a sheltered one in a canyon, and the rays of the sun being comfortably +warm. In a _Journal of a Voyage to New York in 1679–80_, the authors, +speaking of the natives near Sandy Hook, said: “They wear something in +front, over the thighs, and a piece of duffels, like a blanket, around +the body, and this is all the clothing they have. Their hair hangs down +from their head in strings, well smeared with fat, and sometimes with +quantities of little beads twisted in it out of pride.”[136] + +[Illustration: EAR-PERFORATING AND HAIR-DRESSING OF SEMINOLES] + +In war the body was generally naked in many tribes.[137] The Navajo +warrior wore absolutely nothing but the breech-cloth, and I am not sure +that he wore even that. In some tribes the warriors wore a head-dress, +either a kind of turban or a feather head-dress. The Dakotas wore their +long trailing war-bonnets of feathers, or not possessing one, certain +feathers in their hair, according to their standing as warriors; and +sometimes their leggings. Of course each carried bow, quiver, shield, +and such weapons of his tribe as were in vogue. On the North-west coast +a protective armour was employed, and such a practice obtained in other +regions, notably among the Aztecs and other Mexicans, who made a thick +quilted cotton armour, as was noted in the quotations from Prescott. +The subject of armour, however, belongs to another chapter. The wearing +of rings in the nose and ears, and the perforation of the ears, while +a part of costume, more properly belongs to customs. In the “ghost” +excitement of a few years ago, special shirts were donned, and in the +battles resulting from this craze, these shirts were worn because they +were thought to be proof against bullets and all other weapons. “During +the dance,” says Mooney, “it was worn as an outside garment, but was +said to be worn at other times under the ordinary dress. Although the +shape, fringing, and feather adornment were practically the same in +every case, considerable variation existed in regard to the painting, +the designs on some being very simple, while the others were fairly +covered with representations of sun, moon, and stars, the sacred +things of their mythology, and the visions of the trance. The feathers +attached to the garment were always those of the eagle, and the thread +used in the sewing was always the old-time sinew.”[138] The approved +material of the “ghost-shirt” was buckskin, but where this could not be +had the shirt was made of cotton cloth. + +In the Far North, clothing is imperative all the year round, and about +every minute of the time, out-of-doors. Yet the garments of the Eskimo +often do not quite meet around the waist, so that in bending over the +bare back is exposed to the cold. In their houses, too, they often wear +very little; nothing more than a kind of deerskin drawers. The material +of their clothing is entirely fur-skins; though the Hudson Bay Eskimo +sometimes wear trousers of jean, or denim, obtained in trade. Up to a +certain age the children of both sexes are dressed much alike, and the +smaller ones scrabbling about the bottom of a _umiak_, or skin boat, +can hardly be distinguished at first glance from some kind of a bear +cub. At Plover Bay, Siberia, where the natives resemble the Eskimo, I +saw one small child in arms, that seemed to be completely sewed up in +skins with the hair side in, its arms and legs looking like the stumps +left after a surgical operation. Of the skin of the child nothing was +to be seen except its face, its head, too, being entirely enveloped. +This was in the middle of July, when the far-away Moki children would +be scurrying about without a thread to disguise them. The children +of the Eskimo proper, on our side of Bering Strait, were clothed, as +mentioned, in skins with the fur side out. Reindeer, otter, fox, and +seal seem to furnish the bulk of their furs, but a number of other +skins and furs are used when they can get them. Murdoch, Boas, and +Turner have given such careful detailed accounts of the Eskimo in the +various regions they visited,[139] that I refer the reader to them for +full information, presenting here only sufficient to convey a general +idea of the clothing. “The chief material (at Point Barrow) is the skin +of the reindeer (caribou),” says Murdoch, “which is used in various +stages of pelage. Fine, short-haired summer skins, especially those of +does and fawns, are used for making dress garments and underclothes. +The heavier skins are used for every-day working clothes, while the +heaviest winter skins furnish extra warm jackets for cold weather, warm +winter stockings and mittens.... The man’s dress consists of the usual +loose hooded frock, without opening except at the neck and wrists. +This reaches just over the hips, rarely about to mid-thigh, where it +is cut off square, and is usually confined by a girdle at the waist. +Under this garment is worn a similar one, usually of lighter skin and +sometimes without a hood. The thighs are clad in one or two pairs +of tight-fitting knee-breeches, confined round the hips by a girdle +and usually secured by a drawstring below the knee, which ties over +the tops of the boots. On the legs and feet are worn, first, a pair +of long, deerskin stockings with the hair inside; then slippers of +tanned sealskin, in the bottom of which is spread a layer of whalebone +shavings, and outside a pair of close-fitting boots, held in place +round the ankle, usually reaching above the knee, and ending by a +string with a rough edge, which is covered by the breeches.... The +boots are of reindeer skin, with white sealskin soles for winter and +dry weather, but in summer waterproof boots of black sealskin with +soles of white whaleskin, etc., are worn.”[140] + +[Illustration: THE GHOST-SHIRT, SIMPLE FORM] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO BOOTS] + +The woman’s frock is much like the man’s, in the Point Barrow region, +only it has tails, or aprons, front and rear, rounded at the bottom. In +the Hudson Bay region, this garment is shaped more at the waist, and +the tails are lance-shaped and narrower, while the front one is much +shorter than the back. At Point Barrow there is also worn by the men a +cloak or mantle of deerskin, in extremely cold weather. These cloaks +are put on over the head, and fall down all round, being fastened +at the throat by strings. They are not of one piece. The men’s leg +coverings come only to the knee, but the women’s are long enough to +reach from the feet to the waist, and the moccasin is attached to the +bottom. The edge of the moccasin sole is crimped to make it smaller at +the top, and this is the case with the soles of the boots made. This +crimping is done by the teeth. The wet-weather boots are waterproof +and light, but there is a disagreeable odour about them. This odour is +more pronounced in some of the hastily made stockings which are worn +inside the boots. I bought a pair of the common sealskin stockings +made with hair side in at Port Clarence, but their smell was something +unbearable. For a waterproof garment they take the entrails of the +seal and, splitting them longitudinally, sew together the strips thus +obtained in the desired shape. Coats made in this way are durable and +light, and answer the purpose admirably. Dr. Kane mentions a dress +he saw where a man wore “booted trousers of white bearskin, which +at the end of the foot were made to terminate with the claws of the +animal.”[141] + +In the middle and upper Mississippi region, according to Hunter, there +were tribes who made blankets of the wool of the buffalo, notably the +Osages, who were of Siouan stock. Their method of procedure seems to +have been very like that of the Navajos and Mokis, to whom they are +not related, except that they belong to the Amerind race. Hunter says: +“The hair of the buffalo and other animals is sometimes manufactured +into blankets; the hair is first twisted by hand and wound into balls. +The warp is then laid of a length to answer the size of the intended +blanket, crossed by three small smooth rods alternately beneath the +threads, and secured at each end to stronger rods supported on forks, +at a short distance above the ground. Thus prepared the woof is filled +in, thread by thread, and pressed closely together, by means of a long +flattened wooden needle. When the weaving is finished, the ends of +the warp and woof are tied into knots, and the blanket is ready for +use.”[142] + +[Illustration: RAIN HAT, HAIDA + + See figure page 146 +] + + + + + [Illustration: TOUCAN OF SQUIER AND DAVIS, REALLY A CROW] + + CHAPTER VII + + CARVING, MODELLING, SCULPTURE + + +The shaping of objects in clay, wood, or stone, or other material, +known as carving, modelling, etc., constitutes sculpture. Some form of +these methods was in use in very primitive times for the production +of weapons or tools of wood, bone, or stone. But the greatest schools +of sculpture were basketry and pottery, for in the practice of these +arts a sense of form and proportion could not be dispensed with. +Thus sculpture finds its birth in several arts, but particularly in +basketry, stone-shaping, and pottery. Taken all in all, the Mayas of +Yucatan seem to have been the greatest artists and sculptors, and as +we travel northward from there the skill in art gradually diminishes +till, on passing the old Aztec realm, it drops off rapidly. Far to +the northward the “Moundbuilders” exhibited a moderate skill and in +some objects a similarity to Mexican work, and still farther to the +north-westward the Haidas, Kwakiutls, etc., in their totem poles, +canoes, etc., show not only a singular proficiency in carving in wood, +but also similarities to some of the Mexican work. + +Masks, pipes, rattles, and other ceremonial paraphernalia gave the +Amerind sculptor much to do. It must not be supposed, though, that +all members of a tribe possessed the sculptor’s power. There was as +much variation as we now find among ourselves. It is not everyone of +our people who can model a statue, or even carve the rudest shape +imitating man. So it was with the Amerind. He had his arrow-makers, +his skilful potters, his great carvers, who were employed by the less +skilful to do their work. To-day, among the Amerinds of the North-west +coast, there are specialists who carve the totem poles, and obtain high +prices. The totem poles and house-posts are often elaborate, being +covered almost from top to bottom with figures of totemic animals. The +carving is often on a large scale, as the totem poles are frequently +more than fifty feet in height. They are planted several feet in the +ground, then there are several feet plain, and from that on to near the +top they may be covered with carving, while surmounting the whole is a +figure—bird, fish, or bear, or other animal—of large proportions. These +poles stand in front of the house,[143] and are an indication of the +clan or clans to which the person or persons who erected it belong. The +Haidas and the Tlinkits specially excel in totem poles. The execution +of the figures is often extremely good in a barbaric way. Besides the +carved poles there are often the carved columns or posts inside the +houses. These posts serve to support the two great rafters on which +the jack-rafters rest, and are often elaborate. At a deserted village +in south-east Alaska (Cape Fox), I saw two of these columns, each +representing a huge bird, the wings being split out of cedar, quite +thin, and attached to the post with a diagonally forward direction, +the rest of the bird being erect and facing the room, the posts being +within about six feet of the rear of the structure. Its tail was carved +out of the post in a sort of bas-relief the remainder of the post being +squared up both below and above, and on the sides of the figure, except +where the head was. The latter had a huge beak, of the carnivorous +type. On the breast was a singular round face. The whole was brightly +painted in reds, yellows, and blacks. The accompanying figure +represents another of the house-posts of this village which is now at +Michigan University. It was similarly painted. The carving of these +tribes is done almost entirely in wood, so that had they disappeared a +century or so before our coming there would have been found scarcely +a trace of their work. In like manner the work of the tribes of the +Mississippi valley may have disappeared—that is, supposing that they +carved in wood, which is probable. There is a great similarity between +the carving of the Haida and the Tlinkit totem poles, yet these tribes +are of different stocks. An animal resembling a frog seems to be very +common as a totem in both stocks. Human figures are also carved on the +poles, and strange heads are frequent. + +[Illustration: DESERTED VILLAGE NEAR CAPE FOX, ALASKA + + Showing arrangement of totem poles and houses along the shore + + Photograph by the Harriman Alaska Expedition, 1899 +] + +[Illustration: INTERIOR HOUSE-COLUMN + + Sketch by author from post at Cape Fox Village, Alaska +] + +[Illustration: MAJOR PART OF INTERIOR HOUSE-POST FROM CAPE FOX VILLAGE, + S. E. ALASKA + + Presented to University of Michigan by E. H. Harriman. Height, 11 + ft. 2 in.; width, 3 ft.; thickness, 12 to 15 in.; one piece of + spruce. Painted in several colours. Photograph by Professor Cole, + University of Michigan +] + +[Illustration: TOTEM POLE WITH BEAR ON THE TOP WRANGELL + + Sketch by the author +] + +The Haidas have become famous for their gigantic canoes carved from +single logs and elaborately decorated.[144] The other Amerinds of +this region also dig out fine boats from the huge logs they obtain +so easily in the forest, but there are none equal to those of the +Haida, who, indeed, require specially good boats for navigating the +waters around their island, Queen Charlotte’s. They are the best +carvers of all the tribes now living north of Mexico. Their work is +grotesque, corresponding with the singular mythology of the artists and +their inability to render accurately the forms they see about them. +Combinations of human and animal forms are often seen, such as the +panther-man found by Swan in this region—a crouching figure with an +attempt at a panther’s head and forelegs, with the hind legs human. One +of the most remarkable of all the Haida works from an artistic point of +view is the group called the “Bear-mother,”[145] now in the National +Museum at Washington, and made by _Skaowskeav_, one of the tribe. It +apparently shows European influence. The lines are more flowing and +soft than the ordinary Amerind method of execution, and the conception +is more in range with European ideas. This may be accidental, however, +and merely in the line of the sculptor’s development. The material is +slate. The subject is a child at the breast of the “Bear-mother.” The +story of the bear-mother, as told by J. G. Swan, is that “a number of +Indian squaws were in the woods gathering berries when one of them, +the daughter of a chief, spoke in terms of ridicule of the whole bear +species. The bears descended on them and killed all but the chief’s +daughter, whom the king of the bears took to wife. She bore him a +child, half human and half bear. The carving represents the agony of +the mother in suckling this rough and uncouth offspring.” From an +art standpoint, one failure in the execution of this conception is +that the child does not suggest sufficiently its half-bear character. +Nevertheless, it is an extraordinary work for an Amerind. + +[Illustration: TERRA-COTTA STATUETTE, CHIRIQUI.] + +[Illustration: THE BEAR-MOTHER, HAIDA, N. W. COAST] + +All the Amerinds of the North-west coast carve wooden masks, but here +again, the Haidas excel, though the Tlinkits are not far behind. It is +the same with the other work, boxes, rattles, etc. Some of the bowls, +hollowed from a single piece of wood, and carved on the exterior with +their strange figures, and polished, have a decided artistic merit. The +Innuit also make wooden masks, but they are crude when compared with +those of Queen Charlotte Island, or the mainland in that vicinity. One +feature of all these North-west masks, specially noted by Dall,[146] +which resembles Mexican carvings, is the protruding tongue touching an +animal. The protruding tongue is an index of life if firmly held forth, +according to Squier, while if it is loose and dangling at one side it +signifies death or captivity. Dall concludes that the touch of the +tongue symbolises the “transmission of spiritual qualities or powers.” +In the totem poles this protruding tongue touching an animal is common, +while frequently the tongue protrudes without touching any other person +or thing. A totem represents the guardian spirit of the individual or +clan, and therefore the closer the association with it the better; +hence the idea of placing the tongue upon it. + +[Illustration: WOODEN MASKS, N. W. COAST] + +“A person,” says Boas, “may have the general crest of his clan and, +besides, use as his personal crest such guardian spirits as he +has acquired. This accounts partly for the great multiplicity of +combinations of crests which we observe on the carvings of these +people.... The crest is used for ornamenting objects belonging to a +member of the clan; they are carved on columns intended to perpetuate +the memory of a deceased relative, painted on the house front or carved +on a column which is placed in front of the house, and are also shown +as masks in festivals of the clan.”[147] Some of the grave monuments +of the Kwakiutls, the Chimmesyans, the Tlinkits, and others of the +region are ambitious carvings and represent considerable labour on the +part of the sculptor. One grave I saw at Cape Fox was presided over by +two huge wooden bears, the whole sheltered by a neat roof on posts and +surrounded by a balustrade. The animals must have been at least four +and a half feet high. Boas describes a grave-monument bird carved out +of cedar bark, which is six feet high and about twelve feet from tip +to tip of the extended wings. This bird is upright like the one carved +on the house-post mentioned above, and, like that, has on its stomach +the carved representation of a face. This bird’s wings were originally +painted black to represent feathers, but this decoration has worn off. +It is now in the American Museum. The Kwakiutls also have carved some +statues in wood representing chiefs in a state of nature. These are +extremely crude, but are superior to much of the Moundbuilder work as +shown in the pipes and other carvings that have been preserved, and +not greatly behind the Mexican. Double-headed birds and animals figure +prominently among the carvings and drawings of the North-west coast +tribes, such as the double-headed “thunder-bird,” the double-headed +snake, etc. Boas obtained one of the latter among the Kwakiutls which +he describes as having a head at each end and a human head in the +middle. It is forty-two inches in length and about six inches wide. +It is “worn in front of the stomach and secured with cords passing +around the waist.” The fabulous animal this affair represents has “the +power to assume the shape of a fish. To eat it and even to touch or to +see it is sure death, as all the joints of the unfortunate one become +dislocated, the head being turned backward. But to those who enjoy +supernatural help it may bring power.”[148] These North-west tribes +seem to love to carve, and decorate almost everything that will admit +of it in this manner. In the vicinity of Fort Rupert there are on the +beach a number of rock carvings. These represent faces of sea monsters, +and also some of them human faces. + +[Illustration: KWAKIUTL CARVING, N. W. COAST] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO CARVED IVORY DRUM-HANDLES.] + +Amongst the Eskimos carving is limited, generally, to a sort of +engraving on bone and ivory, except in the matter of masks, which +are rudely shaped out of wood without any of the elaborate finish +that is observed in the work of Amerinds farther south. The wood they +have had to work with is not the kind that promotes carving, and +ivory is a rather difficult material to shape. Nevertheless, they +occasionally, form some attractive little heads from it, to adorn +the end of a harpoon line or something of that sort. They also shape +their drill bows and other implements to some extent and decorate them +with neat engraving. Some of these decorations are very pleasing, and +exhibit the same taste for symmetrical ornamentation that is found +throughout the continent. When they attempt to represent form they are +generally successful in giving it the proper character with less of +the childish grotesqueness that is seen in most Amerind work. How much +the long intercourse with Europeans on whalers has modified the art +efforts of the Eskimo it is not possible to judge. Murdoch[149] gives +illustrations of seals and whales shaped by the Point Barrow Eskimo, +but aside from the _character_ of the animal being generally fairly +well rendered, there is little that is artistically interesting in the +work. What I mean by character is that you can generally tell what is +intended by an Eskimo carving, which is not always the case with the +sculptured efforts of other Amerinds, though the finish may be better. +Boas gives illustrations of the carved work of the Central Eskimo,[150] +which show the same characteristics as the Western. + +The Far Northern tribes, as a rule, are inferior to the other +Amerinds, in sculptural work, yet the Eskimo, mechanically, were, in +many respects, apparently in advance of all others. They possessed +the lamp, the only stock on the continent who did, but, after all, +this shows only the adaptability that saved them from destruction. In +a world without fuel and with plenty of seal oil, they would never +have survived if they had not invented a way to secure heat from the +oil. The Amerind of the forested regions had no need for a lamp. The +possession of the lamp, therefore, is no indication of higher mental +powers, but of a more severe environment. Nor, on the other hand, is +the limited amount of their carving an indication on their part of +inferior mental endowment. It is, again, the result of circumstances, +as pointed out above. In a region without suitable material or climate +for extensive carving, they did not carve, that is all. Place them for +a few generations in the region of the Haidas, and they would begin to +develop many different habits and traits. + +[Illustration: SPECIMEN OF MOUNDBUILDER SCULPTURAL SKILL WITH HUMAN + FIGURE + + _Height of jar, 10½ in.; width of shoulders, 8 in._ +] + +On the Atlantic coast, few specimens of sculpture have, thus far, been +found, nor has any carving of consequence been disclosed. In New Jersey +some rude heads in stone have come to light, but such finds are rare. +As the bounds of the Mississippi valley are entered, however, the art +remains immediately increase in importance, but not to the exaggerated +extent claimed by many writers. The carvings and sculptures of the +Mississippi valley are, like all Amerind products in this line, crude, +and there is no warrant for the claims that the occupants of the region +were not “Indians,” so far as these remains testify. The most striking +work found up to the present is that of the head-shaped vases from +Pecan Point, Arkansas, but as I have pointed out before,[151] these +vases were not modelled free-hand, but were the result of a process, +are in fact death-masks, built into the vases. While it was a clever +thing to accomplish these in that way, yet it is a mechanical method, +and has little to do with artistic skill. Thomas Wilson says of these +vases that they “divide themselves into two distinct groups. The +specimens forming the first group are death-masks, as becomes more +and more evident the more the objects are studied; the other group, +while of the same general form as the first, the human head being +represented, has the face and features wrought upon it free-hand, as in +sculpturing, without the aid of mould or cast.”[152] It may be added +that the second group is far inferior to the first, and is quite in +line with the rest of the remains of this district. + +The tobacco pipes of the region were lauded as perfect examples of +the sculptor’s art, but if one gives them critical examination, it is +at once plain that they are not out of the Amerind line, and, what is +more, that as specimens of sculpture they are pretty bad, because it +is difficult to decide just what they represent. Even the Eskimo give +their work character enough to distinguish it, yet the Moundbuilder did +much of his carving so poorly that there has been frequent diversity +of opinion as to what it was intended to depict. Henshaw took up the +matter, and has shown that the degree of excellence of representation +in the carving of the Moundbuilder pipes, so long extolled, has been +overrated. + +[Illustration: STONE PIPE FROM NORTH CAROLINA MOUND] + +The tobacco pipe, bearing, as it did, a peculiar relation to the sacred +paraphernalia and ceremonies of the Amerinds, received much attention +from them and was frequently elaborate, from the Amerind standpoint, +in its details. The earliest form of pipe was a straight tube seen in +Mexican carvings and also found in various parts of North America. +In the Eastern United States one is found which is designated as the +“Monitor.” I suppose this name came from a resemblance to the famous +first turret man-of-war, the United States ship _Monitor_. The base of +these pipes was slightly curved downwards, the bowl rising from about +the centre of the platform, on the convex side. Many of these show +marks of steel tools.[153] Squier and Davis, who published their work +in 1848, discerned wonderful artistic skill in the Moundbuilder pipes, +and they discovered an intimate acquaintance between the Moundbuilder +artists and far-off tropical birds and animals, probably because in +those days it was thought that an “Indian” was absolutely incapable +of producing anything. Especially was great stress laid by Squier and +Davis upon certain pipes said to delineate the manatee. Theories of +origin and migration were founded on this supposed knowledge, and other +writers accepting these deductions founded yet other theories upon +them; and they were _all_ wrong. The trouble seems to lie in the fact +that the archæologists of some years ago not only were not naturalists, +but they were not accurate and drew their conclusions from insufficient +data. The attitude of the archæologist of to-day is exceedingly +cautious, and before pronouncing a pipe carving a manatee, or any other +animal, he would surely institute cautious and careful comparisons. +This Messrs. Squier and Davis seem not to have done, nor did any of +their followers or successors, being content, as Henshaw points out, +to accept Squier and Davis’s statement as absolute. Henshaw demolishes +their claims and shows that no manatee is represented and that all the +pipe carvings are of birds and animals that had their range in the +country of the Moundbuilders or not far from its borders. What they +called a toucan he identifies as a crow, or raven, and in this decision +several other ornithologists fully agree. The nasal features are +plainly shown, and the “general contour of the bill is truly corvine.” +See figure page 161. Thus is this supposed tropical acquaintance easily +disposed of and the crow, certainly not a rare bird in that locality, +substituted. A turkey buzzard is shown to be a hawk, and other foreign +types claimed by Squier and Davis are disproved with ease. Out of +forty-five carvings on pipes figured by them only five, by Henshaw’s +tests, are correctly named. Some carvings, which they were unable to +identify, Henshaw places without any effort. As for the so-called +manatees, he believes they were intended for otter. The manatee is an +earless animal with many peculiar features which do not appear in the +Moundbuilder carvings, while ears do appear. This is what I mean by not +giving “character” to carvings. It is a matter, largely, of perception. +The Eskimo appears to have this perception developed to a considerable +degree, and when he delineates an animal he knows he marks strongly its +peculiar features, whatever else he may do. The element of imagination +also comes in, for Amerinds often produce drawings or carvings of +animals they think they have seen, or as they appeared to them in a +sudden and fleeting glimpse, or vision. + +[Illustration: SO-CALLED ELEPHANT PIPE, IOWA + + Only two of the “elephant” pipes have been found and both by the + same person. There is a doubt as to their genuineness. Even if + genuine they are far from depicting the mastodon +] + +[Illustration: TOUCAN OF SQUIER AND DAVIS, POSSIBLY MEANT FOR A YOUNG + EAGLE] + +[Illustration: TRIPOD VASE, CHIRIQUI. ⅓. LEGS MODELLED TO IMITATE FISH] + +It was a lack of ability to reproduce accurately the lines and +character of _any_ object which caused some of the Moundbuilder pipes +intended to represent the common otter to look like something else. +As a matter of fact, these Moundbuilder pipe carvings, about which so +much that is unwarranted has been written, are not superior to the +carvings of the Haidas, or other stocks, and indeed, if anything, are +not equal to them. They certainly do not compare for a moment with +most of the work of the Mexican tribes. A further important conclusion +of Henshaw’s is that “there is no reason for believing that the masks +and sculptures of human faces are more correct likenesses than are the +animal carvings,”[154] which is exactly in accord with my own opinion, +not only as concerns the work of the Moundbuilders, but of every other +Amerind tribe. They were not sculptors of a kind that could reproduce a +likeness to an individual. Their work was always _general_; they seldom +drew or painted _from the object_, as an artist or sculptor of our race +does, but they accomplished their result by memory, imagination, and +“rule of thumb.” The surprise of the Europeans at finding anything at +all in the art line, coupled with a wide ignorance on art matters, has +awarded all the Amerind carvings and sculptures, as is well illustrated +in the Moundbuilder case, a false degree of excellence. The Amerinds +of the Mississippi valley probably also carved wood, but their work +in this material has, of course, long ago decayed. They worked other +things, like shell, and some of the shell carvings are strikingly +like Aztec drawings. In this shellwork there are a great many discs +and gorgets, engraved with figures of spiders, rattlesnakes, birds, +geometrical designs, and representations of the human figure. There +are also rude shell masks of the human face, but these are primitive +in the extreme. It must be borne in mind that this region was occupied +for long ages, and _by many different tribes_, so that the work found +is probably from different sources, though all Amerind. A class of +singularly shaped stones is found in the Mississippi valley and +northward, mainly north of the Ohio, to which the name “bird-stones” +has been applied because of their resemblance to avian forms. No +satisfactory explanation of their use has been advanced.[155] + +[Illustration: SHELL GORGET, MISSOURI.] + +A number of stone statues of the human figure have been unearthed from +Georgia to Tennessee, varying in height from three or four inches +to something over twenty. They are all of the crudest description, +and so far as any resemblance to the type of man who made them is +concerned are absolutely valueless. They are undoubtedly human forms, +that is all; not another characteristic, except sex, indicated by +breasts, is presented. They are mostly in a squatting posture and on +one or two there seems to be a suggestion of the hair dressed behind. +Effigy bottles of earthenware from Tennessee are similarly crude and +primitive. There is little, therefore, in the whole Mississippi valley +or on the Atlantic coast, in the line of carving or sculpture, that +could not have been executed by Amerinds that have been known to our +race, many of them living in the same localities where the art remains +have been found. The superlative rank awarded Moundbuilder art is +unwarranted. + +[Illustration: BIRD-SHAPED EARTHEN BOWL, ARKANSAS.] + +Directing our attention now to still another region, we find in the +South-west a vast deal that is absorbingly interesting. Fortunately +the people were, many of them, still there when the first Spaniards +came into the country in 1540, so that we have data to prevent the +attributing the works found there to some mysterious race. It has been +attempted in the case of the “Cliff-dwellers,” but the investigations +of competent ethnologists have effectually settled that matter, and +checked the romantic tendency except in the case of a few who will not +learn. The ethnographic condition of the South-west since we have known +it probably represents also what prevailed in the Mississippi region, +that is, _a number of different stocks existing in different stages of +culture_, distributed in patches, not uniformly. + +[Illustration: SHELL MASK, VIRGINIA.] + +All of them pitched their camps or built their houses as expediency +dictated, and when cause arose to render them dissatisfied with their +site, whether cliff-house, village, or camp, they moved to a more +desirable place, leaving behind what they could not easily carry, +as well as their houses. Thus in the course of a long time the area +presented the appearance from the numerous remains of having a +larger population than was really the case; though I may add that +I believe the population was at one time somewhat greater than has +usually been admitted by the best ethnologists. These various stocks +carried on their daily avocations, and when the results were in some +indestructible material, many of them were preserved to us, which, +taken in connection with the productions of the modern tribes, give an +excellent and correct impression of the life and occupations of the +inhabitants extending far back into the past. + +[Illustration: MOKI SCULPTURAL SKILL WITH THE HUMAN FIGURE + + Terra cotta + + Wood + + Terra cotta +] + +The Shoshonean is one of the stocks still extant in that and more +northerly regions, and spreads far south to the lakes of Mexico. It +exists to-day in several stages, the Mexican or Nahuatl, the Moki or +Hopi, and the numerous bands of Utes.[156] Other stocks probably had +equal variation in culture within their ranks, this variation being +sometimes due to the absorption, as in the case of the Navajos, of +a more cultured tribe. Many of these tribes did no carving whatever, +and the region of our South-west is poor in this sort of remains. The +Pueblos, while possessing other artistic talents of a high order, do +not seem to have done much in the line of carving. They execute the +ordinary fetiches with little or no shape, and they also produce a kind +of small doll for the children and some that are used in ceremonies, +figure page 178, but all these, and all the masks in ceremonies, are +fearful things to look upon, bearing little or no resemblance to +anything human; shapeless, botched up masses of hideousness, usually +not carved or modelled, but built up out of various stuffs. Some of +them model effigies in earthenware, but these attempts do not amount +to much. I have never seen any wood carving, from this region, worth +mentioning. A. M. Stephen made a sketch of two figures in wood with +small knots or horns called the Alosaka, which I copied, but they are +primitive to the last degree. These figures were about four feet high, +and were of cottonwood, apparently very old. Figures above. They were +discovered by accident in a cave near the ruins of Awatuwi and removed. +When the loss was learned by the Moki they requested the return of the +images, which was granted, and they have not been seen since, nor does +anyone outside of the custodians, or at least no white man, know where +they are. Around the Moki towns I saw not a single attempt at rock +carving, nor do I remember in extensive journeys over the South-western +region ever seeing any relief carving whatever. Rock scratchings, +erroneously termed “etchings” by many writers on these subjects, I +have seen in great abundance, but not an attempt at sculpture worth +noticing. There may, however, in some of the villages, be carvings +nevertheless. Governor Prince found at a ruin near Cochiti a number +of rudely formed stone figures of human shape. Nearby there are two +panthers carved life size in the tufa which forms the surface rock of +the locality. They “lie side by side,” says Bandelier, “representing +the animals as crouching with tails extended, and their heads pointing +to the east.”[157] Their length is six feet, one third of this being +tail. The height is two feet and the breadth across the shoulders +fourteen inches, and across the rump seventeen inches. They are about +twenty-two inches apart. Around them is an irregular pentagonal +enclosure, “made of large blocks, flags, and slabs of volcanic rock, +some of which are set in the ground like posts, while the majority +are piled on each other so as to connect the upright pillars.... When +I last saw the monument it looked like a diminutive and dilapidated +Stonehenge.”[158] Another pair of similar panthers occurs at not a +great distance off at a place now called the _Potrero de los Idolos_. +The size is about the same as the others. “One of them is completely +destroyed by treasure hunters, who loosened both from the rock by a +blast of powder, and then heaved the ponderous blocks out by means of +crowbars. After breaking one of the figures to pieces they satisfied +themselves that nothing was buried underneath.... The imperfections of +the sculpture are very apparent; were it not for the statements of the +Indians, who positively assert that the intention of the makers was to +represent a puma, it would be considered to be a gigantic lizard.”[159] + +[Illustration: THE ALOSAKA (MOKI) + + After drawing by A. M. Stephen +] + +[Illustration: SCULPTURAL ART OF CHIRIQUI + + Fragmentary figure in grey basaltic rock. +] + +[Illustration: SHELL GORGET, TENNESSEE. + + Apparently a human figure, with face in profile to the left of the + circle near the top. The nose is cut away by a perforation +] + +The metates or mealing stones, abundant in modern and ancient villages, +and which in the Far South are elaborately carved oftentimes, are, in +the South-west, so far as I have observed in the field and in reports +of investigators, never decorated in the faintest degree. Articles, +also, of various kinds that among the Haidas or Tlinkits would be +covered with carving, have here not a vestige of it. Nor is there any +carving about the house timbers or the stones that enter into the +wall construction, places where the Aztecs, and especially the Mayas, +lavished their skill. The Mokis make little clay images which they fire +for the children, but they are without merit. Nor do the Navajo, the +Pima, the Apache, Yuma, or any of the other stocks attempt anything +in the direction of carving, so that it seems safe to say that the +South-west has not produced any carving worthy of note, either in +modern or ancient times. The ruins so far as known are as barren of +carved articles as the modern occupied houses. + +Proceeding southward, however, when we approach the vicinity of the +City of Mexico, examples of carving appear, and it is quickly evident +that the Aztecs gave great attention to this form of art. One of the +most remarkable specimens is the so-called Calendar Stone dug up under +the present city, and now in the Mexican National Museum. It has been +called a sacrificial stone, but Bandelier thinks it may have served +rather as the base for another stone, holding the rope of a captive +doomed to the “gladiatorial” sacrifice. For my part I incline to the +opinion that it is an astronomical affair. The date carved on the +top is the 13th Acatl or +A.D.+ 1479 of our time, according to the +accepted calculations. In the centre is a head, supposed to represent +the sun, and around it are twenty figures, standing for the twenty days +of the Mexican month. Then come eight divisions by what appear to be +arrow-heads, four being extended farther toward the centre than the +others and also curled up at the ends or flukes, and one of these four +ending in an elaborate sort of bow-knot ornament which covers a wide +space at what is now the lower edge as it stands. Each of the eight +divisions is again divided by a kind of crown which is smaller than the +smaller arrow-heads, and then there is a still further subdivision +made by a dot, on a line with the base of the crown. This gives +thirty-two points, or exactly the number of points on our mariner’s +compass card, so that this carving can be “boxed” as any compass card +can be. The N., E., and W., are more prominent than any other points +but the S., which has the decoration referred to. Then come the N.E., +S.E., S.W., and N.W., with each set of intermediate points diminishing +in importance.[160] It looks as if our ancient Aztecs had found a +mariner’s compass washed ashore and perpetuated it by thus carving +it with mythological significance.[161] Stranger things than this +have occurred among Amerinds. But I prefer to believe that the Aztec +astronomer worked out the points of the compass for himself, for these +directions exist of course in every land independent of the compass, +and the moment the Amerind began to work in astronomy he was forced +to recognise the thirty-two natural directions that were open to him. +No doubt the Mayan and Mexican observatories were somewhat similar to +that of the Shah Jahan at Jeypore in India, where circular stones of +different sizes formed a part of the observing apparatus. The Mayan and +Mexican astronomical knowledge was probably equal to any extant in the +fourteenth century. + +[Illustration: THE AZTEC “CALENDAR” STONE + + From Bandelier’s _Archæological Tour_, published by the + Archæological Institute of America +] + +[Illustration: AZTEC SCULPTURE, THE INDIO TRISTE + + From Bandelier’s _Archæological Tour_, published by the + Archæological Institute of America +] + +Another type of Mexican carving is seen in the statue of Teoyaomiqui, +the god of war and death, of which the two faces are different. +Bandelier believes this to be a statue of the war-god Huitzilopochtli. + +Another remarkable statue given mention by Bandelier is the “Indio +Triste.” This is a squatting figure of an Amerind executed with more +simplicity than is usual with Amerind work in this region. Bandelier +considers it a torch-bearer, a supposition borne out by evidence he +advances, and also by the arrangement of the hands and arms, which +are brought out forward of the chest as if clasping something in the +empty space between the fingers. This statue is forty inches high and +two feet wide. A comparatively small number of Aztec sculptures have +been found. Almost all were destroyed or buried by the zeal of the +early priests. Under the City of Mexico and in other places there are +probably many lying intact, and some day they may come to the light. +“The art of sculpture in aboriginal Mexico,” says Bandelier, “while +considerably above that of the Northern Village-Indians, is still not +superior to the remarkable carvings on ivory and wood of the tribes of +the North-west Coast and often bears a marked resemblance to them.”[162] + +Proceeding on southward, the next great group of carvings is that +ascribed to the Mayas, and extending, in a general way, from the +Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the borders of Honduras and somewhat beyond. +The people formerly occupying this area were extremely active in the +line of carving, and there are preserved to us tablets, figures in +bass-relief, statues, monoliths, and other stone- and wood-work that, +taken together, easily bring this people in the very front place among +Amerind artists. Their buildings were most elaborately ornamented with +carving in stone, or wood, and with modelling in stucco, and there +were many tablets bearing carved inscriptions. One of the most famous +of these tablets adorned a beautiful building called in modern times +“The Temple of the Cross.”[163] It stands at Palenque. The tablet was +affixed to the rear wall of an inner chamber, termed by Europeans +the “Adoratorio,” and was in three sections, the total dimensions of +which were ten feet eight inches wide, by six feet four inches high. +One section of this tablet remained in place at the time of Charnay’s +last visit, one was in Las Playas, and the other, the third, is in the +Smithsonian Institution. At each extreme end of the whole composition +was a mass of the calculiform writing; next came two figures separated +by a peculiar design in the centre, which somewhat resembles a cross, +and it was this design that gave the name to the tablet. While the +execution is remarkable it is nevertheless primitive, and similar to +other Amerind art in quality and conception. It is a high development +of Amerindian sculptural ideas. Another similar tablet exists in the +so-called “Temple of the Sun.” A cast of this was made by Charnay and a +photograph from this cast is given in figure on page 185.[164] + +[Illustration: SANCTUARY TABLET, TEMPLE (TEOCALLI) OF THE SUN, + PALENQUE] + +[Illustration: “ALTAR” IN FRONT OF STELA D, COPAN] + +At Copan twenty-three stelæ, or monolithic monuments, elaborately +carved with human figures and hieroglyphs, have been found. Each had +in front a sculptured block designated as an altar. Their average +height is twelve feet, and their breadth and their thickness each +about three feet. Stelæ and so called idols have been exhumed around +Lake Nicaragua, but all remains grow less important towards the south +except in Chiriqui, as well as towards the north. Indeed, here in +Yucatan seems to have sprung the living fountain that watered all the +desolation of the Western world. + +[Illustration: STELA NO. 6, COPAN] + +[Illustration: BACK OF STELA NO. 6] + +[Illustration: PUMA-SHAPED STOOL OF GREY ANDESITE, CHIRIQUI.] + +The stelæ at Copan are some of the most artistic and altogether +remarkable sculptures found on the continent. They are highly +decorative, and the execution of the intricate designs with the poor +stone tools at their command is extraordinary. But all the productions +of the Mayas pass easily beyond those of any other stock on this +continent. Some of the conventionalised animal heads used as gargoyles +are exceedingly well done and so also are several works called +“singing-girls” (see figures pages 19 and 79). There are no geometric +patterns at Copan, and the designs and execution are of a high order, +yet at the same time thoroughly Amerindian. The rattlesnake enters into +many of the designs and is represented by itself frequently. It was +an animal of great importance to all Amerinds from the thirty-eighth +parallel down. Charnay gives an illustration of what he calls votive +stones, that are apparently the representation of the rattle of the +revered reptile. The segments are clearly indicated and altogether the +design seems to me unmistakable. The region of the South-west and +Mexico is also the richest in species of any part of America, no less +than “eight out of a total of seventeen species occurring at or near +the boundary between the United States and the Mexican Republic.” In +southern Arizona seven different species are found. “Their centre of +distribution appears to be the tableland of Mexico with its extension +northward into the south-western United States.”[165] + +[Illustration: HEAD SCULPTURED IN STONE, CHULTUNES OF LABNA, YUCATAN] + +One of the “Temples of the Cross” at Palenque is flanked at the +entrance by two well-constructed figures, one on either side, supposed +to represent the Mayan war and rain gods.[166] These figures are in low +relief, covered with the customary Amerind trappings and head-dresses +of this region. On each tablet there are some calculiform characters. +Many of the ruined buildings still exhibit a wealth of ornamentation +either carved in stone, modelled in stucco, or constructed out of +rubble and stucco. Some of the carvings, notably certain heads at +Uxmal, have formed the basis for much discussion. The latter were +supposed by Waldeck to be representations of elephants’ trunks, but +there is no foundation for this supposition. They more likely represent +ceremonial masks with long noses. Something similar, though lacking +the curve, is seen in some of the remarkable funeral urns found in the +Zapotecan tombs. + +The statue of Chac-Mool, found at Chichen Itza by Le Plongeon, is +an example of what was accomplished when the figure was attempted +without any of the accessories of masks, draperies, etc.[167] It is +a large reclining figure, crude and primitive. Some of the work at +other places is more symmetrical, as, for instance, the Lacandon idol +described by Charnay. “This idol is very beautiful and unique of its +kind, for nothing like it has been found either in Tabasco or Yucatan. +It represents a figure sitting cross-legged, the hands resting on the +knees ... the face now mutilated is crowned by an enormous head-dress +of a peculiar style, presenting a fantastic head with a diadem and +medallions, topped by huge feathers, like those on the columns at Tula +and Chichen-Itza.”[168] This idol was found at Menché, where there is +a lot of excellent work in the line of carving, some of the wooden +lintels being particularly interesting. It is impossible in a brief +chapter to convey more than a slight impression of all this elaborate +carving. The reader who desires to obtain a full comprehension of the +work should study Maudsley’s text and illustrations in the _Biologia +Centrali Americana_. + +Where modelling was accomplished by the building-up process with stones +and mortar the results were sometimes gigantic. Stephens found an +enormous head made in this way at Izamal at the base of the palace of +Hunpictok. He described it as being seven feet eight inches high. “The +features,” he says, “were first rudely formed by small rough stones, +fixed in the side of the mound by means of mortar, and afterwards +perfected with stucco so hard that it has resisted the action of air +and water for centuries.” The stone composing the chin alone measures +one foot and six inches. The face had an extremely large mustache. This +singular specimen of the Yucatan Amerinds’ modelling skill has, since +the visit of Stephens, completely disappeared. At the same place is +another, however, still intact. + +[Illustration: LARGE BUILT-UP HEAD AT IZAMAL + + From Stephens +] + +This one is thirteen feet high and is constructed in the same manner as +the one that is gone. + +Everywhere throughout Yucatan and the contiguous region the +architecture is overloaded with ornamentation which many large volumes +would barely be sufficient to describe. In Nicaragua, as well as in +Honduras, there are found many carvings and sculptures, statues, stelæ, +etc., but they are rarely equal to those found in the Maya ruins. It +must be said, however, that the examination of these states has been +even less thorough than that of the Maya region. Tribes of Nahuatl +stock built and laboured in the country below the Maya, and in Costa +Rica there are indications that the remains belong to Amerinds who +differed from both Maya and Nahuatl. + +Some of the supposed metates or mealing stones found in Nicaragua are +carved with legs and artistically decorated. One figured by Squier is +a particularly beautiful specimen. It is a thin curved slab, concave +side up, and has four legs. One end projects considerably beyond the +legs, apparently forming the head or end where the operator sat or +kneeled, and is carved in a wide band all the way across. In Chiriqui +there are similar stones. Another class of carved remains found in +Chiriqui is apparently a sort of metate, but it differs from the latter +in being round, and Holmes designates them as stools, for want of a +more exact term.[169] Some wooden stools have recently been obtained in +Central America which are so nearly like the affair described by Squier +as a metate, that it is probable the latter was also a stool. The +figure on page 188 illustrates this class. They have a depressed upper +surface and are carved basalt in one piece. An example of the round is +given above. To carve an object like this from solid basalt must have +been a work of great duration. It is in their metal- and claywork, +however, that the Chiriqui Amerinds specially excelled. + +[Illustration: STOOL OF GREY BASALT, CHIRIQUI.] + +All works are dominated by the customs and religious ideas of the +Amerind race, which were practically the same everywhere in different +stages of development. Nowhere do we find a touch of idealism, which +is such a marked characteristic of the work of the European race. +The highest of it marks a development in art below the Egyptian. As +in picture-writing we trace the growth of letters, so by the aid of +the Amerind sculpture and carving we have a line of art progress from +infancy to the present time. + +[Illustration: COPPER BELL FROM TENNESSEE] + + + + + [Illustration: PUEBLO MEALING STONES] + + CHAPTER VIII + + SHELTERS, DWELLINGS, AND ARCHITECTURE + + +The Amerind of North America has generally been considered a shiftless +and indolent being, but the preceding pages have shown, I think, that +this estimate is an error, and the following chapters, together with +the present one, will even more conclusively demolish that false +assumption. The Amerind to be sure was not a white man, but it must +not be forgotten that the constant holding of the white man’s nose to +the grindstone is not so commendable as it is often said to be, for it +is not choice with him but necessity born of his ways of living and +his great numbers. Put him in comparatively small numbers on a vast +continent rich and fertile and abounding in game, and it is not likely +that he would shut himself up in a factory or in an office, where he +is only a counting machine. The Amerind was as industrious as his +environment demanded. Doubtless had his development not been interfered +with by the Discovery, he might have arrived in time at the same +condition of pressure that compels us to labour incessantly. + +Almost everywhere on this continent are discovered numerous evidences +of Amerind industry and toil. From the brush shelter of the Pai +Ute of Arizona to the vast stone structures, richly ornamented, of +Yucatan, is an immense range, and within these limits are to be +found about every kind of a refuge from the elements that mankind +has been able to devise. Mud, boughs caves, wood, adobe, stone, +ice, snow, wicker-work, wattling, skins, in fact, every material and +every possible hole, existing in nature, have been utilised by the +Amerind, and the materials have been given every variety of shape. In +nothing, perhaps, has his struggle with environment, and the moulding +effects of the environment, been more clearly exhibited than in the +forms and materials of the dwellings he has been compelled to invent. +Other evidences of his perseverance and exertion are discerned in +great aqueducts, in long irrigating canals, in reservoirs, in huge +earthworks, and enormous mounds that sometimes rival in magnitude the +giant constructions of Egypt. + +The Amerind dwellings may be divided into three general +classes,—temporary, portable, and fixed. The two classes, temporary and +fixed, only are usually recognised by ethnologists, but it has seemed +to me proper to add the third class, because of the wide use of the +portable tipi, and other forms of tent. The temporary houses, those +abandoned on moving camp and seldom occupied again, may be represented +by the Pai Ute wikiup; the portable, carried from place to place for +years, by the tipi of the Dakotas; the fixed, or those which are +occupied either for an extended period or periodically, by the stone or +adobe house of the Pueblos, or the wood house of the Iroquois, or the +wood and earth house of the Eskimo.[170] + +[Illustration: PAI UTE WIKIUPS, NORTHERN ARIZONA + + From photograph by the Colorado River Expedition, 1872 +] + +Outside of a natural cave or rock shelter, the wikiup of the Pai Ute +exhibits about the lowest type of house used by man. It is said the +chimpanzee makes a rude hut of boughs and branches, but even that could +scarcely be less simple than the Arizona wikiup. This is composed +merely of several branches arranged in a semi-circle, or rather more +than a semi-circle, eight or ten feet in height, their tops together, +and covered with boughs of cedar or pine or any other convenient +brush. About one third of the circumference is open to the south, and +opposite this side the fire is built a few feet away. The Pai Ute is +surrounded by remains of excellent stone dwellings constructed long ago +by Amerinds who are believed to be of the same general stock, but he +has never tried to improve his wikiup of his own accord. The Utes, his +kindred on the north, live in good tipis, but the Pai Ute appears never +to have noticed the fact. The Mokis, also allied to him, live not far +to southward in excellent houses, yet he has never attempted to emulate +them. + +[Illustration: MOKI KISI CONSTRUCTION] + +In the kisi construction of the Mokis we may perhaps see the beginning +of even the wikiup. The kisi is a sort of windbreak and sun-shelter +lightly constructed of boughs and made in two ways, one called kishoni, +being simply poles stuck in the ground in the arc of a circle with +the concave side towards the north, and interlaced with twigs and +branches to form a shade. The other kind is built by planting several +posts with crotches at their tops in the ground in the form of a +parallelogram and laying other posts or poles across from crotch to +crotch and covering these with poles to form a platform or roof. +Against the whole, on the south side, poles and branches are erected +to form a shade. These affairs are put up in the fields to protect the +crop tenders when there is no convenient cliff or ledge whereon to +erect a better structure of stone. Doubtless out of these shelters, +now seen in the field structures, originally grew the firm adobe and +stone house, by one step or improvement after another, and probably all +house construction had some such simple beginning. In a forested area, +however, the easy construction of a comfortable house out of poles and +bark would delay any development of a durable stone or adobe structure; +the adobe, indeed, would not be durable in a humid climate. Protection +and subsistence dictated the region a tribe or a stock should occupy, +and the region usually determined the character of the house or +shelter. House building, in its beginnings, is largely a result of +environment, and was developed or modified accordingly. The tribes that +were compelled to live in a sterile, dry country, where game and wood +were both scarce, were forced to provide themselves with different +food and different shelter from those which occupied a well-wooded +country abounding in game. A few skins and poles, in the latter case, +would quickly produce a house. In the arid region, however, man was +not provided with such convenient material. His shelter from the sun +cost him much labour and he was obliged to transport his necessary wood +long distances. Additions to the shade to make it more comfortable were +therefore obtained by piling up stones or scraping together the mud +after a rain, and these operations being repeated, a development of +skill was the inevitable result; skill which eventually produced a wall +all round the sun-shelter, with the beams of the latter resting upon +them instead of upon posts. + +[Illustration: PRIMITIVE AMERIND LADDERS] + +[Illustration: A NAVAJO HOUSE] + +It seems, therefore, altogether probable that stone and mud house +building originated in arid regions; but in a region treeless, like +our great plains, the inevitable outcome in the line of a shelter was +the portable tipi (teepee), because there bison hides were at hand for +covering, but poles of the proper sort were difficult to secure and +were carried along. In the forest, neither portable tents nor stone +houses were necessary. It would only be when population was dense +enough to destroy the game and timber, or when a people were forced to +an arid region, that the stone house would develop. The Iroquois was +a forest Amerind, and he built a house of wood that was excellent in +construction and answered his purpose admirably. The Navajo occupying +an arid region has been content with a rude shelter of boughs and +branches or with boughs or poles covered with mud. They have never +profited by the example of their Moki neighbours, and built substantial +houses,—one reason, and the chief one, being that their habit of never +occupying again any shelter where death has occurred has precluded it, +for they do not care to bestow great labour on a structure that they +may be called upon any time to abandon. There are then other causes +besides ability, or inability, to build substantially that determine +the character of the Amerind house. + +[Illustration: A SWEAT HOUSE] + +Bandelier states that the Pimas “dwelt in scattered hamlets, the houses +of which combine to-day the mud roof of a typical New Mexican pueblo +with the temporary framework of frail branches characteristic of the +roaming savage.”[171] The roof is dome-shaped, but it is similar in +material to the Pueblo mud roof, so that there we have a sort of a +cross between the Moki field shelter, already mentioned, and the Navajo +hut or hogan. The stock from which the present Pimas descended are +supposed to have built the remarkable structure in Arizona known as +_Casa Grande_, found in ruins by the first explorers. Tribes alter +their methods of building, either from summer to winter or at different +epochs. The Omahas at one time made lodges of wood, at another of +earth, and at still another time they dwelt in tipis of skin. If a +stone-house-building tribe should migrate to a region where neither +loose flat stones nor adobe clay could be readily obtained, they would +be forced to use timber.[172] The Zuñi languages and traditions point +to the occupancy by the Pueblos in early times of brush houses like +those of the Pai Utes. The Mohaves live in low huts of branches covered +with mud. + +The communal principle of living pervaded America and largely +determined the size and character of the dwellings. A number of +families usually lived together, in the same house, or in a group of +rooms or houses. The “long-house” of the Iroquois, called by them +_hodénosote_, and the clustered fortress-houses of the Pueblos, are +good examples of the results of the practice of the communal principles +adhered to by most of the Amerinds. It is also believed by some of the +best authorities, like Bandelier and Morgan, that the Mexican and Mayan +houses were largely due to the same cause. + +Among the Omahas the tipis were usually grouped according to +gentes.[173] Tipi and wigwam are frequently used by us as synonymous, +and in some dictionaries a picture of a tipi is made to represent a +wigwam.[174] This is an error due to unfamiliarity with different forms +of Amerind dwellings. The tipi is generally a portable structure while +the wigwam is always fixed, and the latter is also of a different +shape. Tipi is a Dakota term and wigwam is Algonquin. Tipi is really +the plural for “house,” the singular being “ti,” and “pi” a termination +indicating plurality.[175] It is constructed by arranging a number, +sometimes as many as twenty or thirty, long poles, previously tied +together near their tops, in a circle of about ten or fifteen feet +diameter. This conical frame is then covered with bison hides sewed +together in one sheet, or in modern days with canvas, shaped properly +and laced or pinned together along the middle third of the junction of +the covering mantle. The upper third is left loose, and its pointed +ends are extended up and out by means of outside poles stuck into +pockets in their extreme upper corners, according to the direction of +the wind, to let the smoke escape from the fire built in the middle +of the interior. If the wind blows straight at these flaps they are +brought close together. Sometimes an extra skin is adjusted at the top +so that it can be placed on any side to accomplish this object. The +lower third is left open for a doorway, another skin being adjusted +before it with a stick to spread it near its upper end, which end is +attached to the tent. The bottom of the tent cover is held down by +stakes or pins driven into the ground. In case of high winds, stones or +other weights are placed on the bottom edge of the skins to keep them +down. In summer the Omahas, and other tribes of the Dakotas, erected, +when convenient, an elliptical lodge covered with bark, the roof being +rounded and the construction being generally similar to the Algonquin +elliptical wigwam. It was not more than seven feet high, while the +tipi is twelve to twenty or more. These tribes also sometimes built +earth lodges, chiefly for summer use, the roofs of which resembled in +construction those of the Pueblo houses, though they were conical. A +number of posts were set up in the ground to support in their crotches +the transverse beams upon which numerous slender poles, about two +inches in diameter, were laid to reach almost to the top where a hole +for the exit of smoke was left. Against the outer series of posts +all around slabs of wood were set up and the whole was then covered +with earth a foot or two thick after matting and a layer of grass, or +grass alone, was placed on the rafters or roof poles. This lodge was +circular, the roof being conical, and it was entered through a covered +way about ten feet long and five feet wide, the outer opening of which +was protected by hanging bison hides. The supporting poles or posts +were arranged in two concentric circles, in large lodges, the inner set +being higher than the outer. Compartments within opening toward the +fire were formed of willow matting, or skins. + +[Illustration: AN OMAHA TIPI] + +The regular tipi was decorated in accordance with tribal customs. +Dorsey has published some careful notes on this as on other matters +connected with the tribes of the Dakota stock, and Catlin has also +given descriptions. The decorations were often the result of a vision. +If a man had a vision of the aurora he depicted it on his robes and +tent, the latter having a band of paint around the bottom, above which +was a zigzag border from which, on one side, three stripes were drawn +to the top of the tent, four on the other, and one in the rear. If he +had a vision of the night or of some other “superterrestrial object, +he blackened the upper part of his tent and a small portion on each +side of the entrance.” Sometimes a star was also indicated, and night +was represented by a black band above the middle or at the bottom. A +tent similar to the Dakota tipi is in wide use among the Amerinds. +Morgan states that the Dakotas were living in bark-covered houses when +first discovered, in villages, in the present state of Minnesota, +and that when they were driven “upon the plains by an advancing +white population, but after they had become possessed of horses, +they invented a skin tent eminently adapted to their present nomadic +condition. It is superior to any other in use among the American +aborigines from its roominess, its portable character, and the facility +with which it can be erected and struck.”[176] While this is probably +accurate as concerns the Dakotas, it is likely that other tribes +invented a similar tent for themselves, before the appearance of the +Dakotas on the plains.[177] Three tipis among the Omahas were sacred, +and sheltered three sacred objects, the Sacred Pole, the Sacred White +Buffalo-Cow Skin, and the Sacred Bag. These are all now in the Peabody +Museum at Cambridge. They were built like the common tipi. + +[Illustration: A SEMINOLE DWELLING] + +The wigwam of the Algonquins was built in two general ways, using bark +or mats for covering. One form is made by planting elastic poles in the +ground and bringing their tops together, and binding the whole with +horizontal poles. It is unlike the tipi, because it is not portable, +because the poles are flexible, and because the sides curve out from +bottom to top instead of being straight lines. It is covered with +birchbark. It is from ten to sixteen feet in diameter on the ground, +and from six to ten feet high. The fire was built, as in the tipi, in +the middle of the floor in a slight depression, and the usual outlet +for smoke was left at the top. “Such a lodge,” says Morgan, “would +accommodate, in the aboriginal plan of living, two and sometimes three +married pairs with their children.”[178] The Menominee-Algonquin form +of wigwam was made by planting in the ground about three feet apart, +approximating the form of an ellipse, strong saplings some two inches +in diameter, leaving at each end an opening for a doorway. The poles +are then bent over toward each other and tied in an arch with strips of +bark. Horizontal poles are tied on to the upright ones for stiffening, +and the frame is then covered with bark or mats overlapping each other +like shingles. The usual smoke outlet is left in the top. A mat curtain +takes the place of a door. There were seldom, or never, regular doors +in any Amerind houses on the continent before the Discovery, the +opening being closed by curtains or mats. Another Menominee shelter, +described by Hoffman, was made by “putting five or six saplings on each +side of a parallelogram; the ends are left open, and the top of each +sapling on a given side is then bound down over its opposite fellow to +form a roof somewhat resembling a wagon-top. Horizontal saplings are +then bound around the framework to make the structure secure, and over +all are laid, longitudinally, a series of long strips of pine bark the +upper pieces overlapping those below, while a large piece is placed +over the highest part of the roof, which thus sheds the rain or melting +snow.... The bedding is spread on the ground and usually covers the +entire floor.”[179] + +The eastern portion of the continent below Labrador, being +well-forested, the Amerind houses there appear to have been entirely of +wood, or sometimes of wood and mud combined. For this reason nothing +of any of them, except occasional earth rings, is to be found and, +so far as remains of houses are concerned, our wonderful, surpassing +Moundbuilders appear to have had no houses. Turning to other Amerinds, +however, who occupied the country when the whites arrived, we glean a +fair idea of what the houses of the Mississippi valley may have been +at their best. They varied in design in the same locality, of course, +according to the tribe, in the same way that I have mentioned that in +the South-west we find to-day Amerinds living in the most primitive +form of dwelling not many miles away from others living in high types. + +Some of the Mississippi valley houses were doubtless excellent +structures though built of wood, or of wattling plastered with +mud. Many of the mounds, squares, and circles were connected with +buildings, generally forming the foundations for dwellings or other +structures as in other parts of the continent.[180] In other words, +they were often platforms for houses. The reasons for building a house +on a platform raised above the surrounding lands might be many; one +simple one was a desire to keep the floor dry in wet weather. The floor +was earth, and earth on a level during long rains got uncomfortably +damp if not wet. It would be natural in building, after such lessons, +to elevate the floor of the house, which was done by rearing a platform +of earth. This gave good drainage, and besides in a malarial region +would be more healthful, and furthermore added to the defensive +qualities. The habitations being built upon platforms, it would not +do to build sacred structures on low ground. Man seldom looks down +upon his spiritual constructions. Hence the higher the sacred building +could be placed, the more sacred it seemed, and the huge flat-topped +mounds of the Mississippi valley and Mexico were the result. Some of +the Florida Amerinds were still living in dwellings reared on platforms +of this kind, and so were others in the Southern United States, at the +time of the first visits of the whites. The mounds, as a rule, are on +the bottom lands along river courses, though in places where there are +higher terraces these have frequently been chosen. Thomas quotes the +following passage from Garcilasso: “The town and the houses of the +cacique Ossachile are like those of other caciques in Florida.... The +Indians try to place their villages on elevated sites; but inasmuch +as in Florida there are not many sites of this kind where they can +conveniently build, they erect elevations themselves in the following +manner: They select the spot and carry there a quantity of earth, which +they form into a kind of platform two or three pikes in height, the +summit of which is large enough to give room for twelve, fifteen, or +twenty houses, to lodge the cacique and his attendants. At the foot +of this elevation they mark out a square place, according to the size +of the village, around which the leading men have their houses.... +To ascend the elevation they have a straight passageway from bottom +to top, fifteen or twenty feet wide. Here steps are made by massive +beams, and others are planted firmly in the ground to serve as walls. +On all other sides of the platform the sides are cut steep.”[181] +Thomas quotes further from Garcilasso: “The chief, whose name was also +Guaxule, came out with five hundred men to meet him and took him in the +village (pueblo) in which were three hundred houses, and lodged him in +his own. This house stood on a high mound (cerro) similar to others we +have already mentioned. Round about was a roadway sufficiently broad +for six men to walk abreast.”[182] Again he quotes Le Page Du Pratz, +who visited the Natchez in 1720: “As I was an intimate friend of the +sovereign of the Natchez he showed me their temple, which is about +thirty feet square, and stands on an artificial mount about eight feet +high, by the side of a small river.”[183] There was also still another +reason for building on mounds or elevated platforms; the reason, or +at least one great reason, why the Mayas and Mexicans built on them, +namely the desire to protect the foundations. In Louisiana the Taensas, +in the time of La Salle, built of “sun-baked mud mixed with straw, +arched over with a dome-shaped roof.”[184] Now a structure of this +kind if reared on ordinary ground would soon be destroyed by the rains +and moisture sapping its foundations, but by placing it on an elevated +platform, where its footing would be comparatively dry, it would endure +a long time. A sacred house would be likely to be so placed, if not +others. + +[Illustration: MISSISSIPPI VALLEY METHOD OF USING JACAL CONSTRUCTION, + ACCORDING TO THOMAS] + +[Illustration: CLIFF OUTLOOK, CANYON DEL MUERTO, ARIZONA] + +Every tribe had some kind of a sacred structure, the Omahas carrying +from place to place the three sacred tents referred to. The sacred +structures, too, were generally of the same style as the house of the +chief. Each village of the Natchez had a house devoted to the dead, +besides others dedicated to different sacred objects. The death-house +was oval, “having a circumference of one hundred feet—a simple hut +without a window, and with a low and narrow opening on the side for +the only door.”[185] Here were “garnered the choicest fetiches of the +tribe, of which some were moulded from clay and baked in the sun. +There, too, were gathered the bones of the dead; there an undying fire +was kept burning by appointed guardians as if to warm and light and +cheer the departed.”[185] “Hard by the temple, on an artificial mound +of earth, stood the hut of the Great Sun; around it were grouped the +cabins of the tribe.”[185] + +It seems unnecessary to give any further space to show that the mounds +that have aroused so much discussion and romantic writing were, many of +them, the foundations for various structures reared by Amerinds as we +know them. + +Morgan advanced a theory that the hollow square earthworks were the +foundations for long buildings, at one and the same time dwellings +and a part of the defences, the interior area being used for a work +place, children’s playground, etc. Many Algonquin houses were made +of a parallelogram shape, with straight sides about eight feet high +and a rounded roof. These houses were fifty or more feet long, and +the matting with which they were covered could be readily removed +to let in the sun and air. As a rule the villages were surrounded by +palisades. The Iroquois, as well as most other Amerinds, lived in +permanent villages, which were at first stockaded. They used three +kinds of houses; a triangular lodge made of poles with bark for a +covering, used in hunting, and the _ganosote_ or smaller bark house +constructed in the same way as the third kind, the _hodénosote_ or +“long-house,” which was built to accommodate a number of families. +This was sometimes a hundred feet long, and from it came the name +_Hodenosaunee_ by which the great League of the Five (Six) Nations was +known to the world and to themselves. It was made by planting poles in +the ground and binding others across them to make a strong frame of +the shape of a parallelogram, upon which a roof of triangular pattern +was built out of poles covered with bark. Sometimes the roof was round +like that of many Algonquin tribes, and that of the ganosote was very +frequently round. The height of the sides was about ten feet. The +ganosote was about fifteen by twenty feet and fifteen feet high, with +inside a kind of double berth built against the longer walls like the +berths in a ship. It would accommodate eight persons. The entrance +was closed by skins or by bark hung on wooden hinges. The covering +was bark held in place by an outer set of poles tied through to the +inside ones. The long-house was divided into a number of chambers +six or eight feet wide with a passageway through all from end to end +where the doors were. “Between each four apartments, two on a side, +was a fire-pit in the center of the hall, used in common by their +occupants.... Raised bunks were constructed around the walls of each +apartment for beds.”[186] These structures constituted the village +which was surrounded by a palisade, sometimes a double or triple row. +The houses were placed without arrangement; and when the league grew +powerful the palisade was dispensed with. The Lenapé “constructed small +wattled huts with rounded tops thatched with the leaves of the Indian +corn or with sweetflags.... In summer light brush tents took the place +of these.”[187] + +[Illustration: HALL OF COLUMNS, MITLA + + Holmes’s Archæological Studies in Mexico + + Photograph by A. V. Armour +] + +[Illustration: TRANSVERSE SECTION (SOMEWHAT GENERALISED) SHOWING + CONSTRUCTION OF PALENQUE BUILDINGS, YUCATAN + + _f_, trefoil opening through medial wall; _g_, _h_, two principal + varieties of roof comb + + W. H. Holmes +] + +[Illustration: SOME DETAILS OF PUEBLO HOUSE ARCHITECTURE + + A TRIANGULAR SIPAPU OR SACRED KIVA ORIFICE + + PUEBLO ROOF CONSTRUCTION + + SOME MOKI ROOF DRAINS +] + +On the North-west coast the native houses are usually built of cedar +slabs. These slabs are split out of the wide trees[188] and the walls +are obtained by securing them in an upright position to a frame about +ten feet high. On this rests the roof of split shakes, bark, or boards, +laid on rafters which are supported in the middle by two long, heavy +beams, running the entire length of the house, and themselves borne up +by four huge posts, often carved with totemic emblems. The general +outward appearance of these houses is much like an ordinary low +one-story house or barn of our own, except that in the middle of the +roof there is a large square hole for a smoke outlet, the fire being +made on a patch of sand or earth that forms a square about nine by ten +feet in the middle of the room, the size depending on the dimensions +of the house. They are usually about thirty or forty feet square,[189] +the interior forming one large room, sometimes having a platform on +one or two sides or all the way round about six feet wide and two feet +high. This is divided by thin partitions into small compartments, +which are covered about six feet above the floor with a ceiling of +thin boards. A curtain in front makes a room of it. These houses vary +somewhat in the different localities, but the type is about the same +from the Puget Sound region to Yakutat Bay. Some of the Sound Amerinds +give but one pitch to the roof. Many of the natives now build a house +of sawed materials and roof it with shingles so that their modern +villages, like the one at Sitka, present outwardly few Amerind signs, +as they usually have chimneys, too, instead of smoke holes. Where +they have the latter, boards are stuck up above the ridge to form a +windbreak, or a more perfect arrangement for preventing back draught is +applied in the shape of a large solid shutter so pivoted in the middle +line that it can be tilted from one side of the ridge to the other. +Among some tribes there are several smoke holes with adjustable boards +that can be worked from below with a pole. The entire front gable of +a chief’s house or an assembly house is often ornamented with a huge +totemic design, painted on smooth boards that fill the whole space. +In front of the house stood the tall pole bearing the totems of the +inmates carved, one above another, with a full relief totem adorning +the top. Small houses were built to hold the boxes containing the ashes +of the dead, and the roof was sometimes surmounted with a totem carved +in wood, or the totem was erected on a small pole nearby, or placed +under the roof. + +[Illustration: MOKI NOTCHED DOORWAY, SO MADE THAT LARGE BUNDLES COULD + BE TAKEN IN + + The transom was probably at first a smoke outlet +] + +In all the constructions of the Amerinds of the North-west coast we +perceive the powerful influence of surroundings on a primitive people. +The region abounds in superb cedars with a grain so fine and straight +that the logs can be readily split into slabs a couple of inches thick, +that are admirable material for building purposes. Then there are +plenty of young straight hemlocks, firs, and cedars for rafters and +framework, so that these Amerinds, like those of the cliff region of +the South-west, had their building material almost ready made. Being +largely fishermen, they were not well supplied with skins, so that it +was not easy to make pole lodges covered with them, as was the case +with many Amerinds of the interior, where trees were absent or hard to +split and where skins were plenty. + +[Illustration: A ZUÑI CHIMNEY, MOKI THE SAME] + +[Illustration: ONE FORM OF MOKI CHIMNEY HOOD] + +In California a variety of houses was built, as there are many +different stocks and conditions. The Yokuts made them of tule mats in +the shape of an “A” tent with a door at the front. A half dozen or more +of these were placed in a row and above them a flat sun-shelter of +branches laid on a platform of poles supported by crotched posts set in +the ground. Others build a hut of slabs or bark brought to a point and +open on one side, like a tipi cut in two. Others again live in wikiups +made by covering a square framework with boughs, leaving one side open. +When the side of an Amerind hut is left open in this way, the opening +always faces the south, except in hot weather, when it generally faces +the other way. Another California tribe lives in earth lodges entered +from the top through a hole or hatch with steps on the outside. This +lodge was made by excavating a couple of feet and putting this earth +on the covering framework, for a roof. In the mountains where wood was +plenty they frequently used no earth at all, showing how quickly they +adapted themselves to circumstances. The Modoc “excavates a circular +space from two to four feet deep, then erects over it a rounded +structure of poles and puncheons, strongly braced up with timbers, +sometimes hewn and squared. The whole is warmly covered with earth, and +an aperture left atop, reached by a centre pole. Before the coming of +the whites secured them against the constant assaults and incursions +of their enemies, their dwellings were slighter, consisting generally +of a frame of willow poles, with tule matting overspread.”[190] Another +tribe of the Pacific Slope, the Makhelchel, build cabins “of slender +willow poles set upright in the ground, with others crossing them +horizontally, forming a square lattice-work.”[191] The Yokaya have a +lodge or dwelling composed of a “huge framework of willow poles covered +with thatch, and resembling a large flattish haystack.” The Karok +“excavate a round cellar, four or five feet deep and twelve or fifteen +feet in diameter. Over this they build a square cabin of split poles +or puncheons, planted erect in the ground and covered with a flattish +puncheon roof. They eat and sleep in the cellar ... and store their +supplies on the bank above next to the walls of the cabin.”[192] The +Maidu make a hut of slabs placed together in something the shape of a +tipi, with a low, square projection for an entrance. + +Passing northward to the Aleuts, we find “houses built with the floor +somewhat below the level of the outside soil, the walls of whale-ribs, +sticks of wood, or upright stone walls, covered outside with mats, +straw and finally turf.... The roof was formed by arching whale-ribs, +or long sticks of driftwood, matted, thatched, and turfed like the +sides, with a central aperture. A platform, somewhat raised, around the +sides of the house afforded a place for sitting and sleeping. Later +each village had a large house or _kashim_, which served as a common +work-shop, and a lodging for strangers, as well as for a town-hall +for their discussions and festivals.... Still later, in a period not +greatly antedating the historic, the Aleuts began to build large +communistic dwellings with features peculiar to themselves, without +doors, and entered by the hole in the roof, the inmates descending +on a notched log placed upright. These large yourts were divided, +by partitions of wood, stone, or matting, into small rooms like the +state-rooms of a steamer, but without doors; open toward the center of +the yourt, and each accommodating one family.”[193] + +It will be noted that we have again changed materials of construction; +and why? Because the Aleutian Islands are devoid of timber, devoid of +good building stone that an Amerind could get at, and he resorted +therefore to what there was—driftwood, whale-ribs, turf, etc.[194] The +house called by the Russians _barabára_ seems to have been originally +made of turf even to the roof, and I saw examples in the summer of 1899 +at Unalaska and on St. Paul Island. The turf or sod was cut into slabs +and laid up like stones. + +[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF ESKIMO SNOW IGLU] + +Continuing northward we reach the vast treeless arctic regions, where +cold is the great enemy, and the reader wonders what man can do here in +the way of architecture. He has done considerable; amongst other things +he devised the only true arch found on the continent, and constructed +one of the most admirable and unique dwellings in the world. This he +built out of the snow which fell about him and prevented him from +securing other material. The invention of the snow house by the Eskimo, +or Innuit, as they call themselves, was one of the greatest triumphs +over environment man has ever accomplished. I refer, of course, to the +perfected snow house, the dome-shaped _iglugeak_, commonly called by +us _igloo_ or _iglu_. _Iglu_ is the Innuit generic term for “house,” +the distinctive name for snow house being _iglugeak_. This snow house +is begun by selecting a suitable deep drift that is compact enough to +permit homogeneous blocks to be taken from it, with the snow-knife, +which is a bone tool shaped like a short sword. Latterly steel saws are +employed when they have them. In the pit formed by removal of blocks +of snow the builder works at his walls, the bottom of the excavation +finally forming the floor of the house. The first block is bevelled +down to a wedge shape with the point toward the beginning, and the +worker goes on round his circle, and when he comes again to the wedge +his wall rises upon the first portion and continues thus in a spiral +fashion to the top, constantly narrowing till at last one block fills +the opening. It takes two to adjust this, though one may build a +small house successfully to that last point. By building spirally and +therefore continuously, there is always support on two sides for the +last block laid. The edges are slanted at the same time to bring the +tiers gradually toward the centre. Joints and holes are filled with +snow, though a small hole is left at the top for ventilation. As the +heating of this house is done with lamps there is little smoke. For +camping purposes a small snow house is built, seven feet diameter and +five feet high, in about two hours. When made for permanent use the +house is about twelve feet high and fifteen feet diameter. Plenty of +light comes through the snow, but a window of ice or seal intestine +is often placed over the entrance, which is reached by a more or less +extended passage, with vaults for storage, by the way. + +[Illustration: SECTION OF SNOW IGLU] + +But though this house is so cleverly built, and is warm, and proof +against everything but mild weather, the Innuit, if he can, will build +a permanent winter house of drift wood, stones, earth, and sod and +whale-ribs. These from the outside look like mounds of earth, and as +soon as warm weather comes are nothing but wet cellars, which the +inhabitants quickly abandon for the time, erecting with their walrus +and seal skins a summer tent, called a _tupek_ or _topek_. The Point +Barrow tupek is something like a tipi, without a smoke hole, as the +fire is built outside when they can secure wood to build one. All the +Alaska Innuit now use canvas tents of the “wall” pattern, when they can +procure them. + +The Amerind of the interior of the northland, where timber grows, +utilises it and the skins of the animals he kills. The Nenenot about +Hudson Bay occupy, all the year round, a tent almost identical with the +Dakota tipi. + +[Illustration: AN ALASKA ESKIMO WINTER HOUSE, POINT BARROW + + Interior and sections p. 221 +] + +No construction on the continent shows more skill than the Innuit +snow iglu. The winter houses, of snow or other material, are usually +occupied by two or more families. Many interiors of snow houses are +lined with the summer tent covering to prevent the drip of the walls +from falling on the occupants. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR GROUND PLAN OF A MOKI HOUSE] + +As the polar regions developed the snow-house; forest regions, bark +and mat houses; barren plains, portable tents; so arid regions, where +disintegrating cliffs furnished an abundance of flat slabs of stone, +evolved stone houses, and broad dry valleys or plains lacking cliffs, +timber, or large game, but yielding good clay soil, produced houses +of mud or adobe; or, according to conditions, such combinations of +these materials as were easiest and most practicable. It is next in +order to review the houses of the arid regions constructed of stone, +adobe, jacal, cajon, pisé,[195] etc., and the cavate lodges. To do +full justice to the subject of houses would require a separate volume, +but enough may be given here to present a general view. The occupied +villages of the South-western United States are similar to the ruins +found throughout that region, and the cliff-dwellings, which some +writers would clothe with mystery, as has been mentioned, were no more +mysterious than the occupied dwellings of the Moki; or any other Pueblo +village, which, fortunately, remains inhabited by the builders.[196] +The cliff-dwellings were constructed in cliffs simply because it was +expedient to build them there and not because the builders were a race +apart from other Amerinds. The canyons where the cliff-dwellings occur +have bottom lands that are fertile and easily irrigated, both by stream +water, and after the Pueblo fashion, by guiding shower waters with hoes +amongst the corn. This in itself was a sufficient object for building +in the canyons, and the huge, natural conchoidal alcoves that occur +in the faces of the prevailing formation were attractive places to +build in for several reasons, one of which may have been protection +from assault and the weather, and another the frequent presence of +springs at the back of these cavities. These springs have almost +vanished, in many cases have entirely disappeared, owing to slightly +drier conditions now prevailing. But I have frequently noticed at the +back part of many of the cavities that had no ruins, or few ruins, to +cover it up, a moisture that might at times increase to a dripping, or +even flowing, that would furnish enough water for the daily supply of +a considerable Amerind village. The construction is the same as other +Pueblo houses of stone. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF WOOD AND EARTH IGLU] + +[Illustration: AN ALASKA ESKIMO WINTER HOUSE OF WOOD AND EARTH, POINT + BARROW] + +[Illustration: STONE STEPS AT ORAIBI] + +The inhabited pueblos, like the ruins, usually consist of a number of +rooms built adjoining or on top of each other, like a lot of square +boxes placed in rows or in a pyramidal pile, or like a series of steps, +with the total height at the back often straight down. One or two +single-room houses are first built, and then additions are made from +time to time till the pile grows to a considerable height; three or +four stories.[197] Groups of these groups built near each other form +courts between. The lower tier of rooms, in olden times, was not +entered from the ground, but from the roof through a hatchway, a ladder +leading up on the outside and down on the inside. The upper rooms, or +houses, were entered from the roofs of the lower ones; that is, the +roofs of the lower rooms formed the floors of the upper ones, and also +balconies in front of the rooms. I occupied for a time one of these +upper rooms in Tewa, on the “East Mesa” at the Moki towns, and I found +the roof in front of my door a delightful place, commanding a view of +the whole mesa and a hundred miles beyond. I could also reach the top +of my house easily, by a sort of stairway formed on the edge of the +prolonged wall that separated me from my neighbour, and as this was the +summit of the village my view was superb. Such stairways are common in +all the villages. The ladders by which the various roofs are reached +are now much like our own, but rudely made, and the upper ends are +often very long, extending in many cases far above the house-top. The +walls, about a foot thick, are of stone slabs laid in adobe mortar, +and are generally built up by the women, who take their own time to +the work, adding a few stones whenever they feel like it. Beams of +small tree-trunks, six to eight inches in diameter, form the basis of +the flat roof.[198] They are laid across the top of the walls and the +ends, if too long, usually allowed to project beyond. These are covered +with smaller poles laid about a foot apart, and on these are spread +slender willows or reeds, with a layer of grass or twigs next, on which +a layer of adobe mortar is laid and earth trodden down on top till it +is firm, when a finish is made with another coat of adobe mortar. A +slight pitch is given to the roof. No plumb-line, level, or square was +used by the Amerinds anywhere on the continent so far as is now known. +Sometimes the floors are paved with irregular flat sandstone slabs, but +in most houses the floor is formed by a coat of adobe mortar which is +patched and renewed as needed. Moccasined feet are not hard on such a +surface, but my heavy soled shoes were the despair of the owner of my +habitation. The hand is used as a trowel. The chimney is usually at one +corner, and did not exist in America previous to the sixteenth century. +A hood is built down from the roof to within about three or four feet +of the floor, to catch the smoke, and outside the chimney is built +up about three feet, sometimes with stones, but more frequently with +large earthen pots with the bottoms knocked out. The hood is formed +of sticks plastered with adobe mortar. Doorways were formerly of the +notched variety[199] closed by a curtain, and the hatchways were closed +by a mat of reeds. In later times the doorways have become like our +own, and doors, too, have been made out of sawed boards. My door at +Tewa was hung on hinges and had a latch and string. Glazed windows have +also been adopted in many houses. The Rio Grande pueblos are built +of adobe bricks, and so, largely, is Zuñi, but there is little adobe +in the Moki towns, except in the form of plaster and mortar. The Rio +Grande pueblos were largely constructed of adobe when first visited in +1540. The Pueblo Amerind frequently abandoned his village for one cause +or another and built a new one elsewhere, so while his village may be +called a permanent one it was not much more so than villages of the +Algonquins and Iroquois. + +[Illustration: CLIFF-DWELLING, EASTERN COVE OF MUMMY CAVE, CANYON DE + CHELLY, ARIZONA] + +[Illustration: HOUSES IN WALPI, ONE OF THE MOKI TOWNS, ARIZONA + + In this are well seen the plastered and unplastered walls of stone, + the ladders of ascent, the “end wall” steps, the notched doorway, + with transom, the projecting roof beams, a rabbit-skin robe hanging + on the wall above the right-hand ladder, and also on the left the + entrance to a passageway through to another court + + Photograph by U. S. Geological Survey +] + +[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF A GROUP OF CAVATE LODGES, ARIZONA] + +[Illustration: PLAN AND SECTIONS OF A CAVATE LODGE] + +[Illustration: DIAGRAM SHOWING POCKET AT BACK OF SOME CAVATE LODGES + + It was probably a receptacle for water which dripped slowly from + the rock in wet seasons +] + +Besides houses, some of the Amerinds of the South-west dwelt in +shelters excavated wholly or in part in the face of a cliff or +mountain, or hill. There are four localities where these cavate lodges +occur in numbers, the northern Rio Grande valley, the San Juan River +valley, the San Francisco mountain region, and the Rio Verde valley +in Arizona. There are in these places thousands of cavate lodges. +They average in size two or three rooms, sometimes communicating +by a ledge, sometimes, often, in fact, with excavated connections. +Some of the Verde group[200] are cut back a long distance into the +rock—forty or fifty feet. The rooms are both oblong and circular, about +seven feet high and ten by seventeen feet in size, or eight or ten +feet diameter, according to the shape. There were no chimneys, the +fire-pits being near the entrances. Nor were there any windows, the +doorway being the only opening to the outside. Floors were levelled by +filling depressions with adobe clay and low ridges were built up of +the same material, probably to keep the inmates off the bottom, which +must have sometimes been damp. Poles or willows laid across the ridges +with skins on them would have made a flooring. Depressions at the back +walls appear to have been made to hold water, and doubtless at times +there was a “seepage” of considerable amount, as I have suggested +regarding the open conchoidal caves occupied by the Cliff-dwellers. +What appear to be stepping-stones are found in some entrances, as +if water at times flowed out. The Verde group are in a soft grey +sandstone, the Rio Grande in tufa, the San Francisco in cinder hills. +These cavate dwellings are simply another form of Amerind residence +due to necessity or expedience.[201] In other places there are some +that were undoubtedly merely farming outlooks, occupied only during +the crop season, just as there are cliff houses for this purpose, and +also houses erected singly in open valleys. But many cavate lodges were +actual residences for a period of years, owing to circumstances of +one kind or another. The Cliff-dwellers may still be found among the +Tarahumaris of northern Mexico. Schwatka describes some who “had walled +up the outward face of a cave nearly to the top, leaving the latter for +ventilation.” Many small cliff-dwellings in other places were so made +to allow the smoke to escape. That is, the wall along the outer edge +of the cavity was not carried quite up to the rock above, so that the +smoke could drift out. There was, therefore, no roof over the dwelling, +but it was sheltered by the overhanging rock. Many more examples of +this adaptation of the dwelling to circumstances might be added. + +There are ruins scattered all over the South-west, many of which were +built by the same set of Amerinds, and do not represent a vanished +population. Still, I believe that the population was at one time much +greater than it was when our acquaintance with it began. Internecine +wars resulting from a diminution of water-supply; diseases introduced +by the whites; and also the attacks and absorption of tribes by the +wilder Amerinds, being some of the causes of the diminution. It would +not be possible to describe even all the prominent ruins here, but +I will mention several. Beginning easterly of the Rio Grande, we +find the Pecos Ruins first of importance. There are also remains of a +large adobe Catholic church and a convent here, not finally and fully +abandoned till about 1840. The ruins consist of two chief buildings +on a low table, surrounded by an artificial wall. The buildings were +in the form of rectangles, with courts within, one 55 by 440 feet, +and the other 170 by 350 feet. In places, they were three or four +stories high, terraced, Pueblo fashion. The construction was slightly +different from the ordinary, as the upper floor and roof beams rested +mainly on heavy upright posts set into the walls, and not directly +on the walls themselves. The whole framework was thus independent of +the enclosing walls, very much as our modern steel frame buildings +are. The walls were of sandstone slabs, and were from one to two feet +thick. Another group of important ruins, and about the finest specimens +of the stone buildings of the ancient Pueblos, is that of the Chaco, +in north-western New Mexico.[202] There are eleven chief ruins, and +many smaller ones. The principal ruins were once houses three, four, +or perhaps five stories high, all built of sandstone slabs and blocks +obtained from the débris of the cliffs. Some of the walls are still +standing to the height of thirty or forty feet. All are not uniform in +the way the stones are laid, the variation being due to building at +different times, and to a variation of the available supply of slabs. +The stones were usually laid so closely, and so carefully chinked with +spalls, that the outside of the walls resembles a smooth mosaic; though +adobe mortar and rubble were freely used in the interior. Lintels, +as was generally the case throughout America, were of wood. The date +of the abandonment of these buildings is not known. They were first +mentioned by Gregg, in 1844.[203] + +[Illustration: THEORETIC ROOF CONSTRUCTION OF MITLA + + W. H. Holmes +] + +[Illustration: CEILING OR ROOF PLAN + + GROUND PLAN OF A KIVA AND CEILING PLAN OF ANOTHER + + The entrance is by ladder through the hole in the ceiling, which is + also the smoke outlet. The floor is paved with slabs of stone, and + is about 12 inches higher at the right-hand end. There are places + on each side for the looms, blankets being woven in the kivas. The + fireplace is the black square. At the left is the plank containing + the sacred orifice called the sipapu. The foot of the ladder rests + on the edge of the raised portion of the floor +] + +[Illustration: CHACO RUINS MASONRY + + From _Report_ of Hayden Expedition; 2 and 3 not found in modern + Pueblo architecture +] + +[Illustration: From Hayden _Report_] + +There were many round towers of stone in the South-west, also the work +of the Pueblos. Some stand alone but most of them are near other ruins. +Often they were built with two or three concentric walls from two to +five feet apart. A double-walled tower on the Mancos had an outer +diameter of forty-three feet. Some of them may have been watch-towers, +but those connected with other buildings were perhaps religious +structures, or were used somewhat as the kiva[204] is to-day. The kiva +is a room now usually square, in part, or wholly, below the general +surface of the locality, used as a kind of club-house, council-house, +lounging place, and meeting place for members of the society to which +it belongs; and also a lodging place for the men; women are generally +excluded. In Zuñi, the kivas are rooms on the ground floor. Many +ancient kivas were round. + +[Illustration: RUIN CALLED CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA] + +Adobe brick and adobe clay in various forms were largely employed by +the South-western and Mexican Amerinds, and there are evidences that +some tribes in the Mississippi valley also used it. In the Rio Grande +valley the adobe is made into large bricks, sun-dried and laid up with +a mortar of the same material. Otherwise the villages are much the +same as those described. One of the best modern examples of the adobe +construction is the village of Taos in north-eastern New Mexico. (See +illustration page 3.) Another method of employing adobe is seen in the +famous ruin called _Casa Grande_, near Florence, Arizona, which our +government recently repaired so that it will endure for a considerable +time. This was made by the cajon method; that is, the adobe mud was +rammed into large chests or boxes of wicker, without top or bottom, and +when the material was sufficiently dried to hold its shape the frame +was removed and the operation repeated till the wall was finished. The +ruin referred to is only one of a number that were still standing in +an area of about sixty-five acres in 1744, when Father Sedelmair saw +them. He described the present ruin as having four stories, but only +three are now distinguishable at the highest part. Its age is unknown. +Its builders are supposed to have been the ancestors of the present +Pimas, though probably there was considerable difference in the matter +of culture. Father Kino, in 1694, was the first European to see the +place and it was a ruin then. It was doubtless a communal dwelling like +all the other large structures of the Amerinds of this region. Its size +on the ground is forty-three by fifty-nine feet. Partitions three or +four feet thick divide the interior into five rooms, the middle one +having higher walls than the rest. The adobe blocks are two feet high, +three to five long, and three or four across, and are almost as hard +as sandstone while dry. There may have been upper stories of plastered +wattled posts. Another famous ruin similar to this is the _Casas +Grandes_ in Chihuahua, Mexico. It is built in much the same way as +_Casa Grande_, and there are more buildings there standing. Probably +there were at one time a great many structures of this kind in that +region, and there may be others still standing in less explored parts. +In the Salt River valley many of the buildings were of a somewhat +different type again, as concerns their wall construction.[205] The +Hemenway Expedition excavated a great many sites and found that the +walls were often adobe rammed in between two series of posts wattled +with reeds and cross-braced with sticks, the outer part of the wattled +frames being plastered with adobe mortar. The thinner walls were +constructed with only one line of wattled posts plastered on both +sides, after the manner of the Mexican construction known as jacal, +which is a set of poles fixed in the ground and then plastered on one +or both sides with mud. The upper stories of some of the Rio Grande +structures in the early times were made of wood probably plastered +this way, which explains why in the southern part of New Mexico there +are not now found higher standing walls of ruins or evidences of +several stories.[206] Examples also have been seen in South-western +Colorado, where a kind of wicker-work was built on the top of a wall +and plastered on both sides. In the Salt River ruins the existence of +the wood-work was indicated by the cavities left by its decay. There +were also other structures built without the wattled frames. The +cajon and pisé construction are very much alike, one being a Spanish +and the other a French term, except that any pounded or rammed earth +construction might be pisé, while the cajon is distinctly made by +ramming earth into a box.[207] Therefore the _Casa Grande_ would be +a clear example of cajon, while the Salt River construction of adobe +rammed between the wattled frames would be pisé; and the plastered +wicker-work would be jacal. The pisé and cajon method is very old all +over the world. It is still to be found in France and England. In +France the pisé box is about three yards long, one yard high, and about +half a yard wide. The readiness with which the Amerind took advantage +of his resources in the architectural line is again apparent in these +great adobe structures of the Amerinds of northern Mexico and the +South-western United States. It is not sensible, therefore, when some +style of construction is discovered differing from that which we have +been accustomed to see, to ascribe it to some mysterious race. + +[Illustration: TRANSVERSE SECTION OF AN ORDINARY YUCATEC BUILDING + + _f_, capstones of corbel vault; _l_, roof crest or comb. Such a + building stood on the top of a mound + + W. H. Holmes +] + +[Illustration: W. H. Holmes + + FORMS OF THE MAYA CORBEL VAULT] + +In southern Mexico they erected extensive cities or pueblos because +there they were more crowded together than anywhere to the northward, +but these cities were essentially the same as the more simple towns in +the northern country. At Tlascala “the houses were built, for the most +part, of mud or earth; the better sort of stone and lime, or bricks +dried in the sun. They were unprovided with doors or windows, but in +the apertures for the former hung mats fringed with pieces of copper, +or something which by its tinkling sound would give notice of anyone’s +entrance. The streets were narrow and dark.”[208] This extract from +Prescott might picture a New Mexican pueblo instead of one of the towns +encountered by Cortez which have been often so romantically described. +The copper on the mats was probably more for Amerind ornament than +for the purpose stated by Prescott. While in some respects the Aztec +towns may have been more elaborate than the New Mexican towns, there +was probably not much difference in their method of construction. “The +principal buildings and temples of the city were covered with a hard +white stucco which glistened like enamel in the ... morning sun.”[209] +This was perhaps a wash of gypsiferous clay similar to that used by the +Mokis, or it may have been similar to the zahcab of the Mayas, which +was a singular and abundant white earth used by them as a stucco. It +was found in pockets. + +[Illustration: GROUND PLANS OF YUCATEC BUILDINGS + + W. H. Holmes +] + +“The dwellings of the common people were also placed on foundations +of stone which rose to the height of a few feet, and were then +succeeded by courses of unbaked bricks, crossed occasionally by wooden +rafters.”[210] These rafters were the projecting ends of the poles, +as in the Pueblo country. The adobe houses in Mexico are now often +built on stone foundations, for it is the foundation that is sapped +and undermined by the rains. The upper walls of adobe stand well in a +climate of that sort. Prescott says of the houses of the “dignitaries” +and of the “principal nobles” that “They were low, indeed; seldom of +more than one floor, never exceeding two. But they were spread over +a wide extent of ground; were arranged in a quadrangular form, with +a court in the centre,”[211] all of which sounds suspiciously like +a communal dwelling, as Morgan maintains the Aztec houses were. The +Aztecs were crowded around the lake of Mexico, and also built out +over the water on piles. Houses raised above the water or ground were +nothing unusual in America. Some of the North-west coast Amerinds +built dwellings which were “raised and supported near thirty feet from +the ground by perpendicular spars of very large size” with “access +formed by a long tree in an inclined position from the platform to the +ground, with notches cut in it by way of steps about a foot and a half +asunder.”[212] + +[Illustration: KWAKIUTL HOUSE FRONT + + The thunder-bird lifting a whale. The beak was carved and fastened + on + + Construction: wood—split cedar planks, tree trunks, and poles. Site: + edge of the sea +] + +So far as the Aztec houses are concerned, “None of the Spanish +descriptions,” asserts Morgan, “enable us to realise the exact form +and structure.... But for the pueblos, occupied or in ruins, in New +Mexico, and the more remarkable pueblos in ruins in Yucatan and Central +America, we would know very little concerning the house architecture of +the Sedentary Village Indians.”[213] + +Morgan believes all were joint tenements, but in this he may be +mistaken, for the life of the Aztecs seems to have passed to a point +somewhat higher than that of the New Mexican Amerinds, and a further +development of Aztec life certainly included a further development of +their house-life also. + +Within a day’s journey of the City of Mexico, Saville investigated some +interesting ruins of an old “temple” erected, according to a tablet +found there, in 1502, the signs on the tablet representing a rabbit and +ten dots, or ten _tochtli_, corresponding to this date. It was built +of rubble stone covered in many places inside with stone carving that +had been painted.[214] There were also ornaments in stucco. The outer +walls are nearly six feet thick. It is on the top of a high, cliff-like +mountain difficult of access, near the Mexican town of Tepoztlan. +Another splendid ruin near this is the Temple of Xochicalco. See +illustrations, pages 23 and 31. + +[Illustration: NORTH-WEST COAST HOUSES AND TOTEM POLES + + Haida House + + _p o p_ shifting wind break over smoke hole + + End left open to show construction. + + Dotted lines give section of floor. + + _m_, totem pole; _c c_, bench; _b_, fireplace; _k_, smoke hole; + _g g_, house posts +] + +The greatest group of architectural remains on this continent is that +of the Maya region, mainly in Yucatan. For a full description of many +of these buildings the reader is referred again to the admirable work +of Maudsley. The Mayas were the greatest architects as well as the +greatest artists and greatest in almost everything of all the Amerinds, +and if Goodman is correct in his rendering of some of their chronology +they occupied the region more than ten thousand years.[215] Mound-like +foundations supported the buildings, which generally rose as from a +terrace, though sometimes the mound was very high and very steep, with +small space around the building crowning it. At Copan,[216] which was +in ruins before the Spaniards arrived, there is a great main terrace +from which mounds rise, the latter bearing the buildings. The casing +of the mound and the walls of buildings are of nicely dressed oblong +stones usually without mortar. The joints were not broken here, nor in +other Maya work. The mound slopes were terraced at five-foot intervals +and the steps were about five feet high. The so-called “triangular +arch” probably existed here as it did at the other Maya ruins. It +was made by advancing the courses, several feet above the base of an +opening, gradually toward each other till they met above, where a large +slab was usually laid across to bind the whole together. The ceilings +or roofs of many rooms in Maya ruins were wholly made this way. It has +also been called a corbel arch, though it is, in fact, not an arch at +all. See illustrations, pages 210, 235, and 237. There was no arch +in Amerindian architecture besides the one the Eskimo constructed in +his snow hut. The rooms are generally long and narrow in all the Maya +structures and no windows existed. The Maya inability to span wide +spaces was the cause of the narrow rooms and buildings. At Uxmal the +two main rooms of the so-called Governor’s Palace are sixty feet long +and only eleven to thirteen feet wide. The walls of all the structures +are very thick, though certain walls, as the rear ones, are usually +thicker than the others and have no openings, the latter, as a rule, +being along one, two, or three sides. This was a probable survival of +earlier defensive constructions similar to the communal fortresses of +the Puebloan type as particularly exemplified in the ruins of the Chaco +in New Mexico, where there were no rear openings. See ground plans, +page 232. At Palenque are some fine examples of the Maya construction. +The largest is called the palace and is 180 feet wide, 228 feet long, +and 25 feet high, with fourteen doorways on the side and eleven at the +ends. It was one story in height, as were all Maya buildings. There is +a vast amount of carving and stucco modelling around them. One of the +most unique constructions is that called the “Temple of the Cross,” +number one, or two, or three, by different explorers, there being two +structures much alike. See note 2, page 184. This is on top of a high +mound, and is fifty feet front, thirty-one feet deep, and about forty +feet high. The roof was something like our gambrel type, being the +same all around without gables, with a level platform about three feet +wide along the ridge, from which arose a peculiar stone and stucco, +latticed, superstructure in two stories, the first about seven and the +second about eight feet high. See illustrations, pages 210 and 235. +There was abundant stucco ornamentation over the exterior, and on each +side of the entrance was one of the figures referred to in the last +chapter. + +[Illustration: RUIN OF EAST FAÇADE AND IGLESIA, “PALACE” CHICHEN-ITZA, + YUCATAN + + Holmes’s _Archæological Studies in Mexico_ +] + +[Illustration: ELEVATION OF KWAKIUTL HOUSE] + +[Illustration: VIEW IN THE MOKI TOWN OF MISHONGNAVI, ARIZONA + + Construction: stone slabs laid in adobe mortar. Site: barren summit + of a mesa. The ladders were pulled up in time of danger +] + +The mortar used is said to have been a cement made of one part slaked +lime to two parts of zahcab. This was used by all the ancient Mayas +and is used still in that country. It is, however, doubtful if slaked +lime was known to the ancients. There is no evidence of it. At Mitla +is yet another type of house ascribed to the Zapotecs.[217] It is in +the Mexican State of Oaxaca. The human figures and animal carvings and +forms seen in the Yucatan ruins are absent. The rooms are the same, +long and narrow, with no openings except the doors. One of the most +unusual features is a great hall 12 by 121 feet, with six round stone +columns standing at intervals of about fifteen feet down the middle. +See illustrations, pages 9 and 209. These average about twelve feet +high and nine feet in circumference. The walls are forty-eight inches +thick, of roughly broken stones laid in courses in plenty of adobe +mortar, the outer parts of all the buildings being faced by slabs of +stone containing the ornamentation, which is wholly geometrical. Some +adobe brick walls are forty-six inches thick. The columns are out of +the common because they are single stones, but built up piers are often +used in Pueblo architecture, and the North-west coast Amerinds use the +column in wood very frequently to support their large longitudinal +rafters. One of these which I sketched in an Alaskan house at Cape Fox +is given in the illustration, page 162. The roofs at Mitla were wooden +beams covered with earth and stone slabs. See illustration, page 230. +There are other ruins all through Honduras and Nicaragua and the rest +of Central America. Squier says: “In Honduras, as also in San Salvador, +I heard of remains and monuments equal to those of Copan in extent and +interest.” + +At the time the Spaniards came into Yucatan the Amerinds, according to +Herrera, were dwelling in timber huts thatched with grass or something +similar. The dense unexplored forests of the Yucatan region are +filled with ruins which have never been seen by white men, at least +that is the supposition of archæologists like Saville and Charnay. +The Maya house was divided, according to Landa, from side to side by +a wall with doors, the back part being sleeping quarters. The front +portion was whitewashed or painted in designs and was open the whole +length, with low sheltering eaves. In the rear there was a doorway +leading from that part. A lengthwise division into two main parts was +a characteristic of almost all the Maya buildings now found in ruins. +The structures were generally wide and shallow, and subdivided into a +great many rooms. It is more in the ornamentation of the buildings and +the stone roofs than in anything else that they differ from structures +farther north. The interior masonry is frequently a rubble, with +the dressed and carved stones on the outside as a facing. Bandelier +thinks that some of the stone walls in New Mexico are quite as well +constructed as some in Mexico proper. But however this may be, there +is nothing north of the City of Mexico that compares in architectural +excellence with the Yucatan structures, albeit in some respects there +is a strong resemblance between the latter in plan and conception, and +the Pecos and other northern ruins. + +The communal principle of living had much to do almost everywhere with +the size and character of the Amerind houses. Situation was determined +by expedience and necessity; material of construction by environment. +Throughout the continent the Amerind was a village dweller, and except +in the Far North and on the northern Californian and North-west +coasts he was generally a tiller of the soil, growing, often in large +quantities, maize, beans, squashes, cotton, and some other products +according to locality. His large communal buildings were in part +fortresses to protect the families against marauding Amerinds of a less +prosperous and cultivated type, and against the occupants of other +towns, for in general it may be said that there was little political +cohesion in the various tribes, though the Aztecs and Iroquois are +examples of exceptions that arose from time to time. + +There is nothing in any of the remains, so far developed, that +indicates foreign influence, prior to the Discovery. Every +architectural work on the continent is purely Amerindian or modified by +contact with other races subsequent to 1492. + +[Illustration: ESKIMO HORN DIPPER] + + + + + [Illustration: HORN ARROW STRAIGHTENER] + + CHAPTER IX + + WEAPONS, ARMOUR, IMPLEMENTS, AND TRANSPORTATION + + +[Illustration: MODERN IRON ARROW-HEADS OF THE OMAHAS + + War Arrow + + War Arrow + + Hunting Arrow +] + +The Amerinds were practically all in the so-called Stone Age of +culture; that is, they were unacquainted with the _common use_ of +metals. Some tribes worked silver, gold, and copper, to a limited +extent and in an ornamental way, and a high authority asserts that the +Eskimo have known iron for nine hundred years. Those Eskimo who came +in contact with the Northmen on the North-east coasts very likely saw +specimens of manufactured iron, and possessed some, nearly a thousand +years ago, but it was a bare acquaintance, and this and the limited +working of the other metals do not affect the general statement that +the Amerinds were practically a Stone-Age people. Even the Maya, with +all their varied skill and knowledge superior to any other Amerinds, +still used stone tools for carving in stone. They had no way of +sufficiently hardening the metals they could secure and their stone +tools were far more serviceable. So the tools, weapons, and implements +throughout the continent were chiefly wood, bone, and stone, with a +few exceptions in Mexico, Central America, and the Mississippi valley. +In the last region there was some working of copper obtained from the +rich deposits of native metal in northern Michigan,[218] but the main +thing they could do with it was to beat and grind it into shape with +stones. Arrow-heads, spear-heads, chisels, and knife-blades of copper +have been found in the Mississippi and Atlantic regions, but there +is no certainty that all of them were made by the Amerinds.[219] The +Spaniards and other Europeans were speedily engaged in a considerable +traffic with the Amerinds in which copper was an important medium +of exchange. Large quantities were therefore early brought into the +country from Europe, and we do not always know in what form. It is +certain that the traders would try to give it the most attractive +shape, and if arrow-heads were found to be good, it would not take long +to manufacture them. This is not to say that the Amerind could not have +made the implements or copper articles thus far found, but only to +question whether he did make all of them. + +[Illustration: FORMS OF THE BOW] + +The chief weapon of all Amerinds was the bow and arrow.[220] The bow +was made in a number of ways and of various kinds of wood, and of horn, +reinforced as a rule by a backing of sinew. The arrow-shaft was most +frequently of service-berry wood when it could be had, and also of reed +with a tip of some solid wood. The heads were of chipped stone, or +bone, or latterly of bottle-glass, or often, for small-bird shooting, +without any head whatever. A few heads were of copper, and in modern +times hoop iron is used. Amongst all the Amerind bows that I have ever +seen, one made from the horns of a mountain sheep, with a portion of +the skull as the central part, was the finest and most graceful. It was +exactly the shape of the typical bow wielded by the little god Cupid, +and I have always regretted that I did not purchase it at the time, for +I have never seen one since. I saw it in southern Utah in 1875.[221] + +I have sometimes thought that the bow and arrow were a development from +the primitive fire-drill, through the bow-drill and spear. Some day by +accident or design perhaps the drill stick sprung from the tightened +string, the idea of substituting the spear for the drill stick was +suggested, and the greatest invention in its effect on humanity man has +yet seen was born. + +[Illustration: PAI UTE PALM-DRILL + + Drawn by the author from a specimen obtained by him in Arizona, + 1875. Lower part of shaft of greasewood about 5 in. long and ⅜ in. + diameter. Hearth of cedar (Juniper). Upper part of drill shaft is + omitted. +] + +There are three or four forms of fire-drill, but the palm-drill—that +is, the kind that was rotated between the palms of the hands—was the +earliest, most widespread, and most compact and portable of all. It +consisted of a shaft of wood, or reed with a piece of some harder +wood attached to it; or, where the hard wood was not long enough, it +was spliced on to another piece of wood. The illustration above shows +a drill and hearth I obtained from the Pai Utes of Arizona in 1875. +These Amerinds were using such drills for fire-making at that lime. +The other portion of the apparatus, the hearth, is made of cedar, or +any soft and suitable wood. It has cavities cut into it to receive the +rounded, blunt end of the shaft, and on the sides of these cavities a +little notch is cut to allow the air to get at the superheated wood +dust and to permit the dust to be quickly thrust into the tinder which +is placed beside and beneath the hearth. This hearth, which is an inch +or so in width and about a quarter of an inch thick, is held securely +down by the foot or knee, and the drill stick rapidly revolved back +and forth in an upright position, with the lower end in one of the +cavities. The revolving motion is secured by the palms of the hands, +which are allowed to slide down the shaft to gain downward pressure, +each time being brought quickly back to the top for a repetition of +the motion, so that it is practically continuous. A pinch of sand is +sometimes added to increase the friction and create dust more speedily. +The superheated dust, or spark, is skilfully flung into the tinder of +moss or rubbed-up bark and a few puffs of breath bring a flame. All +the materials are kept very dry, and an expert will secure a fire in +a few seconds under favourable conditions.[222] This was the common +form of fire-drill throughout the continent. The “_new-fire_” of the +Aztecs,[223] produced at the termination of their fifty-two-year +cycle, when all fires were permitted to die out, was obtained with a +fire-drill similar to the one described. Even when a tribe had better +means of obtaining fire, it would preserve the primitive method in its +religious ceremonies. Before the invention of the fire-drill it was of +the greatest importance to guard and preserve the fire that had perhaps +been procured from a great distance or from some forest conflagration +which had passed away. Hence it assumed a sacred character, and those +who were entrusted with its preservation were high priests. Eternal +fires, or undying fires, were the result at first of the necessity of +preserving fire, and later, when the friction-drill was discovered, +those who possessed the knowledge of it were correspondingly endowed +with power over the remainder. + +[Illustration: THE PALM-DRILL (FIRE-MAKING)] + +[Illustration: THE PUMP-DRILL (FIRE-MAKING)] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO STRING-DRILL. + + (FOR FIRE-MAKING WITH MOUTHPIECE) +] + +[Illustration: PUEBLO PUMP-DRILL. + + (FOR BORING)] + +[Illustration: DRILL-POINT OF CHIPPED FLINT] + +After the palm-drill comes the string-drill, wherein the drill is +operated by means of a cord twisted about it, the ends being pulled +back and forth, and the top of the stick being held firm by insertion +in a socket, the latter being grasped in one hand or, when there was +only one operator, taken in the mouth. The old Eskimo drill is of this +description, produced probably because the surroundings compelled +swifter and harder revolutions of the stick to obtain the desired +results. A further development is the bow-drill, used by the Eskimo and +others, where instead of pulling the ends of the string a bent piece +of wood, or bow, is attached to them, the movement of which back and +forth rotates the stick. This is used with a mouthpiece for a socket. +Another form, but one seldom used for fire-getting, is the pump-drill, +where the stick connected with the ends of the cord runs across the +drill stock, and sometimes has the stock passing through it, the string +being so adjusted around the stock that an up-and-down motion of the +crossbar imparts a rotary, reciprocating movement to the stock. This +is the form used by the Pueblos for stone drilling, etc.[224] The +fire-drill entered into the religious ceremonies of most tribes, and, +conventionalised in the so-called cross of the Palenque tablet, which +is a development, according to Bandelier, of the fire-drill through +ornamentation, it puzzled the Europeans, causing them for a time to +imagine that Christianity had preceded Columbus to the New World. + +[Illustration: SET OF FIRE-MAKING TOOLS, BRISTOL BAY ESKIMO, ALASKA + + Showing stepped hearth. Mouthpiece is set with a socket-bearing of + black stone + + String + + Hearth + + Mouthpiece + + Drill +] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO BOW-DRILL] + +To return to the bow again, the length of it varies in different +localities. In a densely wooded country, a long bow would often be +in the way, and this and other reasons would make it shorter. The +average length is about forty inches. The string is made of sinew, +well twisted and, at the ends, braided. Arrows are of different kinds +in the same tribe: some blunt or with wood points sharpened for bird +shooting, or for other small animals; arrows adapted for deer; for +large fowl; and others still for heavy game like bison or bear. The +head of the game arrow was set in the plane of the string—that is, the +notch was quite or nearly in line with the head, and, when adjusted +to the bowstring, stood at a slight angle, the bow always being held +diagonally across the shooter’s body. The head would thus strike +between an animal’s ribs. War arrows, on the other hand, had their +notches so placed that the head of the arrow went from the bow in a +horizontal position, because the ribs of a man lie that way.[225] It +will be seen that the head was not at right angles to the notch, for in +that case it would not have been projected horizontally. The adjustment +of the notch to produce the desired position would always be regulated +by the habit of holding the bow. Since the rifle came into use, little +attention probably has been given to this point. The arrow-shaft is +round, about a quarter inch in diameter, and from twenty to thirty +inches long, though some are longer.[226] Long ones are usually made +of reed with a hardwood tip, upon which the head is mounted; this, as +noted above, now being of hoop iron. Stone heads formerly were the +chief method of tipping the shaft. In 1875 I purchased a number of +these from an old arrow-maker of the Pai Ute tribe. The other end of +the shaft is feathered. This is done by attaching split feathers to +it with the web cut narrow, for the purpose of giving it guidance. +This feathering is a distinguishing feature, and an expert can place +the maker of an arrow by the style of feathering. Feathers of birds +of prey are almost invariably employed. The number is sometimes two, +but generally three. They are attached by strands of moist sinew +wound around the ends and when the sinew is dry it becomes a smooth +firm band. Three zigzag grooves are scratched down the shaft, some +say not, as popularly believed, for the purpose of aiding the flow of +blood, but because this is the lightning symbol, and is intended to +endow the arrow with speed and certainty. But Dorsey says the Omahas +told him their object was to increase flow of blood from the wound. +Poisoned arrows were made by dipping the points into rotting liver or +rattlesnake venom, etc. These were used for war. The arrow-shaft when +first made is by no means always straight, but the Amerind invented a +piece of horn or stone with perforations through which the heated shaft +is drawn till it is straight. See illustration at head of this chapter. +Quivers are all very similar in plan also, usually comprising a case +for the bow, one for the arrows, and in some tribes a pouch containing +arrow-making tools. The Eskimo make their quivers of sealskin, other +tribes use cat, deer, panther, otter, etc. The spear doubtless preceded +the bow and arrow. It is little used by the interior tribes, but in the +form of the harpoon, as well as the regular spear form, is common among +the Eskimo and other coast Amerinds.[227] + +[Illustration: MODERN ROD ARMOUR OF THE KLAMATHS, OREGON + + Made up of 44 oval rods of pine wood. The cord is of native hemp + and cords made of sisal, the latter probably derived from ropes of + white make. Cords are coloured red and yellow. Bound with buckskin + painted red; shoulder-straps of buckskin; tying straps at the + sides. Width, 38 in.; height, 21 in. +] + +[Illustration: HUPA ROD ARMOUR, CALIFORNIA + + “Made of 118 peeled rods, woven together with native twine, + bound with buckskin on upper and lower edges and arm-holes. + Shoulder-straps of leather; six horizontal stripes of red cord + cross the front. The red lines denote the number of enemies slain + or captives taken; also the rank of the wearer. This class of + armour was in common use among the Natanos and Kennucks before the + introduction of firearms; but it is now obsolete, nearly.” Width, + 41 in.; height, 21 in. +] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO PLATE ARMOUR, DIOMEDE ISLAND, BERING STRAIT + + “Made of five imbricating rows of plates of walrus ivory of unequal + size in the different rows, pierced with from 6 to 13 holes, lashed + with sealskin thongs.” 164 plates in all. In form, lashing and + adjustment of plates it is identical with certain types of Japanese + armour. Width, extended, 49 in.; height, 24 in. +] + +In armour, the Amerind was inventive, as in everything else, and he +devised some excellent means for defence for the body[228]; and +borrowed one form, according to Hough, from Asia. His shields were made +of wood, basketry, cotton, and rawhide, and were usually circular. The +commonest material was rawhide, which was often contracted and hardened +by fire, and then covered with buckskin. It was variously ornamented, +and the decoration was the outcome of many a religious ceremony +conducted according to long-established rules. It was “invariably held +on the left arm, usually by a simple thong of buckskin attached to the +interior.” Many shields have two covers, each held on by a gathering +string. In New Mexico and Mexico some tribes used one that could be +shut up like a fan, and the Navajos had one that was made of cedar rods +tied together with cords. + +[Illustration: TLINKIT SKIN ARMOUR, ALASKA + + “Made of tanned hide; two thicknesses; sewed along the upper + edge. The ‘swallow-tail’ portion is reinforced with two extra + thicknesses, making four in all. The coat is very heavy. The sewing + is done with sinew. Width, 25 in.; height, 33 in.” +] + +[Illustration: PREHISTORIC ALEUTIAN ROD ARMOUR + + “The small rods composing it are about ¾ in. diameter, painted + red. Width, 40 in.; height, 25 in. Position as on the body. It was + fastened behind with two loops of sinew, into which wooden buttons + were inserted” +] + +The body armour was made of rows of overlapping plates, lashed +together, of slats, of rods, of skins, and of cotton padded. The plate +armour is the one that was borrowed from Asia; a migration apparently +across Bering Strait. The cotton-padded armour was confined to the +Amerinds of Mexico and Central America, but the other varieties were +distributed over the whole area. In the plate armour, “small, flat, +oblong plates of ivory or bone pierced near the edges with from four +to six or more holes,” were lashed in series with rawhide thongs. +The coat, made in this way of a number of rows, was tied at the back +with thongs, or had a toggle fastening. Some of these plates in iron +and in copper have been dug up at Cape Prince of Wales and on St. +Lawrence Island. This armour is very similar to that of the Japanese, +and if it was wholly an imported idea, it was probably a comparatively +recent one. The Tlinkits used the slat armour and also a rod armour, +the former being made of very hard wood fastened with cords of sinew. +A Tlinkit greave has also been found among the collections in the +National Museum, so that it is probable that the North-west coast +Amerinds protected arms and legs as well as body. The Iroquois are also +reported to have used armour of rods both on their limbs and their +vital parts. The rod armour was formed by sewing or lacing together +with native twine a series of straight slender rods sufficient to +pass around the body and tie in front, with places for the arms, +and straps over the shoulders. The skin armour was simply a sort of +heavy, sleeveless shirt made of thick hide, doubled and reinforced +and otherwise rendered as nearly as possible proof against arrow or +spear. In Mexico, where the padded cotton armour was chiefly worn, +a breastplate of the same material was put on under it. The common +Aztec soldiers wore armour of “reeds, grass, and hides, or ’nequen +cloth, coated with India-rubber.”[229] Veytia says the “private +soldiers painted the upper part of the body to represent armour, but +from the waist to the thighs they wore short drawers, and over them +fastened around the waist a kind of kilt that reached to the knee, and +availed them somewhat for defence. Across the body was a sash made of +feathers that passed from the right shoulder to the left side of the +waist.”[230] Many Amerinds also wore in conjunction with the various +kinds of armour, a helmet, ranging from the feathered war-bonnet to +a heavy mask-helmet of wood. The Tarascos of Mexico, according to +Brinton, specially excelled in defensive armour, which “consisted of +helmet, body pieces, and greaves for the legs and arms, all of wood +covered neatly with copper or gold plates, so well done that the +pieces looked as if they were of solid metal.”[231] The Mayas wore +cotton armour similar to that of the Mexicans, and bore a shield also. +Breastplates of copper have been found in the Atlantic region, and many +of the Amerinds there used body armour of wood, skins, and bark. + +[Illustration: CHIPPED FLINT] + +[Illustration: CHIPPED FLINT BLUNT ARROW-HEAD, GEORGIA] + +[Illustration: CHIPPED FLINT IMPLEMENT, TENNESSEE] + +[Illustration: SPECIMEN “CORES,” OR BLOCKS OF FLINT + + From which flakes were struck off for making arrow-heads, etc. + Usually about 3 in. long in the U. S., but longer elsewhere +] + +[Illustration: SPECIMEN OF CHIPPED FLINT DISCS, CALLED “TURTLEBACK,” + MISSISSIPPI VALLEY] + +[Illustration: GROOVED STONE AXE, TENNESSEE (GROUND)] + +Another kind of defensive armour, though its qualities were purely +imaginary, is the so-called “ghost-shirt” (see illustration, page +157) made of cloth or skin, and resembling the ordinary war-shirt of +the Dakota. This shirt came into notice during the “Ghost Dance”[232] +excitement that began about 1890 and lasted for six or eight years. +It was worn by all men, women, and children who accepted the “Ghost” +doctrine, either as an outside or under garment, and it was implicitly +believed that no bullet or other weapon could penetrate its sacred +material.[233] As already remarked in another chapter, the Amerinds +in modern times, of at least the United States region, usually went +into battle naked. The only defensive armour was, as Mooney records, +“his protecting medicine,” which consisted of “a feather, a tiny bag +of some sacred powder, the claw of an animal, the head of a bird, or +some other small object, which could be readily twisted into his hair +or hidden between the covers of his shield.... Its virtue depended +entirely on the ceremony of the consecration, and not on size or +texture. The war-paint had the same magic power of protection.... The +so-called ‘war-shirt’ was worn chiefly in ceremonial dress parades and +only rarely on the warpath.”[234] Just when the armour which protected +by its intrinsic strength was abandoned for the protection of the +“medicine” is not, so far as I am aware, at present known. At one time, +it seems quite certain, the material protection of armour was almost +universal over the whole of North America, while in our latter day no +one ever saw an Amerind fight with armour on. The idea of going into +battle nude was that the warrior’s movements were unincumbered, while +his “medicine” afforded him ample protection. A Navajo who posed for +me for a picture in Arizona described the Navajo manner of going to +battle, but never mentioned armour, or any kind of protection. He said +they always went naked, with even their hair untied from its customary +knot and falling loose on the shoulders. + +Stone arrow- and spear-heads are found in all parts of the continent, +but they are almost always chipped, seldom ground. Maguire, who has +made a special study of this subject, declares chipping to be one of +the most difficult of arts. “On examination,” he says, “it is found +that every rock has been worked in the best and most economical method +which its texture admits.” The usual way of making arrow-heads was to +place the bit of stone previously flaked from a nodule or fragment and +brought near the shape by percussion, on the palm of the left hand, +which is protected by a glove or a piece of buckskin, and hold it there +by the fingers of that hand while the right brings a down pressure to +bear on the edges by the point of a slender piece of horn or bone. The +chips spring off and the operation is continued till the desired shape +is attained. I tried this method once on a flake of chalcedony I had +picked up, and had no difficulty in bringing it to an arrow-head shape. +Maguire has made a great many successfully. Chisels, axes, and mauls +were made the same way or were ground into shape, a groove being made +in the axes across the sides to receive a split stick that was bound +on for a handle. It is almost unnecessary to say, perhaps, that there +never could have been a time when all tribes were equally proficient +in the art of stone working, some being skilful when others could make +nothing.[235] + +[Illustration: DIAGRAM EXPLAINING TERMS TO BE USED IN DESCRIBING STONE + WEAPONS + + _a_, point; _b_, edge; _c_, face; _d_, bevel; _e_, blade; _f_, tang; + _g_, stem; _h_, base; _i_, notch; _k_, neck; _m_, barb, or shoulder +] + +In this country we know so well the origin of the stone implements +found in the fields that we smile when we read of people in Europe +treating them as charms and talismans. “When kept in a house they +protect it from lightning; the water in which a celt has been boiled +is a remedy against rheumatism; and sick cattle are cured by drinking +water in which a celt has been placed.” The Amerinds frequently treat +them as medicine.[236] + +Some tools were produced in the rough at various sites, or workshops, +located at the quarries. Those in Ohio described by Moorehead are +probably the most extensive in North America, except the obsidian +mines of Hidalgo, Mexico. “The magnitude of the deposit is such,” +he says, “that it has given to the locality the distinctive name of +Flint Ridge.” It occupies an area about eight miles long by three +wide. Here thousands of cubic yards of earth had been removed to reach +the flint beneath. “Acre after acre has been so thoroughly excavated +that scarcely a single foot of earth and stone retains its original +position. Hundreds of wagon loads of spalls cover the ground.” One +of the pits formed in this extremely hard stone is almost a hundred +feet in diameter and more than eighteen feet deep. The method employed +was to build a fire on the rock and then throw cold water on the spot +till the edge was broken through and they could knock flakes off of +the under side with stone hammers. These were put roughly into shape +at some nearby spot and then perhaps taken far away to be finished. +This flint formed better tools than that found on the surface.[237] +Many of the blades were often piled together for some unknown reason. +In sinking a well in a corner of a mound in Illinois, eighteen large +flint spades were found a few feet below the surface, closely packed +together, and Moorehead found in Ohio the largest “cache” ever brought +to light. This formed a mound in the Hopewell group, six feet high and +sixty feet in diameter at the base, and contained over seven thousand +flint discs about the size of a man’s hand.[238] + +Some spear-points found are more than a foot long and three inches +wide, and they vary from this down to what may be termed large +arrow-heads. Some writers claim that only the very small smallest +heads were from arrows, but this would vary according to the tribe +and the game hunted, just as we have various bores to our rifles. The +stone arrow-heads of the Pai Utes twenty-five years ago were small, +but the smallest were often attached to the longest arrows. The method +of securing the head to the shaft was generally similar everywhere. A +notch being cut in the end of the stick, a small quantity of pitch, +asphaltum, fish, or animal glue, or cement, was placed in it, +warmed, and the stone head squeezed into position, where it was held +by wrappings of wet sinew thread which, drying, gave it a firm grip, +and yet when moistened by blood would allow the head to come off in +a wound. The sinew was variously applied, according to the shape of +the head. The triangular head was held on by passing the sinew over +the outer edges, while in that with a tang, which went well down into +the shaft, the sinew was wound round and round the shaft and over the +tang at the same time. All iron heads were made and mounted in the +latter way. In the leaf-shaped head with deep notches, the wrapping +was thoroughly protected by the depth of the notches through which +it passed. The hafting of knives was much like that of arrows and +spears, the ordinary stone knife looking much like a spear-head, and +probably some implements that are classed as spear-heads were knives +instead. Many were double-edged, while others were single. Some of the +diminutive stone implements resembling arrow-heads were drill-heads +or awls, and also heads for the children’s play-arrows.[239] There is +also a great range in the size of the stone axes and hammers, from mere +toys to those so large as to be unwieldy. Grooved stone axes are found +all over the continent, except in the mounds of Ohio. Like other stone +implements, they have often been used successively by various tribes. +Those used to-day by the Mokis and Zuñis are some they have found, and +they use them as pounders and pestles. Many of the axes and hammers +were weapons of war. + +[Illustration: TLINKIT SLAT-AND-ROD ARMOUR, ALASKA, FRONT VIEW + + “Made of slats and rods of hard wood, 1¼ to 1½ in. wide, ⁵⁄₁₆ in. + thick, woven together by means of fine sinew cord so as to admit + of considerable flexibility. The rods and slats are pared down to + form channels for the reception of the cord weaving. The front and + back portions are woven separately. The neck portions are made up + of short slats, and sewed on by means of a strip of rawhide 1½ in. + wide. The shoulder supports are of very thick elkhide, the one + on the right being fastened by a slash and toggle. Width of rear + portion, 24 in.; height, 20 in.; width of front portion, 18 in.; + height, 19 in.” +] + +[Illustration: APACHE WAR-BONNET] + +The Amerinds were so skilful in the use of stone tools that it is +related that in the early days of the West they would skin and dress +a deer with a stone almost as quickly as a white man could do it with +a hunting-knife. For this purpose they would pick up a thin stone and +with a few sharp blows from another stone bring it to a cutting edge. +Skins were dressed by scrapers of bone or stone to remove superfluous +flesh. Pins were used for stretching them on the ground. + +Among the Eskimo the harpoon reached a high state of perfection, and +many of their weapons are beautifully made. Bone, wood, and ivory were +utilised for the shaft, and a specially unique one was made from the +single horn of the narwhal. Spears or lances were also used for land +animals before they had firearms. They are now pretty well supplied +with the latest Winchester rifles. The harpoon to-day has a blade of +thin iron or steel set into an ivory or bone piece which has a hole +through it that retains in place a sealskin thong to which a line +is attached. The bottom of the ivory piece has a socket in it that +fits on to the lance shaft. When the harpoon strikes an animal’s body +the head of it then hangs there on the end of the line, coming loose +from the shaft. There are various forms of the harpoon for different +animals, and they are also of different sizes according to the weight +and strength of the owner. Formerly the blades were of slate, jade, +or flint. Floats of sealskin inflated are used to mark the place +of a capture, so that carcass and harpoon can be easily recovered. +The Eskimo had a wolf-killer that was ingenious. A stout piece of +whalebone, about a foot long and half an inch broad, was sharpened at +the ends and then frozen in a piece of blubber in a Z shape. The wolf +swallowing it, its own heat released the whalebone, which penetrated +the sides of the stomach and killed the animal. Each tribe had a varied +assortment of implements according to locality and occupation, and it +would not be possible even to mention them all in a single chapter, so +I shall give only the most important. The bird spear of the Eskimo is a +singular weapon. The shaft is laid on a short board fifteen to eighteen +inches long, which has a groove to receive the shaft, a handle, and a +hole for the first finger. A spike in the shaft prevents slipping, and +when the board is hurled forward by a strong wrist motion, the fingers +let go the shaft, which, leaving the board, flies forward to the mark +with considerable force. These spears are also used by the Aleuts. +The Eskimo also use for bird killing six or seven ivory balls, each +attached to a string about thirty inches long, the ends of the strings +being supplied with tufts of feathers. The balls spread apart in flying +through the air and cover a wide space. For war all tribes had clubs +and tomahawks. The Mexicans used some with blades of obsidian set in +both edges. + +[Illustration: ESKIMO THROWING-BOARDS FOR DARTS.] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO BIRD BOLAS.] + +In the line of throwing weapons is the _pūtchkohu_ of the Mokis, a +first cousin to the Australian boomerang. It is effective at thirty +or forty yards, but does not return. It is a flat piece of curved oak, +sawed out of a bend of a limb, about twenty inches long, one quarter to +one half inch thick, and two inches wide, with a small handle at one +end. It is thrown with the concave side forward. + +[Illustration: AMERINDIAN KNIVES + + Ute stone knife. Handle of wood and blade set in a dark cement + + Eskimo slate knives. Handles of wood +] + +Nets were used for fishing and for hunting. The Pai Utes made a good +net of cord, from milkweed or sagebrush bark, about as thick as +telegraph wire. It was about fifty feet long and three feet broad, and +was propped up on the ground on a number of slender rods, one net being +joined to another’s end until a large semi-circle was formed into which +rabbits from a large area were frightened by noises. Caught in the +meshes, they were soon despatched by their pursuers. Many Amerinds used +nets for fishing, and the Eskimo make a fine, strong one of sealskin, +with which they catch the seal itself as it rushes after prey in the +waters near some beach where the net is stretched. I obtained one that +is fifty feet long and about six feet wide, with meshes seven inches +square. + +[Illustration: MOKI THROWING-STICK, OR PUTCHKOHU.] + +[Illustration: PUEBLO PLANTING STICK.] + +[Illustration: ZUÑI WOODEN SPADE. + + Used for shovelling snow from roofs and for taking bread from ovens +] + +For agricultural operations the Amerinds had various tools, which, +though primitive, answered the requirements. Of the plough, or +anything approaching it, they had no knowledge, the hoe being their +chief implement. This was made of flint, the shoulder-blade of a deer +or other animal, a turtle shell or some similar object. Spades were +also made, often of wood, and in the Mississippi region of flint, but +these are seldom found in the Atlantic division. In the Moki country +corn is still planted with a dibble, a stick sharpened at one end and +having on one side a projection to receive the foot, which pressed it +into the soil. Having cultivated a crop of maize, the grain had to be +reduced to meal before it would serve for winter use, and for this +purpose mortars of wood and stone were used, and also the _metates_, +or mealing stones. Other substances besides corn were also ground in +the mortars, as seeds of grass, dried fish, nuts, grasshoppers, paint, +etc. Sometimes natural depressions in rocks were utilised, but oftener +small bowlders were worked into the desired shape and stone pestles +were wrought out to accompany them. The cavity was of various depths. +Those tribes growing little corn made mortars neither large nor deep, +and some, like the Pai Utes, growing no corn at all, ground their grass +seeds on a flat stone, while those relying chiefly on corn for food, +like the Pueblos and the Mexicans, in the early days made large oblong +mortars, of hard basalt cut out to a depth of six or eight inches, with +sides not more than an inch and a half or two inches thick. While these +were really mortars, the grain was not pounded in them, but crushed +and rubbed into meal by means of another stone, flat and oblong, about +four and a half inches wide and some ten inches long and an inch or +two thick. When the Pueblos and Mexicans settled in permanent houses +they departed from the old way of hollowing out these stones, and used +instead a flat slab, set up at an angle of about thirty-five degrees in +a frame of slabs of stone, or of wood, about six or eight inches deep. +Several of these slabs were fixed in a row, usually three, and were +each made to produce different degrees of fineness by the girls behind +till at the last stone, or metate,[240] as they are usually called, the +meal was of the required condition. See page 194. The Eastern Amerinds +usually pounded their corn with stone pestles in wooden mortars. Some +Western tribes used the same method. Diminutive mortars were used for +preparing face paints, while others were children’s toys. The so-called +cupped-stones have sometimes been supposed to be paint mortars, but, as +pointed out in a previous chapter (p. 66), they may have been mostly +used for roughing and shaping the ends of fire-drills. + +[Illustration: A MOKI THROWING THE PUTCHKOHU + + The “East Mesa” is seen in the right distance whereon are the three + villages of—left to right—Walpi, Cichumovi, Tewa. The dressing of + the hair is Navajo, as well as the turban, the model’s uncle being + Navajo but a Moki citizen + + From a drawing by the author Permission of the Century Co. +] + +The Navajos carve moulds for their silver casting in sandstone, and it +seems likely that some of the so-called stone tablets, inscribed with +figures that are not clearly defined, may have been nothing more than +moulds, in those regions, at least, where it is known that copper or +other metals were worked.[241] + +The spindle and loom, which belong among the implements and tools +enumerated here, have already been described in connection with weaving +and they will now be passed by. The tools used in metal working will be +mentioned in a following chapter. + +[Illustration: SHELL SPOON, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY] + +Household utensils were made of various materials, of which +earthenware, as noted in the chapter on Pottery, was one of the chief. +There were also trays, boxes, buckets, and cups of wood. Others were of +whalebone, sealskin, soapstone, and ivory. Spoons were made from the +horns of the mountain sheep, from those of goats, and from bison horns. +Some of these spoons, made of horn by the North-west coast Amerinds, +are elaborately carved and polished. Clam, oyster, conch, and turtle +shells also served for ladles and spoons. Drinking cups, dippers, +water-bottles, and other vessels were made of gourds. Metallic cups +or pots have not been found antedating the arrival of the Spaniards. +Soapstone vessels, as well as earthenware, were made and used in the +Atlantic region; soapstone by the Eskimo. Quarries exist where the +material was obtained, especially in the Chesapeake-Potomac tidewater +region. Special pick-like stone tools were made for cutting out these +pots and masses. The Eskimo, who once ranged down as far as the mouth +of the Hudson and possibly farther, may have originally opened up some +of these quarries. + +[Illustration: PUEBLO MOUNTAIN SHEEP-HORN SPOON.] + +[Illustration: MENOMINEE WOODEN MORTAR AND PESTLE] + +In the line of utensils, the Eskimo lamp, is, perhaps, one of the +most important and unique.[242] No other Amerinds had anything of +the kind. It was a necessity with the Eskimo, while tribes living in +wooded regions would have no use for it. They could obtain light from +camp-fires, especially with the addition of pitch pine. But the Eskimo +lamp is primarily a heating apparatus. What need then for Amerinds, +who had wood, to bother with a lamp, for which oil must be prepared? +Besides this consideration was the one of cleanliness, for the lamp is +very dirty, and even Amerinds have standards. “Far more remarkable than +being the unique possessors of the lamp in the Western Hemisphere,” +says Hough, “the Eskimo present the spectacle of a people depending +for their very existence upon this household belonging. Indeed, it is +a startling conclusion that the lamp has determined the occupancy of +an otherwise uninhabitable region by the Eskimo, or, in other words, +the distribution of a race.”[243] When fuel can be obtained, which is +the case often in summer, fires are used instead of the lamp. This +fuel is peat, grass, driftwood, or shrubs. The lamp is generally of +soapstone, though some have been made of clay, earthenware, bone, or +wood. The usual shape is something like a clam shell, though they are +sometimes oval or pear-shaped, or round. They are modified in form +according to the use required of them, the traveller’s lamp being much +smaller necessarily than the ordinary lamp of the iglu. The lamps vary +in length from two or three inches to about two feet, and in width from +one half inch to nine or ten inches, while the height is from less +than an inch to four or five. The smallest specimens are toy lamps of +the children, and the next in size the traveller’s lamp. Small lamps +are often balanced but the large ones are not, but are supported by +a wooden block or by pegs of wood or bone stuck into the snow. The +shallow hollow of the lamp is filled with seal oil, which is obtained +in winter by freezing the blubber, when the oil can easily be extracted +by beating; in summer often by chewing it out. The wick is of moss +and is arranged along the wide side of the lamp. It has to be trimmed +frequently, but when kept in good order gives a bright illumination +which Schwatka declared to be “certainly equal to the light from three +or four kerosene lamps.” The oil is kept in sealskins, which are made +into bottles by sewing, and the comfort and cheerfulness of the iglu +during the long night depend on the stock of oil which the family has +been able to secure. The farther north, the larger the lamp, because +the darkness is longer and the cold greater. _Vice versa_, southward it +finally disappears. + +[Illustration: STONE HOUSE-LAMP, POINT BARROW, ALASKA. + + 3 in. to 2 ft. in length +] + +In transportation facilities the Amerinds were extremely deficient, the +Eskimo excelling all others in this direction. This was the result of +environment and does not indicate superiority of the Eskimo over other +stocks. They had vast treeless plains and ice sheets to traverse, and +the sledge was a necessity. Dogs all Amerinds had, and some of them +used them, to a certain extent, for beasts of burden, so that there +was not a great deal of invention required to attach one or several +to the sledge. On the other hand, most Amerinds were not so situated +that they could utilise the dog in this way, and the continent offered +them no substitute for it unless, as has been suspected, some of the +South-western tribes may have had an animal resembling the vicuna, +which they kept for its wool and presumably for transportation purposes +also. But there is as yet no trustworthy evidence of this, and it may +be said that the Amerinds of North America as a race possessed no beast +of burden but the dog. In time, had the bison not been exterminated, +and provided also that the whites had not come, it is possible that +this animal might have been domesticated for milk, for meat, and for +draught purposes. But the bison, after all, was ill adapted to work, +for he is clumsy, so that the Amerind really had only the dog that +was practicable, and this he utilised as far as possible, or at least +as far as necessity directed. The Amerinds encountered on the plains +of Texas in 1540 by Coronado were using the dog,[244] just as they +afterward used the horse, for transporting tents and tent poles. A +great many different forms of sledge are in use among the Eskimo, and +besides the regular sledges, walrus skins, rolls of sealskins, and +even packs of salmon are sometimes used for the purpose. When skins +are used they are soaked with fresh water and sewed in a bag which is +given the desired shape and then allowed to freeze solid, in which +condition it remains till the return of warm weather. The Eskimo is +never troubled with a “January thaw.” Sometimes sledges are made out of +slabs of fresh-water ice frozen together; or blocks of ice are hollowed +out. The runners of the ordinary sledge are usually made of driftwood +and are from five to fifteen feet long and twenty inches to two and a +half feet apart. The runners are connected by crossbars of wood or bone +and are shod with whalebone, ivory, jawbone of whale, and sometimes +with frozen fish. The shoe is either tied or riveted in place, and the +parts are generally tied together, though now iron nails are sometimes +used. When there is a back to the sledge it is made, in the Central +regions, of wood or of deer or caribou antlers. Very small sleds are +used for running boats out of water, and their runners are often single +walrus tusks, the rest being of any wood obtainable. “The dog harness +consists of a broad band or strap of stout rawhide, with three parallel +loops at one end.... The head is passed through the middle loop, and a +foreleg through each of the side loops, bringing the main part of the +thong over the back.”[245] This is the trace, and by means of a toggle +it is fastened to a long line that runs back to the sledge and connects +all the dogs with it. The Central Eskimo make two bights passing under +the forelegs, joined by two straps across the neck and breast. The +dogs are not driven in Alaska,[246] but they are in the Central and +Eastern regions, and Boas asserts that silence must be maintained +during the journey, for the dogs will stop, turn around, sit down, and +listen to any conversation that is carried on. The dogs are wolf-like +in appearance, but are not given to barking. Indeed, they seem to pay +little attention to a stranger. A long whip is used for touching them +up when on the sledge. Steering is done by the legs of the driver. In +the late spring, when there are sharp ice needles, a sort of leather +boot, with holes for the nails, is tied to the dogs’ feet to keep them +from getting sore. In summer-time they have an easy life of it. The +Alaska sledge has no back, but has a rail on each side. + +[Illustration: ESKIMO SLEDGES] + +[Illustration: CENTRAL ESKIMO DOG HARNESS] + +[Illustration: ENCLOSED CANADIAN TOBOGGAN OR TRAVELLING SLED + + From Porcupine River, Alaska. Length about 8 ft.; width, 14 in.; + height of body, 18 in. +] + +“The sleds of the Chippewayan,” says Mason, “are formed of thin slips +of board, turned up in front, and are highly polished.”[247] This is +the toboggan, or Amerind sled without runners, developed and used in +the region lying between that occupied by the Eskimo and about the +northern limit of the United States. Dogs were attached to the toboggan +by some tribes, as the Tinne, who also used the dogs in summer as pack +animals. The toboggan, however, was usually pulled by men, and its +object was the transportation of a load which would otherwise need to +be carried. It was made of a single thin plank, or of two, fastened +together on the upper surface with battens, and having the forward +end turned up and over like a letter C and fixed in this position +by rawhide cords attached properly to the first cross batten, and +sometimes a rawhide line is also carried back to the last batten to +give additional strength. The toboggan is now in common use among the +whites of America, especially the Canadians. + +In pulling the toboggan over the snow the traveller would sink deep +and become tired with only ordinary foot covering, so the Amerind +invented a shoe expressly for snow travel. This is familiar to almost +everybody, but a brief description will be added for the sake of those +who may not have seen it. There are two kinds of snow-shoe; those +represented by the Norwegian ski, made of wood, long and slender, and +not used in America before their introduction from Europe. The only +wooden shoe recorded is an Eskimo one made in the same shape as their +others. The other kind of snow-shoe[248] is the Amerind one made by +bending to an oval shape a slender piece of wood for a frame, and +filling the interval with rawhide netting; and it was in use all over +North America, where snow remained for any length of time. Among some +tribes these shoes were “rights and lefts,” but as a rule they were +interchangeable. They are generally the shape of a long, pointed oval, +but some are almost round. There are two crossbars to hold the frame in +shape, and also to form supports for the toe and heel. Some shoes were +four or five feet long and seven or eight inches wide, and turned up +at the forward end, while others were short and broad and not turned +up, the interval between being filled by a series in great variety. The +foot is held in position by suitable thongs or straps. These shoes are +now in common use by the whites. + +[Illustration: ESKIMO SNOW-SHOE, POINT BARROW, ALASKA.] + +[Illustration: CANOES OF THE NORTH-WEST COAST + + Models of the family or transportation type. Hunting and fishing + canoes are similar. All these boats are hollowed from single cedar + logs, and then somewhat widened by spreading. They often carry a + great number of persons +] + +In summer the means of travel, before the horse came with the European, +were, on land, nothing more than a good pair of legs, but, on the +water, it was different. There, many of the Amerinds were at home, +for they had some of the most admirable small boats ever devised. +Chief of these, for lightness and grace, is the birchbark canoe,[249] +though the Eskimo kayak is not far behind it. The birchbark canoe is +made in various sizes and in different tribes has variations, but the +type is the same everywhere. There is a slender, well-made frame of +wood, consisting of ribs, gunwales, and stiffening strips, over which +the bark, which has previously been sewed together, is stretched. The +bow is a trifle broader across the beam than the stern, but both are +pointed. The bark covering is rendered water-tight, where there are +holes or seams, with pine gum. The paddle is similar to the paddle +in use everywhere by the Amerinds, having a sort of T-shaped top to +the handle, and being about five feet long and four to six inches +wide. This kind of canoe was made wherever there was birchbark and +water to float it. Another form of boat which was universal was the +dugout canoe. This varied in size and shape according to locality, +and was always hollowed out of a single tree, by fire and by gouging. +When completed it was spread open wider, so that one of these boats +has the appearance of being from a larger tree than is the case. The +finest dugout canoes are those of the North-west coast, where they are +constructed from cedar trees of huge proportions. One of these canoes, +made by the Haidas, now in the American Museum in New York, is almost +a ship and could be navigated in stormy waters. The Haida canoes are +often elaborately carved. Farther up the coast the Tlinkits are experts +likewise in canoe building and in the management of them. Their canoes +are also hollowed from single logs. Many of them are small, being +barely large enough for two persons. Some have a peculiar projection, +a point sticking out from the lower part in line with the place where +the keel would be if they had one, and also another at the top, rather +square; that is, the wedge-like end is hollowed out in the middle. +Either end is sent forward, but the prong end usually first. It seemed +as if this projection might be intended to ward off ice, for it is in +the regions of Yakutat and Glacier bays that it is the dominant type; +and there ice is always floating from the glaciers. At Prince William +Sound the _baidarka_,[250] or kayak, comes into use. This is certainly +the perfection of a canoe. The frame is admirably made, being tied +together and covered with walrus hide, or sealskin, and the boat rests +on the sea seeming scarcely to sink into it. The umiak is the boat for +travelling and general transportation. In it the whole family, or even +two or three families, with all their trappings, journey about—dogs, +children, packages, and adults all combined. In the sunlight its rich, +translucent yellow colour is beautiful, and when filled with the +good-natured, ruddy-cheeked Eskimo, clad in soft and elegant furs, the +picture formed is one that is remembered ever after. In the Eastern +regions it is termed the woman’s boat. They are usually about thirty +feet long, five or six wide, and thirty inches deep. The ends are both +rather pointed, and the bottom is flat. Sometimes there will be fifteen +or twenty persons in one of the umiaks at the same time. The frame is +on the same general principle as all other boats—that is, a combination +of certain ribs, thwarts, braces, etc. All these pieces are lashed +together, and when the skin covering is on, the umiak is a staunch and +excellent craft, albeit it is entirely open. The cover is laced on, +and in winter it is removed and stored away till the waters are open +once more, when it is soaked in the sea to render it soft and again +stretched in place. + +[Illustration: UMIAK OF THE CENTRAL ESKIMO + + The Alaska umiak has no oars and is more pointed +] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO KAYAKS + + The framework is tied together and covered with walrus or other + hide. Sometimes, as in the Aleut kayaks, there are two or three + hatch-holes +] + +The umiak[251] has a sail of the square sort, made in these days out of +cotton, though formerly of seal intestine, which is attached to a yard. +The mast is some twelve feet high. The paddles are about five feet long +and six inches wide, though there are smaller ones also. Sometimes oars +are used as well as the paddles in navigating the umiak. The kayak +is made in the same way by stretching skins over a wood frame tied +together most dexterously. The navigator sits in a hatchway, as the +kayak is entirely covered, and a sort of apron tied around his waist +and around the coaming renders the boat water-tight. It is said some +of the Alaskans will turn a somersault in the water, coming up on the +opposite side. + +[Illustration: METHOD OF ATTACHING OARS TO UMIAK] + +[Illustration: METHOD OF TYING FRAME OF KAYAK] + +Besides the boats mentioned there were others on the continent made in +different ways,[252] but these are the chief ones and serve to show +that the Amerind was ready to adapt himself to water when occasion +demanded. Taken all in all, his weapons, armour, implements, and +his transportation methods show, as other things do, that he was a +progressing, thinking being, with a good brain directing his operations. + + + + + [Illustration: THIN PLATE OF COPPER WROUGHT BY REPOUSSÉ METHOD, + ILLINOIS MOUND] + + CHAPTER X + + MINING, METALLURGY, AND SCIENCE + + +Mining operations were carried on in different parts of the continent, +but in a primitive, limited way. Some of the most extensive was the +mining for flint with which to make stone implements, mentioned before. +The mining was done by means of fire and cold water alternately +applied, and this was the method used in all mining operations on the +continent, so far as is now known, except in the steatite or soapstone +mining. But, even in Europe, until the invention of gunpowder, the fire +method was employed, and in one or two localities where fuel is plenty +it is said to be still considered an economical manner of extracting +ore. In the Far West, where the rocks and ledges were more exposed, +veins were discovered where the calcedony, or jasper, or other stone +desired for stone implements could be easily knocked out. It was then +carried away to some comfortable site and wrought into shapes. Along +Western rivers one occasionally comes upon a spot where the ground is +littered with “chips,” rejects, broken arrow-heads, and also perfect +ones, the latter probably having been dropped and lost; or possibly in +some way not being satisfactory to the arrow-makers. + +In working out soapstone vessels of the larger kind, the mining and +rough shaping were frequently, if not always, accomplished at one and +the same time.[253] Holmes describes the methods employed as follows: +“When a sufficient area of the solid stone had been uncovered, the +workmen proceeded with pick and chisel to detach such portions as +were desired. If this surface happened to be uneven, the projections +or convexities were utilized, and the cutting was not difficult; if +the rock was massive and the surface flat, a circular groove was cut, +outlining the mass to be removed, and the cutting was continued until +a depth was reached corresponding to the height of the utensil to be +made; then, by undercutting, the nucleus was detached or so far severed +that it could be broken off by means of sledges or levers. If the +stone happened to be laminated, a circular groove was cut through at +right angles to the bedding, and the discoid mass was removed without +the need of undercutting.... A notable feature of the cutting out of +these masses of stone is the attendant shaping of the mass which was +rudely sculptured as the work went on, the contour of the vessel being +approximately developed. Although I have seen no good examples of this +class, it is confidently stated by others that rude nodes were carved +at opposite ends of the mass as incipient handles, and that excavation +of the bowl was begun, so that when severed from the stem the vessel +was already well under way.”[254] These vessels were usually, in their +largest size, about two feet long, one foot or more in width, and about +seven or eight inches deep. Some are nearly circular. The tools used +were of stone, wood, bone, and horn, but chiefly of stone in the form +of chisels and picks. Some of the trenches formed in cutting out this +material were twenty-five feet wide, sixteen feet deep, and seventy +feet long. One described by Fowke near Culpeper, Va., is one hundred +and fifty feet in diameter and of considerable depth, being filled with +water and débris. Pits of varying depth and size from which steatite, +jasper, rhyolite, and other materials have been extracted by the +Amerinds are found in different parts of the continent. In Yucatan +there are numerous well-like holes in the ground that were “pockets” +of zahcab, and when this valued material was taken out the cavity +was either left or transformed into the strange, well-like affairs, +carefully walled up and covered over, called chultunes, the object of +which is often a mystery.[255] + +[Illustration: AMERINDIAN METHOD OF MINING STEATITE FOR UTENSILS] + +Native metals, when discovered by the Amerinds, were mined in much the +same way as the flint, the largest workings known being those at the +Lake Superior copper mines, where copper of remarkable purity continues +to furnish this continent and the world with an abundant supply. +Doubtless most of the copper used on the North American continent +prior to the Discovery was derived from these mines and distributed +through the channels of Amerind trade. Bowlders or nuggets of this +pure copper were treasured in the homes of the tribes of the northern +lake region when first encountered by the whites, and the location +of the outcrops, both on the mainland and on the islands, appears to +have been well known to the Amerinds of that time. An Algonquin chief +presented Champlain with a piece of copper a foot long and told him +there were “large quantities” where he had obtained this. He also said +“that they gathered it in lumps, and, having melted it, spread it in +sheets, smoothing it with stones.”[256] The mining operations in the +Michigan-Minnesota copper region were evidently carried on for a very +long period in the laborious Amerind way, and in consequence at the +time they were first noticed had the appearance of extensive operations +by a few miners, leading to the erroneous supposition that they had +been worked by some other race. + +[Illustration: CHIPPED SPADE] + +It must not be forgotten that before the arrival of white men, and even +to this day in certain localities, copper appeared about as valuable +as gold. If the Lake Superior mines had been gold instead of copper it +would not greatly have enhanced the value of the product in the opinion +of the Amerinds of the locality and their customers. They worked their +way down into the rock which carried native copper and broke off +nodules and fragments as they proceeded. Some of the pits were eighteen +or twenty feet deep, and in one case a huge bowlder of copper was found +lying on oak supports several feet from the bottom. This mass had +been denuded of every projection, and the supposition generally has +been that it was being elevated to the surface by means of the wood +underpinning. This may have been the case, but it is possible that the +underpinning was inserted as the miners went down on the vein, because +the bowlder was too large to cut or handle. They therefore _left it +where found_ and proceeded to mine under and around for the smaller +pieces. The large one was ten feet long, three feet wide, nearly two +feet thick, and weighed over six tons. Other bowlders of greater weight +have been found, moved, as is supposed, a considerable distance from +the original bed, but the same hypothesis might apply to these that is +suggested above. The famous Ontonagon bowlder,[257] which was found +on the river of that name, is a copper mass weighing somewhere near +five tons and has been the cause of much speculation as to how it +came there. The probability is that it was left by glacial action on +the surface, not far from, if not on, the spot where found. It is not +likely that the Amerinds would take the trouble to move so large a mass +far. If they had possessed the power of cutting it up, they would have +done it near its source, and the same remark applies to the bowlders +of copper that it has been supposed they were trying to lift to the +surface. Furthermore, if the Ontonagon bowlder were transported by them +to its position, and if the large bowlders in the mines were destined +for the surface and transportation in bulk, we ought to find somewhere +else records or evidences of the presence of great bowlders, but +nothing of the kind has been found; no such large copper mass has been +discovered in any ruined Amerind town, or on any Amerind village or +town site. It seems that the Ontonagon bowlder was a natural deposit. +These huge masses of copper were troublesome to modern miners with the +most approved machinery. + +It must not be supposed that all the Amerinds of that region were +miners, any more than that all the Amerinds of any other region were +equally developed or skilful, or all did the same things. The Navajos +of the South-west are some of them expert silver-workers, yet their +neighbours, for the most part, can do little or nothing in that line. +But that is no reason for supposing the Navajos to be a race distinct +and apart from the rest. No more were the workers of the Lake Superior +copper mines any different from their neighbours in general. They had a +knack of working the native copper out of the ground, and they worked +it just as others mined for flint. When they ceased it was probably +because they had worked out all the easy places they could find, or +that their trade fell off owing to the introduction by the Europeans of +manufactured articles of copper and iron. + +[Illustration: ESKIMO STONE MAUL.] + +In one of the ancient pits a hemlock with 395 annular rings was +growing, and this has led to the supposition that the mines were worked +before the time of Columbus. The excavations undoubtedly extended over +a long period; from before Columbus to after Champlain. But it was over +three hundred years after Columbus before the first explorations of the +Lake Superior region were made by General Cass, and hence the tree had +time to grow since that date. On the whole, there seems to be no reason +for supposing that anyone but Amerinds worked these mines; Amerinds +lastly of Algonquin stock, though other stocks probably worked them +also. + +The method of utilising this copper in the Northern regions, that is, +north of Mexico, was as primitive as the method of extracting it from +the ground. It seems often, perhaps generally, to have been hammered +into shape cold and then finished by grinding. Doubtless they knew how +to melt it out of the rock on a small scale, allowing it to drop or run +into a mould scraped into the surface of a flat stone, somewhat the +shape of the article to be made, which would afterward be finished with +hammering and grinding. + +The objects found in the Mississippi valley, formed of copper, which +are probably the unaided work of the Amerinds, are chisels, arrow- +and spear-heads, knives, and perhaps certain thin plates wrought with +designs in the repoussé method. No camp utensils or other objects +have been found demanding a knowledge of the properties of the metal +sufficient to work it into articles requiring a quantity of copper to +be manipulated at once. Cushing maintains[258] that the production of +thin plates was an easy matter and he shows how the Zuñis made them, +but admitting that the Amerinds of the Mississippi valley could make +these plates, it does not prove that they did, for as copper in various +forms was very early an article of trade, it is possible that they used +the imported article. Cushing explains how the Zuñis, by a process of +alternate hammering and annealing and then grinding, produced thin +plates, which being pressed with a sharp tool would receive a design. +This pressed-out portion could be ground down with a flat slab to sever +it from the ragged edges of the sheet, and also to make any desired +perforations. The resulting turned-up edges could be hammered flat and +they then would be as if cut by a shear. + +Cushing explains how in the South-west ore was quarried and roasted in +an open fire, and then smelted in a sort of oven, the copper or other +metal appearing finally at the bottom. Primitive furnaces of this kind +he found in the Salt River valley. The singular thing about it is the +almost total absence of metal objects in the ruins of the South-west. +Aside from several small copper “hawk” bells found in the Salado and +other Arizona ruins, I have not heard of any metal object that was not +positively European being found in any mound or ruin of the South-west, +with one exception.[259] In 1875 a man in my employ in southern Utah +told me that several years before that time his uncle either had found +in a mound in southern Nevada or northern Arizona, or had obtained from +some natives who found it, a small gold image, which he had melted +down for the value of the metal it contained. At the time I thought +this tale belonged with that of the “lost mine,” but I am now inclined +to see a fact in it. It is quite within bounds that one of the small +Mexican or Chiriquian figures may have found its way up into this +region. + +[Illustration: SMALL FIGURE OF A FROG IN BASE METAL, PLATED WITH GOLD, + CHIRIQUI] + +If there had been a wide knowledge of copper and other metal-working in +the South-west in the olden time, there ought to be signs of it in the +ruins other than an oven, and even the latter has been rarely found. +Coronado and his chroniclers, Espejo, and all the list of early writers +on that region, never, so far as I have been able to note, mention +copper or any other metal articles. In fact, from the testimony of +literature, history, and actual excavation among the ruins so far as +carried at present, we should conclude that none of the people of that +region knew about metals or the manner of working them before the year +1540.[260] + +New Jersey also furnished the Amerinds some copper and those living in +the Atlantic region had ornaments, arrow-heads, and pipes supposed to +have been made from it or from Lake Superior copper. Brinton attributes +the scarcity of specimens in our collections to “its being bought up +and melted by the whites, rather than to its limited employment.”[261] +A few examples have been found, but if they had been plentiful there +should be discovered many implements antedating the arrival of the +whites. On Brinton’s hypothesis it would be necessary to assume that +there were few made before the coming of the whites or they could not +have been so easily bought up. As a matter of fact, the finds in copper +articles compared with the area occupied are astonishingly few, if +the natives turned off the amount of work some writers would have us +believe. + +[Illustration: COPPERS FROM THE NORTH-WEST COAST. + + These are made of thin sheets of copper, and grow valuable by sale + or exchange, according to peculiar customs. Some rise as high as + $5000 or $6000 + + Painted design in black, representing a sea monster with bear’s head + + Painted design representing a hawk +] + +On the North-west coast an article of great importance and value is +the “copper.” In former days these coppers were made of native metal +obtained from the mines of that region, and they must have been made +by cold hammering in the way that Cushing describes. To-day they are +made of metal obtained from the whites. The coppers are thin plates +of a peculiar shape; the nearest common thing that they resemble is a +gauntleted glove with the fingers cut off and with the gauntlet the +top. Across the wrist runs a ridge from one side to the other, and +from the middle of this another ridge extends downward to the bottom, +thus making with the first the shape of a letter T below the flaring +part. “The top is called the face,” says Boas in his valuable and +interesting account of the Kwakiutls, “the lower part the hind end. +The front of the copper is covered with black lead, in which a face +representing the crest animal (totem) of the owner is graven. These +coppers have the same function which bank notes of high denominations +have with us. The actual value of the piece of copper is small but it +is made to represent a large number of blankets, and can always be sold +for blankets. A white blanket at fifty cents is the unit. The value +is not arbitrarily set but depends upon the amount of property given +away in the festival at which the copper is sold. The oftener a copper +is sold the higher its value.”[262] Every copper has its own special +name, representing its peerless quality, or an animal; as, the killer +whale, the bear face, beaver face, etc. As ability to destroy valuable +property amongst these people distinguishes the great and wealthy, +these valuable coppers are demolished piecemeal till only the portion +with the T upon it remains. Sometimes all the fragments are bought up +by another person, who rivets them together and the copper then has a +greater price than ever. A broken copper is a more important piece of +property than a whole one, because the possession of it shows that its +owner is rich enough to destroy property. These plates are in use from +Yakutat to Comox. Sometimes a copper is cast into the sea. + +[Illustration: HOLLOW SILVER BEADS OF NAVAJO MAKE, ARIZONA] + +In the South-west it is not the house-building Pueblo who is the +metal-worker _par excellence_ but the semi-pastoral Navajo, who, +besides his flocks and herds, possesses a wealth of silver ornaments +that runs up into the thousands. Silver and copper ornaments are turned +out by the native silversmith not only for his own people but for +whites also, and a considerable trade exists between the Navajos and +other Amerinds in this native jewelry as well as in blankets. If you +desire to have an article made, you give the silver it is to contain, +usually in dollar pieces, and an equal quantity as wages. The objects +manufactured are globular and semi-globular buttons; bracelets like +a letter C in form and shape, buckles, rings, plate for the bridle, +tobacco canisters, flat buttons, beads, and various discs, and other +ornamental objects. These are often engraved quite artistically, and +sometimes elaborately. Copper seems to be a valued metal for ornaments, +and I have seen copper bracelets on a Navajo woman made exactly the +same as silver ones. The Navajo silversmith is up to a trick or two +as well as his white neighbour. At Manuelito there was a white trader +who often sold Navajo bracelets to passengers from the railway trains +that ran within a hundred feet or less of his door, and he was a man +who prided himself on “square” dealing. One day a gentleman who had +purchased several silver bracelets rushed in full of ire, demanding +the return of his money for the worthless bracelets which he threw +upon the counter. They were copper. The trader took down a string +containing a number, from which the returned ones had been originally +taken, and which he had purchased for silver, and found that every one +was copper. They had been thinly washed over by the Navajo smith with +silver. + +[Illustration: NAVAJO SILVER WORK, ARIZONA + + Engraved button + + Bracelet + Usually about 2½ inches long +] + +It has sometimes been suggested that the Navajos learned their +metal-working from the Pueblos, but if so it was a lesson obtained +in quite modern times, for the Pueblos themselves, as has been +mentioned, appear to have known nothing about the working of metals +before the arrival of the Spaniards. The art of metal-working both +among the Navajos and the Pueblos is probably a modern acquisition. +Washington Matthews, writing about 1883, says: “Old white residents of +the Navajo country tell me that the art has improved greatly within +their recollection.”[263] It is likely that the Navajos, having a keen +perception of mechanical matters, had wrought copper to a limited +degree and that through their intercourse with, and absorption of, +Pueblo tribes, this tendency was developed by a certain amount of +knowledge in this line which the Pueblos acquired from Mexicans who +followed in the train of the early Spanish explorers; but this skill +was not given a real impetus till after the South-west fell into our +possession, when tools and trade rapidly developed.[264] + +When in 1871 I encountered Navajos for the first time, on their way to +trade with the Mormons, I do not remember seeing them have any silver +ornaments. This was so soon after their liberation from government +confinement following their war with us that they were, naturally, +very poor. But if they had before possessed much silver they would +have concealed it, and by the time I saw the ones referred to they +would again have been wearing it and trying to trade it for horses, +which they sadly needed. The Navajo silver-work is distinguished by +an extremely artistic quality. Their tools and appliances are very +rude and simple. As their method of operation is probably similar +to that of Amerinds who have not been observed as closely, I will +condense here some of the important details as given by Washington +Matthews.[265] Only a few have attained a degree of proficiency that +enables them to make large hollow articles, like flasks and the like, +but there are many who can turn out bracelets, buttons, buckles, etc. +Their appliances consist “of a forge, a bellows, an anvil, crucibles, +moulds, tongs, scissors, pliers, files, awls, cold chisels, matrix and +die for moulding buttons, wooden implements used in grinding buttons, +wooden stake, basin, charcoal, tools and materials for soldering +(blow-pipe, braid of cotton rags soaked in grease, wire, and borax), +materials for polishing (sandpaper, emery paper, powdered sandstone, +sand, ashes, and solid stone), and materials for whitening (a native +mineral substance—almogen—salt and water).” The forge is built up with +several old boards, an old box, or, when these cannot be procured, of +sticks. The nozzle of the bellows, being wood, is kept back from the +fire several inches and a continuation built in the mud with which the +fire-bed is constructed. The bellows is a tube of goatskin, a foot long +and ten inches in diameter, distended by two or three wooden hoops. The +back of it is a disc of wood with a valve in it. The nozzle is of four +pieces of wood tied together and having a hole an inch square through +the centre, the outside being dressed off till it is approximately +round. Any old piece of iron, like the king-bolt of a wagon, driven +into a log serves for an anvil, though in the absence of this a hard +stone is sufficient. They make their own crucibles of clay, generally +three-cornered, about two inches in every dimension, and baked hard. +“The moulds in which they cast their ingots, cut in soft sandstone with +a home-made chisel, are so easily formed that the smith leaves them +behind when he moves his residence.” “Metallic hemispheres for beads +and buttons are made in a concave matrix by means of a round-pointed +bolt.” Several matrices are made on a single bar of iron and a bolt +that will fit the smallest is sufficient to work all. They prepare +charcoal by building a large fire, and when it is “reduced to a mass of +glowing coals they smother it well with earth and leave it to cool.” +Blowpipes are made by themselves out of brass wire hammered flat and +then bent into a tube. The engraving and chasing of the objects made +are done with the sharpened end of a file, or any other suitable sharp +piece of steel. It will be seen from the foregoing that the Navajo +silversmith is dependent to a very great extent on materials and tools +obtained from the whites, and without these the practice of his art +would be difficult. Schools for mechanical processes like dyeing, +metal-working, etc., would accomplish much good among these people. +They could readily be taught to use the lathe and other tools, and +would become good metal-workers. + +[Illustration: KWAKIUTL CHIEF HOLDING HIS COPPER, NORTH-WEST COAST + + The value of a copper is expressed in white single blankets of + American make at 50 cents each. It is rated according to the amount + of property given away at the festival where the copper is sold, + and each sale adds to its value proportionally. He who can break a + copper and cast away the fragment is considered great. +] + +Prescott says of the Mexicans: “They were as well acquainted with the +mineral as with the vegetable treasures of their kingdom. Silver, lead, +and tin they drew from the mines of Tasco; copper from the mountains +of Zacotollan. These were taken, not only from the crude masses on +the surface, but from veins wrought in the solid rock, into which +they opened extensive galleries.... Gold, found on the surface, or +gleaned from the beds of rivers, was cast into bars, or, in the form +of dust, made part of the regular tribute of the southern provinces +of the empire.”[266] Their mining was doubtless carried on by the +fire-and-water process used by the Northern people, while gold from +the river beds was possibly obtained in much the same manner as I have +been told the Amerinds of Peru get it. Selecting a river that was known +to be rich in the metal, a series of stone “riffles” would be arranged +in the best place at the very lowest stage of the water. Then when the +freshets came and swept the gravel across these rude affairs the gold +would remain lodged there and on the subsidence of the stream could be +readily taken out. There was undoubtedly a vast quantity of gold in +the possession of the Mexicans and Central Americans, but this fact +does not signify that they conducted mining operations on a large or +continuous scale, for the metal had been accumulating, in the shape of +idols and ornaments, for centuries. There was little lost or worn away, +as they did not use it as a general medium of exchange. Their plumes +in their head-dresses were often set in gold; rings of gold were worn +in their ears and on their arms, and the same metal was wrought into a +great many forms of ornament. + +Cortes ordered, says Valentini, eight thousand arrow-heads of +copper and they were “made ready for delivery in a single week.” It +seems, therefore, the Aztecs were accustomed to handling copper in +considerable quantities. It is said they made a mixture of copper and +tin which they used for tools, and certain implements and objects are +found with a percentage of tin in them, but nevertheless their keenest +weapons and their most serviceable tools were made of obsidian, which +was also the case with the Mayas. Their hardened copper was useful +for some purposes, but they were unable to harden it sufficiently to +sustain an edge. For cutting stone in two they used, as the Eskimo +does to-day, a thin blade and sand. In their case the blade was copper +tempered with tin, and in the Eskimo’s case it was formerly probably a +thin blade of bone, while now it is an old steel saw. Silver as well +as gold and copper was known to the tribes of the Central regions of +America, and lead also was one of their metals, though little was done +with it. There is a tendency to exaggerate the mechanical as well as +the art skill displayed in objects that were made on this continent, +before the whites came, or that were not discovered till recently. +The reason for this seems to be that we love mystery and it is too +tame to refer the finds to the ordinary “Indian,” who in the popular +mind has no ability in any direction, so they are ascribed to that +“mysterious” race that we have tried in vain to find some evidence of +besides mystery. Daniel Wilson gives an example of how this mystery +bubble bursts on the slightest accurate investigation. Some tools +were found in the neighbourhood of Brockville, Canada, of which Dr. +Reynolds, who exhibited them, stated: “There is also a curious fact, +which these relics appear to confirm, that the Indians possessed the +art of hardening and tempering copper, so as to give it as good an edge +as iron or steel. This ancient Indian art is now entirely lost.”[267] +When these Brockville relics were submitted to careful examination it +appeared that they were not “different in any material respect from +the native copper of Lake Superior.”[268] This was all very well, but +Wilson was not satisfied with Reynolds’s ascribing these relics to the +“present Indian race” and goes on to say: “The evidences of antique +sepulture, however, are unmistakable; and other proofs suggest a +different origin,” and he proceeds to call in Squier’s aid and ascribes +them forthwith to our fabulous friends, the “Moundbuilders.” One of +his proofs was a terra-cotta mask found with the articles, in which +he saw a skill beyond that of the “Indians,” but which in reality, +judging by the illustration he gives of it, is nothing remarkable. Yet +Wilson continues: “It cannot admit of doubt that in them [the mining +operations] we look on the traces of an imperfectly developed yet +highly interesting native civilisation, pertaining to centuries long +anterior to the discovery of America in the fifteenth century,”[269] +etc. This conclusion he is assisted to by certain quotations from +some of the old natives and from Claude Allouez. These convince him; +but a little later on he quotes Alexander Henry’s mention of his visit +to the Ontonagon, who says: “I found this river chiefly remarkable +for the abundance of virgin copper which is on its banks and in its +neighbourhood. The copper presented itself to the eye in masses of +various weight. The Indians showed me one of twenty pounds. They +were used to manufacture this metal into spoons and bracelets for +themselves.”[270] If they made bracelets and spoons, they probably +made other articles, “melting the lumps and spreading it in sheets” to +smooth it with stones, as the chief described to Champlain. + +The Chiriquians seem to have possessed a skill in metallurgical +operations unsurpassed by any other people on the continent. Whether +they used gold dust in quills, and T shapes of tin or copper for +currency as did the Mexicans, does not appear, but they were skilled +in metal-working. They understood smelting, alloying, and plating, +and apparently were extremely skilful at casting. As before noted, no +weapons or implements have been found of metal, all the metal objects +being ornaments, and “almost exclusively,” says Holmes, “pendent +ornaments.” “They were, for the most part, cast in moulds, and in nine +cases out of ten represent animal forms. A few bells are found, all of +which are bronze. Pieces formed of alloyed metal are usually washed +or plated with gold.”[271] Many of these valuable relics of the past +have been disposed of for their money value and duly melted up to be +made into something modern. The gold is usually alloyed with copper +in varying proportions, though pure metals were also used. From the +fact that the alloy is so variable it would seem that the combination +already existed before it came into the Chiriquian hands; that is, it +was perhaps a natural combination. + +Holmes believes almost all these metal objects were cast in moulds, +as noted, but he mentions other processes by which they may have +been made. They have the appearance of having been modelled in some +plastic material, and then coated with clay, when by the action of +heat the wax runs away, leaving the hollow clay as a mould to receive +the metal. This is the _cire perdue_ process. Small figures of +resin, in all respects modelled like those found in metal, have been +discovered in the graves. This seems to add to the probability of a +Chiriqui acquaintance with the _cire perdue_ process. Another method +suggested is that the various metallic parts of a figure were enclosed +in a clay matrix and then heated till the parts melted and joined, +but this appears to be too uncertain and difficult to have warranted +its practice. Still another method advanced is the coating of a wax +figure with sheet gold and melting the wax, when a hollow gold figure +would be the result. This is possible but not probable. Yet one more +suggestion is that the gold was reduced to an amalgam with mercury, +and thus modelled, when the mercury being driven off by heat the gold +figure would remain. One difficulty with this theory seems to be that +there is no evidence that the Chiriquians knew mercury. As many of the +objects are washed or plated with pure gold, it would seem that the +pure gold was the most difficult to obtain, and that, as before stated, +the gold-copper alloy was a natural one. There is neither engraving nor +carving on these objects; and the objects themselves are the same crude +productions that are indicative of pure Amerind art everywhere on the +continent. Some are more crude than others, but all Amerind sculpture, +modelling, and carving are essentially rude and primitive. In the form +and artistic execution of the Chiriqui objects of gold and copper we +may be positive that there is no European influence, whatever there +may be in the method of production. It is probable that the objects +are entirely native, and they offer another lesson that the tribes of +North America were everywhere working and inventing, and gradually +conquering the secrets of nature just as our ancestors did and just as +we are still doing to-day; some doing more, others less; some being +quick, and others clumsy, ignorant, and dull. The bells are usually of +bronze, having the shape of our common sleigh-bell, and are frequently +gold-plated. The bells found in Arizona are of this description but not +plated. + +[Illustration: TRIPLE BELL OR RATTLE OF GOLD FROM NEAR PANAMA] + +[Illustration: BRONZE MEXICAN BELL] + +Besides their sciences of mining and metallurgy, the Amerinds +understood some others, like the manufacture of glue and cement, the +production of paints and dyes, and astronomical reckonings. True, some +of these are more properly classed as arts, but requiring knowledge +that may be called scientific, they may be considered under that head. +Paints were usually obtained from clays and ochres. I once traced to +its source the red paint formerly used by the Amerinds of southern Utah +and found it in the second great bend of the Colorado River, about +three thousand feet below the surface and about two thousand feet above +the river, as the canyon is there about five thousand feet deep. The +paint was in a cave the mouth of which opened on a little gulch, and +the entrance was so small and narrow, and in such hard rock, that we +could barely wriggle our way on our bellies, along the eighteen feet +of passage, before we reached the cavern, thirty feet long, fifteen +wide, and high enough for a man to stand erect in. There were several +side passages leading farther, but this seemed to be the main cave, and +all over the walls were the marks of the sharp sticks with which the +Amerinds cut out the ochre. Our guide stated that it was customary to +send in the boys and squaws after the paint. The ochre was of a rich +red, but no match for the red lead and vermilion obtained by trade with +the whites. The remote and difficult position of this cave and its +narrow and repelling entrance show how eager the natives were to secure +paint. At the time of our visit, however, the mouth was considerably +overgrown with small brush, proving that for several years no visit +had been made. In every region there were special places for obtaining +paints, and Brinton states that in New Castle County, Delaware, the +vicinity of streams now known as White Clay and Red Clay creeks +furnished red, white, and blue clays in such abundance that they were +called by the natives _Walamink_, or Place of Paint.[272] Charcoal was +used for black. + +Of dyes they had a fair assortment, but they were not able to obtain +the brilliant hues they now secure by means of the “Diamond” and other +aniline dyes. A black dye was made by the Navajos from the twigs and +leaves of the aromatic sumac, a native yellow ochre, and the gum of +the piñon.[273] These same Amerinds have three different processes for +dyeing yellow. The first produces a lemon yellow, the second an old +gold, and the third still a different shade. + +[Illustration: BRONZE BELLS, PLATED OR WASHED WITH GOLD, CHIRIQUI + + These were cast in moulds. The largest is 1¼ in. high and ¾ in. + diameter +] + +Red dyes are also made by the Navajos; and the Mokis possess the +skill to produce several colours, one being a deep, rich blue. +These processes are all too long to admit of description here.[274] +The Lenapé and other Eastern Amerinds used the juice of the wild, +sweet-scented crab apple to fix the dyes, while among the Mokis the +liquid generally used is urine. It must have required long and careful +experiment before these people acquired their knowledge of dyeing, for +some of the preparations are rather intricately compounded, but here +is evidence once more that the Amerind was by no means a vagabond, but +was constantly at work devising and inventing. Glue they made from +fish in some localities, and in others by boiling down the skin from +the head of the bison or elk, or the hoofs of animals. Cement for +attaching arrow-heads and for other purposes was made by combining +pine gum with other substances. In all these mixtures and combinations +the proportions were either guessed at or measured, never weighed, for +there was no scale or balance in use, so far as now known, in North +America, though certain round stones from Mexico in Madrid have been +supposed to be weights. + +Remarkable progress had been made in many tribes in the matter of +calculating time, and the Mayas and Mexicans had advanced so far that +they were able to calculate the length of the year with accuracy. +What implements they employed is not known, but they were probably of +wood and stone, the latter of the form of the calendar stone, before +mentioned. Other tribes farther north made their calculations in a less +perfect way, yet they did and do keep time records. The Sun priests +of the Mokis use “what may be called a calendar stick,” says Fewkes. +“These sticks are about a foot and a half long, and are divided into +two parts, one section being round, the other flattened on one side. +The round section is girt by fifteen shallow parallel grooves, and +occupies about a third of the whole length of the stick. The remaining +two-thirds of the stick have a number of parallel grooves or notches +cut upon the flattened surface. Five of the latter grooves, which are +situated at equal distances, are deeper than the remaining, and between +each pair there are four smaller parallel grooves arranged at equal +distances. The space in which these grooves are cut occupies about +one-half of the flat portion of the stick. The remaining half, or that +more distant from the round section, is divided into two parts, which +are separated by a rectangular space, in the centre of which there is +a depression called the _nā-tā-l-tci_. On one side of the depression +there are three notches, on the other seven.”[275] The Eastern Amerinds +computed time in their own several ways, some computing twelve, others +thirteen moons to the year, usually reckoning from one planting time to +another. The Dakotas, Chipeways, and others reckoned by winters. + +In the Zuñi country, still existed a few years ago, if it does not +to-day, a primitive astronomical station. It is a rude little structure +containing an erect slab of sandstone adorned with the circular face of +the sun, and it is used, as it was long ago, for determining the Zuñi +chronology. + +The Aztec year had eighteen months of twenty days each and that of the +Mayas was the same. The Maya week had thirteen days, and the days were +counted from one to thirteen continuously throughout the year—that +is, each month did not begin with 1 but with whatever number happened +to fall on that day; it might be 2 or 5 or 8 or 13 or in fact any +number up to 13. The eighteen months gave them only 360 days, but +they intercalated at the end of each year the five days necessary to +round it out. At least so the early Spanish writers state, though +Thomas, who has given close attention to this subject, has said that +he felt doubtful on that point.[276] Prescott states without question, +concerning the Aztecs: “Five complementary days, as in Egypt, were +added, to make up the full number of three hundred and sixty-five. They +belonged to no month and were regarded as peculiarly unlucky. A month +was divided into four weeks of five days each.”[277] + +[Illustration: SMALL METAL FIGURE, CHIRIQUI + + Copper-gold alloy +] + +The six hours over the 365 days which we make up in our leap year the +Aztecs allowed to run to the end of their fifty-two year cycle, when +they intercalated it all at one time, the actual period being twelve +and one half days. This brought them “within an almost inappreciable +fraction,” says Prescott, “to the exact length of the tropical year, as +established by the most accurate observations.”[278] The Aztecs had +a second calendar used by the priests for keeping their own records +and making their own calculations, and doubtless the Maya had the same +practice. + +The Cakchiquel year consisted of 366 days. That of the Maya was 365. +The former, therefore, says Goodman, “could have no fixed date for its +beginning, relative to solar or terrestrial phenomena, but must revolve +regularly through the seasons.... The year might begin at the summer +or the winter solstice, at the vernal or the autumnal equinox, or any +other period.”[279] + +A great Maya event, which Goodman cites, was “the observance of the +280,800th year of their era.... Nearly all the other dates in the +inscriptions of Copan and Quirigua either lead up to or recede from +it. It was the beginning of the last quarter of their grand era, +the completion of which, it is perhaps needless to say, they did +not, as a nation, live to see.”[279] But when we touch this subject +of chronology it at once opens up a vast and complicated field of +investigation. Goodman goes on to say: “How account then for such an +immense period?... The most reasonable answer that suggests itself is +that they had a juster appreciation of the antiquity of the earth than +most nations have had, and that they began their chronology with the +supposed date of its creation.... I look upon the Maya chronological +scheme as ranking among the most marvellous creations of the human +intellect.”[279] + +[Illustration: SILVER PLATE WITH SPANISH COAT OF ARMS, + + from a mound in Mississippi +] + + + + + [Illustration: MOKI RATTLE OF ANIMAL HOOFS.] + + CHAPTER XI + + MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, MUSIC, AMUSEMENTS, AND GAMES + + +The popular conception that there is no fun in red men is erroneous. +All of them, far from being taciturn, silent, morose, and lacking +desire for amusement other than scalping or torturing captives, are +full of humour and are fond of fun. To strangers, however, they are +often silent. In every village there is a great deal of amusement, and +while the race is deficient in musical instruments, and the music they +produce, if it can be designated by that term, is usually apart of some +ceremonial, they do sing and the singing is accompanied by rattles +and drums. These instruments, with a sort of flute or flageolet and +bells and whistles, make the sum-total of their musical apparatus. No +stringed instrument, it was believed, was known on the North American +continent before the Discovery, though recently Lumholtz has found a +primitive musical bow among the Huichols in Mexico that seems to show +no outside influence. Their drums were usually made out of a hollow +log and were of various sizes, though some tribes also used a sort of +tambourine-drum formed by stretching a piece of hide over a hoop. In +the case of the Mokis, the large drum was made by stretching hide over +the ends of a hollow log by means of strings on the outside running +from the edge of one skin to that of the other, zig-zag. These drums +are about twenty inches in diameter by some three feet long, and the +ones I have seen had an appearance of age that seemed to indicate a +remote origin. Rattles are frequently made from deer hoofs, or from +hoofs of similar animals, and also from turtle shells, and garments +are trimmed with hoofs so that the movements of the wearer cause them +to strike together with a musical sound. Sometimes the hoofs are +attached in groups of three or more to the ends of a short stick which +is shaken to produce the desired sound. This is a form specially in +vogue among the Tlinkits, and these rattles are one of the articles of +trade with the tourists in the North-west. Another form is a gourd or +clay globe containing pebbles or something similar. Rattles of this +kind are common in the ceremonials of the Mokis. Bells, as we have +seen in the preceding chapter, were made by tribes of the Central +American region of copper in the so-called “hawk’s-bell” shape, but it +is not absolutely certain that this form of bell was not derived from +European contact.[280] No other form of bell was known to any of the +natives. + +[Illustration: AMERINDIAN RATTLES + + Gourd, Ojibwa + + Earthenware rattle from Chiriqui. + + Tin, Ojibwa +] + +Whistles were made of pottery and wood and of human and other +bones,[281] and were similar to our common whistles with one or more +holes in the tube for changing the note. The flute was of wood, +generally of cedar, which is considered a sacred wood. It was eighteen +or twenty inches long and was often ornamented with carving and tufts +of feathers, etc. In Mexico, some were made of terra cotta. + +[Illustration: OMAHA LARGE FLUTE + + Made of red cedar. Flutes were also made of eagle wing bones and of + reed +] + +It is certain that the sounds produced on these various instruments +would in no way suggest or resemble what is understood by music among +people of European origin, and it is also probable that our music when +first heard by Amerinds seems to them more like wailing and lamentation +than sounds of pleasure. I remember an evening long ago, in Arizona, +when we had the interesting companionship of several intelligent Navajo +chiefs, who entertained us by singing, accompanying themselves by +drumming on the bottom of one of our camp kettles. At length someone +of our party exclaimed, “Now let’s give them _Home, Sweet Home_,” and +this song was accordingly rendered in a way that should have moved the +savage to tears, but, though the firelight was brilliant, I failed to +detect any; indeed their expression appeared to resemble that which +a professional musician of our own race might have exhibited. They +were perfectly satisfied with a single selection, and they politely +said _Buéno_. The Navajos have a peculiar drum, the basket drum, +described by Washington Matthews.[282] It is a bowl-shaped basket made +according to special rules and rites, and inverted is used as a drum +in certain ceremonials, being beaten by a stick, also manufactured +in a special way, and according to long-established religious rites. +Whenever a ceremony is completed this stick is always pulled apart +during an appropriate song, and its fragments “deposited, with prayer +and ceremony, in the fork of a cedar tree or other secure place.” It is +made from yucca leaves, four being the prescribed number, and every one +of these must be absolutely free from blemish. One from each cardinal +point of the compass is necessary, and the making of the drumstick from +them is a serious matter, even the rejected fragments being disposed of +in some safe place with a benediction: + + “Thus will it be beautiful. + Thus walk in beauty, my grandchild.” + +“In none of the ancient Navajo rites is a regular drum or tom-tom +employed,” says Matthews. “The inverted basket serves the purpose of +one.” + +“The musical instruments,” says Bandelier, “which, while still in use +in Mexico, are known to antedate the Conquest, are but three in number, +one of which is already falling into oblivion. It is the _tozacatl_ +(sounding-cane), described to me as a long cane, bent round like an +Alpine horn. I never saw one, but its sound is said to be a sonorous +bellowing. The other is the _chirimia_. It is made of dark brown +wood, called _tepehuaje_, brought to Cholula from Matamoras-Yzucar, +or near Atlixco. Its length is 0.46 metre (about 18 inches) and its +width at the mouth is 0.06 metre (about 3 inches). It has eleven +holes irregularly arranged, and the mouthpiece is a thin plate of +horn on a stem of brass. The noise produced by this instrument is a +fit accompaniment to the shrill Indian voices, being horrible beyond +all description.... The big drum, the _tlapan-huehuetl_, was formerly +made out of the trunk of a tree properly hollowed, over which, at +one end, a deerskin or some other dried hide was stretched. All the +older authors make more or less mention of this instrument, but more +particularly Bernal Diez de Castillo, who says, when describing the +upper platform of the principal mounds of worship of Mexico: ‘And there +they had an exceedingly large drum, which, when beaten, gave a sound as +if from the infernal regions, which was heard at more than two leagues +off, and they said that the skin was that of large snakes.’”[283] The +_teponaztli_ was a wooden instrument with two tongues that were beaten +with a stick. Conch shells were also used as musical instruments. Some +of these were of very great size. + +[Illustration: DRUM OF TERRA COTTA, CHIRIQUI] + +The Eskimo drum is like a tambourine, a skin stretched over a hoop. +Some of the Chiriqui whistles were shaped like a top, while others +were straight with finger holes. These various types were distributed +over the whole area of the continent, the drum and the rattle always +predominating. + +The Amerind singing at first seems extremely monotonous to our ears and +the impression is that all tribes sing alike, but each stock has its +own methods and peculiarities. A foundation principle with all in the +men’s singing seems to be an explosive quality of vocalisation—that +is, violent explosive tones instead of, as with us, tones long drawn +out. The Moki seems generally to sing nothing but “ho, ho, ho, ho, he, +he, he, he, hay, hay, hay,” etc., and he has quite a different rhythm +from the Ute, while the singing of the Navajo, when the singer opens +out all the stops, is more like the voice of a cat in the back yard +than any other sound in civilisation that I can think of. Farther north +the sounds change again: the Tlinkit vocalisation suggests death by +strangulation. + +[Illustration: MENOMINEE TAMBOURINE DRUM + + A common form with many tribes +] + +[Illustration: OMAHA BOX DRUM + + A common form with most tribes. Originally made from a hollow log +] + +Fillmore states that the Navajo songs were the most primitive of any +he studied. “They form in fact the connecting link between excited +howling and excited singing. The quality of tone is indescribable, +being more like a yelp than anything else; but the intervals yelped +are unmistakably those of the major chord or of the minor chord. +The tone-quality is that of shouting, or even of howling, but the +pitch-relations into which they tend to fall are those of the major +chord.... Some of the Navaho songs are illustrations of melody so +primitive as to bring us very near to the beginning of music-making.... +I started my investigations with the impression that there might be +essential differences in structure between the Indian music and our +own. I studied the Indian music for ten years with the utmost care +and thoroughness of which I was capable. I have failed to find one +single interval in Indian music which we do not use. It is true, +I have often heard Indians sing these intervals out of tune; but +this is a phenomenon by no means confined to savage or uncivilised +races. In every such case, when I was singing with Indians and was +able to get at their real intentions, I have found that they meant +to sing exactly the interval we should sing in their place.... I +have also found that increase of power is almost always accompanied +with increased elevation of pitch, and diminution of intensity with +a lowering of pitch, seemingly without the Indian being aware of +it.... The evidence of the essential unity of all music, from the +most primitive to the most advanced, is cumulative. The Navaho howls +his song to the war gods directly along the line of the major chord; +Beethoven makes the first theme of his great ‘Eroica’ symphony out of +precisely the same material. The Tigua makes his ‘Dance of the Wheel’ +out of a major chord, and its relative minor; Wagner makes Lohengrin +sing ‘Mein lieber schwan’ to a melody composed of exactly the same +ingredients. In short there is only one kind of music in the world.” +Like everything else pertaining to man, it is a matter of development +modified by circumstances. Fillmore’s excellent investigation[284] in +this line only proves again that man is the same in all climes and ages +since first we get track of him, so far as his fundamental make-up is +concerned. Variations and differences are only those which come from a +development of latent talents or possibilities. He always moves, when +he moves, along certain lines that are prearranged by his constitution +and his environment. He may stop where circumstances direct, but he +will have stopped where others stopped before. + +[Illustration: SET OF PLAYING STICKS] + +There is always a great deal of repetition in the songs. The Amerind +seems content to go over and over again the same few notes. In some +tribes the poet and singer stands in the interior of a circle formed by +all the members of the tribe—men, women, and children—around a cedar +tree from which all but the top branches have been removed. A time of +moonlight is chosen, and I remember well such a night with some Pai +Utes, of Arizona. The poet recited his refrain, then all took it up +and repeated it in song, circling round and round the cedar with their +peculiar shuffle, repeating and repeating. I joined the circle and the +singing till I became tired, and finally left them still enjoying it. +The poet would give out some such stanza as + + “No rabbit kill, + No rabbit eat,” + +and it would serve the purpose for a considerable time, when he would +be obliged to announce a new one. + +Mooney has translated some of the songs of the Arapahos used in the +Ghost or Resurrection Dance, and I give several as specimens of their +style[285]: + + “O, my children! O, my children! + Here is another of your pipes—He eye! + Here is another of your pipes—He eye! + Look! thus I shouted—He eye! + Look! thus I shouted—He eye! + When I moved the earth—He eye! + When I moved the earth—He eye! + + ———— + + “The sacred pipe tells me—E yahe eye! + The sacred pipe tells me—E yahe eye! + Our father—Yahe eye! + Our father—Yahe eye! + We shall surely be put again (with our friends) E yahe eye! + We shall surely be put again (with our friends) E yahe eye! + Our father, E yahe eye! + Our father, E yahe eye! + + ———— + + “The cedar tree, the cedar tree! + We have it in the centre! + We have it in the centre! + When we dance, + When we dance, + We have it in the centre! + We have it in the centre! + + ———— + + “My children, my children! + It is I who wear the morning star on my head! + It is I who wear the morning star on my head! + I show it to my children! + I show it to my children! + Says the father! + Says the father! + + ———— + + “With the ba-qati wheel I am gambling! + With the ba-qati wheel I am gambling! + With the black mark I win the game! + With the black mark I win the game!” + +“This (last) song is from the northern Arapaho. The author of it in +his visit to the spirit world, found his former friends playing the +old game of the _baqati_ wheel, which was practically obsolete among +the prairie tribes, but which is being revived since the advent of the +Ghost Dance.... The game is played with a wheel (_baqati_, large wheel) +and two pairs of throwing sticks.... It is a man’s game and there are +three players, one rolling the wheel while the other two, each armed +with a pair of throwing sticks, run after it and throw the sticks so as +to cross the wheel in a certain position.”[286] + +[Illustration: PUEBLO RATTLES. + + Turtle shell, with hoofs of goats or sheep. Fastened to the rear of + the right leg near the knee in dancing Painted gourd with wood handle +] + +Among the Mokis, some of the old men are custodians of songs, according +to the societies to which they belong. Such a man is leader of the +singing. It is he who knows the old songs. He meets a lot of the young +men at a specified house, and placing an old tin pan on the floor to +spit in while smoking cigarettes, and beside it a candle for light, +they group themselves in a circle, sitting on the floor, while the +instructor takes his place on a stool at the large double-headed drum +at one end. He runs over a passage, beating time on the drum, and +then all join in with a vigour that well-nigh raises the roof. There +was something fine in the force and power with which these songs were +rendered, and it was the only time in my experience that my artistic +sense was stirred by Amerind singing. Later, on the same evening as the +gathering mentioned, when the same young men were rehearsing further +and also practising the dance with some small girls in a neighbouring +house, the singing lost its fire and was not at all thrilling. Before +the rehearsal with the young men the “choir master” rehearses by +himself. From my house at Tewa, on the “East Mesa,” I could hear just +after dark, every evening, through the stone wall, continuous singing. +It was in the next room or “house,” the entrance to which, though on +my level, was around a corner and not connected in any way with my +balcony. I had a ladder of my own. I was curious to see who it was that +was so devoted to this amusement. I mounted to my house-top by means of +steps on the end of a wall, and then I could look down my neighbour’s +chimney, from which little smoke and much sound were arising. I +could see plainly the singer, an old man, sitting cross-legged +before the fire, its light softly illuminating him, with a small +double-headed drum between his knees, which he was vigorously beating +in accompaniment to a “+HO+, ho, +HO+, ho, +HO+—+HE+, he, +HE+,” etc. +When I went afterward to the house of Anawita, the war-chief, to the +rehearsal described, this old fellow and Anawita were the leaders of +the songs. They were practising at that time for the Somaikoli or +Soyaita ceremony. + +The Amerind is fond of singing. He sings in ceremonials, sings in camp, +bursts out in yelps as he rides across country, and the women amongst +the Pueblos sing a shrill chant while they are grinding corn. Men of +some tribes sing at times without knowing what they are singing. I +once had a Uinkarets Ute with me in Arizona, and at night this man +would build a fire a few yards from us, and sitting by it would sing +the words _Lola-my, lola-my, lola-my_ with great vigour and gusto over +and over and over again. When I asked him what the words meant, he +said he did not know, nor could he explain just why he performed thus, +but it was probably a gambling chant. Singing is used at night for +driving away evil spirits that may be near. We had four Pai Utes once +travelling with us for a number of weeks, and almost every night, along +in the middle, one would wake and begin to sing in a low voice, then a +second would join, and a third, and so on till all were engaged, their +voices rising gradually, and finally as gradually diminishing till they +ceased altogether.[287] As this performance woke us up there were +protests against it, but they were of no avail. The red men declared +they did it to drive off the “woonūpits,” or spirit of evil, and we +were forced to partake of their protection. Beginning a song low and +rising slowly is an effect often used. Fewkes mentions something of the +kind. “At the termination of this ceremonial smoke,” he says, “the four +priests nearest the bowl picked up the small gourd rattles and began +a low, rapid rattling. This continued for a few moments, and then the +priests began a song, at first low, rising gradually and increasing in +volume.” Fewkes recorded many songs by means of the phonograph. The +Harriman Expedition recorded a number of Tlinkit songs, and afterwards +some of these were reproduced for the benefit of men of the same stock +farther north, who immediately recognised the melodies and, as their +hilarity testified, enjoyed them hugely, though they had never before +heard a talking machine. + +[Illustration: ZUÑI DANCE ORNAMENT + + Yellow gourd with band of black and white squares. A stick is + passed through it for a handle. Generally used in social dances +] + +[Illustration: MOKI NOTCHED STICK + + With shoulder-blade of deer or sheep for scraping it to make noise +] + +[Illustration: KWAKIUTL DOUBLE WHISTLE, WITH FOUR VOICES.] + +[Illustration: THE AWL GAME] + +Most Amerind songs are connected with ceremonials, and some are +imported or adopted. Ceremonials are not always sacred. Many of them +are full of amusing features intended to entertain the onlookers. The +attendance at a camp or village on a ceremonial day is for amusement as +much as anything else. + +The different tribes of a locality expect to meet friends then and +enjoy social intercourse. The Amerind is fond of games, races, and all +forms of sport on which a wager can be laid. A game without a stake +would be no game at all for him. He must put up something to lose, and +I once noticed after a distribution of goods among individuals of a +certain tribe that within twenty-four hours a few had all the goods. In +modern times many Amerinds play cards. Their own games are numerous. In +the “awl game,” played chiefly by women, “the players,” according to +Mooney, “sit upon the ground around a blanket marked in charcoal with +lines and dots and quadrants in the corners as shown in illustration +on preceding page. In the centre is a stone upon which the sticks are +thrown. Each dot ... counts a point, making twenty-four points for +dots. Each of the parallel lines, and each end of the curved lines in +the corners, also counts a point, making sixteen points for the lines, +or forty points in all. The players start from the bottom, opposing +players moving in opposite directions, and with each throw of the +sticks the thrower moves her awl forward and sticks it into the blanket +at the dot or line to which her throw carries her. The parallels on +each of the four sides are called ‘rivers,’ and the dots within these +parallels do not count in the game. The rivers at the top and bottom +are ‘dangerous’ and cannot be crossed, and when the player is so +unlucky as to score a throw which brings her upon the edge of the river +(_i. e._, upon the first line of either of these pairs of parallels) +she ‘falls into the river’ and must lose all she has hitherto gained +and begin again at the start. In the same way, when a player moving +around in one direction makes a throw which brings her awl to the +place occupied by the awl of her opponent coming around from the other +side, the said opponent is ‘whipped back’ to the starting-point and +must begin all over again.... The game is played with four sticks, +each from six to ten inches long, flat on one side and round on the +other. One of these is the trump stick and is marked in a distinctive +manner in the centre on both sides, and is also distinguished by having +a green line along the flat side, while the others have each a red +line.... There are also a number of small green sticks, about the size +of lead pencils, for keeping tally. Each player in turn takes up the +four sticks together in her hand and throws them down on end upon the +stone in the centre. The number of points depends upon the number of +flat round sticks which turn up.... Only the flat sides count except +when all the sticks turn round side up. On completing one round of +forty points the player takes one of the small green tally sticks from +the pile and she who first gets the number of tally sticks previously +agreed on wins the game.”[288] + +Another game, widely spread and in some respects resembling the +Mexican game of _patolli_, is thus described by Fewkes as he found it +among the Mokis[289]: + +[Illustration: AMERIND GAMBLING TOOLS + + Set of bone dice, Arapaho. Length, 1¾ to 2¼ in. + + Set of counting sticks, Blackfeet. Length, 5½ in. + + Set of plum stones, Arikaree. Diameter, ¹¹⁄₁₆ in. +] + +“This game, _totolospi_, resembles somewhat the game of checkers, and +can be played by two persons or by two parties. In playing the game, a +rectangular figure divided into a large number of squares is drawn upon +a rock, either by scratching or by using a different-coloured stone as +a crayon. A diagonal line, _tuhkiota_, is drawn across the rectangle +from north-east to south-west, and the players station themselves at +each end of this line. When two parties play, a single person acts as +player, and the other members of the party act as advisers. The first +play is won by tossing up a leaf or corn husk with one side blackened. +The pieces which are used are bean or corn kernels, stones and wood, +or small fragments of any substance of marked colour. The players are +stationed at each end of the diagonal line, _tuhkiota_. They move their +pieces upon this line but never across it. The moves which are made +are intricate and the player may move one or more pieces successively. +Certain positions entitle him to this privilege. He may capture or, as +he terms it, kill one or more of his opponent’s pieces at one play. In +this respect the game is not unlike checkers, and to capture the pieces +of the opponent seems to be the main object of the game.” + +Horse-racing is a great sport among all Amerinds and much valuable +property changes hands on these occasions. There are also foot races. +Anything they can bet on constitutes a game, and they are much like +many white men in this respect. Arrows are shot into the air to see +who can shoot out of sight, or they are shot at a mark and dexterous +archers try to split the shaft of the preceding shooter. Or they +throw arrows or bows over the ground or the snow to see who can throw +farthest. In this line the Iroquois had the game known as “snow snake,” +wherein a specially formed stick was caused to glide over the snow or +ice. The Arapahos used for a similar purpose slender willow rods about +four feet long peeled and painted and tipped with a point of buffalo +horn. This is swung from one end like a pendulum and then let fly with +a sweeping motion. + +Among the Pai Utes a common gambling game was played by four men +sitting down in two rows opposite each other, that is, two on a side, +and about five feet apart. In front of each side was a row of little +sticks placed diagonally in sand heaped up, the ends sticking out +toward the side to which the lot belonged. Two bits of bone formed the +pieces, one being plain and the other having a buckskin string around +it. These pieces were about two and a half inches long, tapering toward +their ends. The leader of one side tosses both pieces into the air +and, catching them, crosses his arms, pressing the fists against each +shoulder. The point is for the other side to guess in which hand is +the piece that is marked with the string, and the diagonally opposite +player chooses. He does not at once indicate a choice, but sways his +body back and forth, his right hand extended and waving to and fro +across the opponent’s breast, and slapping his own chest, all the while +fiercely uttering a gambling song. Finally he would point directly at +the hand he chose, and if his guess were correct he received a tally +stick, if not, the other side got one. The side that wins all the +tally sticks is victor and carries off the stakes, which are usually +put on the ground at one end of the group. This is something like the +“hunt the button” game of the prairie tribes described by Mooney.[290] +“It is the regular game in the long winter nights after the scattered +families have abandoned their exposed summer positions on the open +prairie and moved down near one another in the shelter of the timber +along the streams.... The players sit in a circle around the tipi fire, +those on one side of the fire playing against those on the other. The +only requisites are the ‘button,’ usually a small bit of wood, around +which is tied a piece of string or otter skin, with a pile of tally +sticks.... Each party has a button, that of one side being painted +black, the other being red. The leader of one party takes up the button +and endeavours to move it from one hand to the other, or pass it on to +a partner, while those of the opposite side keep a sharp lookout and +try to guess in which hand it is.” This game is played by both sexes +but never together. + +Still another game which was a great favourite all over the country, +and is yet, especially among the women, is the “plum stone” or dice +game. Five or six dice made of bone or plum stones, a small bowl or +basket, and the usual tally sticks are the implements. Two of the dice +are alike in shape and marking, while the others are different from +these but like each other. The dice are tossed up and the count made +according to the way the marks and blanks fall. + +[Illustration: TERRA COTTA RATTLE FROM CHIRIQUI] + +The camps and villages are particularly lively in winter, when there +is not much to do in the way of hunting, farming, or fishing. The +sound of the drum, gambling songs, and rattles make the evening merry +where the village is one of skin tipis or other light structures, but +among the Pueblos the walls of the houses are so thick that sounds +do not easily come through. The great drum is penetrating and its +deep “bum-bum-bum” could be heard vibrating on the winter air, but +other sounds were muffled or extinguished altogether by the walls. +One moonlight evening when I arrived before the town of Oraibi, about +eight o’clock, not a single sound was distinguishable, and to judge +by appearances, the place was a deserted ruin, till the dogs got a +sniff of our approach and then pandemonium ruled so far as they were +concerned. Many tribes have an assembly house, where there are various +congregations in the winter evenings, to sing and to dance. Among the +Pueblos these congregations, when there are women or girls involved, +take place in an ordinary dwelling; the kiva, which is council room, +club, and society lodge, seldom being open to women. An orchestra that +performed in a Kabinapek assembly hall described by Stephen Powers is +worth mentioning. “The orchestra, eight in number, all young men, were +squatted together opposite the entrance, four facing four. Between them +was a hollow slab, serving as a kind of drum to be beaten by a drummer +with the naked foot, and each of them held in his right hand a little +stick, split half way down, to be used as a clapper in keeping time. +The dancers were all young women, who stood in a curved row in front +of the orchestra.” This orchestra sang a chorus accompanied by the +clappers they held. “Like everything they sung it has no meaning. They +all sung in a high falsetto voice, the women especially, so that they +were less agreeable to listen to than the men. The sharp monotonous +clacking of the sticks and the dull tunk, tunk of the slab drum were +execrable.” He states that they kept perfect time, however, and also +that “there was one short passage in this chorus which when chanted +by the men alone was one of the most moving I ever heard. These three +rude, barbaric, and wholly unintelligible syllables, hu-di-go, were +trilled and prolonged out with a sweet, soft, and wild melodiousness +that I shall not forget to my dying hour.”[291] + +The Eskimo, despite the severity of their surroundings, are a merry +people, and have many diversions. Football, strange to say, is a +favourite pastime, but neither their method nor their ball would pass +muster with a college expert. The ball is a pudgy affair from three to +seven inches in diameter, and is either kicked or whipped along. The +whip is a short stick with several loops of seal thong at the end. The +game, according to Turner, is a favourite with all. Throwing stones at +a mark is also a pastime. Another is a kind of wrestling or struggling +with each other, such as is in vogue with almost all the tribes of the +continent. Turner says: “The opponents remove all their superfluous +garments, seize each other around the waist and lock hands behind each +other’s backs. The feet are spread widely apart and each endeavours to +draw, by the strength of the arms alone, the back of his opponent into +a curve and thus bring him off his feet. Then with a lift he is quickly +thrown flat on his back. The fall must be such that the head touches +the ground.... The feet are never used for tripping.”[292] + +Anything like scientific boxing is unknown among the tribes of the +continent. When they try anything of this sort it is a mere clawing +at each other’s heads, and one professional pugilist, if fists alone +were used, could knock out a whole tribe. Among the Hudson Bay Eskimo, +a popular game is played by trying to catch, on the end of an ivory +point, an ivory piece that looks something like a stumpy revolver. A +string is attached to it and to the ivory point, and the game is to +throw up the piece and cause the point to enter one of the holes and +catch it. Cards, such as we have, are known to almost all tribes, and +where they have not learned games from the whites they invent some of +their own. + +Ball games of various kinds were played and the Canadian game called +_lacrosse_ is of Amerind origin. Parkman in his _Pontiac_ vividly +describes one of these lacrosse games used in strategy to gain entrance +to an English fort. “The plain in front was covered by the ball +players. The game in which they were engaged, called _baggattaway_ by +the Ojibwas, is still, as it always has been, a favourite with many +Indian tribes. At either extremity of the ground, a tall post was +planted, marking the stations of the rival parties. The object of each +was to defend its own post and drive the ball to that of its adversary. +Hundreds of lithe and agile figures were leaping and bounding upon the +plain. Each was nearly naked, his loose black hair flying in the wind, +and each bore in his hand a bat of a form peculiar to this game. At one +moment the whole were crowded together, a dense throng of combatants +all struggling for the ball; at the next they were scattered again, +and running over the ground like hounds in full cry. Each, in his +excitement, yelled and shouted at the height of his voice. Rushing and +striking, tripping their adversaries, or hurling them to the ground, +they pursued the animated contest amid the laughter and applause of the +spectators.” + +[Illustration: CAT-SHAPED WHISTLE OF TERRA COTTA, CHIRIQUI] + +In Central America, a form of tennis was in vogue and stone courts +where the game was played have been found and described by some of our +modern archæologists. + +[Illustration: MANDAN GAME OF TCHUNGKEE + + George Catlin +] + +I never saw any ball playing amongst the Uinkarets, Shevwits, or other +Amerinds of the northern Arizona-southern Nevada region. They all +appeared to be deficient in games, at the time I was first among them, +not knowing what our playing-cards were, and having even no games of +exterior origin. There were flat pieces of cedar bark, painted with +red stripes, said by some to have been used like dice, but I never saw +them engaged in playing with them. The children used a flat piece of +bark as a doll, and most Amerind children play with dolls made of wood, +terra cotta, and other materials.[293] The small boys devote themselves +to the bow and arrow for amusement in many tribes, and they will go +out in the woods, or on the plain, and bring down small birds and mice +with considerable skill. The whip-top, made of wood, is a favourite +everywhere, especially among the Moki boys, whose life on the barren +mesas precludes much hunting with bow and arrow. The children also beat +the drum for fun. + +Horse-racing is a sport in which many tribes, especially those of +the plains, are past masters. The Pueblos, particularly the Mokis, +owing to their sedentary life, have less opportunity to develop in +this line, but the Navajos, Sioux, Crows, Blackfeet, and Comanches +have little to learn about rough-and-ready racing. It goes without +saying that the Eskimo, Aleuts, Tlinkits, Haidas, and other North-west +tribes, whose range of life is on and by the sea, have no knowledge +of handling horses. They never adopted the horse, because it was as +useless to them as an elephant or a hippopotamus. But to the plains +tribes this animal came like a gift from the gods, and they appreciated +it fully, and horses became their standard of wealth. Some tribes, like +the Kaivavits, Uinkarets, and Shevwits Utes of northern Arizona have +never possessed many horses because of their poverty, but there were +always a goodly number owned, and horse-racing was a great amusement +with them, as well as with those tribes which counted their horses +by the thousand. Dodge describes an amusing race that took place +near Fort Chadbourne, Texas, between a horse of a Comanche chief and +three horses of the officers of the garrison, which illustrates the +Amerind cleverness in the jockeying line.[294] It took several days +of manœuvring to bring the chief to the point, and then a race was +arranged with the third best horse of the white men. The distance was +four hundred yards, and property to the amount of sixty dollars a side +was wagered on the result. “At the appointed time all the Indians and +most of the garrison were assembled at the track. The Indians ‘showed’ +a miserable sheep of a pony with legs like churns; a three-inch coat +of rough hair stuck out all over the body, and a general expression +of neglect, helplessness, and patient suffering struck pity into the +hearts of all beholders. The rider was a stalwart buck of one hundred +and seventy pounds, looking big and strong enough to carry the poor +beast on his shoulders. He was armed with a huge club, with which, +after the word was given, he belabored the miserable animal from start +to finish. To the astonishment of all the whites, the Indian won by +a neck. Another race was proposed by the officers and, after much +‘dickering,’ accepted by the Indians, against the next best horse of +the garrison. The bets were doubled, and in less than an hour the +second race was run by the same pony, with the same apparent exertion +and with exactly the same result. The officers, thoroughly disgusted, +proposed a third race, and brought to the ground a magnificent Kentucky +mare, of the true Lexington blood, and known to beat the best of the +others at least forty yards in four hundred. The Indians accepted the +race, and not only doubled the bets as before, but piled up everything +they could raise, seemingly almost crazed with the excitement of their +previous success. The riders mounted; the word was given. Throwing away +his club, the Indian rider gave a whoop, at which the sheep-like pony +pricked up his ears and went away like the wind, almost two feet to the +mare’s one. The last fifty yards of the course were run by the pony +with the rider sitting face to his tail, making hideous grimaces, and +beckoning to the rider of the mare to come on. It afterwards transpired +that the old sheep was a trick and straight pony, celebrated among all +the tribes of the South.” Yet some people think the Amerind has no +sense of humour. + +[Illustration: DOUBLE WHISTLE IN TERRA COTTA FROM CHIRIQUI] + +Story telling is another amusement, and a good story teller, says +Dodge, is a man of importance. “The bucks, and squaws, and children +crowd to his lodge, or any other where he happens to be, and spend the +long winter evenings listening to his recitals. These stories are as +marvellous as the imagination of the teller can create, jumbling gods +and men, fabulous and living animals, the impossible and the possible +in the most heterogeneous confusion.”[295] + +The Navajos, or at least some of them, have considerable dramatic +sense. On one occasion, when some Navajos camped near us, one of them +gave an exhibition of character delineation that would have done credit +to a professional actor. Choosing a large bush nearby as a screen for +his costuming, he came out to the fire successively representing the +various nationalities with which he was familiar. Some of these were +extremely well done. The Pai Ute, for instance, is poor in clothing +and always begging. Our actor took off all his clothing but the +breech-cloth, approached the fire timidly and cringingly, and crouched +down beside it, drawing the back of his hand across his nose with an +accompanying sniffle, and exclaimed in Pai Ute: _Tabac ashanty_ (I want +some tobacco). Another was the American, who stepped nervously to the +fire, and restlessly turned first front, then back, extended his hands, +rubbing them over the heat; held up first one foot, then the other, and +so on. These impersonations were full of the character of the types +indicated. The exhibition finally culminated in a representation of the +characteristics of his own people. Retiring once again behind the bush, +he at last appeared with his full costume on, carefully adjusted. His +head bore a red turban, his shirt was held by a fine belt, his broad +Navajo trousers met at the knee the red buckskin leggings, ornamented +with silver buttons, and his feet were protected by moccasins finely +wrought, held by silver buttons. About his shoulders was a fine blanket +of Navajo make, and across his back a large bow and its arrows in a +panther-skin case and quiver. Approaching the fire with a measured, +haughty tread, head erect and folded arms, he paused majestically +before it, straightened to his full height, and in a deep, dignified +tone spoke the single word, “Navajo.” + +[Illustration: SET OF STAVES FOR GAME + + The lowest shows obverse of one above. Length, 5½ in. +] + + + + + [Illustration: “BANNER-STONE,” TENNESSEE] + + CHAPTER XII + + WORKS AND AGRICULTURE + + +For a long time it was believed by the whites that the “Indians” were +incapable of doing anything beyond weaving baskets, and from this +condition of ignorance much of the confusion concerning the Amerinds +has arisen. The line of reasoning was based on some such syllogism as +this: The “Indian” never worked; The Cliff-dweller and the Moundbuilder +worked at building houses and mounds; Conclusion, The Cliff-dweller +and the Moundbuilder were not “Indians.” Short, in his excellent book +on the Amerinds,[296] applies unfortunately this method of reasoning +to the copper-mine workers of the Lake Superior district, saying: +“The labour involved in a journey of a thousand miles from the Ohio +valley to the copper regions, the toil of the summer’s mining, and the +tedious transportation of the metal to their homes upon their backs, +and by means of an imperfect system of navigation, indicates either +industry and resolution such as no savage Indian ever possessed, or +a condition of servitude in which thousands occupied a position of +abject slavery.” This seems a complete misunderstanding of the people +and conditions existing on this continent. Without consuming space in +discussing these errors, I think my preceding pages have demonstrated +that far from lacking industry and resolution, the “savage Indian” was +applying himself in his way to a solution of the life problems which +surrounded him. He knew nothing of the rules of commerce, book-keeping, +and exchange, but there are other things in the world besides figures +and accounts. The Amerind’s game-supply and clothing, and the soil +about him, were not overtaxed, at least not north of Anahuac, till the +whites arrived with their mania for “killing something,” and introduced +on this continent the destructive practice of hunting for the fun +of seeing how many animals could be killed in a certain time; or of +killing for a special part of an animal, as for the tongues, or the +hides and tallow, of the bison. When I first went to the Far West bison +were spread over the plains by thousands. Not a single specimen can +to-day be found alive outside of some private herd or the Yellowstone +Park. Hunting, as before mentioned, was with the Amerind labour, not +amusement, but in conjunction with their hunting most tribes carried on +farming operations. It has often been asserted that the “Indian” did +no work, even leaving the cultivation of the corn and squashes to the +women. That the women in some of the tribes tended the crops, is true, +but in others, like the Pueblos, they seldom or never touched hoe or +spade. The Eastern men were hunting or building boats, or were on the +warpath, hence it was necessary for the women to look after the fields. + +In the Eastern regions the crops grew without watering, but in the West +and South-west the soil was arid and irrigation was necessary, hence +there are found to this day remnants of extensive irrigation canals +built to bring rivers out on the dry land. The fact that the resident +Apaches do not irrigate does not prove that these great canals were +built by people who emigrated from China or India, in the absurd line +of argument that has so often been advanced in discussing Amerindian +affairs; it simply proves that the Apaches did not cultivate the soil, +or not extensively enough to require irrigating works, and also, +over again, that tribes and stocks exist in a region, in different +conditions or stages of development, either at the same time or at +different times. These irrigating canals are unquestionably the work +of tribes similar to the Pueblos; that is now well established. They +were constructed because, in an increasing population and a probable +decrease of precipitation, they were found necessary. An increase of +population diminishes the food-supply; in an arid country where game +is not plenty this diminution is rapid. A corresponding development +of a food crop is the inevitable course, unless the tribe were to +migrate to more humid regions. In this case, hostile people already +there might have to be met, and it would be easier to remain at the +old place and invent new methods of obtaining food. In some such way +irrigating and its attendant engineering developed. Irrigating canals, +then, are found not where any lost or mysterious race once dwelt, nor +where any particular Amerind stock were living, but where the climatic +conditions and population made irrigation imperative. These conditions +prevailed on this continent in Mexico and our South-west, and there +consequently are found the most important works of this kind. The +remains of irrigating canals in the south-western United States are +numerous. There are indications of them along the fertile bottoms +of the Colorado River in Glen Canyon. These bottoms are deposits of +alluvial soil, generally occupying the inside of a bend at the base of +the cliffs. They are of various extent, about three to eight feet above +ordinary high-water mark, and are fringed with willows. I remember +examining several indications of these “ditches,” but as I made no +notes at the time, and it was long ago, I cannot give details. There +were ruins of houses here and there, both on the cliffs and below, +and the cliff faces bore pictographs. Amongst these I found, and +copied, one which suggested some kind of a scaffolding and sweep for +lifting water, and it is not improbable that something of this kind +was utilised for raising water from the river. As there would be no +opportunity to construct a canal or ditch sufficiently long to receive +water by natural flow from the river owing to the shortness of the +alluvial stretches, a system of lifting it into the ditches might have +been devised. Water might have been obtained also in another way. The +country on both sides of the river at this point is composed chiefly +of barren surfaces of homogeneous sandstone which collect enormous +quantities of water, like the roof of a house, during rain-storms, +and pour it over the edges of the cliffs and down the alcoves and +lateral canyons. This water may also have been utilised for irrigating +purposes. The Mokis utilise showers by collecting and guiding the +streamlets with low dams hastily thrown up by their hoes, so it is +certain that all these Amerinds understood thoroughly the importance of +utilising shower-water on their crops.[297] + +[Illustration: SO-CALLED ELEPHANT MOUND, WISCONSIN + + Has been ploughed over. Length, 140 ft.; greatest height, 4 ft. +] + +[Illustration: ANCIENT FABRIC DESIGN FROM IMPRESSION ON POTTERY, UTAH] + +In the Verde River region of Arizona some very large canals or +“ditches” have been observed. Mindeleff has described a number of +these, and I will mention one which he says is one of the finest he +has seen.[298] This is “about two miles below the mouth of Limestone +Creek on the opposite or eastern side of the river.” The canal extends +across the northern and western part of an extent of fertile bottom +land. In one place it is marked “by a very shallow trough in the +grass-covered bottom, bounded on either side by a low ridge of earth +and pebbles, at another it was cut through a low ridge. It is probable +that the water was taken out of the river about two miles above this +place, but the ditch was run on the sloping side of the mesa which has +recently washed out.” It is supposed that this ancient canal irrigated +nearly the whole of the bottom land mentioned, which was recently +again reclaimed by another “ditch” or canal constructed by Americans. +“The ancient ditch is well marked by two clearly defined lines of +pebbles and small boulders.... Probably these pebbles entered into its +construction, as the modern ditch, washed out at its head ... shows no +trace of a similar marking.” + +[Illustration: ANCIENT FABRIC PRESERVED BY COPPER CELT, IOWA + + See page 108 +] + +Farming was carried on very much as the Mokis carry it on to-day, +except that the Mokis do not have to build irrigating ditches, the +showers supplying by their method water enough to mature the crops. +A German has recently settled south-westerly from the Mokis and, I +have been told, grows good crops on his place without irrigation. +Mindeleff further states that “on the southern side of Clear Creek, +about a mile above its mouth, there are extensive horticultural[299] +works covering a large area of the terrace or river bench.... For a +distance of two miles east and west along the creek, and perhaps half +a mile north and south, there are traces of former works pertaining +to horticulture, including irrigating ditches, ‘reservoirs,’ farming +outlooks, etc.” The reservoirs are supposed by some to have been +threshing-floors, being large circular depressions lined with clay. +The produce derived from these farming operations was corn, beans, +squashes, and cotton, corn being the principal. Cotton was grown by +some, but not all, of the south-western tribes. A great many of the +tribes throughout the United States and Mexico were farmers to a +greater or less extent, and many of the earthworks of the Mississippi +valley were in all probability connected with agriculture. It was +necessary there to protect the crops from marauding parties from wilder +tribes, so, in all probability, some of the earthworks, surmounted +by palisades or by watch-houses, served to guard the crops from +depredations. Morgan thinks some of the square ones were foundations +for communal houses,[300] and this is also probable. + +[Illustration: LARGE MOUND OF THE ETOWAH GROUP, GEORGIA + + Next to the Cahokia, this is probably the most important work of + its kind remaining in the Mississippi valley. It is sixty-one feet + high, and the area of the base is about three acres. With several + smaller ones, it stands in the middle of a tract of about fifty + acres of rich land, bounded on one side by the Etowah River, and on + the other by a semi-circular artificial waterway or moat. The top + approximates a square, with a sort of roadway adjoining and leading + up on the left. The entire contents are about 160,000 cubic yards. + It is composed of earth which was taken from the moat and adjoining + excavations + + From a photograph +] + +On the upper Gila River in Arizona, Fewkes discovered traces of +reservoirs and irrigating canals. “The large circular or elongated oval +depressions,” he says, “in the immediate neighbourhood of some of the +house-mounds have been identified as the sites of former reservoirs.... +The reservoir at Buena Vista is one of the largest that was discovered, +yet no irrigating ditches leading into it were distinctly traced.... +There is abundant evidence that the ancient people of the Pueblo Viejo +Valley led the water from the Gila River over the plain by means of +canals for purposes of agriculture, for in many places the depressions +marking the old ditches may be traced for considerable distances.... I +have been informed by some of the older residents that when they came +into the country, before the Montezuma and San José irrigation ditches +had been constructed, the ancient aqueducts were much more conspicuous +than they are to-day, and that sections of the modern ditches follow +the course of the ancient waterways.”[301] + +[Illustration: A VOTIVE ADZ OF JADITE FROM MEXICO, SHOWING FRONT AND + SIDE + + Height, 10¹³⁄₁₆ in.; width, 6 in.; thickness, 4⅝ in. Highly + polished; color light grayish green with streaks of emerald green + on the back. A complete human figure. See page 341 for back. + + From _Monumental Records_ + + American Museum, Kunz Collection +] + +The Aztecs built long aqueducts to supply their towns, and the Mayas +constructed large reservoirs. Charnay says: “According to historians +of the Conquest, El Salto del Agua (a monumental fountain in the City +of Mexico) and the aqueduct which it terminates replaced the ancient +aqueduct of Montezuma constructed by Netzahualcoyotl, King of Tezcuco, +between the years 1427 and 1440. At that time it was brought through +an earthen pipe to the city, along a dyke constructed for the purpose, +and that there might be no failure in so essential an article, a double +course of pipes in stone and mortar was laid. In this way a column of +water the size of a man’s body was conducted into the heart of the +capital.”[302] + +George Bancroft makes the statement that “of the labours of the Indians +on the soil of Virginia, there remains nothing so respectable as would +be a common ditch for the draining of lands,”[303] but in this Bancroft +was somewhat mistaken, for Thomas describes[304] some mounds in West +Virginia, which was Virginia when the above sentence was written, that +were undoubtedly the work of some of the Amerinds formerly occupying +that soil. “First the earth (unless the place selected is a bare rock) +is removed to the solid rock foundation and an approximately level +space from ten to thirty feet in diameter formed. Centrally on this was +placed a layer of flat stones, with the edge inward, around a circle +about three feet in diameter. Upon the outer edge of these, others were +placed with their outer edges resting upon the prepared foundation +running entirety round the circle. Then another inner layer with the +best edge inward and the thinner edge resting on the outer layer, the +stones of one layer breaking joints with those below, as far as the +size and form would admit. Outside of the inner row, and with the edges +resting on it, other circles were added until a diameter ranging from +twenty to fifty feet or even more was attained, thus extending upon +the sloping earth not removed in forming the foundation. The last or +outer circle usually consisted of but a single layer, over which earth +was thrown, being sometimes heaped up until it equalled in contents +the rock pile. The height of these piles was found to vary from four +to eight feet, in one or two instances reaching ten feet. But in all +cases the circular space or opening in the centre continued to the top +the same diameter as at the bottom, somewhat resembling the so-called +‘well-holes’ of the early western pioneers.” The stones used in these +constructions were obtained by “rude quarrying in stratified cliffs +one half mile distant. Some of them measure from four to six feet in +length, half as wide, and of a thickness which renders them so heavy +as to require from two to four stout men to handle them.” Skeletons +were found in cavities of these piles “with head or feet (generally +the latter) toward the central well-hole.” Coarse pottery, rude +large celts, lance- and arrow-heads were also discovered, and “all +the cavities of the heap not originally used for burial are filled +with earth or mortar, often well baked by fire.”[305] Many mounds and +other earthworks have been found in the western Virginia region, and +in some of them copper articles have been brought to light.[306] In +New York there are many mounds called “old forts,” of various shapes, +with walls from one and one half to two feet or more high, and thence +westward, throughout the Mississippi valley, mounds and earthworks of +many shapes and sizes are found. They appear to be concentrated in +various centres, with a sprinkling in between suggesting a number of +different groups of Amerinds as their builders, which has been pretty +well established by evidence was the case. Some of the mounds were of +enormous size, the famous one at Cahokia, Illinois, being one of the +highest and largest on the continent. Its altitude is about ninety +feet, and it contains nearly 500,000 cubic yards of earth. Its purpose +is, of course, not known, but it probably supported some religious +structure of wood. Many of the mounds, as pointed out in the chapter on +dwellings, were merely supports for buildings, religious or otherwise. +Others were connected with religious rites in other ways. Doubtless the +figures of birds found in Wisconsin represented the “Thunder-bird,” of +which there are legends and traditions in many tribes. It was to the +Amerind the cause of the thunder and lightning. These great and small +earthworks were constructed in the United States by scooping up earth +from the vicinity and carrying it in baskets to the designated spot. +The United States mounds are, as a rule, made of earth, those of Mexico +and Central America of clay or adobe brick, faced with stone or wholly +of stone. “It is often the case,” says Thomas, speaking of the burial +mounds of the Mississippi valley, “when a mound is carefully excavated +and closely scanned as the work proceeds, especially where the material +is clay or muck, that the individual loads can be readily discerned. +As the earth of which the mounds is composed is usually gathered up +from the surrounding surface, the interior will vary in color and +character only as the soil so gathered up varies.... The places from +whence material was taken to build the small or moderate-sized mounds +are seldom discernible at the present day, but depressions plainly +mark the points about the larger works, as the Cahokia and Etowah +mounds and some of the enclosures of Ohio and elsewhere.[307] In some +cases the one act has been made to serve two purposes, that is to say, +the earth used to construct the mound or other work has been taken +from one or two points so as to leave a basin-shaped excavation for +holding water, or to form a trench to serve as a protective moat, or +for drainage or other purposes.” For a long time it was believed by +a great many persons, scientific and otherwise, that these piles of +earth, often called pyramids quite erroneously, could not have been +made by ordinary Amerinds, but as the study of the native American +proceeded and the data of what he did and does actually do began to be +recorded, it was perfectly plain that it was not at all necessary to +look beyond the “Indian” for the origin of the mounds—that is, beyond +the “Indian” as he was known in the region where the mounds occur. It +was found that he had erected mounds after the arrival of the whites, +and if he built one or several he might have built all. It was not a +very difficult operation to dig up earth and carry it a few hundred +feet and drop it on a pile. The transportation of the stones referred +to above was far more laborious, and modern Amerinds do a great deal +harder work. The Navajos are fairly good labourers, and the Mokis carry +all their wood from forests fifteen miles away. It is work to carry +water up the cliffs where the Mokis live, it is work to hoe the corn, +it is work to tend and herd sheep. On full investigation it seems +strange that it should ever have been thought that the mounds were not +“Indian” because they represented work. Fowke has estimated that a +mound a hundred feet in diameter and twenty feet high could have been +erected by the “Indians” in forty-two days. I have seen Uingkaret Utes +in Arizona carry on their backs with ease for twelve or fifteen miles +loads that would average about thirty or forty pounds. People who can +do this could carry earth in short stretches for forty or fifty days. +It is probable, however, that the mounds were not built by steady and +consecutive labour, but rather by intermittent effort, after the usual +fashion of Amerindian work. + +[Illustration: BACK OF VOTIVE ADZ + + For front and side see page 339 + + From _Monumental Records_ +] + +[Illustration: PATTERNS OF ANCIENT FABRICS FROM POTTERY + + From New York + + From Illinois + + From Tennessee + + See page 108 +] + +Many mounds and earthworks were erected for defensive purposes at +points controlling river passages or trails, where the advance of foes +invading a country could be checked. There were also fortification +works like the so-called “hill-forts” of the eastern portion of the +United States, and the “cérros trinchéras” of northern Mexico. Quoting +again from Thomas,[308] one of the best authorities on mounds and +“Moundbuilders”: “The most extensive example of the ‘hill-forts’ is +that known as Fort Ancient, in Warren County, Ohio. This crowns a spur +of the bluff some two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet high, +which here overhangs the Miami River. The area embraced is only some +seventy-five or eighty acres, but the length of the wall, which follows +all the windings and zigzags of the margin of the bluff and of the +side ravines, is a little over three miles and a half. This is one of +the best-preserved monuments of the Ohio valley, the surrounding wall +being uninjured save at points where the turnpike cuts through it, and +at a few places where ravines have been formed since it was abandoned. +This wall, which is partly of stone, but chiefly of dirt thrown up +from the inner or upper side, varies in height from three or four to +nineteen feet, and from twenty-five to seventy feet in width at the +base. As the earth has all been taken from the inside (except along the +high wall which crosses the level at the rear) and thrown outward on +the crest of the slope, this has left an inside ditch. As a rule, the +wall is strongest and highest at the points of easiest approach; and at +some places the outside slope has been artificially steepened, proving +beyond any reasonable doubt that the work was one of defence.” + +[Illustration: ESKIMO MECHANICAL TOY.] + +The Amerinds, though not always engaged in war, were always on the +defensive against stronger tribes whose warriors might appear on +the scene. These stronger tribes were not necessarily Amerinds of a +different stock or strangers; often, as in the South-west, defensive +works were erected against relatives as much as against different +tribes, just as we, in our time, have had three wars that were not with +another race. In New Mexico the villages, besides being built on the +communal principle, were often surrounded by a defensive wall. Such +a wall can still be traced around the ruins of Pecos, as well as in +parts at other ruins. The hill-forts of the Ohio kind were undoubtedly +the result of circumstances similar to those that prevailed in the +South-west: a desire to combine as closely as possible defence and the +cultivation of the soil. They were often interdependent. If conditions +changed, or a tribe grew strong enough to dominate the situation, the +defences might be abandoned. These works do not necessarily imply that +their builders were defeated and driven back by wilder tribes. They +indicate only that the builders felt defensive works necessary at the +time of the building; their circumstances then demanded them. They do +not indicate difference in race or remote origin. The constructors were +Amerinds, though not all one stock. There were tribes of different +stocks in the Mississippi valley all the time, just as there were in +other parts of the land, and the attempt that has been made by some +writers to establish the idea that the Mississippi valley was once +occupied by a single mysterious race that was overpowered and driven +out or exterminated by the “Indians” has no good foundation. + +One of the most extensive groups of these defensive village sites +is that known as the Newark group, in Ohio.[309] Here are circles, +squares, and straight-line mounds, all connected, covering an area +of two or three square miles. There are two large circles in this +group which approximate true circles, and have been the basis of much +unnecessary speculation as to how “Indians” could have “done it,” with +the conclusion that the “mysterious race” did it. When it is remembered +how easy it is to construct a fairly accurate circle in a great many +ways, it is surprising that anyone should have thought “Indians” could +not do it, when they did _and do_ so many things that require more +skill. One clear-headed and accurate writer reminds the reader that +people who could manufacture cloth could certainly make a rope with +which to lay out a plan. Almost all Amerinds could make rope, the Pai +Ute, Uingkarets, and Shevwits Utes, who cannot make cloth at all, +making excellent rope and cord. But it was not necessary to make a rope +of fibre. Amerinds have always been skilful at tanning deerskins, and +buckskin strings braided make one of the best kind of ropes; indeed, it +does not even require to be tanned, as it can be worked in the rawhide +state. We should have to descend low in the scale of humanity, indeed, +to find a tribe that could not make a cord long enough to lay out any +circle yet discovered on this continent. There is nothing difficult +about it. The largest circle at Newark has a diameter of about a +thousand feet. This would require a rope only five hundred feet long, +which would be nothing for any tribe on the continent to make. + +[Illustration: MÁHTOTÓHPA (THE FOUR BEARS), A MANDAN CHIEF + + George Catlin, 1832 +] + +Just why the Newark works have the particular arrangement they have +would be impossible to say without knowing the customs of the tribe +that built them and the circumstances of the time. It is probable, +however, that some enclosures were farm fences. The plan suggests two +communal villages, closely allied and united by a sort of runway, +which, while preventing hostiles from separating the two villages +in time of attack, always afforded a safe passage for the women and +children from one town to the other. The builders were evidently beset +by enemies at the time the works were occupied, but this does not +necessarily imply that when the works were abandoned the occupants +were driven out or annihilated, for their enemies may have been people +of their own stock with whom they eventually became reconciled, or +the enemies may have passed on to other fields, or the occupants of +the works may have grown more powerful and at length have assumed +the offensive. Abandoned works, I repeat, do not necessarily mean +annihilation of the builders. The South-west offers countless examples +of the truth of this statement. Villages and works were abandoned +there for a variety of causes; sometimes it was little more than +caprice. Quoting Thomas again: “Nor is the theory that, while some of +the monuments are due to the Indians, others are to be ascribed to a +different race, justified by the data, or reasonable, as no one is +able to define the characters which distinguish the classes. If the +Indians built mounds of the most advanced type and of large size, as +history shows positively the natives of the Gulf States did, there +is no necessity for attributing the works of the middle and northern +sections to a different race. That the Moundbuilders were divided into +various and often contending tribes, is shown by the works for defence +and protection, as also by the evidences of varying customs. Yet there +is nothing in the antiquities to indicate a higher culture than that +of the southern Indians or a greater difference between the people +of the different sections than existed among the natives when first +encountered by the whites.” Granting this, there is still nothing to +prove that some of these tribes did not come from a long distance off, +for the Amerinds very often have been travellers. + +Few mounds or earthworks are found east of the Alleghany Mountains, +north of Tennessee and North Carolina, but to my mind this is not +positive proof that the people who built earthworks in other places +did not live there. The Amerind changes his methods so completely when +circumstances demand, that it would not be safe to say that those who +built mounds west of the Alleghany range did not live east of it. If +the Mokis should have migrated to Ohio in priscan days, they certainly +would not have built stone houses there. They would have erected mounds +and wooden houses, for the reason that the stone would have been +difficult to secure. Many tribes have readily changed from one method +to another in building, as pointed out in a previous chapter. With the +Amerind, it depends so much on circumstances what he will do in a given +locality. For example, the traditions of the Mokis require their kiva +to be under ground. This is easy in their cliff-land, but how would it +be in Louisiana? Even in Zuñi surface kivas are found acceptable. + +[Illustration: AN ONYX JAR FROM MEXICO IN PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE + + The excavating was being done by a hollow drill, probably of reed, + and sand + + Photographed and described by M. H. Saville for the American Museum + _Bulletin_, vol. xiii., article xi., July 9, 1900 +] + +In Mexico there are numerous large mounds which, as noted before, +sustained buildings, now commonly called “temples.” “At Teotihuacan” +says Charnay, “the pyramid of the Sun is six hundred and eighty +feet at the base by one hundred and eighty feet high.... Like all +great pyramids they [the Sun and Moon pyramids] were divided into +four storeys, three of which are still visible, but the intermediate +gradations are almost effaced. A temple stood on the summit of the +large mound, having a colossal statue of the Sun, made of one single +block of stone.... The interior of the pyramid is composed of clay and +volcanic pebbles, incrusted on the surface with the light porous stone, +tetzontli. Over this was a thick coating of white stucco such as was +used for dwellings. Where the pyramid is much defaced, its incline is +from 31 to 36 degrees, and where the coatings of cement still adhere +47 degrees.”[310] One of the largest mounds in Mexico and one of the +largest in North America is the Great Mound of Cholula. It is about +one thousand feet square at the base, of which the approximate area +is over twenty acres. It now has much the appearance of a natural +hill, surmounted by a church of modern construction. There are “three +distinct projections, surrounding and supporting a conical hill, and +separated from each other by wide depressions. The entire mass consists +of adobe bricks laid in adobe clay, undisturbed except where erosion, +earthquakes, or the hand of man have mutilated it. The bricks break +joints and are of various sizes.”[311] The altitude is about two +hundred feet. Limestone slabs were used for steps. Bandelier does not +ascribe it to the Aztec or Nahuatl stock which occupied the region at +the time of the Conquest, but to some anterior tribe. + +It has been called a pyramid, with other mounds in Mexico and Central +America, but this is not a proper term for these Amerindian works. + +They have not the character of the Egyptian pyramids, nor were they +constructed with the same object. The pyramids were tombs, while the +large Amerind mounds were _foundations_ for buildings. Almost every +ancient building of any consequence in Mexico and adjoining regions, as +well as far up into the United States, stood on a mound of greater or +less elevation. The so-called “palace” of Palenque, in which Stevens +lived while studying the ruins, “stands on an artificial elevation of +an oblong form, forty feet high, three hundred and ten feet in front +and rear, and two hundred and sixty feet on each side. This elevation +was formerly faced with stone, which has been thrown down by the growth +of trees, and its form is hardly distinguishable.” See illustration of +a part of this palace, page 403. + +The chief ruins at Copan are all on a huge mound, and at Mitla the +edifices have mound foundations, or rather platforms. A more or less +elevated site for his dwelling-place or temple, whether natural or +artificial, seems to have been almost universal with the Amerindian +people from the Isthmus of Panama to British Columbia. The amount of +labour expended in constructing the artificial foundation platforms and +mounds was something prodigious. + +[Illustration: WOODEN FOOD BOWL, HAIDA] + + + + + [Illustration: DANCING MASK OF THE MAKAHS, WASHINGTON] + + CHAPTER XIII + + CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES + + +Few Europeans can look at the world from the Amerind point of view, +because few know what it means to have lands free. Happy the man who +has trod the wilderness primeval, and tasted the world in its original +freshness. He alone can understand what the Amerind has lost forever. +When I first went into the West about thirty years ago, the regions we +traversed were untamed, and often we did not meet even Amerinds for +weeks at a time. Such a condition has its charms, and when we remember +that, except in the southern regions of Mexico, the native American +was born and bred to it, we can see that it must be a difficult matter +for him to suddenly change. But a few generations hence, where once he +scaled the cliffs, or followed the deer, he will be sitting down to +a course dinner in a swallow-tail coat. He has already conquered at +football, and the rest of the downward road will be easy for him! + +[Illustration: MOKI WICKER CRADLE WITH AWNING CARRYING BASKET OF THE + ARIKAREES + + In the smaller figure the awning is over the bowed end +] + +Our general impression of the native American, the Amerind, is that he +is a kind of human demon, or wild animal, never to be trusted, unable +to keep a compact, always thirsting for gore; but it is a mistake. He +is not altogether unreliable. The Iroquois maintained the “covenant +chain” with the British unbroken for a round century. The Amerind +never broke faith with Penn, and it is seldom that he will violate any +compact that he fully understands he has entered into. His daily life +in the earlier days was by no means bloodthirsty. Powell has truly +said that the scalping-knife was no more the emblem of pre-Columbian +society than the bayonet is of ours of the nineteenth century. In the +United States existence of a trifle over a hundred years have been +waged several long and bloody wars, one the most gigantic known to +history, all police records are full of horrible crimes the Amerind +was a stranger to, and within a year or so _white people_ have +burned alive several victims. When anyone defends the Amerind he is +accused of trying to make an angel of him, but this only shows again +how universally unjust toward him we are. We are blind to our own +shortcomings and exaggerate those of the Amerind. It was inevitable +that the weaker race should be forced to the wall, but we can at least +give it credit for any good that was in it without injuring ourselves. +In estimating their traits we do not regard them enough from their own +standpoint, and without so regarding them we cannot understand them. +The Amerind was something of a farmer, of an architect, of an engineer, +of a statesman, of an artist, the amount and quality of his interest +in these things depending, as with us, on circumstances. In most +localities, he achieved for all what all are with us still dreaming to +attain, “liberty and a living,” and his methods of government possessed +admirable qualities. We call him lazy and despise him for it, but many +of our people would not work if they could avoid it. One of Balzac’s +characters is made to say: “I fear God; but I am still more afraid of +the hell of poverty. To be without a penny is the last degree of misery +in our present social state.” The great philosopher here put European +life in a nut-shell. The Amerind was fortunate perhaps in not knowing +what poverty, as we understand it, is. With him the keen eye, the +woodman’s skill, and a generous and abundant soil gave him his daily +bread. The idea of piling up treasure for the satisfaction of holding +it did not occur to him any more than did killing of game for pleasure. +A tribe may have passed through famine, but the individual never knew +hunger in the midst of riches, as the civilised man so often meets +it. Not long ago a whole family wandering about the streets of New +York, homeless and without food, dropped from exhaustion at the corner +of Thirty-fourth Street and Broadway. In Amerind society, such an +occurrence would have been impossible. No friendly stranger ever left +an Amerind village hungry, if that village had a supply of food. And +“the hungry Indian,” says Powell, “had but to ask to receive, and this +no matter how small the supply or how dark the future prospect. It was +not only his privilege to ask, it was his right to demand.” + +The Amerind distribution of food was based on long custom, on tribal +laws; food was regarded like air and water, as a necessity that should +in distress be without money and without price. Hospitality was a +law, and was everywhere observed faithfully till intercourse with the +methods of our race demolished it. Among isolated tribes it is still +observed. Among the Mokis a hungry man of any colour is cheerfully fed. + +[Illustration: TLINKIT MAN AND WOMAN, 30 YEARS AGO, OR ABOUT 1870 + + “The labret, a small cylinder of silver with a broad head, is the + modern style of lip ornament, differing materially from the large + ones worn until a few years ago.”—Niblack + + Many tribes wore lip, nose, and ear ornaments +] + +We cannot seriously condemn the Amerind for not jumping at the +opportunity to tie himself to the plough, or to the ledger, or the +grindstone. He was, as a rule, close to Nature, and like all men who +live thus he imbibed some of her grandeur. He lived in independence; +and when he died, he died as the sun sets at evening, expiring in +glory, without a tear, without lamentations. In the hands of the enemy +at the stake, his passing away was sublime, like the summer cloud that +sails steadily out into the infinite blue and dissolves. The most +painful tortures failed to bring a moan to his lips, or a tear to his +defiant eye, and his proud spirit departed in silence. An offer of +liberty was frequently refused. Charnay tells of a Tlaxcaltec chief, of +great fame as a warrior, who was captured and who, on being recognised, +was offered his freedom. He refused to accept it and desired to be +devoted to the gods, as was the custom. He was tied to the gladiatorial +stone, where he killed eight warriors and wounded twenty others before +being overpowered and offered up to the war-god. + +The habit of mind and body of dense commercial populations tends toward +degeneration because it is a concentration in one line. The Western +mountaineer exhibits the effect of removal from trade considerations +in a repose of manner and a tranquillity of nerves which strongly +suggest the Amerind. “There are incommensurable differences,” says +Balzac, “between the man who mingles with others and him who dwells +with Nature. Once captured, Toussaint Louverture died without uttering +a word, while Napoleon on his rock chattered like a magpie.” + +Freedom of limb and strength of mind eliminated much disease from the +native races. Deformity amongst Amerinds was rare. There were seldom +cases of diseased spine, blindness, insanity, squinting eyes, deafness, +or any deficiency or excess of the organs.[312] Sitting Bull was a +fine specimen of the Amerind, and he was a man of great ability. Such +men could not be enslaved, and from the first the European efforts to +reduce the red race to slavery were failures. They held their own in +most localities, and often compelled governments to treat with them +as with a sovereign power. Where the treaties were kept by the other +side the Amerind seldom violated them. Penn never had any difficulty +because he treated the Amerinds fairly and honourably. Oñate, in his +long journey across Arizona, had no conflict with the natives, but +found them without exception friendly, and this was the experience of +other explorers who were just. The native was a child. He expected +absolute fidelity and truthfulness from the whites, though he did +not always give this in return; once let him detect prevarication or +deceit, and his confidence vanished. He never forgave a white man for +talking “crooked,” and those who have been invariably truthful and +honourable toward him have commanded trust and respect. I know two men +who had great influence over the Navajos because they had always been +fair and just to them. “We call them cruel,” says George Bancroft, “yet +they never invented the thumb-screw, or the boot, or the rack, or broke +on the wheel, or exiled bands of their nations for opinion’s sake; +and never protected the monopoly of a medicine man by the gallows, or +the block, or by fire. There is not a quality belonging to the white +man which did not also belong to the American savage; there is not +among the aborigines a rule of language, a custom, or an institution +which when considered in its principle has not a counterpart among +their conquerors.”[313] Throughout the continent there was a general +homogeneity of customs and ceremonies which separates the Amerindian +races from the rest of the world, and argues an immense period of +isolation from all other people. + +[Illustration: A PAWNEE IN BATTLE ARRAY + + Photographed by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geological Survey +] + +Some tribes have become civilised, like the Iroquois, the Cherokees, +and the Choctaws. Some tribes of Arizona and the contiguous regions are +at the other end of the scale, living a rude life, even for Amerinds, +and subsisting on uncultivated products of the soil, like piñon nuts, +fruits of cactus and yucca, “_yant_,” a kind of agave, and seeds of +grasses, as well as on what game the sterile region affords. The grass +seeds are, some of them, large and fat, and make nutritious food. +Many tribes cultivated a grain that has no superior in the world for +its yield, its ease of cultivation, and its nutritious qualities. +This was maize, or Indian corn, which grows in new ground with little +attention, and can be dried and stored indefinitely. No machinery was +required to separate it from the husk, and it was easily reduced to +meal or flour between two stones or in a mortar. Nor did it even need +to be ground, but, roasted in pits, or prepared in other ways, it +offered a palatable and nutritious food, even before the ripening. +Dried, or parched, it was carried on journeys, and dried venison added +to it made a strengthening diet. There were, besides, other foods, +like beans, squashes, native fruits and berries, and nuts. Nor was the +native without beverages, some of them intoxicating; the _pulque_, or +_octli_ of the Mexicans, extracted from the maguey, being a well-known +example. There are many varieties of this drink, though all are made in +the same way. In the spring the central part of the plant is removed, +leaving a cup-like cavity which fills up with juice, that is taken out +from time to time, and put into a kind of vat made of hide stretched +on four poles. After fermentation, bitter herbs are added. _Mezcal_ is +another drink made from a smaller kind of maguey. It is a colourless, +brandy-like liquid, produced by distillation since the Conquest, but +before that made by boiling, just as the Comanches make it to-day.[314] +The Kaivavits and Uinkarets made a kind of wine out of the fruit of +the cactus. The fruit was put into a cloth and the juice squeezed out. +This was then allowed to ferment, and I was told produced intoxication, +though I never observed this result. The cake resulting from the +process was consumed as food, being sliced down like bread, and eaten +without further preparation. The Pimas and Maricopas, after drying +cactus fruit in the sun, macerate it in water, and after fermentation +get drunk on the compound. + +[Illustration: THE KWAKIUTL WOLF DANCE CALLED WĀLASAXA, NORTH-WEST + COAST] + +_Tortillas_ were made of maize, “shelled and soaked in an alkali to +remove the hull, then repeatedly washed in cold water.”[315] This +product was then ground on a metate, beaten into flat cakes, and baked +on an earthen griddle called _comalli_. _Tiste_ was parched corn ground +with chocolate and sugar and mixed with water. _Atolli_ was a drink +made of cornmeal cooked in water. _Chocolatl_ was prepared “by grinding +equal parts of cacao beans and seeds of _pochotl_ or _sequoia_, which +were then boiled. This liquid was shaken up to make it frothy, mixed +with dough made of maize and then submitted to a new cooking to thicken +it.”[316] + +No tribe learned to use the milk of any animal. The bison was about the +only native animal that offered any. In the whisky of the whites they +found their fate, and this has done more than any other single cause +except smallpox to destroy the race. For it they exchanged tobacco, and +the white man smokes as the Amerind drinks. + +[Illustration: UTE WOMAN CARRYING CHILD] + +Beckwourth, referring to the trading of the mixture of alcohol and +water called whisky on the frontier in his day, to the natives, +remarks: “This trading whisky for Indian property is one of the most +infernal practices ever entered into by man. Let the reader sit down +and figure up the profits on a forty-gallon cask of alcohol, and he +will be thunderstruck, or, rather, whisky-struck. When disposed of, +four gallons of water are added to each gallon of alcohol. In two +hundred gallons there are sixteen hundred pints, for each one of which +the trader gets a buffalo robe worth five dollars! The Indian women +toil many long weeks to dress these sixteen hundred robes. The white +trader gets them all for worse than nothing, for the poor Indian +mother hides herself and children in the forests until the effect of +the poison passes away from the husbands, fathers, and brothers who +love them when they have no whisky, and abuse and kill them when they +have.... In short, the sixty gallons of fire-water realised to the +company over eleven hundred robes and eighteen horses, worth in St. +Louis six thousand dollars.”[317] + +[Illustration: KEOKUK, A SAUK CHIEF + + George Catlin +] + +These were the honourable methods employed by the fur companies. They +secured from the Amerinds thousands on thousands of dollars’ worth of +valuable property for, as Beckwourth says, “worse than nothing,” and +no man knew better than he the fearful effect of the fire-water on the +native. To-day there are a great many white men engaged in the same +traffic, despite the government’s efforts to crush it out. And still we +cannot understand why the “Indian has degenerated”! + +A Cheyenne chief said: “White man, I have given you my robes, which my +warriors have spent months in hunting, and which my women have slaved +a whole year in dressing; and what do you give me in return? I have +nothing. You give me fire-water, which makes me and my people mad; and +it is gone, and we have nothing to hunt more buffalo with, and to fight +our enemies.”[318] + +I never saw an Amerind smoke as much tobacco in a week as I have seen +Americans or English smoke in a single day. Tobacco and the pipe were +part of the Amerindian religious paraphernalia. The pipe seems not to +have been much used for ordinary smoking among the Nahuatl or Mexican +tribes, nor among the sedentary tribes of our South-west. They used +the cigarette chiefly, leaving the pipe for ceremonials, while the +West Indian tribes rolled the leaf up for smoking. Many Eastern tribes +cultivated tobacco extensively and were able to sell it to traders. It +was generally mixed with other leaves and bark for smoking, and among +the Eskimo with wood. The exact place of the pipe in the ceremonials of +the Eastern tribes is not yet thoroughly understood, but its function +was always an important one.[319] Among the Iroquois, when the horizon +was filled with “thunderheads,” or “sons of thunder,” in a period of +drought, it was a custom to burn tobacco, as an offering to bring rain. +Each family made an offering on its secret altar to Hinuⁿ, God of +Thunder, and then bore a portion to the council-house, where a general +offering was burned in the council fire. “While the tobacco was burning +the agile and athletic danced the rain dance.”[320] + +The Eskimo of Alaska, it is asserted, will eat with relish the oily +refuse from the bottom of a pipe, and they are also fond of the +ashes of tobacco. The smoke is deeply inhaled by them, as by all the +tribes. Among the Arikarees a special pipe was kept in a “bird box.” +Any criminal or enemy who could reach this box and smoke the pipe was +free from molestation. This right of asylum is noticed in other ways. +It is said that the first whites who came among the Apaches, tired +and hungry, were not molested by them. Everywhere, if an enemy were +permitted to smoke the pipe or partake of food with the Amerinds he +was absolutely safe for the time being, both because of the pipe and +because the law of hospitality was never violated. If Macbeth had been +an Amerind no blood would have been shed on that fatal night, and +Duncan would have passed unharmed beyond the castle walls. The pipe was +the invariable accompaniment of all councils and treaties among Eastern +tribes, and it was the emblem of peace. Each village had its calumet, +a pipe of peace made of sacred pipe-stone, and whoever travelled with +it, passed, even among the enemy, with impunity. Envoys coming within +a short distance of the town would utter a cry and seat themselves on +the ground. “The great chief,” says George Bancroft, “bearing the peace +pipe of his tribe, with its mouth pointing to the skies, goes forth to +meet them, accompanied by a long procession of his clansmen, chanting +the hymn of peace. The strangers rise to receive them, singing also +a song, to put away all wars and to bury all revenge. As they meet, +each party smokes the pipe of the other, and peace is ratified. The +strangers are then conducted to the village; the herald goes out into +the street that divides the wigwams, and makes repeated proclamation +that the guests are friends; and the glory of the tribe is advanced by +the profusion of bear’s meat, and flesh of dogs, and hominy, which give +magnificence to the banquets in honour of the embassy.”[321] Thus +would a war terminate. In beginning it among Eastern tribes, various +ceremonies preceded the departure of the warriors, especially the +war dance or scalp dance and accompanying songs, expressing contempt +for death and certainty of victory. Beckwourth remarks: “When war is +declared on any tribe, it is done by the council.[322] If any party +goes out without authority of the council, they are all severely +whipped; and their whipping is no light matter, as I can personally +testify. It makes no difference how high the offender ranks, or how +great his popularity with the nation—there is no favour shown; the man +who disobeys orders is bound to be lashed, and if he resists or resents +the punishment, he suffers death.”[323] Faces were variously decorated +for the warpath; and sometimes when a tribe is full of anger and +resentment, but not engaged in actual war, they will paint themselves +strangely. Once I was among the Shevwits of Arizona (1875) when they +were nursing their wrath against the Mormons, and the faces of the men +were painted in a way that perhaps seemed terrible to them, but which +was laughable to me. Some had the face divided into three or four +sections by different colours, for example: forehead white; left side +of face, black; right side, red; with lines of each colour over the +others. Ordinarily the number of wounds received in battle is recorded +by streaks of vermilion. + +[Illustration: SHRINE OF THE WAR-GODS, TWIN MOUNTAIN, PUEBLO OF ZUÑI, + NEW MEXICO] + +Before the acquisition of firearms and the horse, and the crowding +back of tribe against tribe by the whites, wars were in some parts +rather infrequent. Night attacks were never made. Captives were +often compelled to run the gauntlet, and if they did it bravely they +were adopted into the tribe. Frequently a captive was given his life +without this ordeal if he would join the tribe of the captors and fill +the place of some slain warrior. Cooper utilises this custom where +Deerslayer is offered his liberty if he will take the wife and family +of one he has killed and become a member of the tribe. Such adoption +always rested, however, on the consent of the kindred of the deceased. +The war-gods were propitiated by acts of cruelty, and by human +sacrifices from among the prisoners. It is related by Bancroft[324] +that on one occasion the Iroquois sacrificed an Algonquin woman, +exclaiming, “Areskoni, to thee we burn this victim; feast on her +flesh and grant us new victories.” Her flesh was afterwards eaten as +a religious rite. Cannibalism of this kind prevailed in many tribes; +_always, ostensibly_, a religious ceremony, not a means of satisfying +hunger. The victims were often richly feasted and generously treated +for some time before being executed. Payne holds that the Aztec custom +of consuming captives at religious feasts was in reality a means of +procuring animal food resulting from the limited meat supply, and +that perpetual war was waged mainly to obtain prisoners for this +purpose.[325] Prescott says: “Indeed the great object of war, with the +Aztecs, was quite as much to gather victims for their sacrifices as to +extend their empire.”[326] + +[Illustration: A COSTUME OF A HĀMATSA IN THE KWAKIUTL CANNIBALISTIC + CEREMONY, WHERE SLAVES AND CORPSES WERE FORMERLY DEVOURED + + The head and neck rings were from his mother’s tribe, the Tongass + (Tlinkit) +] + +[Illustration: MEXICAN OPERATING THE PALM-DRILL FOR FIRE + + Fac-simile outline of an original Mexican painting presented to the + University of Oxford by Archbishop Sand +] + +One of the great ceremonials of the Aztecs was the obtaining of the +“new-fire,” admirably described by Prescott, according to his custom. +“On the evening of the last day, a procession of the priests, assuming +the dress and ornaments of their gods, moved from the capital towards +a lofty mountain, about two leagues distant. They carried with them +a noble victim, the flower of their captives, and an apparatus for +kindling the new-fire, the success of which was an augury of the +renewal of the cycle. On reaching the summit of the mountain, the +procession paused till midnight; when as the constellation of the +Pleiades approached the zenith, the new-fire was kindled by the +friction of the sticks placed on the wounded breast of the victim. The +flame was soon communicated to a funeral pile, on which the body of +the slaughtered captive was thrown. As the light streamed up towards +heaven, shouts of joy and triumph burst forth from the countless +multitudes who covered the hills, the terraces of the temples, and +the house-tops, with eyes bent anxiously on the mount of sacrifice. +Couriers, with torches lighted at the blazing beacon, rapidly bore +them over every part of the country; and the cheering element was +seen brightening on altar and hearth-stone, for the circuit of many +a league, long before the sun, rising on his accustomed track, gave +assurance that a new cycle had commenced its march and that the laws of +nature were not to be reversed for the Aztecs.”[327] + +[Illustration: ZUÑI WOMAN CARRYING WATER + + Shows also style of moccasin and leg wrapping worn by Puebloan and + Navajo women +] + +New-fire was also obtained by friction, with the Aztecs, once each +year, and once each four years, as well as at the fifty-two year +cycle. In Arkansas it was produced every year. On a certain day, “as +the sun began to decline the fires were extinguished in every hut, +and universal silence reigned.”[328] A priest next produced fire by +friction. “It was then brought out of the temple in an earthen dish and +placed upon an altar that had been previously prepared in the square. +Its appearance brought joy to the hearts of the people as it was +supposed to atone for all past crimes except murder. A general amnesty +was proclaimed except for this one crime, and all malefactors might now +return to their villages in safety.”[329] The Mokis still produce the +new-fire each November.[330] + +Sacrifices to the gods were made by the Mayas at the sacred _cenoté_ +of Chichen Itza, and similar places.[331] This sacred well was one of +the openings to the subterranean waters of Yucatan, and was about one +hundred and fifty feet in diameter and sixty-five feet deep from the +brink to the surface of the water, with perpendicular sides. Pilgrims +came here to make offerings and Landa states that in time of drought +they would cast live men into it as a tribute to the gods, believing +that though they disappeared they would not die. Valuable property +was also thrown in and still lies with the bones at the bottom. +Charnay tried to work some automatic sounding machines there, but he +failed to obtain satisfactory results. Among the Aztecs a person to +be sacrificed was extended full length over a convex stone, and the +priest with a long obsidian knife made a gash in the breast through +which he extracted the living heart and laid it at the feet of the +idol. Parts of the victim were afterward served at a grand ceremonial +banquet. “Forty days previous to the festival of Quetzalcohuatl,” +says Bandelier, “a slave was selected, who must be in perfect health +and of faultless body. He was dressed in the same manner as the idol, +and, after having been carefully bathed, and kept in ‘honourable +confinement,’ as an object of worship for that length of time, he +was sacrificed at midnight. The heart was tendered to the moon, and +afterwards thrown at the idol, and the body cut up, cooked and publicly +devoured.”[332] In times of drought children from six to ten years old +were offered up; they were not eaten, but buried before the idol. The +priests who officiated were medicine-men, or shamans. Every tribe on +the continent had shamans. These individuals held a peculiar power, +and among tribes known to us now they still exercise it. Even among +the Christian Pueblos of New Mexico, the authority of the shaman has +not altogether waned and ancient rites are said to be still enacted +in secret. For some of these it is believed rattlesnakes have been +carefully guarded for years. “Among Indians,” Mooney states,[333] +“the professions of medicine and religion are inseparable. The doctor +is always a priest and the priest is always a doctor. Hence to the +whites in the Indian country the Indian priest-doctor has come to be +known as the ‘medicine-man’ and anything sacred, mysterious, or of +wonderful power or efficacy in Indian life or belief is designated as +‘medicine,’ this term being the nearest equivalent of the aboriginal +expression in various languages. To make ‘medicine’ is to perform some +sacred ceremony, from the curing of a sick child to the consecration +of the Sun-dance lodge.” An Iroquois student states,[334] that, “among +the Indians, the knowledge of the medicine-man and the more expert +sorceress is little above that of the body of the tribe. Their success +depends entirely on their own belief in being supernaturally gifted and +on the faith and fear of their followers. I do not believe that the +Iroquois lives to-day who is not a believer in sorcery, or who would +not in the night time quail at seeing a bright light the nature of +which he did not understand.” + +[Illustration: UTE CRADLE, FRAME OF RODS COVERED WITH BUCKSKIN + + Carried on the back. In principle the majority of Amerind cradles + are similar +] + +The functions and powers of the shamans or medicine-men have never +been completely understood, but over the sick they carried on various +incantations and administered decoctions of native vegetable and animal +substances. Powell defines a shaman as “a person who has the power to +control ghosts through magic.” They mortified their own flesh and the +priests of Mexico would pierce their tongues and draw through the wound +thus formed a long knotted cord, or twigs fastened together, or a cord +set with some animal’s claws or teeth. Speaking of Mexico, Prescott +says:[335] + +“In no country, not even in ancient Egypt, were the dreams of the +astrologer more implicitly deferred to. On the birth of a child he was +instantly summoned. The time of the event was accurately ascertained, +and the family hung in trembling suspense as the minister of Heaven +cast the horoscope of the infant and unrolled the dark volume of +destiny. The influence of the priest was confessed by the Mexican in +the first breath which he inhaled.” Other tribes were not behind. +In some the shamans were hereditary, but it would seem that their +selection and appointment were due to various regulations existing +in the secret orders and also to a reputation for the possession of +occult power. Some writers hold that the shamans are self appointed, +but this does not seem to correspond with the intricacies of the +Amerindian social organisation. Powell adopts the Algonquin name +for them, _jossakeeds_, and describes them as the head men of the +fraternities. Whatever he may do to obtain his supposed magical powers, +it would appear reasonable to believe that so prominent a functionary +as this shaman, or jossakeed, would require in the beginning to be +a man of some distinction, or special initiation. In making such +decoctions as he used the shaman boiled various plants together with +a stone arrow-head, or similar article. Out of twenty plants used by +the Cherokees, only seven are noted in the United States Dispensatory. +“Five plants or 25 per cent.,” says Mooney, “are correctly used; 12 +or 60 per cent. are presumably either worthless or incorrectly used, +and three plants or 15 per cent. are so used that it is difficult +to say whether they are of any benefit or not. Granting that two of +these three produce good results as used by the Indians, we should +have 35 per cent., or about one third of the whole, as the proportion +actually possessing medical virtues, while the remaining two thirds +are inert, if not positively injurious.” “For a disease caused by the +rabbit the antidote must be a plant called ‘rabbit’s food,’ ‘rabbit’s +ear,’ or ‘rabbit’s tail’; for snake dreams, the plant used is ‘snake’s +tooth,’” and so on, “an empiric development of the fetich idea.”[336] +No sanitary precautions were taken during the treatment except fasting. +When the patient eats, certain kinds of food are forbidden, but on the +ground of some fancied connection between the disease and the food. If +squirrels are supposed to be at the root of the trouble, the patient +is prohibited from eating squirrel meat.[337] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO WOMAN OF POINT BARROW CARRYING CHILD + + Photograph by Capt. Healy, U. S. R. M. +] + +[Illustration: APACHE WOMAN CARRYING CHILD + + Shows also moccasins and leg wrappings similar to the Puebloan and + Navajo +] + +The sweat bath was, and is, the great cure-all among the Amerinds, +except the Central and Eastern Eskimo. It was also a means of religious +purification. Sometimes the sweat house was a large structure, but +usually it was only large enough to hold one or two persons in a +squatting posture, and was constructed of poles covered with skins, +blankets, or earth. The patient entered and those outside heated stones +and passed them in to him by means of sticks. Water or some decoction +was then poured over the stones and the opening closed. Profuse +perspiration was the result. At the proper time, if a stream were near, +the patient would run out and plunge in; otherwise cold water was +poured over him. This was the chief remedy for smallpox, which has made +such ravages in all tribes, but of course it was ineffective. The sweat +lodge and the sweat bath connected with it must not be confounded, as +is often the case, with the _estufa_, (or _kiva_). The latter has no +connection with the sweat bath, but is an entirely different thing, +the confusion arising from the Spanish term, which means a hothouse, +derived from the fact that the kivas are kept stiflingly close and hot +in winter. + +Most Amerinds believe that all living things, even trees, once had +human shape, and “have been transformed, for punishment or otherwise, +into their present condition.” They had no understanding of a single +“Great Spirit” till the Europeans, often unconsciously, informed them +of their own belief. + +The Iroquois in many ways were the finest Amerinds of all. Brinton +says, “unsurpassed by any other on the continent [physically], and I +may even say by any other people in the world.”[338] “In legislation, +in eloquence, in fortitude and in military sagacity they had no +equals,” says Morgan.[339] He also maintains that they represented +“the highest development the Indian ever reached in the hunter state.” +“Crimes and offences were so unfrequent under their social system that +the Iroquois can scarcely be said to have had a criminal code.” Theft +was barely known, and “on all occasions, and at whatever price, the +Iroquois spoke the truth without fear and without hesitation.”[340] +The Iroquois, Algonquins, and other stocks carried on a considerable +commerce with far-distant points. “The red pipe-stone was brought to +the Atlantic coast from the Coteau des Prairies, and even the black +slate highly ornamented pipes of the Haidah on Vancouver Island have +been exhumed from graves of Lenapé Indians.”[341] The wide extent of +Amerindian commercial traffic has hardly been appreciated. + +[Illustration: MOKI “SNAKE DANCE” AT WALPI + + Snake priests in action + + Photograph (reversed) +] + +The religion of most of the Amerinds was zoötheism—that is, their gods +were deified men and animals. The heavenly bodies, personified as +men and animals, also formed a part of their galaxy. Their worship +of these various deities, who were believed to control each his +division of human affairs and earthly phenomena, was through numerous +ceremonials, many of them embodying their form of dancing, and called +by the whites “dances,” though this term fails properly to describe +them. Often there is very little dancing, and even that has a minor +part. The ceremonials take place at all times and seasons, many being +as absolutely fixed to a certain date as our own holidays or church +celebrations. The Eastern tribes had ceremonials on tapping the maple +trees, and others for the close of the maple-sugar season. There were +also the Corn-Planting Festival, the Strawberry Festival, the Bean +Festival, and the famous Green Corn Dance of the Iroquois, followed +by the Harvest Dance. Some ceremonials occur in their perfection only +at specified intervals, as the Snake Dance of the Mokis, which, while +performed annually at some one of the towns, is seen in its full glory +only once every two years at the village of Walpi. This now famous +ceremonial, in which a hundred or more rattlesnakes are used alive, +covers altogether a period of nine days, including the search for the +snakes, as well as rites performed in the kiva. It is only on the +last two days that there are public ceremonies. Spectators who are +known or have a proper introduction are sometimes allowed to visit a +kiva when it is reserved by the order owning or controlling it; at +other times a visitor is generally freely admitted. During my stay in +the Moki country I never was barred from any place that I desired to +enter; though it may have happened that I never tried to enter at a +time when outsiders were forbidden. The snakes are brought out of the +kiva by one set of priests, or shamans, and dropped on the ground +to be picked up by another set with much ceremony. At the end all +the snakes are carried to the valley and liberated to return through +their holes to the underworld, there to communicate the desires of +the people to the gods. The towns of the Mokis on the East Mesa are +now frequently visited by whites, but Oraibi and the others are not +so often approached. When I went to Oraibi, in 1885, we were followed +about by a band of curious small boys, and the women peered at us from +the roof hatchways, quickly ducking out of sight if one of us happened +to look their way. The men declined to talk except in monosyllables, +and I am free to confess that it was a relief to finally mount and ride +away. Oraibi has never had a reputation for hospitality. From there we +went to Shimopavi, where our reception was exactly the reverse of what +it had been at Oraibi, and I shall always remember with pleasure the +frank, genial, smiling men who received us in one of the chief kivas, +and the alacrity with which a clean repast of watermelon and piki was +brought and placed before us. This only shows what a difference in +manners may exist in the divisions of one tribe, and how easy it would +be to denounce all the Mokis as being surly and ugly, if one saw only +the Oraibi branch. + +[Illustration: AMERINDIAN PICTURE-WRITING + + Sixth Ann. Rept., Pl. V. + Drawings by the Central Eskimo. See page 59. + + Fourth Ann. Rept., Pl. XXXVIII. + Page of the Dakota Winter-Counts, also called by them “Counts + Back.” See page 60. + + Fourth Ann. Rept., Pl. LXIII. + Page from Red Cloud’s Census, Dakota. See page 60. + + Fourth Ann. Rept., Pl. IV. + Ojibwa Mnemonic Record of a Midē Song. See page 58. +] + +[Illustration: BEGINNING OF THE MOKI “SNAKE DANCE” AT WALPI + + Antelope priests lined up + + This scene precedes the one on page 376 + + Photograph (reversed) +] + +A simple occurrence means to the superstitious mind of the Amerind +a great deal. In illustration of this I may mention that two men I +knew were one day at one of the Moki towns and carelessly entered a +kiva where the preparing and blessing of certain sacred water were in +progress. When they had departed, a frightened rock-wren fluttered in. +This was accepted as an evil omen. The bird was immediately killed and +some of its blood sprinkled over the floor of the kiva. Then it was +taken to the first house the whites had entered when they arrived at +the town, and more blood sprinkled wherever they had stood. After this +the bird’s body was carefully laid outside, near the door. + +Thus the struggles of a dazed bird are considered by these people a +portentous circumstance. + +The dancing of the Amerinds is everywhere much alike, and it is +generally performed in a circle. It has been described as a heel +dance, and with some tribes is apparently that because they seem to +strike the ground only with the heel, but it is usually a toe-and-heel +step, the toe first touching and then the heel being brought down +with more or less force. When rapidly done the separate touching of +the toe is hardly noticeable. The movement of the circle is commonly +from left to right, and during this progress various contortions are +gone through with, more or less violently according to the intensity +of the occasion. In the remarkable _Okeepa_ ceremony of the Sioux +fearful tortures were submitted to, and sometimes a bison skull was +dragged around by means of ropes attached to skewers thrust through the +bodies and limbs of the performers. They were also pulled aloft in the +dancing-lodge by these skewers, and the pain was often so intense that +the devotee would faint. (See page 382.) When Catlin first described +this ceremonial and its ordeals it was received with doubt, but it has +since been seen by others and fully authenticated. It is, of course, +not possible to more than touch on the customs and ceremonies of the +Amerinds in this short chapter. A large volume would be required to +exhibit even a quarter part of the details. + +The ceremonials[342] of the Pueblos are marked by elaborately costumed +katcinas,[343] but perhaps not more so than those of other tribes. +Those of the North-west coast are full of strange costumes also, and +the plains tribes executed their wild scalp dance, bear dance, buffalo +dance, etc., in costumes that were as singular as the dance itself. +In the ceremony of the Mokis called Soyaita or Somaikoli, I counted +sixteen different katcinas with extraordinary costumes weighing them +down, except one who wore nothing but a round bullet-like mask and a +breech-cloth. The others were so loaded that it was nearly impossible +to recognise in them human beings. The preparations for a ceremonial +occupy a week or two beforehand. One evening, some time before the +public performance of the Somaikoli, as I was walking from one village +to the other on the East Mesa, I was about half way when I suddenly +became aware of a hideous yelling ahead of me, and discovered the +flaring of torches in the darkness. There being no rock, tree, or shrub +near, I was fully illumined by the glare as the torches approached. +Then I saw six stalwart fellows, entirely nude, except for the +breech-cloth, though it was a chilly night in November. I paused to +await results, as I perceived they meant to come tip with me. I could +not understand their object. They were marching in single file. When +they saw that I was not a native, but the solitary white visitor to +the mesa who lived at Hano, they grinned and passed on without a word. +What they would have done with one of their people I do not know, but I +heard afterwards that they captured anyone they found out and kept them +in one of the kivas till the day of the public ceremony. At any rate, +I found that everybody took care to be indoors on this night between +certain hours. The mysteries of the different secret orders are not +known to outsiders, not even if members of the tribe.[344] + +[Illustration: HORNED RATTLESNAKE, CROTALUS CERASTES + + Commonly called “Sidewinder” because of its sidling motion. + Inhabits desert plains and valleys of Southern Arizona, California, + and Nevada, and south-western Utah. One killed by the author in + 1875 was about three ft. long. The rattlesnake was identified with + religious ceremonials of most of the tribes from Ohio to Central + America +] + +Photographs and paintings were considered “bad-medicine” by most +tribes, and I had no success whatever in persuading the Mokis to pose +for me when I was there. One who finally consented ran away when it +came to the test. I was permitted to use my snap-camera and to sketch +buildings freely, but when it came to painting persons they rebelled. +They believed that the possessor of a likeness held power over the +person represented. + +[Illustration: THE OKEEPA CEREMONY OF THE MANDANS, LASTING FOUR DAYS + + “A number of the young men are seen (inside the Mystery Lodge) + reclining and fasting ... others are yet seen in the midst of those + horrid cruelties. One is seen smiling whilst the knife and the + splints are passing through his flesh. One is seen hanging by the + splints run through the flesh on his shoulders and drawn up by men + on the top of the lodge. Another is seen hung up by the pectoral + muscles with four buffalo skulls attached to splints through the + flesh on his arms and legs; and each is turned round by another + with a pole till he faints, etc.”—Catlin’s _Eight Years_, vol. i; + also _Smithsonian Report_, 1895, p. 362 + + From a painting by George Catlin, 1832 +] + +[Illustration: THE SACRED POLE OF THE OMAHA + + Now in the Peabody Museum +] + +Murder in most tribes was settled by property atonement, or by the +assumption by the guilty one of the victim’s duties, and when once +settled the matter could never again be reopened. No controversy was +ever permitted, and to terminate it there were three methods: 1. When +controversy arises in relation to ownership, the property is usually +destroyed by the clan or by the tribal authorities. This is one +reason why property is found buried with Amerinds. By thus disposing +of it all controversy is avoided. Or the property may be completely +abandoned by all concerned, as in the case mentioned by Powell, where +a war party of Sioux surprised and killed a squad of sleeping soldiers +at the first volley. “Their arms, blankets, and other property were +untouched because the attacking party being large, it could not be +decided by whose bullets the soldiers were slain.” 2. If two persons +come to blows, it is, unless serious injury be done, considered a final +settlement. Appeal to authority is thereby forever barred in that +matter. 3. Establishment of a day or festival once a month, usually +once a year, beyond which crimes do not pass. Marriage is by what is +called legal appointment. In this way controversy over the women of +a tribe is largely avoided, for little is left to personal choice. +But kinship groups allowed to intermarry do not remain stationary in +numbers, hence, one set of men may have many wives to choose from, +another few, which, says Powell, leads to modification of the principle +and three additional forms of marriage are the result, by elopement, +by capture, and by duel. That is, if a pair elope and can evade their +pursuers till the day limiting controversy has passed, they are safe +from molestation. We once met an interesting example of this class in +the Uinta Valley, Utah, and with our boats put the runaways across +Green River, thus obliterating their trail, though at the time we did +not so well understand the situation. A group of men who have but a +limited class to choose wives from sometimes combine to capture for one +of their number a wife from some other group within their own tribe. +A fight is often the result, but without weapons. A second battle +for the same woman at that time is not permitted.[345] Or one man, if +he feel strong enough, may deprive some other fellow in his own tribe +of his wife. In southern Utah, Tom came to our camp one night weeping +bitterly, and when I could get at his statement it was to the effect +that someone had deprived him of his wife. Our men were indignant and +wished to proceed forthwith to the Amerind camp and compel the thief to +restore the wife to Tom, but they finally decided to abandon him to the +established customs of his people. + +[Illustration: CRUCIFORM STONE TOMB, OAXACA + + This tomb, recently discovered and excavated by Saville, is one + of the remarkable monuments of Amerindian antiquity. It lies five + miles east of Mitla and one thousand feet above it on the spur of a + mountain. + + About a mile north-west are the quarries from which the great + stones were obtained. The tomb was never finished. It fronted west. + + The north, east, and south arms of the cross do not vary in + dimensions by the fraction of an inch. The length of each is 11.7 + ft. and the width 5.2 ft., while the depth is 7.5 ft. There are + three courses of huge stones, the largest measuring 12 ft. long by + 3.3 ft. high and 3 ft. thick. + + Photographed by Saville +] + +[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF CRUCIFORM TOMB, OAXACA] + +Sometimes a woman is assigned to a man who already has a wife, while +some other man has none, because the group into which he is permitted +to marry is exhausted. He then challenges the man who is entitled to +more than one and endeavours to win the woman by success in battle. +On one occasion in southern Nevada a white man’s sympathies were so +aroused by one of these affairs, in which the girl was being roughly +pulled about, that he threw off his coat and, taking an active part in +the struggles, rescued her. Then he was amazed at the information that +the girl belonged to him and he must keep her. This he declined to do +and turned her over again to their tender mercies. These three forms of +marriage become roundabout methods of personal choice. When the supply +of wives is normal the young man in some tribes goes out into the woods +by a certain trail, and if the girl of his choice follows him, it is +considered a marriage, and is celebrated with prescribed ceremonies. +Polygamy was practised by most tribes. Among the Navajos, who buy their +wives, it is very common, but there a wife can depart at pleasure, and +as the husband acquires no right to her property, she takes it with her. + +Totemism is an important custom in vogue among all the stocks of the +continent, and it was probably a custom the world over when tribes +were in a certain stage. The word totem is derived from the Ojibwa, +and is said to have first been introduced into literature by one Long, +an interpreter. Totems are of three kinds: clan totems, sex totems, +and individual totems. The first are the most important.[346] Totemism +is at the same time a religious and a social system. The totem is +usually an animal, as a frog, bear, bat, etc. The Amerind believes that +between these objects and himself there is a particular bond, and he +has for them the most profound respect. From them he believes himself +descended. Therefore he would not harm an animal that was his totem. +The Bear clan would not kill a bear, the Red Maize clan would not eat +red maize, and so on. Totemism existed among the Israelites, and the +objection to eating pork is supposed by some to rest on the pig having +been one of their totems. The Amerind also generally derived his name +from some animal or object, and he represented this as his individual +totem mark. In the totem poles of the North west coast, these various +representations of totems were combined and set up before the door to +indicate the relationships of the persons who lived there.[347] + +Cleanliness varies among the tribes, and is sometimes in proportion +to the ease or difficulty with which water can be procured. The Mokis +who live in an arid country and have to carry water long distances +seldom waste it in bathing or washing, though I did once see an old +Moki fill his mouth with water and blow it out in instalments over his +hands. The Omahas, according to Dorsey, generally bathe twice every day +in warm weather. They used to help women and children to alight from +horses, and sometimes carried them over streams on their backs. Old +men and women were never abandoned by them. Some men were not wanting +in gallantry. Dorsey tells of a young woman who wished to halt at a +spring. Her brother was with her. The ground was muddy and she would +have soiled her clothes had she knelt to drink, but another man rode up +at the moment, and, jumping from his horse, he pulled a lot of grass, +placing it on the wet ground so that she could drink without soiling +her dress. + +[Illustration: AMERINDIAN ART + + Fifth Ann. Rept., Pl. XV. + A Navajo “Dry” Painting made with sand in the Mountain Chant + Ceremony. See page 61. + + Fourth Ann. Rept., Pl. LII. + Page of an Oglala Roster—“Big-Road” and band. See page 59. + + Third Ann. Report, Pl. IV. + Copy of Plates 65 and 66, Vatican Codex B. Each figure is a tree + with a person clasping the trunk. See page 72. + + See Twelfth Ann. Rept., Pl. XVII. + Drawing restored from fragments of a thin copper plate, in repoussé + work, from a mound of the Etowah group, Georgia. +] + +[Illustration: MOKI EARTHEN CANTEEN, ARIZONA.] + +When he died the Amerind was disposed of in a number of different ways. +There were burials in pits, graves, mounds, cists, caves, and so on; +there was cremation; there was embalming; there was aërial sepulture +in trees or scaffolds; there was burial beneath water, or in canoes +that were turned adrift. The Navajos leave the dead in the place where +they die, or throw them into a cleft in the rocks and pile stones upon +the corpse. In Tennessee graves are found which were made by lining +a rectangular excavation with slabs of stone. These are ancient and +resemble the graves of the reindeer period in France. Yarrow[348] +speaks of them as being almost identical. I found graves of similar +description in southern Utah near the Arizona line, but in the two or +three that I opened there were no bones, only on the bottom a shallow +layer of what appeared to be fine dark earth with thin slabs upon it; +doubtless the slabs once forming the top.[349] Some tribes wrapped +their dead in fine furs or in grasses and matting;[350] others buried +in urns. In the North-west a living slave was buried with the deceased. +If the slave were not dead in three days, he was strangled by another +slave. In Mexico the custom of burying slaves with the dead was common. + +[Illustration: MODERN LACED SANDAL OF LEATHER FROM COLIMA, MEXICO] + + + + + [Illustration: ESKIMO PIPE WITH STONE BOWL.] + + CHAPTER XIV + + MYTHS, TRADITIONS, AND LEGENDS + + +Persons who are obliged to rely on memory find that memory develops +with use and becomes more reliable. The Amerinds, having no written +language, if we except the Nahuatl and Mayan tribes, had no way of +preserving their tales, traditions, and legends except to remember +them, and there can be no doubt that everywhere on the continent memory +was highly developed. To assist in recalling them they had their +picture-writing, already described. The method is well illustrated in +the remarkable _Walam Olum_, or Red Score of the Lenapé, where a most +poetic account of the origin of things is recorded by means of a few +rude pictures made by lines and dots.[351] There has been some doubt +as to the genuineness of this score, first recorded by Rafinesque, but +Brinton, who was a scholar of fine intellect and calm judgment and +thoroughly versed in all the intricacies of the situation, accepted +it as a genuine Amerind production “which was repeated orally to +someone indifferently conversant with the Delaware language, who wrote +it down to the best of his ability. In its present form it can, as a +whole, lay no claim either to antiquity, or to purity of linguistic +form. Yet, as an authentic modern version, slightly coloured by +European teachings, of the ancient tribal traditions, it is well worth +preservation.... The narrator was probably one of the native chiefs or +priests, who had spent his life in the Ohio and Indiana towns of the +Lenapé, and who, though with some knowledge of Christian instruction, +preferred the pagan rites, legends, and myths of his ancestors. +Probably certain lines and passages were repeated in the archaic form +in which they had been handed down for generations.... The cosmogony +describes the formation of the world by the Great Manito, and its +subsequent despoliation by the spirit of the waters, under the form +of a serpent. The happy days are depicted, when men lived without +wars or sickness, and food was at all times abundant. Evil beings of +mysterious power introduced cold and war and sickness and premature +death. Then began strife and long wanderings.”[352] We can readily +understand how a few rude lines could recall to the Amerind mind a +whole story, and especially to the mind of one trained to exercise his +memory in such directions. It is not necessary for me to do more for +the Christian reader than write “_Xmas_,” and he can from it review the +whole wonderful story of Christ in all its details. So it was with the +Amerind. Those entrusted with the preservation of the legends, etc., +learned them perfectly and year by year repeated them on the proper +occasion to their followers. Changes were probably sometimes made in +the text of some to suit them to changed conditions, but the accuracy +was so great that myths and legends have been found to contain archaic +words which the members of the tribe were unable to explain, and which +yielded only to the expert analysis of a white linguist. + +[Illustration: TEOCALLI (TEMPLE) OF TEPOZTLAN, STATE OF MORELOS, MEXICO + + This view is from the west or back and shows a stairway and also + the built up mound forming the foundation. The front is entered + by a broad flight of about fourteen steps. The construction is + stone. The site, formerly approached by flights of steps, is on the + summit of a high and dangerously precipitous mountain. The ground + plan, about 30 ft. square, is similar to the first plan on page + 238, with a front like the second. The outer walls are 1 meter, 90 + centimeters thick. They were covered with a smooth cement, which + was painted in different colors. See page 240. + + _Monumental Records._ Photographed by M. H. Saville +] + +[Illustration: KWAKIUTL WOOD CARVING OF THE SISUL, NORTH-WEST COAST + + Worn in front of the stomach. Length, 42 in. See page 168 +] + +With the Amerind a group of myths, traditions, and legends developed +along with each particular stock. Each language had its own +accumulation of these tales, etc., relating to animals, to natural +forces personified, and sometimes to real personages. Savage races +worship animal gods and natural objects personified as animals.[353] +In the middle state called barbarism the religion becomes a worship +of the phenomena of nature, pure and simple, frequently personified +as animals or beings, as in the case of the thunder and lightning +generally attributed by the Amerinds to the mysterious “thunder-bird,” +which is also believed by some to be a great being who takes on the +form of a bird. In civilisation the worship of one God takes the place +of all the others, while the myths and legends of earlier days survive +in mythological literature and in unconscious thoughts and acts of +individuals. Looking at the moon over the right shoulder for luck, +objections to a certain number, the belief that one stone is lucky and +another unlucky, are all remnants of the era of zoötheism, physitheism, +and other early beliefs.[354] Races cannot shake off earlier beliefs +entirely, but continue them under changed forms. Thus we celebrate many +pagan rites in our holidays, and pay a tribute to the Druid priests +every time we suspend a branch of mistletoe in our parlours in the +season when the sun turns his course towards the vernal equinox. + +To primitive man night was a mysterious phenomenon, and dawn often +became personified to him as a bright and fair deliverer, a beneficent +being who comes out of the east bringing a train of blessings. Many +myths recounting the coming of a hero, prophet, and teacher among the +Amerinds and other races are accounted for as being dawn myths, but +there is danger of overworking this convenient hypothesis. + +In our literature many Amerind myths and legends have become firmly +implanted, and they are now as much a part of it as the tale of +Orpheus, or of Theseus, or of Hercules. Some of them have been +beautified by the diction of our poets, and Longfellow’s rendering of +_Hiawatha_ is admired the world over. This is good literature, but it +is not good ethnology, because in it an Iroquois hero-god is placed +in a setting of Algonquin legends, but this was not Longfellow’s +mistake, but Schoolcraft’s, on whose work Longfellow based his poem. +Jeremiah Curtin says: “Schoolcraft, with his amazing propensity to +make mistakes, with his remarkable genius for missing the truth and +confusing everything with which he came in contact, gave the name +Hiawatha to his patchwork.... In the face of all this Schoolcraft +makes Hiawatha, who is peculiarly Iroquois, the leading personage in +his Algonkin conglomerate: Hiawatha being an Iroquois character of +Central New York (he is connected more particularly with the region +about Schenectady), while the actions to which Schoolcraft relates +him pertain to the Algonkin Chippewas near Lake Superior. It is as if +Europeans at some future age were to have placed before them a great +epic narrative of French heroic adventure in which Prince Bismarck +would appear as the chief and central Gallic figure in the glory and +triumph of France.”[355] + +[Illustration: RUSHING EAGLE, 1872 + + Second chief of the Mandans and son of Four Bears, Catlin’s great + friend +] + +[Illustration: FINE CLOTH PRESERVED BY COPPER BEADS] + +But Hiawatha, nevertheless, is incorporated in our language and our +literature, and altogether the conquered race, as was inevitable, has +left an impress on our character, on our language, on our geography, +and on our literature which can never, even if desired, be effaced. The +mark of our contact with the red man is upon us indelibly and forever. +George Bancroft is not quite right when he says, “The memorials of +their former existence are found only in the names of the rivers and +the mountains.” These memorials have not only permeated our poetry and +literature generally, but they are perpetuated in our daily food, and +every mention of “succotash,” of “mush,” of “chocolate,” is a tribute +to their existence, while the fragrance of the “tobacco” we smoke is +incense to their memory. Mrs. Sigourney touched this subject prettily +in the little poem entitled _Indian Names_: + + “Ye say they all have passed away, + That noble race and brave, + That their light canoes have vanished + From off the crested wave; + That mid the forests where they roamed + There rings no hunter’s shout, + But their name is on your waters, + Ye may not wash it out. + + “Ye say their cone-like cabins + That clustered o’er the vale + Have fled away like withered leaves + Before the autumn gale. + But their memory liveth on your hills, + Their baptism on your shore; + Your everlasting rivers speak + Their dialect of yore.” + +And she might have added that their gods have seated themselves +with those of the Greeks in our libraries; that Michabo, Tlaloc, +Quetzalcohuatl, and others are now companions of Jupiter and Neptune; +in short, that their literature, which relied on oral transmission, has +to a large extent been crystallised in our printed pages. + +The Amerind, not fortified by our modern knowledge and philosophy, +regarded the outer world in a far different way from what we do. To him +it was not a place where a gold mine might be found, or good grazing +or tillable soil, but he looked upon the far distance as the home of +magical beings. Did the wind blow? It was the breath of some monster +dwelling in a cave in the far west, or it was the beating of the wings +of giant birds living at the four quarters of the compass. It was not +to the sky alone that he looked for the abode of his gods; they came +to him from every direction, even from the bowels of the earth. We +know what the earth contains and we grope for the unknown. The Amerind +did not know what the earth contains; it was still to him the abode of +monsters and ghosts. + +There is in some respects so great a similarity between the myths of +the New World and those of the Old, that it was at first assumed that +there must have been early communication with Europe, but more careful +analysis has shown that this is but another evidence of what may be +called the parallelism of human development. Even where the similarity +is greatest there is nothing to prove that the myths did not originate +independently, and they are merely the results of similar thoughts, in +similar stages of ignorance, about the sun, the sky, and natural forces. + +The _Popol Vuh_, the great collection of Quiche myths, presents +Gukumatz as one of the four principal gods who created the world. +Gukumatz means shining or brilliant snake, and hence seems to be +the same character as that known to the Nahuatls, or Aztecs, as +Quetzalcohuatl, whose name also means bright or shining snake. But +among the Aztecs Quetzalcohuatl is represented as a man, while Gukumatz +is purely a god. Quetzalcohuatl was the third of the four Mexican or +Aztec gods, and to him is ascribed all the wisdom which came to the +Aztecs. He appears under two forms, as a god and as an historical +personage. He has been frequently identified with the dawn, but there +seems to be good reason for believing that he was a real character, who +became deified as his good deeds passed down to successive generations. +Such prophets and teachers rise up in all times, in all ages, by the +wayside of tribal or national development, like some rare and favoured +tree of the forest which out-tops all the others. A divine origin may +be claimed for these teachers and prophets, but generally they are only +men endowed with an extremely fine moral sense and with a perception +and knowledge beyond their time. “Among the Tzendals of Chiapas, the +tradition of Votan, who is said to have been the first founder of +that tribe, bears great resemblance to Quetzalcohuatl.”[356] After an +admirable discussion of the subject of the character and origin of +Quetzalcohuatl, Bandelier sifts the matter down to this: that he was “a +prominent gifted Indian leader, who certainly preceded the coming of +those Nahuatl tribes that subsequently formed the valley confederacy, +as well as that of the later tribe of Tlaxcallan. The claim to his +origin accordingly rests between the so-called Toltecs on one side +and the Olmeca and Xicalanca on the other.”[357] Brinton believed +that Quetzalcohuatl was a pure personification of the dawn myth,[358] +but there is too much testimony on the opposite side to permit the +acceptance of this opinion as final. It must not be forgotten that +there were very good, extremely good, almost saintly, men, and women, +too, among the Amerinds. The historical Mexican tribes were preceded +by other tribes, some of which had apparently reached a higher state +of culture than the Aztecs, and Quetzalcohuatl possibly came from one +of them as a teacher to the newer and less cultivated people; newer +in the sense of having come into that region from some distance off. +There is nothing preposterous in supposing that there were teachers +and moralists in the early days of this continent. The character of +a high-thinking teacher is not incompatible with some of the tribes +that have lived and died on North-American soil. As stated previously, +never were all the tribes of the continent in one culture condition; +there were always tribes that could teach something to other tribes, +and undoubtedly philanthropic individuals sometimes attempted the +rôle of missionaries, just as they do in other races to-day. In fact, +the recent “Resurrection Dance” or “Ghost Dance” had its prophet who +preached to the natives that “the earth was to be all good hereafter; +that we must be friends with one another.” Fighting, he declared, was +“bad and all must keep from it.” “There is no doubt that his religious +teachings rest on a well-ordained religious system, and in spite of +the numerous false reports that are spread about him, he does not +claim to be either God or Jesus Christ, the Messiah, or any divine, +superhuman being whatever. ‘I am the annunciator of God’s message from +the spiritual world and a prophet for the Indian people,’ is the way he +defines the scope of his work among men.... Thus he considers himself a +messenger of God appointed in a dream, and has on that account compared +himself to St. John the Baptist.”[359] This man is a full-blood, and +it is evident that such an inspiration might have seized a man of a +similar temperament at any period of Amerind history, and given rise +finally to legends and worship that would incorrectly be ascribed to +the myth of the dawn. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT FABRIC-MARKED POTSHERDS, WITH CLAY CASTS BY + HOLMES + + See page 108 + + Potsherd + + Clay Cast + + Potsherd + + Clay Cast +] + +Quetzalcohuatl at length departed with a promise to return, and it +was the belief that he would return that caused Montezuma to at first +mistake the bearded Spaniards for his emissaries. Quetzalcohuatl also +wore a beard. + +Michabo, the Algonquin counterpart of Quetzalcohuatl, was considered to +be the ancestor of the whole tribe, the founder of their ceremonies, +the inventor of picture-writing, the ruler of the weather, the +creator and preserver of earth and heaven. “From a grain of sand,” says +Brinton, “brought from the bottom of the primeval ocean he fashioned +the habitable land and set it floating on the waters till it grew to +such a size that a strong young wolf, running constantly, died of old +age ere he reached its limits.” + +[Illustration: EHTOHKPAHSHEPEESHAH, THE BLACK MOCCASIN, CHIEF OF THE + MINATAREES + + OVER 100 YEARS OLD + + George Catlin, 1832 +] + +Among the Iroquois the hero-god was called Ioskeha, and he possessed +many of the qualities of Michabo and Quetzalcohuatl, etc., though in +his case as well as that of Michabo there seems to be no historical +evidence of existence, as there is with Quetzalcohuatl, and therefore +they may be, as claimed by Brinton and others, merely dawn myths. It +is possible that they may be compounds of a dawn myth and one or more +actual personages. + +The hero-god of the Mayas was Itzamna, and he was a beneficent +personage like the others. Like Cadmus, he invented letters, and he +also devised their calendar. He is spoken of as an historical personage +and “is intimately associated with the noble edifices of Itzamal, +which he laid out and constructed, and over which he ruled, enacting +wise laws and extending the power and happiness of his people for an +indefinite period.”[360] Brinton identifies him with the dawn myth, but +here again it is not conclusive. It seems quite as probable that he was +a real person, upon whose history certain myths have been engrafted. + +In putting the Amerind stories into other languages, embellishments and +variations have often been introduced, or the translators have been +deceived by interpreters or by the Amerinds themselves, while sometimes +both causes have operated to colour or to alter the tales. Schoolcraft +has generally been regarded as a faithful recorder, but in some +instances he has gone considerably astray. In his time the Amerinds +were not so well understood, nor were they, in all their various +stocks, so accessible as now. + +Formerly the European was prepared to find in the Amerind rites +evidences of the Lost Tribes of Israel, of the Chinese, or some other +extraordinary or romantic idea. He was not content to take things as +they were. Marquette on arriving at Green Bay was delighted with what +he believed to be an evidence of Christianity, a large cross set up +in the middle of the village, adorned with skins, bows, etc., which +the people were offering to their gods. It was only one of the symbols +of the Midē society, and was in use long before the Discovery. In the +same way Coronado found crosses in New Mexico, and there were also in +Yucatan the tablets of the cross referred to in a previous chapter. The +early Spaniards turned loose their own myths in the New World and then +started in pursuit of them. Columbus himself was the first to float +the Amazon myth to these shores, for in a letter to Rafael Sanchez he +speaks of an island inhabited solely by women, and the Spaniards had a +long and fruitless chase after it.[361] Thus they also pursued the myth +of the _Seven Cities_, _El Dorado_, and similar tales. _El Dorado_, or, +“The Gilded Man,” really existed in a ceremony in New Granada, where a +man was sprinkled with gold dust, but when the Spaniards had taken all +the gold from these people they went on hunting for El Dorado just the +same, though they never found him again. + +[Illustration: LACANDON (MAYAN) AMERIND FROM CHOCOLHAO, YUCATAN + + Photographed by M. H. Saville +] + +Certain resemblances between the myths of the Amerinds and those of +the Israelites increased the belief that the American race is the +Lost Tribes. The Mormons specially hold to this opinion. But there is +positively no ground for the belief. The peculiar interest, however, +which attaches to a comparison of Amerind and Israelite myths lies +in the fact that they resemble each other, not only genetically, but +specifically. They are alike in their details. Mallery has given much +attention to this subject, and he says that “an Ojibway tradition +tells the adventures of eight, ten, and sometimes twelve brothers, the +youngest of whom is the wisest and the most beloved of their father, +and especially favoured by the high powers. He delivers his brothers +from many difficulties which were brought about by their folly and +disobedience. Particularly he supplies them with corn.... The Chahta +have an elaborate story of their migrations, in which they were +guided by a pole leaning in the direction which they should take, and +remaining vertical at each place where they should encamp. A still +closer resemblance to the guidance of the Israelites in the desert by +a pillar of fire is found in the legendary migrations of the Tusayan +(Mokis), when indication was made by the movement and the halting +of a star. The Pai Utes were sustained in a great march through the +desert by water that continually filled the magic cup given to the +Sokus Waiunats in a dream until all were satisfied; and a similarly +miraculous supply of food to the starving multitude is reported by the +same people. In the genesis myth of the Tusayan, the culture hero was +enabled to pass dry-shod through lakes and rivers by throwing a staff +upon the waters, which were at once divided as by walls.... Mr. W. W. +Warren, in his _History of the Ojibway Nation_, tells that he sometimes +translated parts of Bible history to the old Ojibway men, and their +expression invariably was, ‘The book must be true, for our ancestors +have told us similar stories generation after generation since the +earth was new.’” There is also a strong resemblance between many of the +Amerind myths and stories, and those of the negro, as anyone may see +who will compare them with Harris’s delightful _Uncle Remus_. + +[Illustration: ONE OF THE BUILDINGS OF THE PALENQUE GROUP + + House “C” on Maudsley’s plan + + Construction: stone. Site: tropical forest, Chiapas, Yucatan. + Abandoned in prehistoric time. There was but one room with the + five openings as shown. Stucco ornamentation. See page 244 and + Frontispiece + + Photographed by M. H. Saville +] + +All races have malignant sprites that haunt rocks and watering places, +and the Amerind was no exception. The Uinkarets of Arizona declared +that a certain water-pocket where we camped was a favourite resort of +the Woonupits, a little elf that is full of mischief, and Chuar one +night insisted that he heard one whistling in the forest. He fired a +shot out into the darkness to drive it away. He did this with great +solemnity and deliberation, and there was no question as to his faith +in the belief. The same little elf crops out in the Moki country in +the form of the Kwokwuli, a malignant sprite lurking in out-of-the-way +places. He is about knee-high and conceals himself behind a rock or +bush, like the Breton Korrigans inhabiting the Dolmens, and when a Moki +appears he calls out in a shrill falsetto voice, “_Kwo-kwul-i-ul-i_.” +If the hearer gives no heed to the cry he may pass by in safety, but +should he willingly or unwillingly express any notice he must approach +the elf, who immediately climbs on his back and holds fast round +his neck—Sindbad’s Old-Man-of-the-Sea over again. The elf has only +rudimentary legs and no wings, and this is his method of journeying +from place to place. + +The Amerinds of the straits of Fuca have distinct traditions of the +Eskimo as a race of dwarfs, who live in the “always dark country,” +on the ice, dive and catch whales with their hands, and produce the +aurora by boiling out the blubber, the fires reflecting on the sky. +The Iroquois had legends of great giants, as also had other tribes, +which were due probably to the same cause as the dwarf Eskimo myths: +ignorance of the outside world. These were stone giants, and they +inhabited the west. Once upon a time they started to come and destroy +the Senecas, and a war party of the latter proceeded to the encounter. +Before the battle came off a mighty wind came out of the west and +swept all the giants into a vast abyss from which they could not +escape, and because of this friendly act the West Wind became one of +the Seneca gods, and was revered ever after. And the Eskimo, while +themselves furnishing the material for more southerly tribes to build +myths on, have their own tales of a tribe called Ardnainiq, living in +the extreme North-west. The men of this people are small as children, +but entirely covered with hair. They are carried about in the hoods +of their wives like babies, the wives being of normal size. They have +also stories of a race of women. The Iroquois believed that there was +a strange creature consisting simply of a head with large eyes and +long hair, called “Great Head.” When he saw any live thing he growled, +“I see thee, I see thee, thou shalt die.” They also had their race of +dwarfs with wonderful powers, who carved the cliffs and caves and could +destroy monster animals. + +[Illustration: COSTUME WORN IN THE KWAKIUTL FESTIVALS CALLED LAŌLAXA, + NORTH-WEST COAST] + +The coyote, the bear, the sun, and all the animals are endowed with +speech and great cunning, the coyote especially so among some of the +Western tribes, and are conceived as possessing human attributes, like +the “Brer Rabbit” and other animals whose prowess is related by Uncle +Remus. But the Eskimo, according to A. L. Kroeber, have comparatively +few animal stories. Examples of these animal stories may be found in +the reports of the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology and other publications. +Lack of space prevents me from introducing any here. + +The slightest misunderstood noise is sufficient to rouse the Amerind +imagination, of which I had an illustration in Arizona. I arrived +at an out-of-the-way mine one night with two Amerind guides. It was +winter and a stone cabin was placed at my disposal, to which I sent +the natives while my white companions and I visited the men in charge. +The natives presently came in, saying there was something wrong at +the cabin, and they would not stay in it or even near it. When we +investigated we discovered that the whole trouble arose from the +ticking of a small clock, which we forthwith stopped; but nevertheless +they would not remain there alone. + +Flood stories are numerous with all tribes, and whether they arose +in local inundations or in some vast and general flood cannot now be +determined. If in the latter, it would be melting ice of the glacial +period. A fabulous being in Eskimo mythology is Kalopaling, who lives +in the sea. His body is like that of a human being and he wears +clothing made out of eider ducks’ skins. His jacket has an enormous +hood, into which he thrusts any boatman that may be drowned. He cannot +speak, but merely cry, “Be! be! be! be!” An Eskimo flood tale relates +how the ocean long ago rose till it covered the whole land, even to the +tops of the mountains, till the ice drifted over them. When the flood +subsided the ice stranded and has ever since formed a cap on their +summits. + +The keepers of the mythological tales were the shamans, and they are +the real powers, generally, in a tribe. Had Cortes understood this +point he would have seized, not the war-chief, Montezuma, but one of +the shamans, who would have been more valuable as a hostage. Many of +the shamans are believed to be able to pass through fire unharmed, +and to handle it with impunity; to be able to change themselves into +coyotes, etc., and then return to their normal shape, all at their own +pleasure. + +A legend of Montezuma’s coming has been attributed to the Pueblos of +New Mexico, but this is an error, for they knew nothing about Montezuma +till the whites came into the country. There are a great many legends +concerning the occupation of this or that place, and one of these, the +legend of the former occupation of the _Mesa Encantada_, or, “Enchanted +Mesa,” New Mexico, has recently caused a lively discussion between two +distinguished ethnologists, as to whether some Puebloans did or did not +once live on top of the mesa as related. Both succeeded in reaching the +top. One found no evidence of any continued occupation of the mesa top; +the other found what he accepted as sufficient evidence of the truth of +the legend that Pueblos had once lived there and had been cut off from +the world below and destroyed by a fearful storm. + +Large portions of the Maya chronicles relate the predictions of the +astrologers, seers, or prophets, and after the habit of the class +they foretold all manner of evil, but strangely enough they seem to +have foretold the arrival of the Spaniards, for they said that white +and bearded strangers would come and control the land and alter the +prevailing religion. What was it that instilled them with this faith +or fear? Was it coincidence, or was it what is now termed telepathy? +Whatever it was, the terrible fulfilment came upon their race like a +cyclone; and when one more century has passed away the Amerind race +will be more truly even than now, the North-Americans of Yesterday.[362] + +[Illustration: GOD-HOUSES OF THE HUICHOLS AT TEAKÁTA, NEAR SANTA + CATARINA, STATE OF JALISCO, MEXICO + + Photographed by Lumholtz +] + + + + + [Illustration: ESKIMO MASK OF WOOD, PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND, ALASKA] + + CHAPTER XV + + ORGANISATION AND GOVERNMENT + + +Tribes often had a definite organisation and a regular government, +and each held sway over a territory with fixed boundaries. When the +limits were not placed at a river, lake, or mountain range they were +marked by certain trees or stones, or other natural features along the +trails. When at peace, those who entered another domain were considered +visitors, and they were expected to be friendly with all friends of the +occupants of the region. “Both the Kuchins and the Eskimos are very +jealous,” says H. H. Bancroft, “regarding their boundaries.”[363] + +When I was once coming out of the Shevwits country, my Uinkarets guide +exclaimed as we passed a certain bowlder near the trail, “Now we are +out of the Shevwits land.” Beyond that point the Shevwits would not +venture except in a friendly way, so long as they were friendly with +the owners of the land. I rejoiced in this fact at the time because the +Shevwits had not been entirely agreeable, and I was glad to pass the +point where I was certain they would not bother us. We were now in the +country of the Santa Clara tribe. + +The Iroquois had the habit of occupying both banks of a river or lake, +hence they did not utilise these as boundaries, but ran straight lines, +marked here and there by some well-known object. “On the boundary +line between the Onondagas and Oneidas,” says Morgan,[364] “the most +prominent point was the Deep Spring (Deosongwa) near Manlius, in the +county of Onondaga. This spring not only marked the limital line +between them, but it was a well-known stopping-place on the great +central trail or highway of the Iroquois.... From Deep Spring the +line ran due south into Pennsylvania, crossing the Susquehanna near +its confluence with the Chenango. North of this spring the line was +deflected to the west, leaving in the Oneida territory the whole +circuit of the lake. Crossing the She-u-ka or Oneida outlet, a few +miles below the lake, the line inclined again to the east, until it +reached the meridian of the Deep Spring. From thence it ran due north, +crossing Black River, at the site of Watertown, and the St. Lawrence to +the eastward of the Thousand Islands.” + +This line separated territories belonging to two tribes of the +celebrated league, and was not a boundary between hostile or different +tribes. The Iroquois were exact about their internal boundary lines, +because it served to keep each member of the confederacy distinct and +independent, and enabled the idea of home rule to be properly carried +out. They always knew just whose ground they were on, just as we know +to-day which county or State we are in. It was another mark of the +wisdom with which the confederacy was planned. + +When the whites came to these shores and took possession right and +left of the soil, they immediately stirred up the hostility of the +owners, who naturally desired to be considered in the matter. Penn did +consider them, and he had no trouble; and I have no doubt much of the +fighting and enmity which followed our coming might have been avoided +if Europeans had more fully recognised the native rights and had paid a +fair equivalent for what they wanted. But there was nothing to compel +this attention to the moral side, and justice must have force to bind +it; besides, owing to the large influx of whites, the Amerinds were +inevitably driven back. The English in a measure finally recognised +the Iroquois rights and then afterwards turned this to good account +by claiming sovereignty over the territory on the ground that the +Iroquois were British subjects. The Navajos recognise the San Juan +River as their northern limit and the Southern Utes correspondingly +accepted it as their southern limit. “The claims of the Susquehannocks +extended down the Chesapeake Bay on the east shore, as far as the +Choptank River and on the west shore as far as the Patuxent. In 1654 +they ceded to the government of Maryland their southern territory to +these boundaries.”[365] Thus it is proved that Maryland recognised +their ownership. These examples are enough to show that the territorial +rights of each tribe were definitely understood, just as nations to-day +have established limits. When the settlements of our people finally +crowded tribes back upon each other’s domain, a great deal of confusion +and dispute arose as to ownership, and when the government began to +pay for lands it was often necessary to pay for the same tract several +times, owing to the conflicting claims. + +Scattered over the territory claimed or held by a tribe were the +houses and villages of the tribe or the sub-tribes. Powell states +that “every tribe lived in a village, and every village constituted a +distinct tribe.” But the village was often spread over a wide region. +Speaking of this, Adair says: “A stranger might be in the middle of +one of their populous, extensive towns without seeing half a dozen +houses in the direct course of his path.”[366] But this was only in +the interior of the country of a tribe. Along the frontier the towns +would be more compactly arranged, in order that the people might easily +be called to defend them. The villages were usually permanent, though +they were frequently, some annually, abandoned temporarily at certain +seasons for the pursuit of game or for some other good reason, all +the people coming together again as the cold weather approached. The +Navajos often have a winter home in the lower, sheltered lands of their +territory, while in summer they proceed to the higher levels where +the winter snows are deep and the summer grass is high. Each Amerind +village always had at least one assembly place for which they had +their special names, but the general term that is now often used by +ethnologists is that of _kiva_,[367] borrowed from the Mokis, because +the Moki kiva is a representative of the general assembly hall and +council-chamber, or lodge. The kiva, besides being used for social +purposes, as a lounging-place and a working-place for the men, is +also used for religious functions. Those structures, therefore, which +crowned the mounds of the United States and Mexico, and are usually +designated as “temples,” were possibly more of the nature of kivas, +a temple in our usage being a structure devoted solely to worship, +whereas many Amerind buildings of this class were used for various +purposes. Often there were several, depending on the size of the tribe. +The tribe was organised on the basis of the gens or the clan, and each +gens or clan might have its own kiva. They might also belong to some of +the secret orders, so that we may enumerate three kinds: the tribal, +or chief kiva, the kiva belonging to the gens or clan, and the kiva +belonging to the phratry, or secret society. The gens and the clan were +groups of blood relations, or, as put by Powell, “an organised body +of consanguineal kindred.”[368] The members of a gens often lived in +one house or in a group of houses; for example, among the Iroquois in +the long-house,[369] with its row of camp-fires, while in some other +tribes each family might have its own house or tent, but they would +then generally pitch or build it contiguous to the other habitations +of their gens. It was this principle, in vogue in almost all the +tribes of America, which directed the character of most of the Amerind +structures. Everybody in a tribe belonged to a gens or clan, otherwise +he could not be in the tribe. The complete organisation of the tribe +then was: a group of families forming a gens or clan, two gentes being +represented in each family; the “father must belong to one gens and +the mother and her children to another,” descent being commonly in +the female line, and marriage within a gens being forbidden; a group +of gentes formed the phratry, and a group of phratries formed the +tribe, while a group of tribes formed the confederacy, probably the +highest form of government the Amerinds reached. The phratry as an +organisation was often absent, and the tribe was then composed of the +gentes without any further grouping. Powell seems to use “phratry” in +a different sense from Morgan and some other writers. Morgan described +a phratry as a group of gentes, whereas Powell defines it as simply +a brotherhood or society. Each gens governed itself so far as its +internal affairs were concerned; that is, it had home rule, just as +we have it to-day in our towns, counties, etc. It sent delegates +to the council of the tribe to represent it, and it elected its own +officers. There was sometimes no tribal or head chief. I never could +learn of any among the Navajos, and the Iroquois had none. When, as was +frequent, there was a sachem, or tribal chief, he was chosen or elected +by the chiefs of the various clans or gentes forming the council, +but in some tribes he inherited the office, or at least the right to +hold it. I understood this to be the case among the Kaivavits Utes of +southern Utah. A gens had the right to take into its ranks any alien +it chose to. Such a person was then a member of that gens and partook +of all the benefits or disadvantages, as the case might be. He was a +son or brother or husband, or the corresponding relationships if a +woman, and on all occasions was treated as if he had been born into the +gens or clan instead of adopted into it. He was therefore eligible for +all offices in the tribe, and white men in this way sometimes became +chiefs. Beckwourth,[370] who, however, was really supposed by a Crow +woman to be her long-lost son, became head chief of the Crows, and held +the office with distinction for a number of years. He began by being +fifth councillor. “In the Crow nation there are six councillors, and by +them the nation is ruled. There are also two head chiefs, who sit with +the council whenever it is in session. The office of first councillor +is the highest in the nation next to the head chiefs, whose authority +is equal. If in any of these divisions, when a matter is brought to +the vote, the suffrages are equal, one of the old pipemen is summoned +before the council and the subject under discussion is stated to him, +with the substance of the arguments advanced on both sides; after +hearing this he gives his casting vote, and the question is finally +settled.”[371] + +[Illustration: PLENTY-HORSES, A CHEYENNE + + Photographed by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geological Survey +] + +[Illustration: NORTH-WEST COAST BASKETRY HATS + + Made of grass and spruce roots + + A. Parasol-shaped hat with totemic design on top and painted in solid + colour on remainder of outside surface. Tlinkit + + B. Has wooden appendages representing the beak of the raven. Tlinkit + + C. Cedar bark hat. G shows method of plaiting it + + E. Top view of D, showing totemic design of hooyeh, the raven. Haida + + H. Is method of weaving the top, F of the bottom part of D + + See also figures on pp. 146, 160 +] + +George Bancroft says, “There have been chiefs who could not tell when, +where, or how they obtained power.... Opinion could crowd a civil +chief into retirement, and could dictate his successor.” Opinion was a +most potent factor in all tribes, and this would be largely directed +by those having popularity and power. Officers, in fact all persons, +become extremely well known in the small community of an Amerind +tribe. Every peculiarity of temperament was understood, and the +individual was respected or despised according to his predominating +characteristics. Those who were bold and fierce and full of strategy +were made war-chiefs, while those who possessed judgment and decision +were made civil chiefs or governors. In many tribes the civil and the +military branches of government are separate and distinct. Certain +chieftains were the peace chiefs. “They could neither go to war +themselves, nor send nor receive the war belt—the ominous string of +dark wampum, which indicated that the tempest of strife was to be let +loose. Their proper badge was the wampum belt, with a diamond-shaped +figure in the centre, worked in white beads, which was the symbol +of the peaceful council fire, and was called by that name. War was +declared by the people at the instigation of the ‘war-captains,’ +valorous braves, of any birth or family, who had distinguished +themselves by personal prowess, and especially by good success in +forays against the enemy. Nor did the authority of the chiefs extend +to any infringement on the traditional rights of the gens, as, for +instance, that of blood revenge. The ignorance of this limitation of +the central power led to various misunderstandings at the time, on the +part of the colonial authorities, and since then, by later historians. +Thus in 1728 the Delaware Indians on Brandywine were summoned by the +Governor to answer about a murder. Their chief, Civility, answered that +it was committed by the Minisinks, ‘over whom they had no authority.’ +This did not mean but that in some matters authority could be exerted, +but not in a question relating to a feud of blood.”[372] War-chiefs as +well as civil chiefs were elected by the council, and could be deposed +also by the council whenever it was desirable. + +[Illustration: NORTH-WEST COAST MORTUARY AND COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS + + A. Kaigani. Contains a box holding ashes of the dead + + B. Kaigani. Compartment boarded up contains the remains in a box + + C. Kaigani. Supported box contains the dead + + D. Different form of C + + E. Haida. Commemorative column put in front of the house of deceased, + the body being placed at a distance + + F. Haida. Commemorative column same as last but with two posts +] + +Brinton says, “The gentile system is by no means universal, ... where +it exists, it is often traced in the male line; both property and +dignities may be inherited directly from the father.... In fact, no one +element of the system was uniformly respected, and it is an error of +theorists to make it appear so. It varied widely in the same stock and +in all its expressions.”[373] This intricate subject cannot be fully +understood till the organisation of many tribes has been studied in +detail. “In some tribes, as the Dakota, the gentes had fallen out; +in others as among the Ojibways, the Omahas and the Mayas of Yucatan +descent had been changed from the female to the male line.”[374] But +Powell and Morgan both hold that the majority of the Amerind tribes +were organised on the basis of descent in the female line. “The gens +came into being,” says Morgan, “upon three principal conceptions, +namely: the bond of kin, a pure lineage through descent in the female +line, and non-intermarriage in the gens.”[375] + +Powell in his article on the “North American Indians” in Johnson’s +_Cyclopedia_ seems to use the term “clan” to describe a body of kindred +with descent in the female line, and “gens” where the descent is in the +male line. “In most of the tribes the fundamental unit of organisation +was the clan,” he says, and then again, “a few of the tribes were +organised on the gentile plan and in the gens kinship is reckoned in +the male line.” Such a distinction would be convenient, but Morgan did +not recognise it at the time of his writing, as is evident from the +quotation above from his _Ancient Society_, and general usage seems +not to have defined gens to mean descent in either line specifically. +Nevertheless, there is probably no reason why the distinction should +not be made with regard to the Amerinds, at least, if it should be +agreed upon. Powell also says: “As a clan is a group of people who +reckon kinship through females to some ancestral female, real or +conventional, so a gens is a group of people who reckon kinship through +males to some ancestral male, real or conventional. It seems that +the primordial constitution of the tribe is by clanship and that the +clanship tribe is developed into the gentile tribe. Most of the tribes +of North America have clanship organisation, yet there is a goodly +number with gentile organisation, while perhaps it may be said that +a majority of the clanship tribes have some elements of the gentile +organisation; so that it may be justly affirmed that a great many of +the tribes on this continent are in the stage of transition, and there +is scarcely a gentile tribe which has not some feature of clanship +organisation as a survival.”[376] The privileges and obligations of the +gens (or clan) were, according to Morgan as follows: + +“I. The right of electing its sachem or chief. + +“II. The right of deposing its sachem or chief. + +“III. The obligation not to marry in the gens. + +“IV. Mutual rights of inheritance of the property of deceased members. + +“V. Reciprocal obligations of help, defence, and redress of injuries. + +“VI. The right of bestowing names upon its members. + +“VII. The right of adopting strangers into the gens. + +“VIII. Common religious rites. + +“IX. A common burial-place. + +“X. A council of the gens.”[377] + +Among the Wyandots there is a council in each gens composed of four +women. “These four women councillors select a chief of the gens from +its male members—that is, from their brothers and sons. This gentile +chief is the head of the gentile council. The council of the tribe is +composed of the aggregated gentile councils. The tribal council then is +composed of one-fifth men and four-fifths women.”[378] This is not the +case with other tribes, however. Among the Tlinkits it is the richest +who “obtain the highest places,” the selection of the chiefs depending +entirely on the amount of property they have; that is, on a property +basis. These Amerinds have a better appreciation of property than any +others I have ever seen. They seldom haggle, but in selling they state +a price and adhere to it. A smaller amount offered is usually treated +with scorn. + +The sign of clan or gens membership was the totem, all members of the +same gens having the same totem, and his or her name usually indicating +this totem. For example, if we know an Amerind woman’s name to be +Spotted Fawn, we place her at once in the deer clan. The deer is the +animal that she looks up to as being most intimately connected with +her past and her future, and from which her ancestors were descended. +This is the clan or gens totem. As mentioned in a previous chapter, +there are also two other kinds of totems, those pertaining to sex and +those pertaining to the individual alone. Totems are always chosen from +a class of organic objects, while a fetich may be anything at all. +Thus the totems are deer, frogs, bears, snakes, corn, etc., while a +fetich may be a pebble, a piece of glass wrapped in a bit of buckskin +together with a feather, or some similar object. The fetich was a +talisman, the totem a beneficent attending spirit and a sign of family +and origin. + +The Iroquois confederacy was planned by Hiawatha through Däganowédä +as an interpreter of his ideas and wishes. Some, Horatio Hale for +one, think that Hiawatha was a real person, and others that it +was Däganowédä who did the work under the guise of representing +Hiawatha.[379] However this may be, the organisation of the several +tribes into the confederacy was a work of genius, and this was one +of the highest governments that was discovered on this continent. We +cannot say, however, that it was _the_ highest that ever existed, next +to that of the Aztecs or the other Central Amerinds, for we really +do not know what there may have been before, not only in Mexico and +Central America, but in the Mississippi valley or even in the State +of New York. As noted in a previous chapter, if the Iroquois had +disappeared before our arrival, we could have gained no conception +of their remarkable government from any remains that we would have +found. The Mississippi valley and the South-west, as well as Mexico and +Central America, exhibit traces of tribes who may easily have arrived +at a governmental development equal to, if, indeed, not superior to, +that of the Aztecs or the Iroquois. These tribes were undoubtedly +Amerind, but there is nothing to prove that earlier Amerind tribes were +inferior in their political development to later ones. + +The misconceptions of the Spaniards due to ignorance of Amerind +organisation gave false colouring to the Aztec confederacy; and the +flowing diction of Prescott, gemmed with terms and titles applicable +to Old-World society, but having no place in that of the New, added to +the confusion. Pages relating to “nobles,” “princes,” “royal allies,” +“sovereigns,” “lords,” etc., do not help in fathoming the intricacies +of Amerind government. Had the Spaniards met with the Iroquois we +should have had something similar in their case; and the fact that they +had no head chief would not have been discovered by the conquistadores, +so eager for other prey. One of the war-chiefs would again have been +taken for a royal personage, and the sachems and councillors would +have been nobles and princes, while the outlying tribes of the Five +Nations would have filled the bill for royal allies. It is likely +that the Aztec government was in advance of that of the Iroquois, +but that there was any royalty about it must be doubted till better +evidence is available. On the other hand, Morgan’s attempt to prove +that the Aztec organisation was not beyond that of the Pueblos or the +Iroquois is to be taken with caution. Brinton says: “The government +of these states did not differ in principle from that of the northern +tribes, though its development had reached a later stage. Descent was +generally reckoned in the male line, and the male children of the +deceased were regarded as the natural heirs both to his property and +his dignities. Where the latter, however, belonged rather to the gens +than the individual, a form of election was held, the children of the +deceased being given the preference. In this sense, which was the usual +limitation in America, many positions were hereditary, including that +of the chieftaincy of the tribe or confederation. The Montezuma who +was the ruler who received Cortez, was the grandson of Axayacatl, who +in turn was the son of the first Montezuma, each of whom exercised the +chief power.”[380] The daughter of the first Montezuma seems to have +occupied the position of head chief for a time, or, as Prescott would +put it, she was queen. It is possible that while Montezuma was a war +chief he may have combined certain civil powers with his war office, +and that the confederacy was actually on the road to an absolute +monarchy[381] or something of the kind, which, if human progress +takes always the same general directions, was the next stage to be +expected on this soil. Bandelier, Morgan, and others see in the various +Mexican tribes and confederacies little that is different from the +organisation of the Amerinds to the northward, and probably when all is +well understood we may find that they are not far from correct; that, +while there are differences, they are yet not sufficient to entitle +the Mexicans to the separation from other Amerinds that has been +claimed for them by romantic writers. Speaking of Tlaxcala, the famous +“province” where Cortes found a resting-place on his inward journey, +Bandelier says: “Owing to a misconception of aboriginal institutions, +it has been palmed off as a kind of Mexican Switzerland, as a free +republic in the midst of despotically ruled communities. Such was not +the case. There was not the slightest fundamental difference between +the social organisation and mode of government of the Tlaxcaltecos +and that of the Mexican tribe; but the exceptional geographical +position of the latter and the natural barrenness of their land led +them to seek means of subsistence from abroad. The confederacy of +tribes grew out of tribal organisation, and the greater ability of the +inhabitants of the Central Valley gave to their confederacy a power +of aggression superior to that of any other aboriginal cluster in the +same country.... The Tlaxcaltecos were organised in four localised +_phratries_, like the Mexicans. Two elective chiefs—that is, elective +in regard to the individual, but with heredity of office in a certain +_gens_—formed the nominal head of the tribe. The true directive power, +however, lay in the council of the tribe. The tribe of Mexico had a +similar organisation. What created an apparent dissimilarity was the +confederacy of the valley tribes, with its chief-captain always taken +from the Mexicans. As, in the single tribe, the war-chief office was +hereditary in the _gens_, so, in the confederacy, the same office +becomes hereditary in the _tribe_.”[382] How different is the wording +of Prescott when speaking of the Aztec organisation! “The government +was an elective monarchy. Four of the principal nobles, who had been +chosen by their own body in the preceding reign, filled the office of +electors, to whom were added, with merely honourary rank, however, the +two royal allies of Tezcuco and Tlacopan. The sovereign was selected +from the brothers of the deceased prince, or, in default of them, +from his nephews. Thus the election was always restricted to the same +family. The candidate preferred must have distinguished himself in +war, though, as in the case of the last Montezuma.”[383] In other +words, the election was restricted to a certain gens. Morgan says: +“Nearly all American Indian tribes had two grades of chiefs, who may +be distinguished as sachems and common chiefs. Of these two primary +grades all other grades were varieties. They were elected in each +gens from among its members. A son could not be chosen to succeed his +father when descent was in the female line, because he belonged to a +different gens, and no gens would have a chief or sachem from any gens +but its own.” (Morgan here evidently forgot the right of adoption. It +would be perfectly regular, should a gens wish to do so, to adopt a +son into the gens in order that he might succeed his father.) “The +office of sachem was hereditary in the gens, in the sense that it was +filled as often as a vacancy occurred; while the office of chief was +non-hereditary, because it was bestowed in reward of personal merit, +and died with the individual. Moreover, the duties of a sachem were +confined to the affairs of peace. He could not go out to war as a +sachem. On the other hand, the chiefs who were raised to office for +personal bravery, for wisdom of affairs, or for eloquence in council, +were usually the superior class in ability, though not in authority +over the gens. The relation of the sachem was primarily to the gens, of +which he was the official head, while that of the chief was primarily +to the tribe, of the council of which he, as well as the sachem, were +members.”[384] + +[Illustration: ANCIENT PUEBLOAN MOCCASINS OF FIBRE, ARIZONA + + Except lower left hand one worn by the Ainos of Yezo, Japan. + Introduced for comparison. The Ainos were probably the earliest + inhabitants of Japan. In language and character they are different + from Japanese +] + +As the Iroquois league was such an important affair, and as it was so +thoroughly studied by Morgan, I will quote him further by giving his +statement of the main points in the organisation. + +“I. The Confederacy was a union of Five Tribes (afterwards Six), +composed of common gentes under one government on the basis of +equality, each Tribe remaining independent in all matters pertaining to +local self-government. + +“II. It created a General Council of Sachems, who were limited in +number, equal in rank and authority, and invested with supreme powers +over all matters pertaining to the Confederacy. + +“III. Fifty Sachemships were created and named in perpetuity in +certain gentes of the several Tribes; with power in these gentes to +fill vacancies as often as they occurred, by election from among their +respective members, and with the further power to depose from office +for cause; but the right to invest these Sachems with office was +reserved to the General Council. + +“IV. The Sachems of the Confederacy were also Sachems in their +respective Tribes, and with the Chiefs of these Tribes formed the +Council of each, which was supreme over all matters pertaining to the +Tribe exclusively. + +“V. Unanimity in the Council of the Confederacy was made essential to +every public act. + +“VI. In the General Council the Sachems voted by Tribes, which gave to +each Tribe a negative upon the others. + +“VII. The Council of each Tribe had power to convene the General +Council; but the latter had no power to convene itself. + +“VIII. The General Council was open to the orators of the people for +the discussion of public questions; but the Council alone decided. + +“IX. The Confederacy had no Chief Executive Magistrate or official head. + +“X. Experiencing the necessity for a General Military Commander, they +created the office in a dual form, that one might neutralise the other. +The two principal War-chiefs created were made equal in powers.”[385] + +[Illustration: CHIMMESYAN HEAD-DRESS REPRESENTING THE WHITE OWL + + It is made of maple; eyes, tongue, eye-ornament on wings, and + ornament at base of the wing-feathers inlaid in Haliotis shell. + Wings and eyebrows of owl, and eyebrows, eyes, and noses of the + surrounding men painted black; margin of beak and body of the owl + except talons and knees, mouths, arms, and legs of the surrounding + men and the broad band surrounding the owl’s body, painted red. 6¼ + in. wide, 7½ in. high. In the American Museum +] + +Such was the remarkable construction of the government of these Amerind +people of New York. In its conception, in its details, and in its +execution it was one of the most extraordinary primitive governments +ever recorded. From a comparatively weak people it placed the Iroquois, +though they were far inferior in numbers to surrounding tribes, in a +commanding position, and enabled them to extend their sway over a vast +territory. They made no attempt to hold the region that was subject to +their devastation, but probably, had not the European appeared on the +scene, they would have gradually expanded until their villages covered +many times the area which they specifically claimed when our people +first came. An increase of population which would have overtaxed the +game-supply would have pushed the development of their agriculture and +forced the confederacy to move along higher and broader lines. One +great drawback to Amerindian progress, internecine wars, was entirely +obliterated by the masterly organisation of the Iroquois league, +while at the same time they gained by their union a strength for +offence and defence that, together with their fertile and well-watered +domain, rendered their organisation impregnable. This and the Mexican +confederacy prove that the Amerind was capable of great things in +governmental organisation. It only remained for him to discover the +secrets of smelting and forging, and he was apparently on the brink of +these discoveries, to step into a foremost place of development and +progress. In some respects it is a pity the Europeans did not remain in +ignorance of this continent for another five hundred years. + + + + + [Illustration: WOODEN “SEAL” DISH, HAIDA] + + CHAPTER XVI + + ORIGIN, MIGRATIONS, AND HISTORY[386] + + +The manner in which America was originally peopled has been the cause +of considerable speculation. For a long time it was generally believed, +and there are some who still hold that belief, that this peopling +occurred within comparatively recent times by way of Bering Strait, and +that before that the continent was not inhabited. But peoples do not +willingly migrate into frozen regions, and the Bering Strait and Alaska +down to Dixon Entrance were not many centuries ago buried under a +mantle of ice. I doubt if there were even Eskimo in Alaska five hundred +years back. It is my belief that all the tribes of the North-west +migrated there from the South and South-east, and not within recent +geologic time from the Asiatic direction. + +That the continent was entirely peopled by way of Bering Strait +within the last thousand years, by migrations through a zone of ice, +is improbable. To assume that a population came over and passed down +to Mexico and Yucatan and even South America, carrying with them +their arts, but not exercising them on this interminable journey, is +ridiculous. No pottery has yet been found between the Yukon and the +Humboldt, or even farther south, probably because the Eskimo learned +what little they knew about it while in the St. Lawrence valley or the +Atlantic region, and the tribes of the North-west coast never came +into sufficiently close contact with potters to learn the art.[387] +Furthermore, no authentic trace of any Old-World language thus far has +been found on this continent, and the only Asiatic language now known +to be allied to an American is that of a branch of the Eskimo family +which crossed from this side within the last three hundred years. The +Amerind languages change slowly. An immense period must have elapsed +since their separation from the rest of the world. It is said that two +Japanese vessels a year are wrecked on our California coast, and some +have peopled the continent from this source; a more absurd theory than +the other. The number of Japanese vessels that were afloat a thousand +years ago was as nothing compared with those afloat to-day, and if +only two per annum are wrecked on these shores to-day, the wrecks a +thousand years ago did not add materially to the population.[388] It is +possible, however, that a few persons may have reached either seaboard +that way, and like Cabeza de Vaca, they may have wandered for years +among the various tribes as teachers and medicine-men, giving rise to +legends of “white and bearded strangers.” But in the early days vessels +were frail and did not venture far from the coast, so that the chances +of being driven to American shores without foundering were very slight. +The Northmen made the voyage, however, and others may have done it. Yet +the supposed visits of the Irish and Danes are hardly worthy of serious +consideration, although it would be rash to deny the possibility of +their having come. As for the Lost-Tribes-of-Israel theory, on which +Kingsborough was wrecked, no archæologist of to-day would be willing +to give it a second thought. A multitude of stock languages, differing +from each other, yet forming a world-group by themselves, are found +here. The people who speak them, from Panama to the Arctic, are in +their habits, customs, and physical characteristics wonderfully +homogeneous,[389] yet they appear to exhibit several types that have +been moulded into a family resemblance by some strange circumstance. +Toward Panama, some of them attained a considerable degree of progress, +but these were not of one special stock but of diverse stocks. Farther +north there was another group attaining to a less but a similar kind +of progress, and they also were, and are, of diverse stocks. In the +Mississippi valley are evidences of another similar culture group, +probably also of diverse stocks because some of them were allied to, +or were part of, the stocks found there when the whites came. The same +general conditions prevailed farther east, and a centre of development +was rapidly forming in New York when it was destroyed by our coming. +One of the most widespread stocks, the Shoshonean or Uto-Aztecan, is +composite, containing within it tribes of the highest culture and +tribes of the least culture, tribes that were peaceful and tribes that +were warlike. It is evident then that _culture was no evidence of +relationship_ or the reverse among the Amerind people. By some powerful +influence and long association they had, whatever their origin, been +moulded into one race. “Where had they come from?” “How did they come +to be so much alike?” “Why did their highest development take place +down by the Isthmus instead of by the Great Lakes or in the fertile +valley of the Mississippi?” These are pertinent questions. Attempts +have been made to answer them by importing different people from +different parts of the world and their recent culture with them. But +the more the Amerinds are studied, the more homogeneous do we find them +and the more isolated from Old-World influences. Culture, as mentioned, +was not confined to one stock; it permeated through unrelated stocks. +The languages too are totally different from all others. Thus the more +the matter is investigated, the more closely are we confined to the +Western Hemisphere for the origin of the Amerind people, _as we know +them_. Toward Panama, that is below the City of Mexico, a kind of +civilisation was attained, and there we find was the densest population +on the continent. Culture never develops in a game country with a +sparse population, and there is, therefore, an intimate connection +between a crowded population and “culture” or “civilisation.” It +may be broadly asserted, I think, that _civilisation is crowding_; +it is man’s effort at self-preservation. Where the game-supply is +exhausted or insufficient and subsistence must be wholly or largely +wrested from the soil, there will be found the culture centres, the +hothouses of art and science, from which a filtration occurs into all +the contiguous regions and peoples. On this continent the chief centre +of culture was the narrowest part; the population was packed there +as in the narrow end of a funnel, leaving the whole broad top thinly +peopled. The question immediately arises: “Why was this so?” It is +evident at a glance that there was some preponderating, irresistible +influence which compelled the inhabitants to draw into these narrow, +restricted regions, there to act and react one tribe on another, +and this influence was constantly at work moulding them all. If the +continent had been peopled within any comparatively recent time, it is +not reasonable to suppose that the tribes would willingly have huddled +together far down in the most limited area. It is also from this area +apparently that all the arts have spread. The crowding and the culture +development were coincident. What was the cause of it? If we can arrive +at a satisfactory understanding of the cause, it seems to me that we +have the solution of the whole matter. The explanation appears to be +that the continent was peopled before the beginning of the glacial +epoch, and the crowding into the narrow regions, and consequently +the development of culture there, were due to the encroachment from +the north of the great cold. Wright says: “Just before the beginning +of the ice age, a temperate climate corresponding to latitude 35 on +the Atlantic coast extended far up toward the north pole, permitting +Greenland and Spitzbergen to be covered with trees and plants similar +in most respects to those found at the present time in Virginia and +North Carolina. Here indeed in close proximity to the north pole were +then residing, in harmony and contentment, the ancestors of nearly +all the plants and animals which are now found in the north temperate +zone.” It is not unreasonable to suppose, then, that man was also +here, though as yet the scientific evidence is perhaps not sufficient +to prove it. If he circled the globe in the Northern regions at that +time, and was also occupying Central portions, the cold drove all +south and together with changes of land levels cut off the American +division from the other world.[390] Migration legends are useless in +determining the origin of the Amerinds, for they can only relate to +the _comparatively recent changes_ of location before which, for a +long period, the people drifted up and down and across the continent +under the influences I have suggested. However man first originated, +or where, he was doubtless distributed, like the flora and fauna, at +some exceedingly remote period, over the whole world, by causes not now +understood, but one of which was probably a greater continuity of land +surfaces than exists to-day.[391] Some of the earlier-world people were +possibly more advanced than we have been willing to concede, and there +was, from a very early day, a differentiation of tribes. Some were +making respectable weapons and tools of stone while others were using +clubs. Too much stress has been placed upon the European classification +of stone implements. It may exhibit conditions that existed in Europe, +but it has nothing to do with a standard of measurement for the world. +When Moses was leading his enlightened people, the European was a +painted savage. The period of time in which man used stone implements +is enormous; that in which he has used metal tools, comparatively +insignificant. It stands to reason, therefore, that during this long +use of stone, tribes attained to varying degrees of culture, and +varying degrees of perfection in stone tools. There never could have +been a single period of time when all tribes the world round made a +certain quality of implements, then another period when they all made +other quality of implements. Classification of tribes and races in a +time-scale, or even in a culture scale, according to the kind of stone +implements they used, is impossible. The Pai Ute and the Iroquois +made equally good tools in the seventeenth century, while in other +lands still inferior tribes were making implements about as good, and +others were struggling on with poorer ones. At the time of the Aztec +confederacy, their stone tools were not greatly superior to those of +the Pai Ute. Therefore, it would seem that any resemblance between +so-called American “paleolithic” implements and modern stone implements +cannot be used as an argument to disprove the age of the former, nor +that a polished stone implement found in a supposed ancient gravel +is necessarily an indication of intrusion or that the gravel is not +ancient. The implements thus far found in the California auriferous +gravels have been similar to those found on the surface to-day, and +this has been held by some to be a suspicious circumstance. It is not. +Some tribes in California in those remote times were probably making +stone implements quite as good as anything made to-day. Stone-working +is not capable of high development. The range is limited. Some tribes +compassed it early. Because also we do not find stone implements +abundant in the North-American glacial drift proves nothing concerning +man’s condition, presence or absence on the continent at that time. The +population _was almost entirely below the glacial limit_, only a few +inferior tribes skirting its southern fringe. We should, then, expect +to find few northerly pre-glacial evidences,[392] as the main culture +development took place south of the ice line, and tribes above this in +pre-glacial times would be the most primitive. + +[Illustration: TLINKIT SUMMER CAMP + + From photograph by the Harriman Alaska Expedition, 1899 +] + +[Illustration: ESKIMO SUMMER CAMP, PORT CLARENCE + + From photograph by the Harriman Expedition, 1899 +] + +[Illustration: WOODEN SNOW GOGGLES OF THE CENTRAL ESKIMO] + +The material evidences concerning the antiquity of man in America +are many, but few are entirely satisfactory. The Calaveras skull and +other remains in the auriferous California gravels seem to place him +here as early as the Tertiary, and this, says Holmes,[393] would make +man older on this continent than anywhere else in the world according +to present evidence. A rudely chipped arrow-head has also been found +in another region under some elephant bones. A primitive hearth was +discovered in well digging in an old beach of Lake Ontario which dates +back to the glacial time. Many specimens of stone implements have been +found throughout the land in deposits which appear to be of great age. +There is always the question of modern introduction through burials, +overturned trees, etc., but the number and varying positions seem to +indicate that some of these tools have been found in their original +places. I excavated a mound in southern Utah from the depths of which I +brought out an exceedingly primitive grinding-stone, yet not a single +stone implement of any other kind was found. The grinding-stone was +twenty feet below the top of the mound and ten below the present +general level of the surface. The mound was formed of many layers of +earth interspersed with thin layers of charcoal and ashes. All around +the site there were house ruins on the surface, but in the mound not +a trace of a building stone was seen. I was told that in digging a +well not far from this locality a small earthen jug of antique type +was found about thirty feet below the present level. I did not see it +nor even the man who found it, but the great abundance of such finds +must indicate antiquity, for they could not all be fraudulent, nor all +recent intrusions. + +The cause of the glacial period has been much discussed. It seems to +have been largely due to changes in land levels,[394] and to other +causes not now understood. The people inhabiting the world before it +may have been originally much alike in kind and colour with local +variations, and the isolation produced by glacial conditions modified +this colour and increased the variations, those finally left in hot +lands becoming darker, medium temperatures producing brown, still +cooler the reds and yellows, and the forests of Europe evolving a shade +or shadow people, shrinking from the strong sun; the so-called white +race. The glacial epoch is often spoken of as if the whole world were +frozen solid, whereas in North America, from the Ohio and the Columbia +to the Isthmus, the climate was doubtless about relatively the same +as it is now from Davis Strait to the Potomac and from Yakutat Bay to +northern California. The ice extended down about to the Ohio River +in the East and on lowlands not below the Columbia in the West. The +Western mountain tops must have been completely glaciated and all +elevated regions were cold, the conditions prevailing resembling those +now found in Southern Alaska. The Sierra Nevadas, receiving the warm, +moist airs from the Pacific, must have been far more heavily glaciated +than the Rockies, which received less moisture in consequence. The ice +period is estimated to have endured from ten to twenty thousand years, +with an interval of recession in it and subsequent advance. The people +were driven southward, and those most favourably situated developed the +most. The people most favourably situated were all _who were already +in_, or could fight their way to, the temperate lowlands of southern +Mexico and Central America, which were rendered somewhat more extensive +by the recession of the sea, caused by the withdrawal of the immense +quantities of water that were heaped up in ice thousands of feet in +thickness.[395] This has been estimated to have lowered the waters of +the ocean by from 600 to 1000 feet.[396] The lands thus laid bare were +climatically inviting and probably were soon covered with vegetation. +In South America the people were crowded northward, or held there by +the cold coming from the south. It would be in the northern portions, +particularly the lowlands, that we ought to find evidence of the +highest development, especially on the side receiving warm currents, +and there is where we do find it. We apparently have then a northern +and a southern limit to the ancient inhabitants of this hemisphere, +within which climatic conditions during the period of great cold, and +for some time thereafter, were most favourable to human development. +This limit in the Northern continent is latitude 23 and in the Southern +also 23. Within these lines the great precolumbian development took +place, and the heart of this development on the Northern continent +seems to have rested between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the present +upper frontier of Honduras, chiefly on the lowlands, and probably also +on lands now beneath the ocean. + +[Illustration: PRINCIPAL KNOWN RUINS OF CENTRAL AMERICA + + Prepared by M. H. Saville +] + +[Illustration: NECKLACE OF DRIED HUMAN FINGERS OBTAINED ON BATTLEFIELD + OF WOUNDED-KNEE BY CAPTAIN BOURKE] + +[Illustration: PRINCIPAL KNOWN RUINS OF MEXICO + + Prepared by M. H. Saville +] + +In North America, south of latitude 23, then, most of the tribes of +the continent were crowded by the great cold, and here they developed +their chief characteristics, so that by the time the ice began its +last recession they had become a homogeneous people, with the greatest +advancement and the greatest similarities in the region where the +population had been densest, with a diminishing scale outward, those +tribes farthest from the culture centre varying most from the highest +culture attained. The tribe on the extreme edge was, and is now, +represented by the Eskimo.[397] The development and the distribution +of the arts were in the same order, and here apparently is the +explanation of the superior excellence of Central-American arts, and +the seeming derivation of all the arts on the continent from this +centre. Finally the recession of the ice caused renewed trouble. The +melting of it and the return thereby of the locked-up waters to the +ocean caused a submergence of lowlands that had been made habitable by +their withdrawal. There were floods and floods. Tribes were overwhelmed +or were driven to higher ground. There was a renewed shifting of +populations over the whole continent. Those which had been held back +toward the highlands and toward the ice, accustomed to the cool airs +and to a particular food, readily followed the retrogression of the +ice, impelled always by pressure of the tribes farther south. They +were inured to cold. The most southerly tribes became inured somewhat +to heat, and clung to their lands, impelled also to do this by the +pressure of wilder tribes recoiling from contact with still other +tribes. But heat being debilitating, and especially so to the Amerind +constitution, the Yucatec peoples, who were those who had attained the +highest development, gradually degenerated under its influence, and +before the voyage of Columbus whole cities were depopulated. Some held +their own for a longer period, but were already on the way to decline +when the Spaniards appeared. In some cases their towns were occupied +by an inferior tribe of perhaps the same stock, or an inferior tribe +dwelt around them and, not knowing the origin of the architectural +works, attempted to account for them by fairy tales like the legend +of the _Dwarf’s House_, which Stephens learned. The people nearest +the ice front are still represented by the Eskimo, and their next +neighbours, as of yore, are the Athapascans, and Algonquins, and so +on down in zones more or less distinct, but considerably deranged +by subsequent migrations, to the builders of the Yucatec ruins. The +Apaches and Navajos are usually said to have _come down_ from their kin +in the North, but it is equally possible that they _remained behind_ +in the high mountains while their kin pushed on.[398] The table-lands +of Mexico, being high and temperate, formed a final refuge for many +tribes, some of whom had profited by contact with the centre of +development, and these roamed the plateau, one branch finally settling +around the lake of Mexico, and there planting again the seeds of the +lowland culture. Many tribes were early crowded into the California +coast region, because the lowland climate there remained comparatively +mild, and the supply of fish, seals, etc. was so great that they were +not compelled to till the soil for subsistence (if indeed they were +possessed of sufficient knowledge, or if the land were in condition +to produce), as was the case farther south, where the population +was denser and natural supplies insufficient. But the region was so +inhospitable that only fragments of these tribes survived. They did not +multiply. + +[Illustration: PROBABLE ASPECT OF ALASKA SUMMER LANDSCAPE SOME 600 + YEARS AGO + + Harriman Alaska Expedition, 1899. Photographed by the author +] + +The reason the Eastern continents produced many and diverse peoples is +that the glacial period temperate zone, or warm zone, extended through +many degrees of _longitude_, offering extensive areas of settlement to +the races in that hemisphere, where they remained more or less isolated +and independent, to advance in their own way and along their own lines; +that is, on the Eastern continents there was ample _latitudinal_ land +space, while on the Western there was a very limited latitudinal land +space that retained a salubrious climate. This was the cause of North +American race homogeneity. + +The period of time that has elapsed since the so-called disappearance +of the ice was formerly believed to be very great, but latterly views +on this point have been much modified. Gilbert has declared, after +a study of the Niagara gorge, that the time since the ice left that +region is not more than seven thousand years, perhaps less. More recent +investigations have tended to confirm his suggestion of fewer years. +Immediately after the recession of glacial ice, as may be seen in +Alaska to-day, erosion is extremely rapid. I have not space to discuss +this point at length, but it is apparent that the rate of erosion is +variable, and I doubt if more than five thousand years have passed +since the ice left the vicinity of the Niagara gorge. As it still +lingers in the North, far down on the Pacific side, it _is probably +not more than a thousand years since its influence was powerful +in affecting the climate of all the region southward_. The North is +undoubtedly growing warmer. Some five hundred years ago Alaska was +still covered with glacial ice. Five hundred years from now there +will scarcely be a glacier to be found there, except in the highest +mountains. “The next generation will find few of them with their fronts +still in the sea,” says Henry Gannett.[399] + +[Illustration: A PUEBLOAN WARRIOR OF NAMBÉ, NEW MEXICO, IN BATTLE ARRAY] + +The most widely spread stocks are made up of those that were forced +to occupy a middle position during the cold, like the Algonquins +and Athapascans, who were invigorated by it. Other stocks, for +reasons not understood, dwindled to mere handfuls of people, like +the Karankawan, now extinct, the Adaizan, the Natchezan, the Uchean, +the Zuñian, Keresan, and others. The oldest people of the Valley +of Mexico mentioned are the Xicalancas, Olmecas, and the Toltecs. +Brinton believed the latter never existed, but other authors, fully +as distinguished, accept them as a _bona-fide_ tribe. They may have +been kindred to the Nahuatls, coming from the crowded lowlands, as the +waters rose and the heat increased, and occupying the cooler plateau. +Their wilder relatives later became influenced by them and adopting +their learning began the famous development in the Valley of Mexico. +The period of evolution in the crowded region was very long. Tribes +rose to power and declined.[400] Other tribes, profiting by their +experience, took up some of their ways and progressed. Many of these +tribes we have no reminiscence of. + +Back of the Conquest of Mexico by Cortes, the thread of authentic +history becomes most uncertain. It begins about the sixth century. +Ixtlilxochitl, the native Mexican, has written a good deal, but it +must be taken, oftentimes, with extreme caution. The history of the +Amerind race is written mainly by their conquerors. It is a one-sided +affair, and even so is not pleasant reading. Balzac says: “Historians +are privileged liars, who lend their pen to popular beliefs.” Certainly +the character of the Amerind and his doings have not often been too +charitably drawn, while, on the other hand, our actions toward him, +even as related by ourselves, are enough to make one sometimes doubt +the benefits of civilisation. Morgan, speaking of the remnant of the +Senecas, says: “To embitter their sense of desolation as a nation, the +pre-emptive right to these last remnants of their ancient possessions +is now held by a company of land speculators, the Ogden Land Company, +who, to wrest away these few acres, have pursued and hunted them +for the last fourteen years with a degree of wickedness hardly to +be paralleled in the history of human avarice. Not only have every +principle of honesty, every dictate of humanity, every Christian +precept been violated by this company in their eager artifices to +despoil the Senecas; but the darkest frauds, the basest bribery, and +the most execrable intrigues which soulless avarice could suggest, +have been practised in open day upon this defenceless and much injured +people.”[401] + +[Illustration: APACHE WOMAN CARRYING WATER IN A WICKER BOTTLE] + +On one occasion in 1643, out of a spirit of revenge for a murder +committed by an Indian who had been infuriated by whisky, but whose +friends, according to Amerind custom, offered to pay a blood indemnity, +Governor Kieft, heading a band of soldiers and freebooters from Dutch +privateers, fell upon the unsuspecting Algonquins and slaughtered over +a hundred of them. Little children were tossed into the river, and the +parents who plunged to the rescue were prevented from landing by the +soldiers, and child and parent both perished. In this incident began +the Dutch and Indian War, which lasted two years. Can anyone condemn +them for going to war after such treatment? + +Acts of white brutality of this character could be quoted to fill a +volume, but these are sufficient to indicate the manner of the European +approach, except in the case of Penn. The more docile the Amerinds +were, the more abuse they got. If they became self-supporting like the +Navajos, the government gave them nothing; if they were murderous and +deadly, like the Apaches, the government took care of them and fed +them. Issuing rations is a proper thing, when we have destroyed the +native means of subsistence, but the tribe that works and helps itself +ought to be aided further toward civilisation in other ways. One of +the most stubborn of the numerous Amerind wars was the Seminole in the +Everglades of Florida. Our whole available force was engaged in this +war, besides some fifty thousand militia and volunteers. Though there +were probably not more than four hundred warriors, the cost of the +war was over $30,000,000, and three thousand lives were sacrificed. +The wars with the Apaches were long and difficult. The Modocs also +carried on a disastrous war, and recently the Sioux took their turn. +These wars could generally have been averted by proper diplomacy. The +battle of Wounded Knee was precipitated by a wild and unauthorised +shot at a critical moment by one of our soldiers. Had he remained +inactive the battle would probably never have occurred. Many tribes +were exterminated at an early period. Most of the Carolina tribes were +destroyed between 1714 and 1740. To-day very few Amerinds exist in the +United States east of the Mississippi. Those who were not destroyed, or +who are not still living on lands reserved for them, are mostly west +of the Mississippi, either on lands belonging to them in the Indian +Territory, or on scattered reservations. Tribes in Indian Territory +have long conducted a sort of civilised government, but some of them +are now on the eve of selling their lands and purchasing broader tracts +with the funds obtained, in Mexico. The Navajos are in possession of +an enormous area lying across the line of Arizona and New Mexico, +and their vast herds of sheep, cattle, and horses require extensive +grazing, so that it will be impossible to reduce the area allotted +to them, especially as the tribe is steadily increasing in numbers. +Schools of mechanic arts should speedily be established among them, +in order that when they eventually are obliged to look to other avenues +of support than stock-raising, they can do work that will command a +price. It makes not the slightest difference whether or not they are +able to read English, if they have wares to sell that white people +need and want, and the Navajo is capable of great development on the +mechanical side. They will learn English when necessity requires it. +The Mokis have a reservation adjoining the Navajos, and it is ample for +them for all time, as they are not increasing, and their herds of sheep +are small. + +[Illustration: GROUP OF ESKIMO, PORT CLARENCE, ALASKA + + Photographed by the Harriman Expedition, 1899 Permission of E. H. + Harriman +] + +[Illustration: SHELL SPIDER GORGETS + + From mounds in Missouri, Illinois, and Tennessee + + Pl. LXI.—Second Ann. +] + +In the West the history of the Amerind is linked mainly with that of +but two other races, the Spanish and the Anglo-Saxon, while in the East +it is intimately bound up with the wars and history of the Dutch and +French as well. All the struggles of these European races for supremacy +affected the Amerind, and in the East he is found sometimes on one +side, sometimes on another.[402] He did not for some time discover +that his doom was in the European regardless of kind. At first, too, +the Amerind extended the law of hospitality to the newcomers, and the +Europeans would have starved to death in some instances had it not +been for the timely aid of the race in possession of the soil, and +whose reward was subsequent destruction. The Amerinds at last tried +to combine, as in the conspiracy of Pontiac, against their increasing +foe, and had they been able to throw aside some of their peculiar +regulations and form a wide-spreading and close confederacy, they +could have compelled the Europeans to halt on the Atlantic slopes of +the Appalachian chain for a long period. “In our ignorance,” says Simon +Pokagon, chief of the Pokagon Pottawatomies, “we did not comprehend +the mighty ocean of humanity that lay back of the advance waves of +pioneer settlement. But being fired by as noble patriotism as ever +burned in the hearts of mortals, we tried to beat back the reckless +white man who dared to settle within our borders—and vast armies were +sent out to punish us. We fought most heroically against overpowering +numbers for home and native land; sometimes victory was ours, as when, +during the last decade of the eighteenth century, after having many +warriors killed, and our villages burned to the ground, our fathers +arose in their might, putting to flight the alien armies of Generals +Harmer and St. Clair, hurling them in disorder from the wilderness +across our borders into their own ill-gotten domain.”[403] But the +whites who had already come to America, however much they might have +desired to leave the Amerinds alone, were powerless to prevent other +whites, in search of better fortunes, from dispossessing them, and +so impelled by the pressure of European population, numbers came and +numbers came again and again, and yet still others behind them. The +result, the final result, was inevitable. The Amerind was doomed when +Columbus first saw the Western land, and nothing that the Amerind +could have done would have greatly changed the final course of events. +Tecumseh made an heroic effort to unite his people in a stubborn stand +against the enemy, but the difficulty was that there were not enough +Tecumsehs. The powerful league of the Iroquois, that once promised to +dominate the whole continent, began its decline with the very first +intercourse with the Europeans, so that in 1750 they were about half +their former number. The league was probably formed about the middle +of the sixteenth century, and in these two hundred years they reached +their highest power and were on the wane. As it must have taken them +some time to reach the point where they could form such a body as the +league, they must have been a powerful and progressive people at least +a hundred years before, so that their main existence as a progressive +people probably covered a period of some three hundred years if not +more. Had they not been wrecked by contact with Europeans, it is safe +to assume that they would have advanced to double their power, at +least, in another century. They destroyed the Siouan tribes of the +East, held the Lenapé in subjection, and terrorised the Algonquins as +far as the banks of the Mississippi. + +[Illustration: BLACK HAWK + + The great central figure in the Black Hawk War, 1832 + + George Catlin +] + +[Illustration: PORTION OF THE SO-CALLED “PALACE” OF LABNA, YUCATAN + + Construction: stone. Site: tropical forest. Abandoned in + prehistoric times + + Saville says: “The entire surface of the country is covered with + forests.... Immediately to the south and west no white man has ever + penetrated beyond the first range of hills; and who can tell what + gems of ancient architecture lie buried in the wilderness” + + Photographed by M. H. Saville, 1890 +] + +King Philip, Red Jacket, Pontiac, Black Hawk, and many other Amerinds +distinguished themselves as men of wide capacity, and in our later day +may be mentioned the famous Sitting Bull, whose sagacity, intelligence, +and military skill were of an extremely high order. He gave us much +trouble, to be sure, but if all is fair in war, Sitting Bull deserves +great praise for his ability. + +In war the Amerinds were given to killing all they could, but as this +is the business of war, and as white armies use weapons that are also +meant to kill, and seem to try to do killing in battle, we cannot be +too hard on the Amerind warrior if he did not always do his killing +exactly in the way we do it. “Murder as a fine art” was not one of his +studies. He killed and we kill; where is the difference? Wars may be +necessary; I think they sometimes are; so did the Amerind. + +[Illustration: MUSICAL BOW OF THE SOUTHERN TEPEHUANES AND THE AZTECS, + MEXICO + + The sounding-board is a gourd with a hole in it. The other end + of the brace attached to the bow rests on a stone. The cord of + the bow was struck by a stick to produce the desired noise. Found + by Lumholtz in use. Length of bow, 1 metre 36.5 centimetres. See + page 308; and also article on “Geographical Distribution of the + Musical Bow” by O. T. Mason, _American Anthropologist_, November, + 1897; _Natural History of the Musical Bow_, by Henry Balfour; and + “Symbolism of the Huichol Indians,” by Carl Lumholtz, _Memoirs of + the American Museum_, vol. iii, pages 206, 207 +] + +Long before any permanent settlers pushed to the wilderness, +adventurous traders penetrated to remote regions with the whisky keg, +and as they seldom expected to go to the same place twice, they usually +swindled the native outrageously. Many of these were Frenchmen, and +they were given the name of _Coureurs du Bois_. There were also always +certain outlaws who found safety in putting a great distance between +themselves and the law. These classes were more apt to stir the native +up against the European than to render intercourse easy, and often, +in early times as well as in our day, they incited the Amerinds to +war for the sake of their own gains. But it was the coming of actual +settlers which caused the greatest trouble. They appropriated the +soil, killed the game, and otherwise interfered with rights which the +tribe concerned had for centuries, perhaps, regarded as theirs alone. +In the case of the Hudson Bay Company, it being well understood that +they occupied certain points merely for trade, no trouble was ever +experienced. _For two hundred years this company traded all over the +northern part of the continent without a serious rupture with any +tribe!_ Each tribe held its own lands as before, so far as the company +was concerned, hence there was no clashing; but with settlers taking up +choice places it becomes another matter. + +[Illustration: GENERAL TYPE OF CHIMMESYAN, HAIDA, AND TLINKIT CHIEF’S + COSTUME, NORTH-WEST COAST + + The Chilkat blanket which this man has over his shoulders “is so + called because the best specimens come from the Chilkat country,” + says Niblack. All the North-west coast tribes use it. The warp is + cedar bark twine and the woof a yarn made of mountain-goat wool. + See pages 128, 142. +] + +[Illustration: PERFORATED DISCOIDAL STONE, ILLINOIS] + +The stories of Cabeza de Vaca, Soto, Cortes, Coronado, John Smith, +La Salle, Tonti, Joliet, Lewis and Clark, Fremont, and many others +are valuable, not only for the adventures contained in them and the +descriptions of new country, but because of the descriptions of +Amerinds as they existed in the beginning. Our understanding of the +routes of some of these explorers is not always strictly accurate, +and the accuracy of the route has much to do with our properly +placing geographically the Amerinds named therein. There are grave +discrepancies in the tracing of that of Coronado, for example. In +another place I have presented my views on this subject.[404] + +[Illustration: HOBOBO, THE FIRE KATCINA IN THE SOMAIKOLI CEREMONY, + CICHUMOVI, 1884 + + From a drawing by the author, after one of his photographs. The + mask enclosed the whole head, and was of cloth, stained green, with + globular eyes attached +] + +[Illustration: CIRCLE OF DANCERS IN THE INTERVALS BETWEEN THE + APPEARANCES OF THE VARIOUS KATCINAS IN THE MOKI SOMAIKOLI CEREMONY, + CICHUMOVI, ARIZONA, 1884 + + Photographed by the author +] + +As there were outlaws among the whites, so too there were outlaws among +the Amerinds. These were men from various tribes who had committed +crimes and escaped the punishment they should have received according +to the law of their people, and coming together they sometimes formed a +band by themselves in some strong and isolated position. A good example +of such a band of renegades was that of one Patnish in south-eastern +Utah near the Navajo mountain. It was composed of outlaws from the +surrounding tribes, chiefly Utes and Navajos, and was the terror of +the country, though in 1872, when I first knew of it, nothing in the +way of serious depredation had been attempted for several years. The +Mormons of southern Utah looked upon Patnish as a dangerous man, yet +he sometimes came to their frontier villages in a peaceful way. He +had three or four stalwart sons who usually accompanied him in his +travels, and they were always ready for emergencies. The band wore the +Navajo dress and, I understood, preferred to be considered Navajos. +Beckwourth mentions a renegade band of this sort in his time, a village +“composed of outlaws from all the surrounding tribes, who were expelled +from their various communities for sundry infractions of their rude +criminal code; they had acquired a hard name for their cruelties and +excesses, and many white traders were known to have been killed by +them.... The village numbered three hundred lodges, and could bring +from twelve to fifteen hundred warriors into the field.... We called it +the City of Refuge.”[405] He speaks of them as Cheyennes, but I suppose +they were Cheyennes in the same way that Patnish’s band were Navajos; +because they preferred to be called so. + +These outlaws often caused trouble between the better class of Amerinds +and the whites, because, especially in the earlier days, an “Indian” +was an “Indian” always and everywhere, and a crime of the outlaws or +others was revenged upon the first “Indian” that was met with. There +never was any inquiry to find out if he committed the crime; he was +generally shot on sight. Innocence was a quality never thought of in +dealing with “Indians.” By reason of their birth, they were all guilty +of any crime perpetrated. + +But I have already exceeded the limits prescribed for this book. In +concluding, I would say that it seems from all the evidence available +that this continent was peopled at a period so remote that other races +had not yet developed their present characteristics. This was probably +before the glacial epoch began, while the Northern climate was mild, +and while land surfaces were distributed more on latitudinal lines, +separated by narrower waters. Afterwards there was a rearrangement by +the forces of nature, which, together with the extreme cold of the +North, effectually separated the Amerinds from other peoples, and +caused them to mingle and react on each other till even the affinities +which had before developed in different localities and had produced +some differentiation of types were almost rubbed out and remain to-day +only as tinges of the earlier qualities. The other world tribes, +subjected to other influences, have developed other differences and +have diverged from their original stocks. It is also probable that +in the redistribution of land surfaces and rearrangement of land +levels, many stocks, some highly developed, were obliterated. Slight +modifications may have occurred through later accidental intrusions +from the Eastern Hemisphere, but if there had been any considerable +intercourse within a recent period between outside peoples and the +Amerinds we should have found distinct traces of it in the writings +of early days. People as different and extraordinary as the Amerinds +were would have produced a vivid impression on any who might have +seen them and contrariwise a European, for example, would have left +a lasting impression. On the extreme North-west coast there seems to +be a type resemblance to Asiatics, but this is more likely due to an +extremely early colouring which was preserved by special isolation on +this continent, rather than to any considerable infusion of Asiatic +blood in recent time. As before remarked, I am of the opinion that +the Alaska and North-west coast tribes reached those regions from the +South and South-east in comparatively late times.[406] Taking a broad +view of the question, it seems to be an inevitable conclusion that the +Amerind race, or rather _the various races of which it was originally +composed_, were early cut off on this hemisphere from intercourse +with the remainder of the world, and held in isolation by a change +in land distribution and by the continued glaciation of the northern +portions of the continent which in a measure endures to this day. +The climate of North-eastern Siberia was also glacial and prevented +migrations from milder regions. Many eminent archæologists agree +that the Amerind was here before the great cold moved down, although +the evidence of implements and remains as we now understand them is, +perhaps, insufficient. Languages, traits, customs, and arts are also +to be considered, and they seem all to favour, as outlined above, +the theory of an exceedingly remote peopling of this continent from +various directions. But this slight attempt to outline vast movements +must be brought to a close. To sum briefly up, then, it seems that the +Amerindian race, while originally composed of different elements, was, +as a body, separated from the other peoples of the world, at a remote +epoch, and by peculiar climatic and geographic influences, welded into +an ethnic unity, which was unimpressed by outside influences till +modern times. + +[Illustration: FRONT OF THE HOUSE OF THE COLUMNS, MITLA, OAXACA + + The excavation is shown that was made by Saville in January, 1900. + A cement floor was uncovered and the base of a square that was + probably a shrine. On the left, behind, is seen the top of the + Catholic church that has been built on the site of one of the + ancient structures. Excavations at the sites of old cities will + doubtless yield valuable returns. Recently (October, 1900) a sewer + excavation in the City of Mexico, near the Cathedral, the site of + the great teocalli, furnished several wagon-loads of idols, gold + objects, jade beads, etc. See also pages 209, 246 + + Photographed by M. H. Saville +] + + +Note.+—For an excellent _résumé_ of facts on “The Prehistoric + Archæology of North America,” see the article by Henry W. + Haynes, p. 329, Winsor’s _Narrative and Critical History of + the United States_, vol. i.; also “The Progress of Opinion + Respecting the Origin and Antiquity of Man in America,” by + Justin Winsor, _ibid._, p. 369; also the “Critical Essay + on Sources of Information,” p. 316; and for pre-Columbian + explorations see p. 76; and, _The Fundamental Principles of Old + and New World Civilisations_, by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, Peabody + Museum. + +[Illustration: A COSTUMED HUMAN FIGURE FROM TAMPICO, WASHINGTON + + The material is antler. Found in a stone cist somewhat resembling + the stone graves of Kentucky and Ohio, but covered by a heap of + jagged basaltic rocks about 8 feet in diameter. The skeleton + of a child was found in the cist. The antler figure is 247 mm. + long and from 2 to 5 mm. thick. The front is engraved as shown + above. The back is plain. See paper on this subject by Harlan I. + Smith.—_Bulletin American Museum_, vol. xx, pp. 195–203. + + Harlan I. Smith +] + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE OF A TOMB AT CUILAPA, MEXICO + + It was around the entrances of such tombs as this that the + terra-cotta funeral urns were found, shown on pp. xii, xxviii, 115. + They were usually in series of five with nothing in them. + + Marshall H. Saville +] + + + + + [Illustration: STICK USED IN THE AWL GAME] + + + APPENDIX[407] + + +A list of the principal stocks or families, tribes, and many sub-tribes +of the North American Amerinds, based on the linguistic classification +of the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, as given in the _Seventh Annual +Report_; on Brinton’s classification in his _The American Race_, +on Mason’s “Linguistic Families of Mexico,” in the _American +Anthropologist_, N. S., vol. ii., No. 1; in _Mexico_, Washington, 1900, +Bureau of American Republics; Dall’s Tribes of the Extreme Northwest, +_Contributions to North American Ethnology_, vol. i.; James Mooney’s +_Siouan Tribes of the East_; and on lists in the _Bibliographies_ of +James C. Pilling, with tribal names from other sources. + + + +List of Stocks and Sub-Stocks+[408] + +The abbreviations are the ones used in the alphabetical list of tribes. +By referring back from that list to this, the linguistic affinity and +general geographical location of a tribe may be determined. The author +has added the term “+Hopitan+” as a sub-stock of the +Shoshonean+ +to designate the group of Hopi tribes, which, while showing strong +linguistic affinity, are otherwise, like the +Piman+ and +Nahuatlan+, +so markedly separated in habits from the true +Shoshonean+ stock that +an individual classification for them seems desirable. As the +Hopitan+ +are ranked as +Shoshonean+ in the general scheme the harmony of the +classification is not interfered with. +Puebloan+ is also given as a +comprehensive descriptive term for all the permanent house-building +tribes, regardless of linguistic affinities, or ancient or modern +existence. This is necessary because it is not possible to assign a +linguistic place to the former occupants of ruins like those of the +Chaco, yet it is settled that they were of a kind with the other +town builders. Thus, also, the Cliff-dwellers may be conveniently +classed under this head. Tusayan and Cibola, as applied respectively +to the +Hopitan+ and the +Zuñian+, should never be used, for the +reason that it is not certain that these are the places that were so +designated by Coronado in 1540. The author believes they were not seen +by Coronado.[409] It is in the interest of accuracy to avoid these +unnecessary designations, which confuse ethnological and geographical +matters. + + _Ada._ +Adaizan.+ Western Louisiana. + + _Alq._ +Algonquian.+ North-east third of the continent, from + Tennessee and Montana. + + _Ath._ +Athapascan.+ North-west part of the continent, and from the + Utah-Colorado line southward into Mexico. There are also some + small groups on the Pacific coast in south-western Oregon and + north-western California. + + _Att._ +Attacapan.+ Southern Louisiana. + + _Beo._ +Beothukan.+ Northern Newfoundland. Extinct. Formerly all + Newfoundland. + + _Cad._ +Caddoan.+ Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and North Dakota. + + _Crb._ +Caribbean.+ Caribbean Islands and British Honduras. Also + probably Florida and S. E. United States at a very early period. + + _Cpn._ +Chapanecan.+ Chiapas, Mexico. + + _Chi._ +Chimakuan.+ North-west Washington. + + _Chrk._ +Chimarikan.+ Northern California. + + _Chyn._ +Chimmesyan.+ British Columbia, near Dixon Entrance, and the + neighbouring Annette Island, in Alaska. + + _Cit._ +CHINANTECAN.+ Oaxaca, Mexico. + + _Chik._ +Chinookan.+ Lower portion of the Columbia River. + + _Cht._ +Chitimachan.+ Southern Louisiana. + + _Chon._ +Chontal.+ See Zap., My., Tqs., also Tzental. + + _Chm._ +Chumashan.+ Southern California coast. + + _Coh._ +COAHUILTECAN.+ Lower valley of the Rio Grande del Norte, + adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. + + _Cop._ +Copehan.+ Northern California. + + _Cso._ +Cusaboan.+ Coast of South Carolina; possibly mainly related + to the Muskhogean. It is a group title. See Gp. + + _Cost._ +Costanoan.+ California, south of the Golden Gate. + + _Dak._ +Dakota.+ See Siu. + + _E. Siu._ +Siouan of the East.+ Same as Siu. + + _Esk._ +Eskimauan.+ From Prince William Sound, Alaska, all along the + northern coasts, islands, and inlets to Hudson Bay, Greenland, + and northern Newfoundland. + + _Alk. Esk._ Alaska Eskimo. + + _Alu. Esk._ Aleut Eskimo. Aleutian Islands. + + _Gr. Esk._ Greenland Eskimo. + + _Lab. Esk._ Labrador Eskimo. + + _M. Esk._ Middle or Central Eskimo. North of Hudson Bay. + + _Gp._ +Group title.+ Several tribes of different stocks classed + erroneously together. + + _Gua._ +Guatusoan.+ Nicaragua. + + _Ess._ +ESSELENIAN.+ South coast of California. + + _Hai._ +Haida.+ See Skit. + + _Hua._ +Huavan.+ Isthmus of Tehuantepec. + + _Ho._ +Hopitan.+ North-east Arizona. Classed as Shoshonean. + + _Ir._ +Iroquoian.+ Around lakes Erie and Ontario, and down the St. + Lawrence as far as Quebec; along the Susquehanna and its + branches as far as the mouth, and also a belt through northern + Georgia, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and + southern Virginia. + + _Kal._ +Kalapooian.+ Western Oregon. + + _Kar._ +Karankawan.+ Southern Texas. Extinct. + + _Kers._ +Keresan.+ Northern New Mexico. + + _Kio._ +Kiowan.+ Indian Territory, formerly in the Platte valley. + + _Kit._ +Kitunahan.+ British Columbia and Oregon. + + _Kols._ +Koluschan.+ Dixon Entrance to Prince William Sound, Alaska. + + _Kuln._ +Kulanapan.+ North-western California. + + _Kus._ +Kusan.+ Western Oregon. + + _Ln._ +Lencan.+ Honduras. + + _Lut._ +Lutuamian.+ Southern Oregon and northern California. + + _Mar._ +Mariposan.+ Southern California. + + _Mgn._ +Matagalpan.+ Nicaragua. + + _My._ +Mayan.+ Northern border of Honduras to Isthmus of Tehuantepec. + + _Mex._ +Mexicana.+ See Nah. + + _Mixt._ +Mixteca.+ See Zap. + + _Mo._ +Moquelumnan.+ Central California. + + _Mus._ +Muskhogean.+ Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, northern Florida, + and western Tennessee. + + _Nah._ +Nahuan.+ See +Nahuatlan+. + + _Nah._ +Nahuatlan.+ Southern portion of Mexico and parts of Central + America. Classed as Shoshonean. + + _Nah._ +Nahuatlaca.+ See +Nahuatlan+. + + _Nat._ +Natchesan.+ Northern Louisiana, western Mississippi. Now in + Indian Territory. + + _Ot._ +Otomian.+ Central Mexico. + + _Pal._ +Palaihnihan.+ North-eastern California. + + _Pa._ +Pani.+ See Cad. + + _Pim._ +Piman.+ The Sonoran region of Mexico, and southern Arizona. + Classed as Shoshonean. + + _Pbl._ +Puebloan.+ See Ho., Kers., Pim., Tan., Zun., etc. Northern + Mexico and the south-western part of the United States. The + stone and adobe house building tribes. + + _Puj._ +Pujunan.+ North-eastern California. + + _Qrs._ +Queres.+ See Kers. + + _Qor._ +Quoratean.+ Northern California. + + _Sli._ +Salinan.+ Southern California coast. + + _Salh._ +Salishan.+ North-west Oregon, northern Washington, northern + Idaho, western Montana, south-western British Columbia. + + _Sas._ +Sastean.+ Northern California. + + _Ser._ +Serian.+ Tiburon Island and adjacent coast of Mexico. + + _Shap._ +Shahaptian.+ South-east Washington, north-west Oregon, + western Idaho. + + _Sho._ +Shoshonean.+ Southern Texas to northern Montana and north + of the Colorado River, west to the Sierra Nevada. In southern + California through to the Pacific. Under Shoshonean are + classed by some authorities not only the true Shoshonean but + the Nahuatlan, Piman, and Hopitan. Including the Piman and + Nahuatlan the stock range would extend throughout Mexico and to + parts of Central America. + + _Siu._ +Siouan.+ Continuously from northern Louisiana to the province + of Saskatchewan, eastward to the Mississippi, and in Wisconsin + as far as Lake Michigan. Westward to the eastern boundaries of + Colorado and Idaho. There were also formerly a number of tribes + of this stock in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. + See E. Siu. + + _Skit._ +Skittagetan.+ Queen Charlotte Island, North-west coast. + + _Sub._ +Subtiaban.+ Nicaragua. + + _Tak._ +Takilman.+ South-west Oregon. + + _Tan._ +Tañoan.+ Valley of the Rio Grande del Norte, New Mexico. + + _Tar._ +Tarascan.+ Michoacan, Mexico. + + _Tqs._ +Tequistlatecan.+ Oaxaca, Mexico. + + _Te._ +Tewan+ or +Tehuan+. See Tan. + + _Tim._ +Timuquanan.+ Florida. + + _Tl._ +Tlinkit.+ See Kols. + + _Tkn._ +Tonikan.+ Eastern Louisiana and western Mississippi. + + _Tow._ +Tonkawan.+ Western and southern Texas. + + _Tot._ +Totonacan.+ State of Vera Cruz, Mexico. + + _Tzl._ +Tzental.+ Tabasco, Mexico. See also Chon. + + _Uch._ +Uchean.+ Georgia. + + _Ulv._ +Ulvan.+ Honduras. + + _Un._ +Unidentified.+ Region, state, or possible affinity following. + + _Uto-Az._ +Uto-Aztecan.+ See Ho., Nah., Pim., Sho. + + _Wlp._ +Waiilatpuan.+ North-east Oregon. + + _Wak._ +Wakashan.+ Coast of British Columbia. + + _Wash._ +Washoan.+ Eastern California; western Nevada. + + _Wei._ +Weitspekan.+ North-west California; south-west Oregon. + + _Wish._ +Wishoskan.+ North-west California. + + _Ykn._ +Yakonan.+ Coast of Oregon. + + _Yan._ +Yanan.+ Northern California. + + _Yuk._ +Yukian.+ Western California. + + _Yma._ +Yuman.+ Arizona, southern California, and Lower California. + + _Zap._ +Zapotecan.+ Southern Mexico. + + _Zo._ +Zoquean.+ Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico. + + _Zun._ +Zuñian.+ Western New Mexico. + + + +List of Tribes+ + +The stocks are also included and are printed in capitals. In order to +facilitate reference several titles of the same tribe are sometimes +given. + + Abbāto-tenā. _Ath._ + Abnaki. _Alq._ + Absáruqe. _Siu._ + Acadiau. _Alq._ + Acaxees. _Nah._ + Acconeechy. _E. Siu._ + Acha. _Pbl._ + Achē’to-tin’neh. _Ath._ + Achis. _My._ + Achomâwi. _Pal._ + Acolhua. _Nah._ + Acoma. _Kers._ + Acomita. _Kers._ + Acquera. _Tim._ + Acxoteca. _Nah._ + Adahi. _Ada._ + Adáí. _Ada._ + +Adaizan.+ _Ada._ + Adaize. _Ada._ + Adees. _Ada._ + Adshusheer. _E. Siu._ + Aggomiut. _M. Esk._ + Agualulco. _Nah._ + Aguateca. _My._ + Aguile. _Tim._ + Agutit. _M. Esk._ + Ahaknanelet. _M. Esk._ + Ahántchuyuk. _Kal._ + Ahome. _Pim._ + Ahowsaht. _Wak._ + Aht. _Wak._ + Ahtena. _Ath._ + Aicale. _My._ + Aivillirmiut. _M. Esk._ + Aiyan. _Ath._ + Ajoye. _My._ + Akansea. _Siu._ + Akbat. _Gr. Esk._ + Akenatzy. _E. Siu._ + Akoklako. _Kit._ + Akorninak. _Gr. Esk._ + Akudliarmiut. _M. Esk._ + Akudnirmiut. _M. Esk._ + Alaguilac. _Nah._ + Alame. _My._ + Alasapa. _Coh._ + Aleut. _Alu. Esk._ + Algonkin. _Alq._ + +Algonquian.+ _Alq._ + Algonquin. _Alq._ + Alibamu. _Mus._ + Aliche. _Cad._ + Alikwa. _Wei._ + Alimacani. _Tim._ + Alsea. _Ykn._ + Altatin. _Ath._ + Aluik. _Gr. Esk._ + Amitormiut. _M. Esk._ + Amuchgo. _Zap._ + Amusgo. _Zap._ + Anaddakka. _Cad._ + Anani. _E. Siu._ + Anarnitsok. _Gr. Esk._ + Anasitch. _Kus._ + Andaste. _Ir._ + Angmagsalik. _Gr. Esk._ + Annocchy. _E. Siu._ + Anouala. _Tim._ + Apache. _Ath._ + Apalachi. _Mus._ + Appalou. _Tim._ + Aquamish. _Wak._ + Aquonena. _Tim._ + Arapaho. _Alq._ + Arctic Highlander. _Gr. Esk._ + Ariquipa. _Ath._ + Arikara. } _Cad._ + Arikaree.} + Aripa. _Yma._ + Arispa. _Pim.?_ + Arivaipa. _Ath._ + Arkansa. _Siu._ + Arra-arra. _Qor._ + Arvillirmiut. _M. Esk._ + Aseguang. _Skit._ + Ashochimi. _Yuk._ + Asomoches. _Alq._ + Assinaboin. _Siu._ + Assinai. _Cad._ + Assiwikales. _Alq._ + Astina. _Tim._ + Ătaăkût not Ā]. _Ath._ + Atakwa. _E. Siu._ + Atai. _Ada._ + Ateacari. _Nah._ + Atfálati. _Kal._ + Athabascan. _Ath._ + Athapacca. _Ath._ + Athapasca. _Ath._ + +Athapascan.+ _Ath._ + Atka. _Alu. Esk._ + Atnah (1). _Salh._ + Atnah (2). _Ath._ + Atore. _Tim._ + Attacapa. _Att._ + +Attacapan.+ _Att._ + Atuamih. _Pal._ + Auk. _Kols._ + Awani. _Mo._ + Axion. _Alq._ + Ayankēld. _Kal._ + Ayapai. _Mar._ + Ayhuttisaht. _Wak._ + Aztec. _Nah._ + + Babiocora. _Pim._ + Backhooks. _E. Siu._ + Baiyu. _Puj._ + Balló Kai Pomo. _Kuln._ + Baluxa. _E. Siu._ + Bannock. _Sho._ + Basirora. _Pim._ + Basisa. _Tim._ + Batemdikáyi. _Kuln._ + Batucari. _Pim._ + Batuco. _Pim._ + Beaver. _Ath._ + Belbellah. _Wak._ + Bellacoola. _Salh._ + Benixono. _Zap._ + Beothuk. _Beo._ + +Beothukan.+ _Beo._ + Bethuck. _Beo._ + Biara. _Pim._ + Bilkula. _Salh._ + Biloxi. _E. Siu._ + Binukhsh. _Siu._ + Blackfeet. _Siu._ (_See_ Sihasapa.) + Blackfeet. _Alq._ (_See_ Siksika.) + Blood Indians. _Alq._ + Boka. _Puj._ + Bollanos. _Mo._ + Braba. _Pbl._ + Brulé. _Siu._ + Bulbul. _Ulv._ + Búldam Pomo. _Kuln._ + + Cacalote. _Coh._ + Cachopostate. _Coh._ + Cacores. _E. Siu._ + Cadapouce. _E. Siu._ + Caddo. _Cad._ + +Caddoan.+ _Cad._ + Cadica. _Tim._ + Cahita. _Pim._ + Cahokia. _Alq._ + Cahrok. _Qor._ + Cahuillo. _Sho._ + Cailloux. _Wlp._ + Cajono. _Zap._ + Cakchiquel. _My._ + Calabaw. _E. Siu._ + Calanay. _Tim._ + Calapooya. _Kal._ + Canai. _Alq._ + Caniba. _Alq._ + Canaway. _Alq._ + Capaha. _Siu._ + Cape Fear. _E. Siu._ + Carcha. _Ulv._ + Carib. _Crb._ + +Caribbean.+ _Crb._ + Carrizo. _Coh._ + Casa Chiquita. _Coh._ + Casa Grande. _Pbl._ + Casas Grandes. _Pbl._ + Cascade. _Chik._ + Casti. _Tim._ + Catajano. _Coh._ + Catawba. _E. Siu._ + Cathlamet. _Chik._ + Cathlapotle. _Chik._ + Cathlascon. _Chik._ + Cattoway. _E. Siu._ + Caughnawaga. _Ir._ + Cayuga. _Ir._ + Cayuse. _Wlp._ + Cenis. _Cad._ + Ceri. _Yma._ + Chaco (Ruins). _Pbl._ + Chahta. _Mus._ + Chainímaini. _Mar._ + Chalca. _Nah._ + Chalqueño. _Nah._ + Chamule. _My._ + Chaneabal. _My._ + Changuaguane. _Ath._ + Chapa. _Cpn._ + Chapanec. _Cpn._ + +Chapanecan.+ _Cpn._ + Charack. _Siu._ + Charaeo. _Ot._ + Charense. _Ot._ + Chasta Costa. _Ath._ + Chata. _Mus._ + Chatcheeni. _Skit._ + Chatino. _Zap._ + Chauchila. _Mo._ + Chawishek. _Kuln._ + Chayopine. _Coh._ + Chehalis. _Salh._ + Chelamela. _Kal._ + Chele. _My._ + Chelekee. _Ir._ + Chemehuevi. _Sho._ + Chenposel. _Cop._ + Chepewyan. _Ath._ + Cheraw. _E. Siu._ + Cherokee. _Ir._ + Chetco. _Ath._ + Cheyenne. _Alq._ + Chia. _Pbl._ + Chicasa. _Mus._ + Chichen Itza. _My._ + Chichilticalli. _Pbl._ + Chichimec. _Gp._ + Chichominy. _Alq.?_ + Chickasaw. _Mus._ + Chicklesaht. _Wak._ + Chicora. _Cso._ + Chiglit. _Alk. Esk._ + Chikakokim. _Alq._ + Chikaree. _E. Siu._ + Chikelaki. _Alq._ + Chilicothe. _Alq._ + Chilili. _Tim._ + Chilkat. _Kols._ + Chilluckquittequaw. _Chik._ + Chillúla. _Wei._ + Chilpain. _Ath._ + +Chimakuan.+ _Chi._ + Chimakum. _Chi._ + Chimalakwe. _Chrk._ + Chimalapa. _Zo._ + Chimalapas. _Zo._ + Chimalpanec. _Nah._ + +Chimarikan.+ _Chrk._ + Chimariko. _Chrk._ + +Chimmesyan.+ _Chyn._ + Chimsian.} + Chimsyan.} _Chyn._ + +Chinantecan.+ _Cit._ + Chinanteco. _Cit._ + Chinarra. _Nah._ + Chinipa. _Pim._ + Chinook. _Chik._ + +Chinookan.+ _Chik._ + Chinquíme. _Zo._ + Chipeway. _Alq._ + Chippewa. _Alq._ + Chippewyan. _Ath._ + Chiricahua. _Ath._ + Chiroehaka. _Ir._ + Chitimacha. _Cht._ + +Chitimachan.+ _Cht._ + Choam Chadila Pomo. _Kuln._ + Chochona. _Zap._ + Choctaw. _Mus._ + Chokuyem. _Mo._ + Chole. _My._ + Cholupaha. _Tim._ + Chontal (1). _Gp._ + Chontal (2). _My._ + Chontal (3). _Tqs._ + Chopunnish. _Shap._ + Chorotega. _Cpn._ + Chorti. _My._ + Chowanoc. _Alq._ + Choya. _Tim._ + Chozetta. _E. Siu._ + Christanna. _E. Siu._ + Chuchaca. _Kers._ + Chuchona. _Zap._ + Chugachigmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Chukaímina. _Mar._ + Chūkchansi. _Mar._ + Chumash. _Chm._ + +Chumashan.+ _Chm._ + Chumâwa. _Pal._ + Chumaya. _Yuk._ + Chumidok. _Mo._ + Chūmteya. _Mo._ + Chumtiwa. _Mo._ + Chumuch. _Mo._ + Chumwit. _Mo._ + Chunut. _Mar._ + Chwachamajù. _Kuln._ + Cia. _Pbl._ + Cicumovi. _Ho._ + Cicuye. _Pbl._ + Cimopavi. _Ho._ + Cipaulovi. _Ho._ + Clackama. _Chik._ + Clahoquaht. _Wak._ + Clallam. _Salh._ + Clamets. _Lut._ + Clatsop. _Chik._ + Clickass. _Skit._ + Cliff-Dwellers. _Pbl._ + Clowetsus. _Wak._ + +Coahuiltecan.+ _Coh._ + Coahuilteco. _Coh._ + Coaquilenes. _Coh._ + Cochimi. _Yma._ + Cochiti. _Kers._ + Coco. _Ulv._ + Cocomaricopa. _Yma._ + Cocome. _My._ + Coconino. _Yma._ + Coconūn. _Mar._ + Cocopa. _Yma._ + Cœur d’Alêne. _Salh._ + Coguinache. _Pim._ + Cohonino. _Yma._ + Cohuixca. _Nah._ + Colotlan. _Nah._ + Colouse. _Cop._ + Colville. _Salh._ + Comanche. _Sho._ + Combahee. _Cso._ + Comecrudo. _Coh._ + Comeya. _Yma._ + Comiteco. _My._ + Comopari. _Pim._ + Comupatrico. _Pim.?_ + Comuripa. _Pim._ + Comux. _Salh._ + Concho (1). _Yma._ + Concho (2). _Coh._ + Conestoga. _Ir._ + Confitachiquí. _Uch._ + Congaree. _E. Siu._ + Coninos. _Yma._ + Conoy. _Alq._ + Cook-koo-oose. _Kus._ + Cooniac. _Chik._ + Coosa. _Un. Mus.? Cso.?_ + Cootenai. _Kit._ + Copalis. _Salh._ + Copan. _My._ + Copeh. _Cop._ + +Copehan.+ _Cop._ + Coquilth. _Wak._ + Cora. _Pim._ + Coraru. _Nah._ + Coree. _Ir.?_ + Corsaboy. _Cso._ + Coshatta. _Mus._ + Cosninos. _Yma._ + Costano. _Cost._ + +Costanoan.+ _Cost._ + Cotober. _E. Siu._ + Cotoname. _Coh._ + Coutani. _Kit._ + Covisca. _Zo._ + Covisco. _Zo._ + Cowichin. _Salh._ + Cowlitz. _Salh._ + Coyotero. _Ath._ + Cree. _Alq._ + Creek. _Mus._ + Crow. _Siu._ + Cuchan. _Yma._ + Cuicateco. _Zap._ + Cuitlateco. _Nah._ + Culua. _Nah._ + Cumshawa. _Skit._ + Cûñopavi. _Ho._ + Cusabo. _Cso._ + +Cusaboan.+ _Cso._ + Cushna. _Puj._ + Cusso. _Cso._ + Cuthead. _Siu._ + Cuttawa. _E. Siu._ + + Dāho′-tenā. _Ath._ + Dakota. _Siu._ + Dakubetede. _Ath._ + Dápishul Pomo. _Kuln._ + Daupom. _Cop._ + Delamateno. _Ir._ + Delaware. _Alq._ + Didja-Za. _Zap._ + Diegueño. _Yma._ + Digger. _Gp._ + Digothi. _Ath._ + Dirian. _Cpn._ + Dog Rib. _Ath._ + Dohme. _Pim._ + Dowaganha. _Alq._ + Dwamish. _Salh._ + + Eastern People. _Kuln._ + Eataubau. _Siu._ + Echeloot. _Chik._ + Edelano. _Tim._ + Edisto. _Cso._ + Ehiamana. _Tim._ + Ehnek. _Qor._ + Ekŏg´mint. _Alk. Esk._ + Eloquale. _Tim._ + Enecaqua. _Tim._ + Eno. _E. Siu._ + Erie. _Ir._ + Erío. _Kuln._ + Eriwoneck. + Erússi. _Kuln._ + Esaw. _E. Siu._ + +Eskimauan.+ _Esk._ + Eskimo. _Esk._ + Eskin. _Puj._ + Esopus. _Alq._ + Esquimaux. _Esk._ + Esselen. _Ess._ + +Esselenian.+ _Ess._ + Estakewach. _Pal._ + Etchemin. _Alq._ + Etiwaw.} + Eutaw. } _Cso._ + Euchre Creek. _Ath._ + Eudeve. _Pim._ + Éukshikni. _Lut._ + Eurok. _Wei._ + + Faraone. _Ath._ + Flachbogen. _Kit._ + Flanahaskie. _E. Siu._ + Flatbow. _Kit._ + Flathead (1). _E. Siu._ + Flathead (2). _Salh._ + Flathead-Cootenai. _Kit._ + Flonk´o. _Ath._ + Fox. _Alq._ + + Gallinomréo. _Kuln._ + Ganawese. _Alq._ + Gaspesian. _Alq._ + Gileño. _Ath._ + Gohunes. _Yma._ + Gosiute. _Sho._ + Grand Pawnee. _Cad._ + Gros Ventres. _Siu._ + Guaicuru. _Yma._ + Guailopo. _Pim._ + Guajiquero. _Ln._ + Gualála. _Kuln._ + Guatuso. _Gua._ + +Guatusoan.+ _Gua._ + Guaymas. _Pim._ + Guazapari. _Nah._ + Guetares. _Cpn._ + Guilito. _Cop._ + Guimen. _Mo._ + Gyidesdzo. _Chyn._ + Gyitgāata. _Chyn._ + Gyitksan. _Chyn._ + Gyitqātla. _Chyn._ + Gyitsalaser. _Chyn._ + Gyitsumrälon. _Chyn._ + + Haeltzuk. _Wak._ + Haida. _Skit._ + Hailtzuk. _Wak._ + Haishilla. _Wak._ + Hammonasset. _Alq._ + Hanahaskies. _Siu._ + Hanega. _Kols._ + Hano. _Tan._ + Hanocoroucouay. _Tim._ + Hantewa. _Pal._ + Hapaluya. _Tim._ + Hare. _Ath._ + Hasatch. _Kers._ + Hasinninga. _E. Siu._ + Hatteras. _Alq._ + Havasupai. _Yma._ + Helto. _Puj._ + Hemes. _Tan._ + Hettitoya. _Mo._ + Heve. _Pim._ + Hicaranaou. _Tim._ + Hichucios. _Pim._ + Hidatsa. _Siu._ + Himeri. _Pim._ + Hiouacara. _Tim._ + Hirrihiqua. _Tim._ + Hishquayquaht. _Wak._ + Hitchitee. _Mus._ + Hizo. _Pim._ + Hoak. _Puj._ + Hoankut. _Puj._ + Hololúpai. _Puj._ + Homolua. _Tim._ + Hoodsunu. _Kols._ + Hoopah. _Ath._ + Hopi. _Ho._ + +Hopitan.+ _Ho._ + Hopitu. _Ho._ + Howakan. _Skit._ + Howchuklisaht. _Wak._ + Hualapai. _Yma._ + Huasteca. _My._ + +Huavan.+ _Hua._ + Huaves. _Hua._ + Huaztonteco. _Hua._ + Huecos. _Cad._ + Huichol. _Nah._ + Huite. _Nah._ + Huma.} + Hume.} _Nah._ + Humâwhi. _Pal._ + Hunah. _Kols._ + Hupa. _Ath._ + Huron. _Ir._ + Husky. _Esk._ + Husorone. _Pim._ + Hutchnom. _Yuk._ + Hydah. _Skit._ + + Igdlolnarsuk. _Gr. Esk._ + Iglulingmiut. _M. Esk._ + Ikogmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Illinois. _Alq._ + Ilmâwi. _Pal._ + Imahklimiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Inguhklimiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Innies. _Cad._ + Innuit. _Esk._ + Iowa. _Siu._ + Ipapapan. _Tot._ + +Iroquoian.+ _Ir._ + Iroquois. _Ir._ + Isantei. _Siu._ + Isleta, New Mex. _Tan._ + Isleta, Texas. _Tan._ + Issa. _E. Siu._ + Iswa. _E. Siu._ + Itafi. _Tim._ + Itara. _Tim._ + Itaziptco. _Siu._ + Ititcha. _Mar._ + Itivimiut. _Lab. Esk._ + Itza. _My._ + Ivimiut. _Gr. Esk._ + Ixil. _My._ + + Janos. _Ath._ + Jaripecha. _Tar._ + Jemez. _Tan._ + Jicarilla. _Ath._ + Jocolabal. _My._ + Jonaz. _Ot._ + Jope. _Zo._ + Joshua. _Ath._ + + Kabinapek. _Kuln._ + Kadapaw. _E. Siu._ + Kagutl. _Wak._ + Kaialigmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kaigani. _Skit._ + Kaimé. _Kuln._ + Kaiowe. _Kio._ + Kai Pomo. _Kuln._ + Kaivavitz. _Sho._ + Kaiyuh-khotānā. _Ath._ + Kakamatsis. _Wak._ + +Kalapooian.+ _Kal._ + Kalapuya. _Kal._ + Kăltsuerea tûnnĕ. _Ath._ + Kamalel Pomo. _Kuln._ + Kangivamiut. _Lab. Esk._ + Kangmaligmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kaugormiut. _M. Esk._ + Kani. _Mo._ + Kāniăgmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kansa. _Siu._ + Karankawa. _Kar._ + +Karankawan.+ _Kar._ + Karok. _Qor._ + Karsuit. _Gr. Esk._ + Kaskaskia. _Alq._ + Kassooo. _Mar._ + Kassovo. _Mar._ + Kastel Pomo. _Kuln._ + Kasua. _Sli._ + Katchan. _Yma._ + Kato Pomo. _Kuln._ + Kauía. _Mar._ + Kaulits. _Salh._ + Kaus. _Kus._ + Kauvuyas. _Sho._ + Kaviagmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kaw. _Siu._ + Kaweah. _Mar._ + Kaweya. _Mo._ + Kâwiasuh. _Sho._ + Kayowe. _Kio._ + Kayung. _Skit._ + Kcaltana. _Ath._ + Kechemeches. _Alq._ + Kechis. _Sho._ + Keimanoeitoh. _Wak._ + Kek. _Kols._ + Kēlta. _Un., Ath.?_ + Kemisak. _Gr. Esk._ + Kenai. _Ath._ + Kenay. _Ath._ + Kenesti. _Ath._ + Kera. _Kers._ + Keres. _Kers._ + +Keresan.+ _Kers._ + Keswhawhay. _Ker._ + Keyauwee. _E. Siu._ + Kiawaw. _Cso._ + K’iapkwainakwin. _Zun._ + Kiawétni. _Mar._ + Kichai. _Cad._ + Kickapoo. _Alq._ + Kiguaqtagmiut. _Lab. Esk._ + Kikapoo. _Alq._ + Kikkertarsoak. _Gr. Esk._ + Killamuk. _Salh._ + Kinarbik. _Gr. Esk._ + Kingnaitmiut. _M. Esk._ + King’s River. _Mar._ + Kinnepatu. _M. Esk._ + Kiowa. _Kio._ + +Kiowan.+ _Kio._ + Kioway. _Kio._ + Kisani. _Pbl._ + Kiscapocoke. _Alq._ + Kitsmaht. _Wak._ + Kittegareut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kittuwa. _Ir._ + +Kitunahan.+ _Kit._ + Kizh. _Sho._ + Klallam. _Salh._ + Klamath (1). _Lut._ + Klamath (2). _Wei._ + Klanoh-Klatklam. _Kit._ + Klaokwat. _Wak._ + Klenekate. _Kols._ + Klikitat. _Shap._ + K’naia-khotona. _Ath._ + Knik. _Ath._ + Knisteneau. _Alq._ + Koasáti. _Mus._ + Koloma. _Puj._ + Kolomum. _Puj._ + Kolosch. _Kols._ + +Koluschan.+ _Kols._ + Komácho. _Kuln._ + Kombo. _Un., Yan.?_ + Komuk. _Salh._ + Konjagen. _Esk.?_ + Konkau. _Puj._ + Kootenai. _Kit._ + Kopagmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kopé. _Cop._ + Korusi. _Cop._ + Kouksoarmiut. _Lab. Esk._ + Kowagmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kowelits. _Salh._ + Kowilth. _Wish._ + Koyukukhotānā. _Ath._ + Kramalit. _M. Esk._ + Kuagmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kuchin. _Ath._ + Kuitc. _Ykn._ + Kulá Kai Pomo. _Kuln._ + +Kulanapan.+ _Kuln._ + Kulanapo. _Kuln._ + Kūlmeh. _Puj._ + Kulomum. _Puj._ + Kung. _Skit._ + Kunxit. _Skit._ + Kupule. _My._ + Kusa. _Kus._ + +Kusan.+ _Kus._ + Kuscarawock. _Alq._ + Kuskwogmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kutani. _Kit._ + Kŭtchā-Kŭtchin´. _Ath._ + Kutchan. _Yma._ + Kutchin´. _Ath._ + Kutenay. _Kit._ + Kwaiantikwoket. _Sho._ + Kwakiutl. _Wak._ + Kwalhioqua. _Ath._ + Kwantlen. _Salh._ + Kwapa. _Siu._ + Kwashilla. _Wak._ + Kwatóa. _Puj._ + Kwazami. _Ath._ + Kwikhpăgmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Kwokwoos. _Kus._ + Kyoquaht. _Wak._ + + Lacandon. _My._ + Laguna. _Kers._ + Laimono. _Yma._ + Lákmiut. _Kal._ + Láma. _Kuln._ + Las´sik. _Cop._ + Leaf-shooters. _Siu._ + Lenapé. _Alq._ + Lenca. _Ln._ + +Lencan.+ _Ln._ + Lenni-Lenapé. _Alq._ + Likatuit. _Mo._ + Likwiltoh. _Wak._ + Lilowat. _Salh._ + Lipan. _Ath._ + Liwaito. _Cop._ + Llanero. _Ath._ + Loldla. _Cop._ + Lolon´kūk. _Ath._ + Lolsel. _Cop._ + Long Island. _Alq._ + Long Valley. _Sho._ + Lopolatimne. _Mo._ + Loucheux. _Ath._ + Lower Coquille. _Kus._ + Lucururu. _Tim._ + Lummi. _Salh._ + Lutuami. _Lut._ + +Lutuamian.+ _Lut._ + + Macaw. _Wak._ + Machapunga. _Alq._ + Machaua. _Tim._ + Machemni. _Mo._ + Machemoodus. _Alq._ + Macock. _Alq._ + Magemiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Mahican. _Alq._ + Mablemiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Mahoc. _Un., E. Siu.?_ + Maidu. _Puj._ + Maiera. _Tim._ + Makah. _Wak._ + Makhelchel. _Cop._ + Malaka. _Cop._ + Malica. _Tim._ + Maliseet. _Alq._ + Mam. _My._ + Mamaleilakitish. _Wak._ + Manahoac. _E. Siu._ + Manakin. _E. Siu._ + Mandan. _Siu._ + Maneetsuk. _Gr. Esk._ + Mangoac. _Ir._ + Mangue. _Cpn._ + Manhattan. _Alq._ + Mano de perro. _Coh._ + Manosaht. _Wak._ + Mantese. _Alq._ + Mareschit. _Alq._ + Maricopa. _Yma._ + Mariposa. _Mar._ + +Mariposan.+ _Mar._ + Marracou. _Tim._ + Mascoutin. _Alq._ + Maskegon. _Alq._ + Maskoki. _Mus._ + Massachuset. _Alq._ + Massawomek. _Ir._ + Massett. _Skit._ + Massinacak. _E. Siu._ + Matagalpan. _Un._ + Matapane. _Pim._ + Matelpa. _Wak._ + Mathaica. _Tim._ + Matlaltzinco. _Ot._ + Matlame. _Ot._ + Mattamuskeet. _Alq._ + Mattapony. _Alq._ + Mattoal. _Ath._ + Mauvais-Monde. _Ath._ + Maya. _My._ + +Mayan.+ _My._ + Mayapan. _My._ + Maya-Quiche. _My._ + Mayarca. _Tim._ + Mayáyu. _Mar._ + Mayo. _Pim._ + Mazahua. _Ot._ + Mazapil. _Nah._ + Mazateco. _Zap._ + Mecos. _Ot._ + Meewoc. _Mo._ + Mehemencho. _E. Siu._ + Meherrin. _Ir._ + Meidoo. _Puj._ + Meipontsky. _E. Siu._ + Melchora. _Ulv._ + Meliseet. _Alq._ + Melona. _Tim._ + Melukitz. _Kus._ + Mengwe. _Ir._ + Menominee. _Alq._ + Mequachake. _Alq._ + Mescal. _Coh._ + Mescalero. _Ath._ + Met’how. _Salh._ + Mexicana. _Nah._ + Meztitlateca. _Nah._ + Miakan. _Coh._ + Miami. _Alq._ + Michoa. _Tar._ + Michōpdo. _Puj._ + Micikqwûtme tûnnĕ. _Ath._ + Micmac. _Alq._ + Mico. _Ulv._ + Micoñinovi. _Ho._ + Mije. _Zo._ + Mikono tûnnĕ. _Ath._ + Mimbreño. _Ath._ + Mingo. _Ir._ + Minisink. _Alq._ + Minitaree. _Siu._ + Minneconjou. _Siu._ + Minsi. _Alq._ + Misálamagūn. _Kuln._ + Mishongnovi. _Ho._ + Misisauga. _Alq._ + Missouri. _Siu._ + Mita. _Wei._ + Mitoám Kai Pomo. _Kuln._ + Miwok. _Mo._ + Mixe. _Zo._ + Mixtec. _Zap._ + Mixteca-Zapoteca. _Zap._ + Moan´auzi. _Sho._ + Moapariats. _Sho._ + Mobilian. _Mus._ + Mochilagua. _Pim.?_ + Mocoso. _Tim._ + Mocossou. _Tim._ + Moctoby. _E. Siu._ + Modoc. _Lut._ + Módokni. _Lut._ + Mogollon. _Ath._ + Mohave. _Yma._ + Mohawk. _Ir._ + Mohegan. _Alq._ + Mohetan. _E. Siu._ + Mohican. _Alq.?_ + Mokelumni. _Mo._ + Moki. _Ho._ + Molale. _Wlp._ + Molua. _Tim._ + Monachi. _Sho._ + Monagan. _E. Siu._ + Monahasanugh. _E. Siu._ + Monasiccapano. _E. Siu._ + Mono. _Sho._ + Monocan. _E. Siu._ + Monqui. _Yma._ + Monsey. _Alq._ + Monsoni. _Alq._ + Montagnais (1). _Ath._ + Montagnais (2). _Alq._ + Montagnard. _Ath._ + Montauk. _Alq._ + Moose. _Alq._ + Moosonee. _Alq._ + Mopan. _My._ + +Moquelumnan.+ _Mo._ + Moquelumne. _Mo._ + Moquis. _Ho._ + Moscoso. _Tim._ + Mosilian. _Alq._ + Moundbuilder. Composite. _Gp._ + Mowachat. _Wak._ + Mowhemcho. _E. Siu._ + Muclaht. _Wak._ + Muctobi. _E. Siu._ + Mukaluk. _Lut._ + Mulluck. _Kus._ + Multnoma. _Chik._ + Munsee. _Alq._ + Musakakūn. _Kuln._ + +Muskhogean.+ _Mus._ + Muskhogee. _Mus._ + Muskoki. _Mus._ + Musquito. _Un._ + Mūtsūn. _Mo._ + Muutzizti. _Pim._ + + Naas. _Gp., Chyn., Salh.?_ + Nachitoches. _Cad._ + Nacu. _Kus.?_ + Nadowessiwag. _Siu._ + Nagailer. _Ath._ + Nageuktormiut. _M. Esk._ + Nahauni. _Ath._ + Nahsuzi. _Pbl._ + Na’htchi. _Nat._ + Nahua. _Nah._ + Nahuatl. _Nah._ + +Nahuatlan.+ _Nah._ + Nahuatleca. _Nah._ + Nahyssan. _E. Siu._ + Na-isha. _Ath._ + Naktche. _Nat._ + Nakum. _Puj._ + Nakwahtoh. _Wak._ + Naltun netûnnĕ. _Ath._ + Nambé. _Tan._ + Nanaimo. _Salh._ + Nanoos. _Salh._ + Nantic. _Alq._ + Nanticoke. _Alq._ + Naolingo. _Tot._ + Napa (1). _Cop._ + Napa (2). _Yuk._ + Napetuca. _Tim._ + Narraganset. _Alq._ + Narsuk. _Gr. Esk._ + Nascapee. _Alq._ + Nasquá. _Chyn._ + Nataco. _Cad._ + Natches. _Nat._ + +Natchesan.+ _Nat._ + Natchez. _Nat._ + Natchitoches. _Cad._ + Natowek. _Ir._ + Natowesieux. _Siu._ + Nātsit-Kŭtchin´. _Ath._ + Naugatuck. _Alq._ + Nauset. _Alq._ + Navaho.} + Navajo.} _Ath._ + Nawiti. _Wak._ + Nayerit. _Pim._ + Nehalim. _Salh._ + Nehantic. _Alq._ + Nehaunee. _Ath._ + Nehethawa. _Alq._ + Nenenot. _Alq._ + Nespelum. _Salh._ + Netchillirmiut. _M. Esk._ + Netela. _Sho._ + Netzicho. _Zap._ + Neusiok. _Alq.?_ + Neuter. _Ir._ + Nevome. _Sho._ + New Gold Harbour. _Skit._ + Newichumni. _Mo._ + Nez Percé. _Shap._ + Nicaraos. _Nah._ + Nicassias. _Mo._ + Nicoutamuch. _Salh._ + Nihaloth. _Chik._ + Nikonha. _E. Siu._ + Nimkish. _Wak._ + Nipissing. _Alq._ + Nipmuc. _Alq._ + Nipnet. _Alq._ + Niquiran. _Nah._ + Nīshinam. _Puj._ + Nisqualli. _Salh._ + Nitinaht. _Wak._ + Niwiti. _Wak._ + Noema. _Cop._ + Noje. _Yan._ + Nomlaki. _Cop._ + Nommuk. _Cop._ + Nootka. _Wak._ + Norelmuk. _Cop._ + Normuk. _Cop._ + Norridgewock. _Alq._ + Notchee. _Nat._ + Notoánaiti. _Mar._ + Nottoway. _Ir._ + Noyùki. _Cop._ + Nozi. _Yma._ + Nuchalaht. _Wak._ + Nugumiut. _M. Esk._ + Nuksahk. _Salh._ + Numpali. _Mo._ + Num´su. _Cop._ + Nunatogmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Nuncock. _Siu._ + Nunivagmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Nuntaly. _Un., E. Siu.?_ + Nuntaneuck. _Un., E. Siu.?_ + Nusdalum. _Salh._ + Nushagagmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Nusulph. _Salh._ + Nūtchu. _Mo._ + Nūtha. _Sho._ + Nutka. _Wak._ + Nuwungmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + + Oathcaqua. _Tim._ + Occaneechi. _E. Siu._ + Ochíngita. _Mar._ + Ocotlano. _Zap._ + Oenock. _E. Siu._ + Ogalalla.} _Siu._ + Oglála. } + Oglemiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Ohiat. _Wak._ + Ojadagochroene. _E. Siu._ + Ojibwa. _Alq._ + Okahoki. _Alq._ + Okeeogmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Okinagan. _Salh._ + Okkiosorbik. _Gr. Esk._ + Okomiut. _M. Esk._ + Olamentke. _Mo._ + Olelato. _Cop._ + Olhone. _Mo._ + Olla. _Puj._ + Olmeca. _Un., Mex._ + Olowidok. _Mo._ + Olowit. _Mo._ + Olowiya. _Mo._ + Olposel. _Cop._ + Oluláto. _Cop._ + Olumpali. _Mo._ + Omaha. _Siu._ + Onathcaqua. _Tim._ + Onava. _Pim._ + Oneida. _Ir._ + Onochaquara. _Tim._ + Onondaga. _Ir._ + Ontponas. _E. Siu._ + Oohenopa. _Siu._ + Opata. _Pim._ + Opatoro. _Ln._ + Opechisaht. _Wak._ + Openango. _Alq._ + Opuhnarke. _Alq._ + Oraibe. _Ho._ + Orarian. _Alk. Esk._ + Orejone. _Coh._ + Orista. _Cso._ + Orotina. } _Cpn._ + Orotinan.} + Osage. _Siu._ + Osile. _Tim._ + Otaki. _Puj._ + Otari. _Ir._ + Otayachgo. _Alq._ + Oto. } _Siu._ + Otoe.} + Otomi. _Ot._ + +Otomian.+ _Ot._ + Ottawa. _Alq._ + Ounángan. _Esk._ + Oustaca. _Tim._ + Owilapsh. _Ath._ + + Paanese. _E. Siu._ + Paboksa. _Siu._ + Pacaos. _Coh._ + Pachenaht. _Wak._ + Pachera. _Pim._ + Pacuâche. _Coh._ + Padlimiut. _M. Esk._ + Paduca. _Gp._ + Paguate. _Kers._ + Pah Ute.} + Pai Ute.} _Sho._ + Paiuti. } + Pajalate. _Coh._ + Pakamalli. _Pal.?_ + Pakawá. _Coh._ + Palaihnih. _Pal._ + +Palaihnihan.+ _Pal._ + Palaik. _Pal._ + Palenque. _My._ + Paléumni. _Sho._ + Palligawonap. _Sho._ + Paloos. _Shap._ + Paluxsi. _E. Siu._ + Pamaque. _Coh._ + Pamawaioc. _Alq._ + Pame. _Ot._ + Pamlico. _Alq._ + Pampopa. _Coh._ + Pamticoke. _Alq._ + Pamunkey. _Alq._ + Pani. _Cad._ + Panpakan. _Puj._ + Pantasma. _Ulv._ + Panteco. _My._ + Papabuco. _Zap._ + Papago. _Pim._ + Parrastah. _Ulv._ + Paskagula. _Siu._ + Pasquotank. _Alq._ + Passamaquoddi. _Alq._ + Pastancoya. _Coh._ + Patacale. _Coh._ + Patawat. _Wish._ + Patáwe. } _Cop._ + Patcháwe.} + Patchica. _Tim._ + Patshenin. _E. Siu._ + Patwin. _Cop._ + Paugusset. _Alq._ + Paupákan. _Puj._ + Pausane. _Coh._ + Pavant. _Sho._ + Paviotso. _Sho._ + Pawnee. _Cad._ + Paya. _Un._ + Payseya. _Coh._ + Pea. _Alq._ + Pecos. _Pbl._ + Pedee. _E. Siu._ + Pehtsik. _Qor._ + Pekwan. _Wei._ + Pend d’Oreille. _Salh._ + Penobscot. _Alq._ + Pennacook. _Alq._ + Pentlash.} _Salh._ + Pentlatc.} + Peoria. _Alq._ + Pequot. _Alq._ + Pericu. _Yma._ + Perquiman. _Alq._ + Peten. _My._ + Piankishaw. _Alq._ + Picuris. _Tan._ + Pi Ede. _Sho._ + Piegan. _Alq._ + Pihique. _Coh._ + Pilingmiut. _M. Esk._ + Pima. _Pim._ + +Piman.+ _Pim._ + Pinal Coyotero. _Ath._ + Pinome. _Zo._ + Pintahae. _E. Siu._ + Pipile. _Sho._ + Piqua. _Alq._ + Pirinda. _Ot._ + Piros. _Tan._ + Piscataway. _Alq._ + Pisquow. _Salh._ + Pitkachì. _Mar._ + Pitt River. _Pal._ + Pi Ute. _Sho._ + Poam Pomo. _Kuln._ + Pocomtock. _Alq._ + Podunk. _Alq._ + Poélo. _Sho._ + Pohállin Tinleh. _Mar._ + Pohonichi. _Mo._ + Pojoaque. _Tan._ + Pokomam. _My._ + Pokonchi. _My._ + Poluksalgi. _E. Siu._ + Pomo. _Kuln._ + Pomouik. _Alq._ + Ponca. _Siu._ + Ponderay. _Salh._ + Popoluca. _Gp., Mex._ + Poquonnoc. _Alq._ + Potanou. _Tim._ + Poteskeet. _Alq._ + Potlapigua. _Pirn._ + Pottawatomi. _Alq._ + Pottawattomi. _Alq._ + Powhattan. _Alq._ + Pueblito. _Kers._ + Pueblo. _Pbl._ + +Puebloan.+ _Pbl._ + Pujunan. _Puj._ + Pujuni. _Puj._ + Pulairih. _Pal._ + Punyeestye. _Kers._ + Punyekia. _Kers._ + Pusityitcho. _Kers._ + Pusúna. _Puj._ + Putum. _My._ + Puyallup. _Salh._ + + Qagutl. _Wak._ + Qaumauangmiut. _M. Esk._ + Qinguamiut. _M. Esk._ + Quaitso. _Salh._ + Quapaw. _Siu._ + Quatquiutl. _Wak._ + Quatsino. _Wak._ + Quekchi. _My._ + Queniut. _Salh._ + Queptlmamish. _Salh._ + Querechos. _Un., Sho.?_ + Queres. _Kers._ + Quiahanless. _Skit._ + Quiche. _My._ + Quile-Ute. _Chi._ + Quinnebaug. _Alq._ + Quinnipiac. _Alq._ + Quinpi. _Alq._ + Quivira. _Un., Siu.?_ + Quoddy. _Alq._ + +Quoratean.+ _Qor._ + Quoratem. _Qor._ + Qwinctûnnetûn. _Ath._ + + Rama. _Un._ + Ramapoo. _Alq._ + Ramcock. _Alq._ + Reho. _Un._, _Cali._ + Republican Pawnee. _Cad._ + Riccaree. _Cad._ + Rickohockan. _Ir._ + Rikwa. _Wei._ + Rogue River. _Ath._ and _Tak._ + Runsien. _Gp._ + Rurok. _Wei._ + + Saagit. _Wei._ + Sabaquis. _Pim._ + Sabaibo. _Nah._ + Sac. _Alq._ + Sac and Fox. _Alq._ + Sacumehu. _Salh._ + Sagdlirmiut. _M. Esk._ + Saharipa. _Pim._ + Sahewamish. _Salh._ + Sahkey. _Alq._ + Saiaz. _Ath._ + Saidyuka. _Sho._ + Saint Regis. _Ir._ + Saiwash. _Sas._ + Sakaiakumni. _Mo._ + +Salinan.+ _Sli._ + Salish. _Salh._ + +Salishan.+ _Salh._ + Saluda. _Alq.?_ + Samamish. _Salh._ + Samish. _Salh._ + San Antonio. _Un._ + Sandia. _Tan._ + Sanetch. _Salh._ + San Felipe. _Kers._ + Sanhican. _Alq._ + San Ildefonso. _Tan._ + Sanipao. _Con._ + San Juan. _Tan._ + San Juan de Guacara. _Tim._ + San Mateo. _Tim._ + San Rafael. _Mo._ + Sans Arcs. _Siu._ + Sans Puell. _Salh._ + Santa Ana. _Kers._ + Santa Barbara. _Sli._ + Santa Clara, New Mexico. _Tan._ + Santa Clara, Utah. _Sho._ + Santa Cruz, Cali. _Mo._ + Santa Elena. _Cso._ + Santa Inez. _Sli._ + Santa Lucia de Acuera. _Tim._ + Santee. _E. Siu_ and _Siu_. + Santiam. _Kal._ + Santo Domingo. _Kers._ + Saponi. _E. Siu._ + Saps. _E. Siu._ + Saptin. _Shap._ + Sara. _E. Siu._ + Sarcees. _Ath._ + Saste. _Sas._ + +Sastean.+ _Sas._ + Satsika. _Alq._ + Satsop. _Salh._ + Saturiwa. _Tim._ + Sauk. _Alq._ + Saumingmiut. _M. Esk._ + Sauteux. _Alq._ + Savanna. _Alq._ + Sawákhtu. _Mar._ + Sawamish. _Salh._ + Saxapahaw. _E. Siu._ + Sayúskla. _Ykn._ + Scatacook. _Alq._ + Sebasa. _Wak._ + Secoffie. _Alq._ + Secotan. _Alq._ + Seemunah. _Kers._ + Seguas. _Nah._ + Sekamish. _Salh._ + Sekumne. _Puj._ + Selawigmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Selish. _Salh._ + Seminole. _Mus._ + Seneca. _Ir._ + Senecú. _Tan._ + Senel. _Kuln._ + Sequas. _Nah._ + Seri. _Ser._ + +Serian.+ _Ser._ + Sermiligak. _Gr. Esk._ + Sermilik. _Gr. Esk._ + Seroushamne. _Mo._ + Serrano. _Ot._ + Seshaht. _Wak._ + Sewee. _E. Siu._ + Shacco. _E. Siu._ + Shackaconias. _Siu._ + Shahaptaní. _Shap._ + +Shahaptian.+ _Shap._ + Shakan. _Skit._ + Shanktonwan. _Siu._ + Shasta. _Sas._ + Shastika. _Sas._ + Shasty. _Sas._ + Shawano. _Alq._ + Shawnee. _Alq._ + Sheshtapoosh. _Alq._ + Shetimasha. _Cht._ + Shevwitz. _Sho._ + Sheyenne. _Alq._ + Shibal´ni Pómo. _Kuln._ + Shingwauk. _Alq._ + Shinomo.} + Shínumo.} _Pbl._ + Shiwapmuk. _Salh._ + Shiwokugmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Shoccori. _E. Siu._ + Shódo Kaí Pomo. _Kuln._ + Shomamish. _Salh._ + Shooswap. _Salh._ + Shoshokoes. _Sho.?_ + +Shoshonean.+ _Sho._ + Shoshone.} _Sho._ + Shoshoni.} + Shotlemamish. _Salh._ + Sia. _Kers._ + Síako. _Kuln._ + Sicatl. _Salh._ + Sicaunie. _Ath._ + Sihasapa. _Siu._ + Sikonesse. _Alq._ + Sikosuilarmiut. _M. Esk._ + Siksika. _Alq._ + Silets. _Salh._ + Silla. _Kers._ + Similaton. _Ln._ + Sinaloa. _Pim._ + Sinimiut. _M. Esk._ + Sinnager. _Ir._ + +Siouan.+ _Siu._ + Sioux. _Siu._ + Siquai. _Ulv._ + Sisseton. _Siu._ + Sissipahaw. _E. Siu._ + Sitcaxu. _Siu._ + Sitcomovi. _Ho._ + Sitka. _Kols._ + Siuslaw. _Ykn._ + Skagit. _Salh._ + Skedan. _Skit._ + Skidi. _Cad._ + Skihwamish. _Salh._ + Skiteiget. _Skit._ + Skitsuish. _Salh._ + Skittaget. _Skit._ + +Skittagetan.+ _Skit._ + Skoffi. _Alq._ + Skokomish. _Salh._ + Skopamish. _Salh._ + Skoyelpi. _Salh._ + Sktehlmish. _Salh._ + Skwaksin. _Salh._ + Skwallyamish. _Salh._ + Slave. _Ath._ + Sluacus tinneh. _Ath._ + Smoos. _Ulv._ + Smulkamish. _Salh._ + Snake. _Sho._ + Snohomish. _Salh._ + Snoqualmi. _Salh._ + Sobaipuri. _Pim._ + Sochimiloco. _Nah._ + Soke. _Salh._ + Sokóa. _Kuln._ + Solteco. _Zap._ + Songish. _Salh._ + Sonomi. _Mo._ + Sonora. _Pim._ + Sonorense Opata. _Pim._ + Sorrocho. _Tim._ + Souriquoi. _Alq._ + Spirit Lake. _Siu._ + Spokan. _Salh._ + Squawmisht. _Salh._ + Squaxon. _Salh._ + Squonamish. _Salh._ + Stahkin. _Kols._ + Stegara. _E. Siu._ + Stehtsasamish. _Salh._ + Stenkenocks. _E. Siu._ + Stillacum. _Salh._ + Stono. _Cso._ + St. _Regis. Ir._ + Subirona. _Ulv._ + Subtiaba. _Sub._ + +Subtiaban.+ _Sub._ + Sugan. _E. Siu._ + Sugaree. _E. Siu._ + Sugon. _Wei._ + Suinyi. _Zun._ + Suisun. _Cop._ + Sumass. _Salh._ + Supi. _Yma._ + Suquamish. _Salh._ + Suquinimiut. _Lab. Esk._ + Susquehannock. _Ir._ + Swali. _Siu._ + Swinamish. _Salh._ + + Tâcame. _Coh._ + Tacatacura. _Tim._ + Táchi. _Mar._ + Taculli. _Ath._ + Taderighrone. _E. Siu._ + Taensa. _Nat._ + Tagish. _Kols._ + Tahichapahanna. _Sho._ + Tahkaht. _Wak._ + Tahkali. _Ath._ + Tāh´ko-tin´neh. _Ath._ + Tablewah. _Ath._ + Tahltan. _Ath._ + Tâiakwin. _Zun._ + Tait. _Salh._ + Taitchida. _Puj._ + Takilma. _Tak._ + +Takilman.+ _Tak._ + Taku. _Kols._ + Talamanca. _Un._ + Talamo. _Salh._ + Talatui. _Mo._ + Talirpingmiut. _M. Esk._ + Taltûctun tûde. _Ath._ + Tamal. _Mo._ + Tamaroi. _Alq._ + Tamoleka. _Mo._ + Tanek. _E. Siu._ + Taño. _Tan._ + +Tañoan.+ _Tan._ + Tantoyoc. _My._ + Tanu. _Skit._ + Taos. _Tan._ + Tapaneco. _Nah._ + Tapijulapane. _Zo._ + Tappas. _Cad._ + Taqagmiut. _Lab. Esk._ + Tarahumara. _Pim._ + Tarasca. _Tar._ + +Tarascan.+ _Tar._ + Tarasco. _Tar._ + Tarelepa. _My._ + Tarratine. _Alq._ + Tartanee. _Skit._ + Tataten. _Ath._ + Tatera. _E. Siu._ + Taterat. _Gr. Esk._ + Tatimole. _Tot._ + Tatsāh-kutchin. _Ath._ + Tatu. _Yuk._ + Tauxsnitania. _E. Siu._ + Tawakomie. _Cad._ + Taywaugh. _Tan._ + Tcême. } _Ath._ + Tchême.} + Tcĕtlĕstcan tûnnĕ. _Ath._ + Tchĭkûn. _Ath._ + Tchishi. _Ath._ + Tchokoyem. _Mo._ + Teacualitzistis. _Pim._ + Teata. _Pim._ + Tebaca. _Nah._ + Teco. _Nah._ + Tecojine. _Zo._ + Tecoripa. _Pim._ + Tecualme. _Pim.?_ + Tigninatio. _E. Siu._ + Teguima. _Pim._ + Tehama. _Cop._ + Tēhānin-kŭtchin. _Ath._ + Tehua. _Tan._ + +Tehuan.+ _Tan._ + Tehueco. _Pim._ + Tejano. _Coh._ + Tektikilhatis. _Tot._ + Télumni. _Mar._ + Tenaino. _Shap._ + Tenăn-kŭtchin. _Ath._ + Tenez. _Cit._ + Tenime. _Zo._ + Tennŭth-Kutchin´. _Ath._ + Teotenanca. _Un., Mex._ + Tepaneco. _Nah._ + Tepehuane. _Pim._ + Tepozcolul. _Zap._ + Tequis. _Pim._ + Tequistlateca. _Yma._ + Terwar. _Ath._ + Tessuisak. _Gr. Esk._ + Tesuque. _Tan._ + Tetero. _E. Siu._ + Teton. _Siu._ + Teuteca. _Cit._ + Tewa. _Tan._ + +Tewan.+ _Tan._ + Texano. _Coh._ + Texas. _Cad.?_ + Texone. _Coh._ + Teyas. _Cad.?_ + Tezcucan. _Nah._ + Tezcuco. _Nah._ + Thlinket. _Kols._ + T’ho. _My._ + Tientien. _Cop._ + Tigua. } _Tan._ + Tiguex.} + Tillamook. _Salh._ + Timoga. _Tim._ + Timucua. _Tim._ + Timuquana. _Tim._ + +Timuquanan.+ _Tim._ + Tínlinneh. _Mar._ + Tinné. } + Tinneh.} _Ath._ + Tinney.} + Tionontate. _Ir._ + Tipatolápa. _Sho._ + Tisèchu. _Mar._ + Tíshum. _Puj._ + Titõwā. _Siu._ + Tiutei. _E. Siu._ + Tlacopán. _Nah._ + Tlahuico. _Nah._ + Tlamatl. _Lut._ + Tlaoquatch. _Wak._ + Tlapanec. _Zap._ + Tlapaneco. _Zo._ + Tlascalan. _Nah._ + Tlascaltecan. _Nah._ + Tlatluican. _Nah._ + Tlatscanai. _Ath._ + Tlingit.} _Kols._ + Tlinkit.} + Toámtcha. _Puj._ + Tobikhar. _Sho._ + Tocaste. _Tim._ + Tockwhogh. _Alq._ + Toderichroone. _E. Siu._ + Todetabi. _Cop._ + Tokar. _Sho._ + Tokoaat. _Wak._ + Tolemato. _Tim._ + Tolewa.} _Ath._ + Tolowa.} + +Toltec.+ _Nah.?_ + Tongass. _Kols._ + Tonika. _Tkn._ + +Tonikan.+ _Tkn._ + Tonkawa. _Tow._ + +Tonkawan.+ _Tow._ + Tonto. _Yma._ + Topaidisel. _Cop._ + Topoqui. _Tim._ + Toquaht. _Wak._ + Tosikoyo. _Puj._ + Totero. _E. Siu._ + Toto. _Puj._ + +Totonacan.+ _Tot._ + Totonaco. _Tot._ + Towiachies. _Cad._ + Towakarehu. _Cad._ + Triqui. _Zap._ + Tsamak. _Puj._ + Tsawadinoh. _Wak._ + Ts’emsián. _Chyn._ + Tshinkitani. _Kols._ + Tshokoyem. _Mo._ + Tsimshian. _Chyn._ + Tsinuk. _Chik._ + Tubare. _Nah._ + Tucano. _Pbl._ + Tucururu. _Tim._ + Tŭkkūth-kŭtchin. _Ath._ + Tukuarika. _Sho._ + Tulare. _Mo._ + Tumidok. _Mo._ + Tumun. _Mo._ + Tunglas. _Mus._ + Tununirmiut. _M. Esk._ + Tununirusirmiut. _M. Esk._ + Tunxi. _Alq._ + Tuolomne. _Mo._ + Tusayan. _Pbl._ + Tuscarora. _Ir._ + Tutahaco. _Pbl._ + Tŭtchoné-kŭtchin. _Ath._ + Tutelo. _E. Siu._ + Tututena. _Ath._ + Tutu tûnnĕ. _Ath._ + Twaka. _Ulv._ + Twana. _Salh._ + Twichtwicht. _Alq._ + Twightwee. _Alq._ + Two Kettle. _Siu._ + Tyigh. _Shap._ + Tzendal.} _Tzl._ + Tzental.} + Tzotzil. _My._ + Tzutuhil. _My._ + + Ucalta. _Wak._ + Uché. _Uch._ + +Uchean.+ _Uch._ + Uchita. _Yma._ + Ucita. _Tim._ + Ugalakmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Ugaqpa. _Siu._ + Ugjulirmiut. _M. Esk._ + Uinkarets. _Sho._ + Ukiah. _Kuln._ + Ukivokgmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Ūkumnom. _Ath._ + Ukusiksalingmiut. _M. Esk._ + Ukwulta. _Wak._ + Ulva. _Ulv._ + +Ulvan.+ _Ulv._ + Umaha. _Siu._ + Umanak. _Gr. Esk._ + Umatilla. _Shap._ + Umerik. _Gr. Esk._ + Umkwa. _Ath._ + Umpqua. _Ath._ + Unakhotānā. _Ath._ + Unalachtigo. _Alq._ + Unalashka.} _Alu. Esk._ + Unalaska. } + Unaligmiut. _Alk. Esk._ + Unami. _Alq._ + Uncapapa. _Siu._ + Unechtgo. _Alq._ + Ungavamiut. _Lab. Esk._ + Unquachog. _Alq._ + Ūnŭnǵŭn. _Alu. Esk._ + Urriparacuxi. _Tim._ + Usheree. _E. Siu._ + Ushiti. _Yma._ + Uspanteca. _My._ + Ustóma. _Puj._ + Uta. } + Utah.} _Sho._ + Ute. } + Utchium. _Mo._ + Utina. _Tim._ + Utlateca. _My._ + Uttewa. _Skit._ + Uxmal. _My._ + + Vacissa. _Tim._ + Valiente. _Un._ + Varogio. _Nah._ + Vebetlateca. _My._ + Venaambakaiia. _Kuln._ + Venado. _Coh._ + Viard. _Wish._ + Vŭntā-kŭtchin´. _Ath._ + + Waccamaw. _E. Siu._ + Waco. _Cad._ + Wagluxe. _Siu._ + Wahaikan. _Chik._ + Wahkiacum. _Chik._ + Wahpeton. _Siu._ + Waicurru. _Yma._ + Waiilatpu. _Wlp._ + +Waiilatpuan.+ _Wlp._ + Waikenmuk. _Cop._ + Waikosel. _Cop._ + Waikur. _Yma._ + Wailaki (1). _Cop._ + Wailakki (2). _Ath._ + Wailaksel. _Cop._ + Wailatpu. _Wlp._ + Wairika. _Sas._ + Wakash. _Wak._ + +Wakashan.+ _Wak._ + Walakumni. _Mo._ + Walapai. _Yma._ + Walla Walla. _Shap._ + Walli. _Mo._ + Walpi. _Ho._ + Wampanoag. _Alq._ + Wangum. _Alq._ + Wangunk. _Alq._ + Wapanachki. _Alq._ + Wapanoc. _Alq._ + Wapoo. _Cso._ + Wappinger. _Alq._ + Wappo. _Chik._ + Wapuchuseamma. _Kers._ + Wapúmni. _Puj._ + Warren nuncock. _E. Siu._ + Wasco. _Chik._ + Washaki. _Sho._ + Washita. _Cad._ + Washo. _Wash._ + +Washoan.+ _Wash._ + Waskiteng. _E. Siu._ + Wateree. _E. Siu._ + Watlala. _Chik._ + Waxhaw. _E. Siu._ + Wazaza. _Siu._ + Wea. _Alq._ + Weapemeoc. _Alq._ + Weenee. _E. Siu._ + Weeyot. _Wish._ + Weitspek. _Wei._ + +Weitspekan.+ _Wei._ + Wendat. _Ir._ + Wepawaug. _Alq._ + Westo. _Cso._ + Whīlkut. _Ath._ + Whonkenteae. _E. Siu._ + Wíchikik. _Mar._ + Wichita. _Cad._ + Wihinasht. _Sho._ + Wikchúmni. _Mar._ + Wikenak. _Wak._ + Wíksachi. _Mar._ + Wilaksel. _Cop._ + Willamat. } _Kal._ + Willamette.} + Wima. _Puj._ + Wimbee. _Cso._ + Winangik. _Sho._ + Winatsha. _Salh._ + Winnebago. _Siu._ + Wintoon. _Cop._ + Wintu. _Cop._ + Wintun. _Cop._ + Winyaw. _E. Siu._ + Wisack. _E. Siu._ + Wishosk. _Wish._ + +Wishoskan.+ _Wish._ + Witchita. _Cad._ + Wiwash. _Alq._ + Wíyot. _Wish._ + Woccon. _E. Siu._ + Wolokki. _Puj._ + Woolwa. _Ulv._ + Wyandot. _Ir._ + Wylackker. _Cop._ + + +Xicaque.+ _Un._ + Xicayan. _Zap._ + Xime. _Nah._ + Ximena. _Pbl., Pim.?_ + +Xinca.+ _Un._ + Xicalanca. _Un., My.?_ + Xuala. _E. Siu._ + + Yaketahnoklatakmakanay. _Kit._ + Yakon. _Ykn._ + +Yakonan.+ _Ykn._ + Yakutat. _Kols._ + Yakwĭna. _Ykn._ + Yamacraw. _Mus._ + Yamasi. _Mus._ + Yamil. _Kal._ + Yamkally. _Kal._ + +Yanan.+ _Yan._ + Yankton. _Siu._ + Yanktonnais. _Siu._ + Yaqui. _Pim._ + Yatasses. _Cad._ + Yavipais. _Yma._ + Yellow-knives. _Ath._ + Yecpin. _Alq._ + Yesang. _E. Siu._ + Yodetábi. _Cop._ + Yokáya Pomo. _Kuln._ + Yokultat. _Wak._ + Yokut. _Mar._ + Yonkalla. _Kal._ + Yope. _Zo._ + Yosemité. _Mo._ See Awani. + Yótowi. _Puj._ + Youkone. _Ykn._ + Yuba. _Puj._ + Yucatec. _My._ + Yuchi. _Uch._ + Yuclulaht. _Wak._ + Yuit. _Asiatic Esk._ + Yukai. _Kuln._ + Yuke.} _Yuk._ + Yuki.} + +Yukian.+ _Yuk._ + Yúkol. _Mar._ + Yukulta. _Wak._ + Yuloni. _Mo._ + Yuma. _Yma._ + +Yuman.+ _Yma._ + Yupaha. _Tim._ + Yuqueyunque. _Pbl._ + Yurok. _Wei._ + Yusâl Pomo. _Kuln._ + Yuta. _Sho._ + + Zapotec. _Zap._ + +Zapotecan.+ _Zap._ + Ziamma. _Kers._ + Zoque. _Zo._ + +Zoquean.+ _Zo._ + Zoque-Mixe. _Zo._ + Zuaque. _Pim._ + Zuñi. _Zun._ + +Zuñian.+ _Zun._ + +[Illustration: WOODEN SEAL-DISH, HAIDA, NORTH-WEST COAST] + + + + + INDEX + + See also list of illustrations, page xv. + + + A + + Abandoned works, meaning of, 348 + + Aboriginal dress, 126, 133 + + Adobe, 220; + brick, 234; + house, 195 + + Adoption, 366, 416 + + Adoratorio, 186 + + Alaska, peopled from S. and S.-E., 457 + + Albornoz, 136 + + Aleut houses, 216 + + Aleutian islands, when inhabited, 457 + + Aleuts, range of, 217 + + Algonquin, dress, 142; + records, 58 + + Alloy of gold and copper, 301 + + Alosaka, the, 179 + + Alphabet, Bureau of Ethnology, 36; + Cherokee, 52; + Sauk, 53 + + Amazon myth, 403 + + America, when peopled, 456 + + Amerind, a village dweller, 247; + definition of, 2; + literature, 30 + + Amerindian race composed of different elements, 457 + + Amerinds a stone-age people, 248 + + Amnesty, 370 + + Amusements, 308 + + Ancient fabrics, 108 + + Antiquity of man in America, evidences of, 434 + + Antiquity of Mayas, 242 + + Apaches and Navajos remaining behind, 440 + + Appendix, 461 + + Aqueduct, 339 + + Arch, 217, 242 + + Ardnainiq, tribe called, 407 + + Armour, 156, 255, 257 + + Arrow- and spear-heads, 263 + + Assembly place, 412 + + Astrology, reliance of Aztecs on, 373 + + Astronomical, knowledge, 183; + reckonings, 303; + station at Zuñi, 306; + stone, 182 + + Atlantis, 15 + + Atolli, 360 + + Authentic history, beginning of, 443 + + Awatuwi, ruins of, 179 + + Awl game, 320 + + Aztec, books, 73; + cannibal banquet, 371; + confederacy, 421, 423, 424; + descent, how reckoned, 423; + sculptures, 184; + states, government of, 423; + stone tools, 433; + towns, 238; + writing, 68, 69; + year, 306 + + + B + + Bag, sacred, 204 + + Baggattaway, 327 + + Baidar, 283 + + Baidarka, 283 + + Balance not known, 305 + + Ball games, 327 + + Baqati wheel, 317 + + Barábara, 217 + + Bark for rope-making, 126 + + Basket-drum, 92, 311 + + Basketry hats, 147, 148, 415 + + Basque, resemblance of language to Amerind, 32 + + Bathing, 386 + + Battle, costume, 357; + for a wife, 385; + of Wounded Knee, how begun, 445 + + Bayeta cloth, how used by Navajos, 131 + + Beads, wampum, 56 + + Beadwork, 153 + + Bear-mother carving, 164 + + Beckwourth, head chief of the Crows, 416 + + Bells, 292, 301, 302 + + Belts, 143 + + Bird box, 364; + spear, Eskimo, 268 + + Bird-stones, 175 + + Bison, disappearance of, 333; + possibility of domestication, 276 + + Black dye, 304 + + Blanket and basket designs symbolic, 58 + + Blanket-loom, 124, 131, 132 + + Blanket-making, 128, 133 + + Blanket-pole, 162 + + Blue dye, 304 + + Boats, 281; + Omaha, 284 + + Boiling-basket, 89 + + Bolas, 268 + + Bologna codex, 72 + + Books, of Chilan Balam, 82; + of the Mayas, 77, 82 + + Borgian codex, 69 + + Boundary lines, 410, 411 + + Bow and arrow, 249, 254, 256 + + Bow-drill, 254 + + Boxing, 326 + + Bronze tools, 299 + + Buffalo wool blankets, 159 + + Building methods, change of, 200, 350 + + Bunch-word, 32 + + Burial, 388 + + Burning pottery, 100 + + + C + + Cactus-fruit wine, 360 + + Cahokia mound, 342 + + Cajon, 220, 236 + + Cakchiquel year, 307 + + Calaveras skull, 434 + + Calculiform writing, 73, 186 + + Calendar, stick, 305; + stone, 181, 305 + + California houses, 215 + + Calumet, 364 + + Cannibal banquet, 371 + + Cannibalism, 368 + + Canoe, dugout, 282; + Haida, 164, 282 + + Captain David, 140 + + Captives, treatment of, 366 + + Card-playing, 320, 326 + + Carved panthers, 180 + + Carving, 162, 167, 169 + + Casa Grande, 200, 233, 234 + + Casas Grandes, 234 + + Casting metals, 301 + + Cause of North-American race homogeneity, 441 + + Cavate lodge, 220, 228; + plan and sections, 227 + + Cedar mats, 147 + + Cement, 303, 305 + + Cenoté, 370 + + Central-American arts, why superior, 439 + + Centre of culture, 431 + + Ceremonials, 320, 376, 381 + + Cérros trinchéras, 344 + + Chac-Mool, statue, 190 + + Chaco ruins, 230, 232 + + Chalchivitl, 136 + + Change in building methods, 200, 350 + + Cherokee, alphabet, 52; + syllabary, 52; + writing, 36 + + Chiefs, 416, 424; + civil, 418; + grades of, 424; + war, 418 + + Chief’s office hereditary in the gens, 424 + + Chilkat blanket, 452 + + Chimney, Puebloan, 226 + + Chinook jargon, 28 + + Chirimia, 311 + + Chiriqui, pottery, 104; + stools, 192 + + Chocolatl, 360 + + Cholula, Great Mound of, 350 + + Chultune, 288 + + Cigarette used, 363 + + _Cire perdue_ process, 301 + + City of Refuge, 456 + + Civil and military branches often separate, 418 + + Civilised tribes, 358 + + Clan, 414; + crest, 166, 220; + privileges and obligations of, 419 + + Classification by stone implements impossible, 433 + + Cleanliness, 386 + + Cliff-dwellers, 176, 229 + + Codex, Bologna, 72; + Borgia, 69; + Cortesianus, 82; + Dresden, 82; + Mendoza, 72; + Peresianus, 76, 82; + Telleriano-Remensis, 72; + Troano, 82; + Vaticanus, 72 + + Coil-process pottery, 99, 104 + + Comalli, 360 + + Commerce, 375 + + Communal, buildings, 247; + living, 200, 247 + + Complementary days, 306 + + Confederacy, Aztec, 421, 423, 424; + Iroquois, 421, 425, 449 + + Conical cap, 148; + hat, 147 + + Continent peopled before glacial period, 432 + + Controversy, 383 + + Cooking-basket, 89 + + Copan, 242, 351 + + Copper, bells, 292; + bowlder, 288; + hardening, 299; + implements, 291; + mines, date of working, 290; + plates, 291; + working, 249, 288, 291, 301 + + Coppers, 162, 293 + + Corbel, arch, 242; + vault, 235, 237, 242 + + Cord, 126 + + Cord-marked pottery, 106 + + Coronado, error in tracing of route of, 453 + + Cortesianus codex, 82 + + Costume, 133 to 144, 367 + + Cotton, 128, 338 + + Cotton-padded armour, 259 + + Cotton weaving, 137 + + Council, 420; + general, 420; + of women, 420; + tribal, 420 + + Councillors, 416, 420 + + Counterfeiting, 49 + + “Counts back” of the Dakotas, 60, 377 + + _Coureurs du Bois_, 451 + + Covenant chain of the Iroquois, 352 + + Crest, 166 + + Crops, 333 + + Cross, the, 254; + in America, 63 + + Crotalus, 380 + + Cruciform tomb, 3, 384; + ground plan, 385 + + Cueitl, 138 + + Culture not evidence of relationship, 430 + + Cup-markings, 65 + + Cupped-stones, 65, 272 + + Curtains for doors, 205 + + + D + + Dagänowédä, 421 + + Daily life not bloody, 353 + + Dakota winter counts, 60 + + Dance, around a cedar tree, 315; + Ghost, 316; + Rain, 364; + Resurrection, 316; + Snake, 376; + Somaikoli, 318, 381, 454 + + Dancing, 376, 378, 381 + + Dead, disposal of, 388 + + Death-house, Natchez, 208 + + Death-masks in Amerindian pottery, 106, 171 + + Declaration of war, 366 + + Decoration of pottery, 99 + + Defensive, village, 346; + walls, 345 + + Deformity rare, 366 + + Degeneration of Yucatecs, 439 + + Descent, basis of, 419 + + Destruction of Amerinds by Gov. Kieft, 444 + + Details of Puebloan house architecture, 211 + + Dibble, 270 + + Dighton Rock, 45 + + Diseases introduced by whites, 229 + + Distinction between gens and clan, 419 + + Distribution of, arts, 439; + food, 354 + + Dog, harness, Eskimo, 278; + whip, 279 + + Dogs, 276 + + Dolls, 328 + + Doors, 205 + + Doorways, 228 + + Double-headed snake, 168, 392 + + Dramatic sense, 331 + + Dresden codex, 82 + + Dress, 143 + + Drill, 251, 252 + + Drums, 308 + + Dry-painting, 61, 387 + + Dugout canoe, 282 + + Dwarfs, races of, 405 + + Dwellings, 195 + + Dyes, 303, 304 + + + E + + Early advancement, 432 + + Earthenware burial casket, 105 + + Earth, iglu, 219; + lodge, 202 + + Earthworks, Cahokia mound, 342; + connected with agriculture, 338; + Etowah group, 337, 346; + foundations for houses, 338; + method of construction, 342; + Newark group, 346 + + East Mesa, 378 + + Effigy jars, 119 + + Eldorado myth, 403 + + Election of Aztec chief, 424 + + Election of chiefs, 418 + + Elephant mound, 334; + pipe, 172 + + Elephant’s trunks, 190 + + Elopement, 383 + + Emblem of peace, 364 + + Embroidery, 153 + + Enchanted mesa, 408 + + Eskimo, boots, 158; + cloak, 159; + clothing, 156, 158; + derivation of term, 32; + dog harness, 278; + drum, 313; + fuel, 275; + house, 217, 219, 221; + lamp, 169, 274; + language, 36; + light from lamp, 276; + not in Alaska 500 years back, 428; + southern range of, 273; + wick for lamp, 276 + + Estufa, not a sweat-house, 375 + + Etchings, rock-scratchings incorrectly called, 180 + + Eternal fires, 252 + + Etowah mound, 337, 346 + + + F + + Fabric-marked pottery, 109 + + Face decoration, 366 + + Farming, 336 + + Farm products, 247, 338 + + Feather, garments, 134, 137, 138; + mail, 134; + mantles, 138 + + Feather-work, method of making, 137 + + Feathered, horned serpent, 63 + + Fetich, of what consisting, 420 + + Fire-drill, 250, 252; + by friction, 368, 370; + eternal, 252 + + Firing pottery, 100 + + Five Nations (or Tribes), 212, 425 + + Flageolet, 308 + + Flax, 130 + + Flint Ridge, 264 + + Flood stories, 407, 408 + + Floods, 439 + + Flute, 308 + + Fondness for singing, 318 + + Football, Eskimo, 326 + + Foot-races, 323 + + Forbidden food, 373 + + Foreign influence, no, 247 + + Fort Ancient, 344 + + Fortifications, 344 + + Fraudulent implements, 49 + + Funeral, jars, 112; + urns, 190 + + Fur companies, methods of, 363 + + + G + + Gallantry, 387 + + Gallatin’s work, 20–26 + + Gambling, 323 + + Games, 320 + + Garments, primitive, 126 + + Garters, 133 + + Gauntlet, running the, 366 + + Genesis, myth of the Mokis, 403 + + Gens, 414; + basis of, 419; + definition of, 414; + privileges of, and obligations, 419 + + Gentes, 414 + + Gentile system, 414 + + Georgia costume, 141 + + Gesture language, 26 + + Ghost dance, 316, 399 + + Ghost-shirt, 156, 262 + + Gilded man, the myth of, 403 + + Glacial period, cause of, 435 + + Glaciation, duration of, 435; + extent of, in North America, 435 + + Glue, 303, 305 + + God-houses of the Huichols, 409 + + Gold, alloy, 301; + plating, 302 + + Government, 414 + + Governor’s palace, Uxmal, 244 + + Grass seeds for food, 358 + + Grave monuments, 166 + + Graves, 388; + stone box, 388 + + Grease feast, 162 + + Great Heads, 407 + + Great Mound of Cholula, 350 + + Great Spirit, no knowledge of a single, 375 + + Gukumatz, 397 + + + H + + Haida canoes, 164 + + Hair dressing, 150 + + Hall of Columns, 209, 246 + + Hano, establishment of village of, 22 + + Hard pottery, 100 + + Hardened copper, 299, 300 + + Harpoon, 267 + + Hawk bells, 292, 309 + + Head at Izamal, 191 + + Head chief, 416 + + Head roll for carrying, 153 + + Health, 356 + + Heat, debilitating to Amerinds, 439 + + Helmet, 260 + + Hereditary offices, 423–424 + + Hero-gods, 371, 396, 399, 401 + + Hiawatha, 393; + in Longfellow and Schoolcraft ranked as an Algonquin, 395 + + Hieratic languages, 29 + + Hill forts, 344 + + Hinuⁿ, God of Thunder, 364 + + History, linked with other races, 447 + + Hodenosaunee, 212 + + Hodenosote, 200, 210 + + Hollow square earthworks, 208 + + Homogeneity, 358 + + Hopewell cache, 264 + + Horse-racing, 323, 329 + + Hospitality, a law, 354, 447 + + House, column, 162; + of the dead, 208; + post, 162 + + Household utensils, 273 + + Houses on piles, 240 + + Hudson Bay Co., peaceful success of, 453 + + Huepilli, 140 + + Human flesh eaten, 367, 368 + + Hunt-the-button game, 324 + + Hut of the Great Sun, 208 + + + I + + Ideographic records, 48, 59 + + Iglu, 217 + + Iglugeak, 217 + + Ikonographic writing, 69 + + Ikonomatic, 48, 69 + + Imaginary animals, 174 + + Indian, corn, 358; + names, 395; + stocks or families, list of, 461; + tribes, list of, 465 + + Indio Triste, 184 + + Intercalation of days, 306; + denied, 306 + + Interkilling, 381 + + Internecine wars, 229, 427 + + Irish and Danes in Ancient America, 429 + + Irrigating, 333; + canals, 195, 333, 336 + + Iroquois, confederacy, 421, 425, 449; + costume, 140; + house, 198, 200, 210; + unsurpassed, 375 + + Israelite and Amerindian myths compared, 403 + + Itzamna, 401 + + Ixtlilxochitl, 443 + + Izamal, head at, 191 + + + J + + Jacal construction, 220, 236 + + Jargon, Chinook, 28 + + Joint tenements, 240 + + Jossakeed, 373 + + + K + + Kabinapek orchestra, 325 + + Kalopaling, 407 + + Karankawa, 34 + + Kashim, 216 + + Katcina, 47, 378 + + Kayak, 281, 283 + + Kishoni, 196 + + Kisi construction, 196 + + Kiva, 231, 232, 325, 350, 375, 412, 414 + + Knives, 269 + + Kwakiutl, house front, 239; + statues, 167 + + Kwokwuli, 405 + + + L + + Labna, palace of, 450 + + Labret, 355 + + Lacandon idol, 190 + + Lack of carving in the South-west, 181 + + Lacrosse, 327 + + Ladders, 197, 226 + + Lamp, 169, 274; + of Vancouver Island, 275; + wick, 276 + + Landa’s alphabet, 50; + legacy, 78 + + Language, classification, 17; + roots, 18, 25 + + Languages, number of, 20; + polysynthetic, 32 + + Laōlaxa costume, 406 + + Law of hospitality, 354, 447 + + League of the Iroquois, 421, 425, 449 + + Legends, 393, 403, 405 + + Leggings, 134, 143, 144, 148, 150 + + Lenapé houses, 206 + + Length of year calculated, 305 + + Limits of ancient inhabitants, 437 + + Linguistic map, 33 + + Long-house, 200, 210, 414 + + Loom, 124, 131, 132 + + Lost-Tribes-of-Israel theory, 53, 63, 401, 403, 429 + + Louisiana costume, 140 + + + M + + Main points of Iroquois organisation, 425 + + Maize, 358 + + Makah house, 213 + + Malignant sprites, 405 + + Man always the same, 315 + + Manatee pipe, 173 + + Mandan costume, 144 + + Manner of dying, 356 + + Mantle of fur, 137 + + Map, Central-American ruins, 436; + linguistic, 33; + Mexican ruins, 438 + + Masks, 165 + + Mats, 147 + + Maxtlatl, 136 + + Maya, alphabet, 50; + books, 77, 82; + buildings, ground plans, 238; + chronicles, 408; + chronology, 242, 307; + greatness, 242; + house, 246; + numeral system, 83; + numerals, 86; + paper, 77; + parchment, 77; + war and rain gods, 190; + week, 306; + writing, origin of, 78; + year, 306 + + Mealing stones, 194 + + Medicinal remedies, 373 + + Medicine-men, 371, 372 + + Mendoza codex, 72 + + Mesa Encantada, 408 + + Messiah, the, 399 + + Metates, 181, 191, 194, 272 + + Method of attaching arrow-heads, 265 + + Methods of the fur companies, 363 + + Metlatl, 272 + + Mexican, bronze tools, 299; + costume, 134, 136, 138; + hardened copper, 299; + houses, 238; + knowledge of metals, 299; + mining, 299 + + Mezcal, 360 + + Michabo, 396, 399, 401 + + Midē, society, 401; + songs, 58 + + Migration theory, 428 + + Milk not used, 360 + + Mining, 285; + by fire method, 285 + + Misconceptions of the Spaniards, 421 + + Mississippi valley, houses, 205; + pottery, 106 + + Mitla, 209, 246; + roof construction, 230 + + Mnemonic records, 48, 59 + + Moccasin, 134, 142, 145, 150, 159, 369 + + Modoc houses, 215 + + Moki, hair dressing, 150, 151; + house plan, 220; + loom, 130; + method of watering crops, 335; + putchkohu, 268, 270; + reservation, 447; + sacred blanket, 130; + throwing-stick, 268, 270; + women’s costume, 150 + + Monitor pipe, 171 + + Monolithic monuments, 186 + + Montezuma, legend of, 408; + rank of, 423 + + Moons computed to the year, 305 + + Morgan’s classification, 14 + + Mormon protective garment, 262 + + Mortar, 246, 272 + + Most widely spread stocks, 443 + + Mound foundations, 242 + + Moundbuilder pipes, 172, 174 + + Moundbuilders, lack of skill, 174 + + Mounds, 195, 206, 207, 342, 350; + builders of, 343 + + Murder, settlement of, 381 + + Musical, bow, 308, 451; + instruments, 308 + + Mustache, 154 + + Myths, 393, 403; + resemblances to those of Israelites, 403 + + + N + + Nahuatls, 443. _See_ Mexican _and_ Aztec + + Names, derivation of, 386; + indicating totem, 420 + + Natchez temple, 207 + + Navajo, costume, 150; + dramatic sense, 331; + dry-painting, 61; + house, 199; + loom construction, 131, 132; + reservation, 445; + silversmiths, 294; + silver-work, 296; + songs the most primitive, 313; + summer and winter homes, 412; + women’s costume, 150 + + Navajos remained behind, 440 + + Nenenot tent, 219 + + Nets, 269 + + New-fire, 252, 368, 370; + Moki, 370 + + Newark group of earthworks, 346 + + Nicaragua costume, 140 + + Night attacks, 366 + + North growing warmer, 443 + + North-west coast, “coppers,” 293; + houses, 212, 241; + totem poles, 241 + + North-western tribes, costume, 144 + + Notched doorway, 213, 228 + + Numerals of the Mayas, 83, 86 + + + O + + Object of Aztec war, 368 + + Observatories, 183 + + Obsidian, mines, 264; + tools, 299 + + Octli, 360 + + Oglala roster, 387 + + Okeepa ceremony, 362, 378 + + Oldest people of Valley of Mexico, 443 + + Olmecas, 443 + + Omaha boat, 284 + + Only one kind of music, 314 + + Ontonagon bowlder, the, 289 + + Opinion, effect of, on civil chief, 416 + + Oraibi at night, 325 + + Organisation and government, 410, 414 + + Organisation of Iroquois confederacy, 425 + + Origin, migrations, and history, 428 + + Origin of Maya writing, 78 + + Ornamentation of Yucatec architecture, 191 + + Outlaws, 453, 455 + + + P + + Pai Ute Messiah, 399 + + Pai Utes, 303 + + Painting faces, 366 + + Palace of Palenque, 351 + + Palenque buildings, 244, 351, 404, Frontispiece; + transverse section of, 210 + + Palm-drill, 252, 368 + + Paper of the Mayas, 77 + + Parallelism of human development, 396 + + Patnish and his band, 455 + + Patolli, 322 + + Peace chiefs, 418; + envoys, 364 + + Penn’s dealings, 358 + + Peopling of America, 428 + + Peresianus codex, 76 + + Period of time since recession of ice, 441 + + Permanent houses, 195 + + Phonetic element in Mayan and Mexican writing, 71 + + Phonographic records of songs, 320 + + Photographs bad medicine, 381 + + Phratry, 414 + + Pictographs, painted, 42 + + Picture-writing, 39; + classified, 50 + + Piki (Moki bread), 377 + + Pima house, 199 + + Piñon nuts for food, 358 + + Pipe, 171; + of peace, 364; + stone, 375 + + Pisé, 220, 236 + + Platforms, 206 + + Plumaje, 134 + + Plum-stone game, 324 + + Pochotl, 360 + + Poet, 313 + + Pokagon, Simon, quoted, 449 + + Pole, sacred, of the Omahas, 204 + + Polygamy, 386 + + Polysynthetic languages, 32 + + _Popol Vuh_, 82, 397 + + Population, 177; + before glacial cold, 434 + + Portable houses, 195 + + Potlatch, 162 + + Pottery, area, 110; + burnished, 100; + cloisonné, 101; + coil made, 99; + decoration of, 99, 120, 122; + Eskimo knowledge of, 428; + glaze, 101; + invented, 98; + preparation of clay for, 99 + + Priest doctor, 371 + + Primitive, fabrics, 124; + garments, 126; + loom, 121 + + Pronunciation, 34 + + Protective, armour, 156; + medicine, 262 + + Protruding tongue, 166 + + Pueblo, 207 + + Puebloan, costume, 133, 151, 153; + ignorance of metals, 292; + use of term, 44 + + Pulque, 360 + + Pump-drill, 251, 254 + + Putchkohu, 268, 270 + + Pyramid, not a proper term, 343, 351; + of Cholula, 350; + of the Sun, 350 + + + Q + + Quarries, 264, 273 + + Quetzalcohuatl, 371, 396, 397 + + + R + + Rabbit-skin robe, 130 + + Rain dance, 364 + + Raised houses, 240 + + Rapidity of erosion after recession of ice, 441 + + Rations, issue of, 445 + + Rattles, 309 + + Rattlesnake, centre of distribution, 190; + designs, 188; + horned, 380; + species, 189; + venerated, 63 + + Recession of the sea, 437 + + Records of Tecpan, Atitlan, 82 + + Red Cloud’s census, 60 + + Red dye, 304 + + Red pipe-stone, 375 + + Red score, authenticity of, 390; + of the Lenapés, 46, 47, 390 + + Rehearsal, a, 317 + + Religion, 375 + + Religious feasts, 368 + + Remedies, medicinal, 373 + + Remedy for smallpox, 375 + + Repoussé method of working copper, 291 + + Resemblance to Asiatics, 457 + + Resemblances of Amerinds and Old World people, cause of, 432 + + Reservoirs, 195, 338 + + Resurrection dance, 316, 399 + + Right of asylum, 364 + + Roasting tray, 90 + + Rock, carving, 168; + peckings, 42, 168, 180 + + Roof construction, Mitla, 230; + Moki, 226 + + Rope-making, 126, 346 + + Round towers, 232 + + Ruins in Honduras and Nicaragua, 246 + + Running the gauntlet, 366 + + + S + + Sachems, duties of, 425 + + Sacred, bag, 204; + buffalo-cow skin, 204; + Moki blanket, 130; + pole, 204, 383; + structures, 208; + tent, 204, 208; + tipi, 204 + + Sacrifice, method of Aztec, 371; + of children, Aztec, 371 + + Sacrificial stone, 182 + + Sail of umiak, 284 + + Sauk alphabet, 53 + + Sealskin, bottles, 276; + floats, 267 + + Secret society, 414 + + Section of Yucatec building, 235 + + Seminole, costume, 154; + war, 445 + + Sequoia, 360 + + Sequoyah (George Gist) syllabary, 52 + + Seven cities myth, 403 + + Shamans, 371, 373, 408; + definition of, 372 + + Shell carvings, 174 + + Shields, 258 + + Shoshokoes, 8 + + Sign-language, 26 + + Sign of clan or gens membership, 420 + + Silversmith’s tools, 298 + + Silversmiths, Navajo, 294, 296; + Tlinkit, 296 + + Similarities between Amerind and European words, 25, 28 + + Singing, 312, 318; + in the night, 319 + + “Singing-girl,” statue, 188 + + Sīsul, 168, 392 + + Sitting Bull, 356, 451 + + Six Nations, 425 + + Skin armour, 260 + + Skull-cap, 147 + + Slab houses, 212 + + Sledge, 277 + + Smallpox remedy, 375 + + Smelting ore, 291 + + Smoking, 363 + + Snake dance, 376 + + Snow-house, 217; + iglu, 217; + knife, 217; + shoe, 280; + snake, 323 + + Soapstone quarries, 273, 286; + vessels, 273 + + Sod house, 217 + + Soft pottery, 99 + + Sokus Waiunats and the magic cup, 403 + + Somaikoli ceremony, 318, 381, 454 + + Songs of the Ghost dance, 316 + + Sorceress, 371 + + Sound writing, 69 + + Soyaita ceremony, _see_ Somaikoli + + Spades, 270 + + Spear- and arrow-heads, 263 + + Spindle, 126 + + Spinning, 128 + + Statue of the Sun, 350 + + Stelæ, Copan, 186 + + Stock names, how derived, 30 + + Stocks, 17 + + Stone, cutting, 300; + graves, 388; + implements as charms, 263; + statues in Georgia and Tennessee, 176 + + Stools of Chiriqui, 192 + + Story telling, 330 + + String-drill, 252 + + Sun priests of the Moki, 305 + + Superstition, 377 + + Swastika, 63, 458 + + Sweat, bath, 374; + house, 374 + + Syllabary, Cherokee, 52 + + Symbol of the peaceful council fire, 418 + + Symbolic writing, 69 + + + T + + Tablet of the, Cross, 184; + Sun, 186 + + Tablets, Maya, 184 + + Taensa house, 208 + + Tambourine-drum, 308, 313 + + Taos, 3, 234 + + Tattooing, 56 + + Tchungkee game, 328 + + Tecumseh, 449 + + Tegua (moccasin), 134 + + Telleriano-Remensis Codex, 72 + + Temple, of the Cross, 184, 190, 244; + of the Natchez, 207; + of the Sun, Frontispiece, 186; + of Tepoztlan, 242, 391; + of Xochicalco, 23, 31, 242 + + Temples, 350 + + Temporary house, 195 + + Tennis, 328 + + Teocalli, Frontispiece, 391 + + Tepehuaje, 311 + + Teponaztli, 312 + + Tepoztlan, temple of, 242, 391 + + Terms for describing stone weapons, 263 + + Terra-cotta, figures, 112, 113, 115; + tubing, 116, 117 + + Tetzontli, 350 + + Tewa, village of, when established, 22 + + Thought writing, 69 + + Thread, 126, 138 + + Throwing-stick of Mokis, 267, 268 + + Thunder-bird, 167, 342, 393 + + Tilmatli, 136 + + Time calculations, 305 + + Tipi, 195, 198, 200, 204; + construction, 200; + decoration, 202; + derivation of, 200; + sacred, of the Omahas, 204 + + Tiste, 360 + + Tlaloc, 396 + + Tlapan-huehuetl, 311 + + Tlaxcala, not a Mexican Switzerland, 423 + + Tlaxcalteco organisation, 424 + + Tlinkit silversmith, 296 + + Tobacco, 28, 363; + pipe, 171, 363, 364 + + Toboggan, 279 + + Toltecs, 443 + + Tongue in Amerindian carving, 166 + + Tools, 249 + + Topek, 219 + + Tortillas, 360 + + Totem, and totemism, 386; + poles, 162, 386 + + Totems, where chosen, 420 + + Totolospi game, 322 + + Towers, round, 232 + + Tozacatl, 311 + + Traditions, 393 + + Traits, 354 + + Translation of picture-writing by Mormons, 63 + + Transportation, 276 + + Triangular arch, 242 + + Tribal, chief, 416; + organisation, 414 + + Tribes, change building methods, 350; + exterminated, 445 + + Troano Codex, 82 + + True arch, 217 + + Tupek, 219 + + Turf house, 217 + + Turtleback flints, 261 + + + U + + Umiak, 157, 282, 283; + sail, 284 + + Unity of all music, 314 + + Unseen ruins, 246 + + Utahs, costume of 1776, 141 + + + V + + Value of a “copper,” 297 + + Variation in culture, 178 + + Vase from Labna, 74 + + Vatican Codex, 72 + + Veils, 138 + + Vicuna in Arizona, 130, 276 + + Village dweller, 8 + + Villages, location of, 412; + permanent, 228 + + Virgin copper, 301 + + Votan, 397 + + Votive stones, 188 + + + W + + Walamink, or Place of Paint, 304 + + Wālasaxa dance, 359 + + Wall, steps on, Moki, 222, 224 + + Walls, Moki, 226 + + Walam Olum, 47, 390 + + Wampum, 55, 143, 418; + belt, 418 + + War, 8, 366, 445; + belt of Iroquois, 418; + bonnet, 145, 156, 266; + chief’s office hereditary in the tribe, 424; + chiefs, 418, 424; + costume, 156, 357, 442; + declaration of, 418; + infrequent, 366; + object of, with Aztecs, 368; + Seminole, 445; + shirt, 262 + + Water-pocket, 405 + + Waterproof, boots, 159; + garment, 159 + + Weaving, 126, 128, 137, 141, 147 + + Weighing, 305 + + Whalebone dish, 96 + + Whip, of Eskimos, 279; + top, 328 + + Whisky, 360, 361 + + Whistles, 308, 310 + + White, brutality, 445; + buffalo-cow skin, sacred, 204; + men as chiefs, 416 + + Wicker-work, in house construction, 234, 236; + plastered, 236 + + Wigwam, 200, 204 + + Wikiup, 195 + + Wilson, Jack, the Pai Ute Messiah, 399 + + Windows, 228, 242 + + Wine, from cactus fruit, 360 + + Winter counts, Dakota, 60, 377 + + Wolf-killer, 267 + + Wooden, house, 195; + walls in ancient Puebloan construction, 236 + + Woonupits, 320, 405 + + Wrecks of Japanese vessels on Pacific coast, 429 + + + X + + Xicalancas, 443 + + Xochicalco, temple of, 23, 31, 242 + + + Y + + Yant, 358 + + Yellow dye, 304 + + Yokuts houses, 215 + + Yourt, 216 + + Yucatec, buildings, ground plans, 238; + stone, 242 + + + Z + + Zahcab, 238, 288 + + Zoötheism, 375 + + + + +[Illustration: THE SWASTIKA + + A primitive and universal sign] + + + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See the last chapter. + +[2] See linguistic map p. 33, and list of tribes and stocks in Appendix. + +[3] When the ice front was along the Ohio, the Eskimo naturally were +distributed along the southern fringe. + +[4] For many details of the life of the American Indians, or Amerinds, +see _The Indians of To-Day_, by George Bird Grinnell. For the origin of +the word Amerind see the _American Anthropologist_, N. S., vol. i., No. +3, p. 582. + +[5] It must be borne in mind that the general estimate of the Amerind +is entirely drawn from white men’s writings. The Amerind side has never +been presented. + +[6] _Narrative of James P. Beckwourth_, p. 254; Irving’s _Bonneville_, +p. 225. + +[7] “Amidst all the devastating incursions of the Indians in North +America it is a remarkable fact that no Friend who stood faithful to +his principles in the disuse of all weapons of war, the cause of which +was generally well understood by the Indians, ever suffered personal +molestation from them,” vol. v., p. 63, Brinton’s _Library of Am. Ab. +Literature_, from _An Account of the Conduct of the Society of Friends +toward the Indians_, p. 72. London, 1844. + +[8] Payne says, “Anahuac was becoming a military despotism.” _History +of the New World called America_, vol. ii., p. 494. + +[9] See Preface and the last chapter. + +[10] Brinton’s “Uto-Aztecan.” The connection between the Nahuatl, or +Aztec, and Shoshonean is not well established. + +[11] Lewis H. Morgan, _Houses and House Life_, Dr. W. J. McGee has +added a fourth stage, “Enlightenment.” + +[12] For a full statement of this story, see the fascinating book, +_Atlantis: The Antediluvian World_, by Ignatius Donnelly. + +[13] See Chap. XVI. and also the Preface. + +[14] The widest differences were in the Maya and the Timuquanan. Each +of these differed greatly from the bulk of the Amerind languages and +from each other, probably because both stocks held more isolated +positions than the others during the glacial period, and preserved more +of their earlier life, whatever it may have been. + +[15] See J. N. B. Hewitt, _American Anthropologist_, October, 1893. + +[16] “There are well-known examples in the ethnography of other races, +where reliance on language alone would lead the investigator astray; +but all serious students of the native American tribes are united in +the opinion that with them no other clue can compare to it in general +results.”—D. G. Brinton, _The American Race_, Preface. + +[17] As to the value of linguistics as a means of classification, Cyrus +Thomas says: “On the one side, it is held by some authors that affinity +of languages implies racial identity or unity of origin; on the +other, it is contended that the theory that the affinity of languages +necessarily implies identity of race is not warranted.” + +[18] D. G. Brinton, _The American Race_. He does not approve wholly of +these terminations. + +[19] _Seventh Annual Report, U. S. Bureau of Ethnology_, contains +complete list of American race stocks, north of Mexico, as far as +known. See Appendix. + +[20] _Essays of an Americanist_, p. 35. + +[21] Hopi is the singular; Hopituh the plural. Dr. Fewkes and others +having decided in favour of the singular form, it is so given here. + +[22] They have intermarried with the Hopi and Navajo till Fewkes +believes that in “the next generation the percentage of pure +Tañoan blood will be so small that we cannot regard the stock as +Tañoan.”—_American Anthropologist_, April, 1894, p. 167. + +[23] See Chap. XVI. + +[24] _The American Race_ and _Chronicles of the Maya_. + +[25] For further coincidences see Payne, _History of the New World +Called America_, vol. ii., p. 78, _et seq._ + +[26] See the _American Anthropologist_, July, 1894, vol. vii., “The +Chinook Jargon,” by Myron Eells. + +[27] _Snake Dance of the Mokis_, p. 190. + +[28] There are analogies between the Nahuatl and some languages of the +North-west and Alaska, especially that of the Koluschan, or Tlinkit, +living along the sea from Dixon Entrance to Prince William Sound. + +[29] The Maya, however, has been found a useful language by Europeans. +Dr. Berendt met “whole families of pure white blood” who used this +language and did not know Spanish. This is not the usual fate of the +Amerind tongues. + +[30] This word was popularly written Esquimaux, after the French. +Then the Bureau of Ethnology wrote it Eskimo, and this has been the +accepted spelling and pronunciation. But it is from the Abnaki dialect +of Algonquin, according to Brinton (_The American Race_, p. 59), and is +properly Eskimwhan. This is better represented by Eskimä than by Eskimo. + +[31] See the list of stocks in the Appendix. + +[32] “Their language was reduced to writing some sixty years ago and +has now a considerable literature. Nearly all the men of the tribe are +able to conduct personal correspondence in their own language.”—Mooney, +_American Anthropologist_, N. S., vol. i., No. 1, p. 137, 1899. + +[33] The “l” like “cl” in “exclaim.” + +[34] See also Payne’s _History of the New World_, vol. ii., p. 96 _et +seq._, for an excellent discussion of Amerind languages. + +[35] “Cherokee Formulas,” Mooney, _Seventh Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[36] For a complete presentation of the subject of sign-language, see +paper by Garrick Mallery, _First Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, and for that of +picture-writing see _Tenth Ann. Rept._, a paper by same author, and one +in _Fourth Ann. Rept._ + +[37] Note in Preface and last chapter statement as to irregularity of +culture progress. + +[38] The Mayas, however, had passed the zenith of their development. + +[39] “Etching” is the word commonly used, but as etching is a totally +different thing it has no place in this connection, and only adds to +the incongruities already existing in writings on the Amerind subject. + +[40] _Painted_ characters are found in southern California, west and +south-west of Sierra Nevada; _painted_ and _scratched_, from Colorado +River to Georgia, north to West Virginia and along the Mississippi. +Remaining parts of United States show rock scratchings almost exclusive +of paintings, according to Mallery. + +[41] The name applied by the Pai Utes to the old Puebloans. + +[42] That is, the rock faces change slowly. Other changes may occur, +as, for instance, the foothold from which the pictures were made. I +remember seeing in Keam’s Canyon, Arizona, some pictographs on a cliff +wall that were far above reach, ten or twelve feet above my head. My +explanation was that the ground had been washed away after they were +made. + +[43] I say “type,” because the Pueblo culture was not confined to one +stock. “Puebloan” may be used to designate them. + +[44] A rock near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, is inscribed with characters +supposed to be Runic, which have been translated by Phillips, +“_Harkussenmen varu_” = “Harko’s son addressed the men.” The Dighton +inscription was read as an account of the party of Thorfinn, while +other interpreters have made out Scythian and Phœnician characters. It +is possible that there may have been a few Runic characters mingled +with the Algonquian on the Dighton Rock. + +[45] For a full account of the Walam Olum, see Brinton’s “The Lenapé +and their Legends,” in vol. v. of his _Library of American Aboriginal +History_. + +[46] The pronunciation of this word always sounded to me +“_kat-chee´-nah_,” but Dr. Fewkes eliminates the “h” sound from this +and other words, and as he has devoted much attention to the subject I +follow his spelling. + +[47] See Brinton, _Essays of an Americanist_, p. 213. + +[48] At Newark, Ohio, a business was carried on in the manufacture of +inscribed stones, buried and dug up to suit occasion. + +[49] See “A Remarkable Counterfeiter” by A. E. Jenks, _American +Anthropologist_, April-June, 1900. + +[50] J. T. Goodman, _Biologia Centrali Americana_, part ix., p. 11. + +[51] The Sauk, of Algonquian stock, “have a syllabic alphabet, +apparently the work of some early French missionary, by means of which +they keep up a correspondence with friends on their various scattered +reservations.”—Mooney, _American Anthropologist_, January, 1899, p. 143. + +[52] For an explanation of the Lost Tribes theory see Payne’s _History +of the New World Called America_, vol. ii., p. 75 _et seq._ + +[53] Finally, after 1714, the machine-made beads grew in favour, +because the supply of native beads diminished with the diminution of +the number of Amerinds. These machine-made beads were of uniform size, +while the native beads varied considerably. See Horatio Hale, _Pop. +Sci. Monthly_, February, 1897. + +[54] “The best blanket-makers, smiths, and other artisans among +the Navajos are the descendants of captives from Zuñi and other +Pueblos.”—J. G. Bourke, _Jour. Am. Folk-Lore_, p. 115. + +[55] Garrick Mallery, _Fourth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[56] Mallery, _Fourth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[57] See “The Mountain Chant,” by Washington Matthews, _Fifth Ann. +Rept. Bu. Eth._ The dry-paintings also occur in the “Yebitchai” +ceremony, described by James Stevenson, _Eighth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[58] “Pictographs of the feathered, horned serpent are also found +on the cliff to the south-west of Walpi. These pictographs have the +head, with a representation of a horn and feathers, and the same +conventionalised markings of parallel lines and arrow-points which are +found on the kilts of the Snake priests.”—Fewkes, _Journal of American +Ethnology_, vol. ii., p. 38. + +[59] _Thirteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. of Eth._, p. 92. + +[60] By Dr. Nicolas Leon. _Science_, Jan. 27, 1899, p. 156. Still +another lately turned up in possession of an English gentleman. + +[61] “They may have passed through some of the same stages of growth, +but the general consensus of opinion is that the Mayan is the older +of the two classes, and that these two classes have developed +independently.”—Thomas, _Study of American Archæology_, p. 360. + +[62] P. 213 _et seq._ + +[63] Several have recently been splendidly reproduced and may be found +at large libraries. + +[64] Suggested by the Abbé Brasseur. + +[65] Egypt had three kinds of writing. + +[66] _Biologia Centrali Americana_, part ix., p. 11. + +[67] For a fac-simile of part of the Landa MS. and bibliographic notes +on Mayan and Mexican writing see _Winsor’s Nar. and Crit. Hist. of the +U. S._, vol. i., p. 197. + +[68] See the Preface, p. vii., and the last chapter. + +[69] Cyrus Thomas, Introduction to _Study of American Archæology_, p. +361. + +[70] _Ibid._, p. 343. + +[71] _Queen Moo_, by A. Le Plongeon, p. xv. + +[72] Pp. 95 and 100. + +[73] The “Codex Cortesianus is considered to furnish a connecting link +between Maya and Mexican symbols.”—Powell. + +[74] Written in 1558. An abridgment of an older book. + +[75] Goodman gives these three signs for 20 [symbol symbol symbol] and +remarks, “the last of the three being drawn with a great variety of +detail.”—_Biologia Centrali Americana_, part viii., p. 64. + +[76] _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bu. Eth._, p. 337. + +[77] See the monumental work on basketry by Otis T. Mason, and other +writings on this subject by the same author. + +[78] See the _American Anthropologist_, April, 1894, vol. vii., “The +Basket Drum,” by Washington Matthews, as an illustration of how a +certain specialty in an art may survive after the art itself is +neglected. + +[79] Murdoch found fragments of a cooking pot at Point Barrow.—_Ninth +Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 91. Rude cups were also sometimes made. + +[80] _Thirteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 276. + +[81] W. H. Holmes, _Fourth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, “Pottery of the +Ancient Pueblos.” + +[82] The Amerind paste was generally quite dark, a light surface +colour being obtained by a “slip.” But I have found fragments of a +pinkish-white ware in Arizona the same colour all the way through. + +[83] The earthenware of the Greeks and Romans was not glazed, but +covered with wax, bitumen, etc. + +[84] With all the differences, however, an examination of pottery from +all over North America will convince any close observer of its general +homogeneity. + +[85] W. H. Holmes, “Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley,” _Fourth +Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 372. + +[86] W. H. Holmes, “Ancient Art of the Province of Chiriqui,” _Sixth +Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 56. + +[87] F. S. Dellenbaugh, “Death-Masks in Ancient American Pottery,” +_American Anthropologist_, February, 1897. + +[88] In this connection it may be mentioned that Swallow found a human +skull enclosed in an earthen jar, the opening of which was too small to +admit of the skull’s extraction. + +[89] W. H. Holmes, “Prehistoric Textile Fabrics,” _Third Ann. Rept. Bu. +Eth._; _Ibid._, “Prehistoric Textile Art,” _Thirteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. +Eth._ + +[90] F. S. Dellenbaugh, “Fabric-Marked Pottery,” _Popular Science +Monthly_, March, 1898. + +[91] Brinton states that the art of the potter was extensively +practised by the Lenapé, but if this were accurate fragments of pottery +ought to be commoner than they are in the region formerly their home. + +[92] Compare Preface and last chapter. + +[93] M. H. Saville, “Exploration of Zapotecan Tombs in Southern +Mexico,” _American Anthropologist_, N. S., April, 1899. + +[94] _American Anthropologist_, N. S., 1899, i., p. 355. + +[95] W. H. Holmes, “Ancient Art of the Province of Chiriqui,” _Sixth +Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[96] W. H. Holmes, “Ancient Art of the Province of Chiriqui,” _Sixth +Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[97] Rib is the term applied by our potters to the small thin pieces of +wood used for smoothing the ware. The Moki “rib” corresponds closely in +size, shape, and use to that I have seen employed by our potters. + +[98] For soapstone or steatite vessels, see Chap. X. + +[99] Hoffman, _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 260. + +[100] Holmes, _Thirteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 22. + +[101] Boas, _Report U. S. Nat. Museum_, p. 319. + +[102] Gibbs, _U. S. G. S., Contrib. to N. A. Ethnology_, vol. i., part +ii., p. 219. + +[103] National Academy of Sciences, _Bones of the Hemenway Expedition_, +Introduction by Washington Matthews, p. 157. + +[104] See for description of kiva the chapter in this book on +Architecture, etc., and also Macmillan’s _Dictionary of Architecture_. + +[105] Dr. Washington Matthews, “Navajo Weavers.” _Third Ann. Rept. Bu. +Eth._, p. 375. + +[106] Washington Matthews, _Third Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 377. + +[107] Some of the finest Navajo blankets command high prices. +A two faced blanket is described by Matthews in the _American +Anthropologist_, vol. ii., No. 4. + +[108] Bandelier, _Final Report_, part i., p. 158. + +[109] Prescott’s _Mexico_, vol. i., pp. 439, 442. + +[110] _Ibid._, vol. ii., p. 13. + +[111] _Ibid._, p. 71. + +[112] The _timatli_ or _tilmatli_ for men was a piece of cloth, +according to Biart, “four feet long, which enveloped the body, and two +corners of which were knotted upon the breast or upon the shoulder.” + +[113] _Ibid._, p. 73. + +[114] Du Pratz, _Hist. de la Louisiane_, vol. ii., pp. 191, 192. + +[115] Prescott’s _Mexico_, vol. ii., pp. 133, 134. + +[116] Lucien Biart, _The Aztecs_. + +[117] Squier, _Nicaragua_, p. 289. + +[118] _The History of Erie County, N. Y._, pp. 58, 59, edited by H. +Perry Smith. + +[119] Quoted in Captain Simpson’s _Report_, p. 494. + +[120] Buckingham Smith’s translation. + +[121] Lieutenant Mowry, _Report_, p. 587, Ex. Doc. No. 11, 35th Cong., +1st Session. + +[122] John W. De Forrest, _History of the Indians of Connecticut_, pp. +9–11. + +[123] Catlin had wonderful success in persuading Amerinds to pose for +him. When I went amongst the Navajos and Mokis in 1884–85 I found +it next to impossible to get them to sit for me. Only one solitary +specimen in the whole region was willing to run the risk. It was +considered very “bad medicine.” + +[124] The Crows, Sioux, Mandans, and Assiniboins are the same stock—the +Dakota or Siouan. + +[125] Catlin, _Smithsonian Report_, 1885, pp. 450, 451. + +[126] Dorsey, “Omaha Sociology,” _Third Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 310. + +[127] Geo. Gibbs, “Tribes of Western Washington and North-western +Oregon,” _U. S. G. S. Contrib._, vol. i., part ii., p. 220. + +[128] _Ibid._, p. 219. + +[129] _Ibid._, p. 176. + +[130] The same kind of a wicker cap is worn by many California Amerinds. + +[131] Cushing says of the early Zuñis: “They wore but scant clothing +besides their robes and blankets—breech-cloths and kilts, short for +the men, long for the women, and made of shredded bark and rushes or +fibre; sandals also of fibre.... The hair was bobbed to the level +of the eyebrows in front, but left long and hanging at the back, +etc.”—_Thirteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 358. + +[132] “Coronado Letter,” _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 562. + +[133] “Narrative of Jaramillo,” _Ibid._, pp. 586, 587. + +[134] “Relación Postrera de Sívola,” _Ibid._, p. 569. + +[135] C. MacCauley, “Seminole Indians of Florida,” _Fifth Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, p. 486. + +[136] _Memoirs Long Island Hist. Soc._, vol. i., p. 99, “Journal of a +Voyage to New York in 1679–80.” + +[137] See chapter on Weapons, and note also the quotation from +Prescott—pp. 134 and 136. + +[138] James Mooney, “The Ghost-Dance Religion,” _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, pp. 789, 790; see also Chap. IX., this work. + +[139] Murdoch, “The Point Barrow Eskimo,” _Ninth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._; +Boas, “The Central Eskimo,” _Sixth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._; Turner, +“Hudson Bay Eskimo,” _Eleventh Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[140] Murdoch. + +[141] Dr. Kane, _Arctic Exploration_, vol. i., p. 203. + +[142] John D. Hunter, _Memoirs of a Captive among the Indians of North +America_, London, 1823, pp. 289, 290. + +[143] Sometimes two high poles are set up, between which, at a potlatch +or “grease feast,” the piles of blankets forming payment for a “copper” +are laid. These are called “blanket-poles.” + +[144] There is a fine specimen in the American Museum of Natural +History, New York. + +[145] See _Tenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 478. + +[146] W. H. Dall, _Third Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 112. + +[147] Franz Boas, “The Kwakiutl Indians,” _Rep. Nat. Mus._, 1895, pp. +323, 324. + +[148] Franz Boas, “The Kwakiutl Indians,” _Rep. Nat. Mus._, 1895, pp. +370, 371. + +[149] _Ninth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[150] _Sixth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[151] Chap. V., and _American Anthropologist_, February, 1897. + +[152] _Prehistoric Art_, p. 477. + +[153] Joseph D. McGuire, “American Aboriginal Pipes,” _Rep. Nat. Mus._, +1897, p. 468. + +[154] H. W. Henshaw, “Animal Carvings,” _Second Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, +p. 166. + +[155] Warren K. Moorehead, _The Bird-Stone Ceremonial_ (pamphlet). + +[156] The Pai Utes make rude clay and wood dolls, but nothing larger, +and no pottery. + +[157] A. F. Bandelier, _Final Report_, p. 152. + +[158] A. F. Bandelier, _Final Report_, p. 153. + +[159] _Ibid._, p. 161. + +[160] A painted design, similar to that of the “Calendar Stone,” was +found on one of the inside walls at Mitla. See pl. xxv., Fig. 1, +Bandelier’s _Archæological Tour_. + +[161] A compass card has five concentric circles, and the Calendar +Stone appears to have the same number. The compass was known in Europe +in the twelfth century, in China earlier. + +[162] A. F. Bandelier, _Report of an Archæological Tour in Mexico_, p. +78. + +[163] Two structures at Palenque are so called on account of the +tablets in them bearing emblems that resemble a cross. In that +designated by Stephen as No. 2, by Charnay later as No. 1, and by H. H. +Bancroft as No. 4, the cross form is the more pronounced, and it is the +one usually referred to by the above title. + +[164] For the exterior of the Temple of the Sun, see Frontispiece. + +[165] Leonhard Stejneger, “Poisonous Snakes of North America,” _Rep. U. +S. Museum_, 1893, p. 421. + +[166] Edward S. Holden, “Studies in Central American Picture-Writing,” +_First Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 229. + +[167] Charnay found at Palenque that some of the figures were modelled +first nude and draperies applied afterwards, the latter separating from +the figure itself. + +[168] Desiré Charnay, _Ancient Cities of the New World_. + +[169] “Ancient Art of the Province of Chiriqui,” _Sixth Ann. Rept. Bu. +Eth._, p. 27. + +[170] For definitions of aboriginal architecture, see Macmillan’s +_Dictionary of Architecture_. + +[171] Bandelier, _Final Report_, part i., p. 103. + +[172] Or, if the climate should change, the character of the house +might change with it. + +[173] For full information on Dakota customs, etc., see the papers of +the late Rev. James Owen Dorsey in the third, eleventh, thirteenth, and +fifteenth _Ann. Repts. Bu. Eth._ + +[174] Wigwam is frequently used in a general sense to designate any +Amerind house of the skin or earth or wood type. + +[175] See “ti” and “pi” in _Dakota-English Dictionary_, vol. vii.; +_Cont. U. S. G. S._, pp. 421, 467. + +[176] Lewis H. Morgan, “Houses and House Life of the American +Aborigines,” _Contributions to N. A. Ethnology_, vol. iv., p. 114. + +[177] Castañeda describes the Querechos and Teyas in 1540 as +travelling, “like the Arabs, with their tents and troops of dogs loaded +with poles, and having Moorish pack-saddles and girths.”—Winship’s +translation, _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 527. + +[178] Morgan’s “Houses and House Life,” etc., p. 113. + +[179] W. J. Hoffman, “The Menominee Indians,” _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, pp. 254–55. + +[180] The Lenapé houses “were built in groups and surrounded with a +palisade.... In the centre was sometimes erected a mound of earth, both +as a place of observation and as a location to place the children and +women.”—Brinton, _The Lenapé_, p. 51. + +[181] Cyrus Thomas, “Mound Explorations,” _Twelfth Ann. Rept. Bu. +Eth._, p. 647. + +[182] _Ibid._, p. 649. + +[183] Cyrus Thomas, _Twelfth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 653. + +[184] Francis Parkman, _Discovery of the West_, p. 277. + +[185] George Bancroft, _U. S. History_. + +[186] L. H. Morgan, _Houses and House Life_, p. 120; see also _The +Iroquois League_, by Morgan. + +[187] Brinton, _The American Race_, p. 77. + +[188] Gibbs cites a split plank he saw in Puget Sound region, 24 feet +long and 4½ feet wide. + +[189] Gibbs mentions a house of the Makah, north-west Washington, 75 +feet long, 40 wide, and 15 high, all one room; and another used for +festivals 520 feet long, 60 feet wide, 15 feet high in front, and 10 +feet in the rear.—George Gibbs, “Tribes of Western Washington and +North-western Oregon,” _Contributions U. S. G. S._, vol. i., p. 215. + +[190] Stephen Powers, “Tribes of California,” _Contributions_, etc., +vol. iii., p. 255. + +[191] _Ibid._, p. 215. + +[192] _Ibid._, p. 45. + +[193] W. H. Dall, “Tribes of Alaska,” _Contributions U. S. G. S._, vol. +i., p. 82. + +[194] The tree growth ceases at about the line of the village of Kodiak +on Kodiak Island. The Aleuts ranged over the Aleutian Islands and +eastward as far as Stepovak Bay on the peninsula. + +[195] For definitions of these terms see Macmillan’s _Dictionary of +Architecture_. + +[196] Schwatka found cliff-dwellings occupied by Tarahumaris in +northern Mexico. See _Cave and Cliff-Dwellers_, by Frederick Schwatka, +p. 187. + +[197] In early days upper stories in New Mexico were sometimes built of +wood, plastered. + +[198] For details of Pueblo architecture, see paper on the subject by +Victor Mindeleff, _Eighth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ And “The Cliff Ruins of +Canyon de Chelly,” by Cosmos Mindeleff, _Sixteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[199] See Macmillan’s _Dictionary of Architecture_. + +[200] See paper by Cosmos Mindeleff, “Aboriginal Remains of the Verde +Valley,” _Thirteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[201] See illustrations, pp. 225, 227, 228. + +[202] See the writings of Geo. H. Pepper, director of the Hyde +Expedition. + +[203] _Commerce of the Prairies._ + +[204] See Macmillan’s _Dictionary of Architecture_. Kiva is a Moki term +to replace the Spanish estufa, which is misleading. The kiva is not a +sweat house, as the Spanish term seems to imply. A sweat house or lodge +is expressly built and heated for the purpose of a sweat bath. + +[205] See _Mem. Nat. Acad. Sciences_, vii., p. 146. Introduction by +Washington Matthews. + +[206] “And have five or six stories, three of them with mud walls +and two or three with thin wooden walls.”—“Relacion del Suceso,” +_Fourteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 575. + +[207] Littré gives _pisé_ as “made with a species of large bricks made +in wooden moulds”; _piser_, “to construct by beating earth between two +planks.” + +[208] Prescott, _Mexico_, i., p. 474. + +[209] _Ibid._, ii., p. 70. + +[210] _Ibid._, ii., p. 110. + +[211] Prescott, _Mexico_, ii., p. 109. + +[212] _Voyages of Vancouver_, ii., p. 274. + +[213] Morgan, _House Life_, p. 231. For the houses and house life of +some modern cave and cliff dwellers see _Unknown Mexico_, by Carl +Lumholtz. + +[214] M. H. Saville, “Temple of Tepoztlan,” _Monumental Records_, i., +No. 1. + +[215] Goodman in _Biologia Centrali Americana_. From an inscription on +the back of the “Yucatec Stone” 10,731 years back to the date of an +action represented on the front of the stone from 1895. + +[216] Cyrus Thomas (_American Anthropologist_, July, 1899) says: “Here +we see the culmination of Mayan art.” There are several terraces, but +one is so large as to eclipse the others. + +[217] Viollet-le-Duc thinks these buildings and the Maya ones +originated in wooden structures. For details of construction, see +Bandelier’s _Archæological Tour in Mexico_. + +[218] For mining operations see Chap. X. + +[219] The Lenapé had arrow-heads and pipes made of copper. See Abbott’s +_Primitive Industry_. + +[220] The Amerind muscles that came into play in bow shooting were so +highly developed that a white man untrained could not half pull a bow +that a generally weaker Amerind could pull with ease. + +[221] Hoffman (_Fourteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 281) describes +similar bows found in Arizona and Nevada, three feet long, but made of +wood in a composite way. + +[222] Hough says he has often made fire in thirty seconds with the +palm-drill and in five seconds with the bow-drill.—_National Museum +Report_, 1888, p. 531. + +[223] See chapter on Customs for a quotation from Prescott describing +the festival of the new-fire. + +[224] The Iroquois rigged large pump-drills out of saplings. + +[225] Hoffman denies this, _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 279. + +[226] For modern arrow-making among the Menominee, see _Fourteenth Ann. +Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 275 _et seq._ + +[227] It is said that a blow-gun was also used by some North American +tribes. “Many of the Siouan Indians use the lance, javelin, or +spear.”—McGee, _Fifteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 171. + +[228] “Primitive American Armour,” _Report of National Museum_, 1893. + +[229] Bancroft, H. H., _Native Races_, vol. ii., p. 407. + +[230] Veytia, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., pp. 289, 290; see also page +134, this book. + +[231] Brinton, _The American Race_, p. 138. + +[232] “The Ghost-Dance Religion,” by James Mooney, _Fourteenth Ann. +Rept. Bu. Eth._; see also Chap. VI., this book. + +[233] The Utah Mormons wear an undergarment supposed to have such +resistance. The idea may have come from them. + +[234] James Mooney, “The Ghost-Dance Religion,” _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, p. 790. + +[235] See Preface pages iv. and v., and also the last chapter of this +book. + +[236] For “Medicine Arrows of the Oregon Indians,” see A. S. Gatschet, +_Journal of American Folk-Lore_, 1893. + +[237] The surface flint was in bowlders and nodules. + +[238] For a valuable account of stone implements of the +“Potomac-Chesapeake Tidewater Province,” see paper by W. H. Holmes in +_Fifteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._; also, “The Obsidian Mines of Hidalgo, +Mexico,” by the same author, _American Anthropologist_, vol. ii., No. +3, N. S. + +[239] Tylor declares that it is not possible to distinguish stone +weapons from one part of the world from those from any other part. + +[240] From the Aztec: _metlatl_. + +[241] While the Eastern Amerinds generally seem not to have known how +to melt copper, some few may have experimented in a limited way with it. + +[242] Walter Hough, “The Lamp of the Eskimo,” _Rep. Nat. Mus._, 1896, +p. 1028. + +[243] The Amerinds of Vancouver Island were said by Captain Chase to +use a lamp made of a clam shell, with oil from the whale or porpoise. +The wick was bark.—Hough, p. 1039. + +[244] See Castañeda’s narrative, Winship’s translation, _Fourteenth +Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 527; and Ternaux Compans, _Relation de +Castañeda_, p. 190, “ils ont de grands troupeaux de chiens qui portent +leur bagage; ils l’attachent sur le dos de ces animaux au moyen d’une +sangle et d’un petit bât”; also the same narrative, _Fourteenth Ann. +Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 456. + +[245] For excellent descriptions in detail of the Eskimo sledge and +methods of using it, see Boas, _Sixth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 529 _et +seq._; Murdoch, _Ninth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 353 _et seq._; and +Turner, _Eleventh Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 241 _et seq._ + +[246] Murdoch, _Ninth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 358. + +[247] O. T. Mason, “Primitive Travel,” _Rep. Nat. Mus._, p. 566; see +also p. 564; and Turner, in the _Eleventh Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 307. + +[248] See O. T. Mason, “Primitive Travel,” _Rep. Nat. Mus._, pp. +381–410; _Eleventh Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, pp. 308–312; _Ninth Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, pp. 344–352. + +[249] For details of construction see Turner, _Eleventh Ann. Rept. Bu. +Eth._, p. 305; and Hoffman, _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 292. + +[250] Baidarka is the Russian term used at Kodiak and along the Alaska +peninsula. Baidar = umiak; baidarka = kayak. + +[251] For details of kayak and umiak construction, see Murdoch, _Ninth +Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 328; Boas, _Sixth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. +527; Turner, _Eleventh Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 235; see, also, for +hunting weapons and methods, “Aboriginal American Zoötechny,” by Otis +Tufton Mason, _American Anthropologist_, N. S., vol. i., No. 1, 1899. + +[252] The Omahas made one out of dried bison hides, branches, and +saplings. + +[253] Mines of steatite vessels have been found on Santa Catalina +Island, California, as well as on the Eastern United States coast. +Charles F. Holder describes the Santa Catalina mines in the _Scientific +American_ for December 16, 1899. + +[254] W. H. Holmes, _Fifteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, pp. 108, 109. + +[255] For a description of these chultunes, see “The Chultunes of +Labna,” _Memoirs of Peabody Museum_. + +[256] Champlain’s _Voyages_, Prince Society edition, vol. ii., p. 236. + +[257] Now in the National Museum, Washington. See article on the +subject by Charles Moore, _Report of U. S. Museum_, 1895. + +[258] Frank Hamilton Cushing, “Primitive Copper Working, An +Experimental Study,” _American Anthropologist_, O. S., vol. vii., No. +1, 1894. + +[259] Fewkes found several of these bells in his excavations around the +headwaters of the Gila. + +[260] During my stay with the Mokis and in their vicinity and in all +the long time I have been observing them, I never saw nor heard of a +single object in metal wrought by them. + +[261] Brinton, _The Lenapé_, p. 52. + +[262] F. Boas, “The Kwakiutl Indians,” _Rept. Nat. Mus._, 1895, p. 344. + +[263] Washington Matthews, “Navajo Silversmiths,” _Second Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, p. 171. + +[264] The tribes of the North-west made some gold and silver ornaments, +and at Sitka to-day there is a jewelry establishment kept by a native +Tlinkit, who makes most of his own silverware. + +[265] Washington Matthews, “Navajo Silversmiths,” _Second Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, p. 172. + +[266] Prescott, _Mexico_, vol. i., p. 138. + +[267] Daniel Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_, vol. i., pp. 213–215. + +[268] _Ibid._, p. 216. + +[269] _Ibid._, p. 218. + +[270] Daniel Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_, vol. i., p. 222. + +[271] W. H. Holmes, “Ancient Art of the Province of Chiriqui,” _Sixth +Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 186. + +[272] Brinton, _The Lenapé_, p. 53. + +[273] Washington Matthews, “Navajo Weavers,” _Third Ann. Rept. Bu. +Eth._, p. 376. + +[274] Squier describes a Tyrian purple of various shades secured in +Nicaragua from the murex shellfish by a slow and tedious process; see +his _Nicaragua_, p. 286. + +[275] Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. ii., +p. 151. + +[276] Cyrus Thomas, _Sixth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 271. + +[277] Prescott, _Mexico_, vol. i., p. 111. + +[278] _Ibid._, p. 112. The intercalation of these 12½ or 13 days is +denied by Payne, _History of the New World_, vol. ii., pp. 294–316 _et +seq._, but Mrs. Zelia Nuttall and other eminent scholars are certain +they were intercalated. + +[279] Goodman, _Biologia Centrali Americana_, part viii., pp. 5, 8. + +[280] This bell is supposed, however, to have developed here from the +rattle. + +[281] The Peabody Museum contains an exhibit of forty-five whistles +made of bone, all found together in one basket. They were wrapped with +split reed and were seven to ten inches in length. + +[282] Washington Matthews, “The Basket Drum,” _American +Anthropologist_, O. S., vol. vii., No. 2, April, 1894. + +[283] A. F. Bandelier, _Archæological Tour_, p. 150. + +[284] John Comfort Fillmore, “The Harmonic Structure of Indian Music,” +_American Anthropologist_, N. S., April, 1899. See also Chas. K. Wead, +“The Study of Primitive Music,” _Am. Anthropologist_, N. S., vol. ii., +No. 1. + +[285] James Mooney, “The Ghost-Dance Religion,” _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, pp. 994, 995. + +[286] James Mooney, “The Ghost-Dance Religion,” _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, pp. 994, 995 + +[287] Murdoch says the Point Barrow Eskimo wake up in the night to +sing.—_Ninth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 388. + +[288] James Mooney, The Ghost-Dance Religion, _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, pp. 1002, 1003. + +[289] J. Walter Fewkes, _Jour. of Am. Eth._, vol. ii., p. 159. + +[290] James Mooney, _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 1008. + +[291] Stephen Powers, _Tribes of California_, pp. 211, 212. + +[292] _Eleventh Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 255. + +[293] For a description of the “Cat’s Cradle” games of the Amerinds, +see the elaborate work _String Figures_ by Caroline Furness Jayne. + +[294] Col. Richard Irving Dodge, _The Plains of the Great West_, pp. +329, 330. + +[295] _Plains of the Great West_, p. 324. + +[296] John T. Short, _The North Americans of Antiquity_. + +[297] From the Moki method of guiding shower-waters amongst the corn to +guiding waters from a brook or river in that way would not be a great +step; indeed, it would be most simple and natural and would easily be +forced by circumstances. + +[298] Cosmos Mindeleff, “Aboriginal Remains of Verde Valley,” +_Thirteenth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 238. + +[299] The term “horticulture” as employed by some writers means +agriculture on a small scale, the operations not being considered by +them extensive enough to merit the title of agriculture. + +[300] Refer to previous chapter on “Architecture and Dwellings.” + +[301] J. Walter Fewkes, “Preliminary Account of Archæological Field +Work in Arizona in 1897,” _Smithsonian Report_, 1897, p. 613. + +[302] Desiré Charnay, _Ancient Cities_, p. 36. + +[303] Bancroft, _History of the United States_, vol. i., p. 209. + +[304] Cyrus Thomas, _Twelfth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 408. + +[305] Cyrus Thomas, _Twelfth Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 408. + +[306] In New England there was once a fortification in Sanbornton, N. +H., which had walls six feet thick and breast-high, faced outside with +stone.—Winsor, _Nar. and Crit. Hist._, vol. i., p. 404. + +[307] The great Cahokia mound in Illinois is seven hundred feet by five +hundred feet on the ground. For illustration of Etowah mound see page +337. + +[308] Cyrus Thomas, _Study of North American Archæology_, p. 125. + +[309] Gerard Fowke describes in the _American Anthropologist_, N. S., +vol. ii, No. 3, “Points of difference between Norse Remains and Indian +works.” + +[310] _Ancient Cities._ + +[311] Ad. Bandelier, _Archæological Tour_, p. 233 _et seq._ + +[312] Contact with civilisation has, however, changed the average +health in many if not all tribes. + +[313] Bancroft, _History of the United States_, vol. i. + +[314] For further details of the Mexican drinks, see Charnay’s _Ancient +Cities_. + +[315] Squier, _Nicaragua_, p. 272. + +[316] Biart, _The Aztecs_, p. 290. + +[317] _The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, Mountaineer, +Scout, and Pioneer, and Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians_, p. 444. +Harper Bros., 1856. + +[318] _Ibid._, p. 445. + +[319] The council was opened by the sachem puffing smoke from the +pipe over the heads of the assembly, and then each councillor in turn +drawing at the pipe. This accomplished, business was begun. + +[320] Mrs. Erminnie A. Smith, “Myths of the Iroquois,” _Second Ann. +Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 72. + +[321] _History of the United States._ + +[322] Important announcements are made by appointed criers. + +[323] _Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth_, p. 228. + +[324] _History of the United States._ + +[325] Payne’s _History of the New World_, vol. ii., pp. 495, 499, and +501. + +[326] _Conquest of Mexico_, vol. i., p. 81. + +[327] _Conquest of Mexico_, vol. i., p. 126; see also pp. 251, 252 of +this book. + +[328] Lucien Carr, _Smithsonian Report_, 1891, p. 543; see also Payne’s +_History of the New World_, page 330. + +[329] _Ibid._ + +[330] See Fewkes, “The New-Fire Ceremony at Walpi,” _American +Anthropologist_, N. S., vol. ii., No. 1. + +[331] For details of cenoté, etc., see Desiré Charnay’s _Ancient +Cities_. + +[332] _Archæological Tour_, p. 204. + +[333] James Mooney, “The Ghost-Dance Religion,” _Fourteenth Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, p. 980. + +[334] Mrs. Erminnie Smith, “Myths of the Iroquois,” _Second Ann. Rept. +Bu. Eth._, p. 68. + +[335] _Conquest of Mexico_, vol. i., p. 121. + +[336] James Mooney, “Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees,” _Seventh Ann. +Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 328. + +[337] “Our materia medica owes tobacco, gum copal, liquid amber, +sarsaparilla, resin of tecamaca, jalap, and huaca to the Aztecs.”—L. +Biart, _The Aztecs_, p. 285. + +[338] D. G. Brinton, _The American Race_, p. 82. + +[339] _League of the Iroquois_, p. 55. + +[340] _Ibid._, pp. 330–333. + +[341] Brinton, _The American Race_, p. 77. + +[342] These ceremonials often introduce historical matters. I was +surprised once to hear the song change to one of our Sunday-school +hymns. This portion of the ceremony was describing the establishment of +a Presbyterian mission at Keam’s Canyon years before. + +[343] See J. Walter Fewkes, _Journal of American Ethnology_, for a +description of some of the Moki ceremonials and other papers by the +same author. + +[344] In some of the pueblos there is a constant inter-killing going on +for supposed evil practices of witchcraft (Bandelier _Report_, part i., +p. 35), but whether this has any connection with the secret orders, I +do not know. + +[345] For information on these and other social points see the various +writings of J. W. Powell. + +[346] The clan totem is probably an expansion of the individual totem +by increase. + +[347] See pp. 162, 164, 241, this book, for illustrations of totem +poles. + +[348] Dr. H. C. Yarrow, “Mortuary Customs,” _First Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[349] The head-stones of these graves were this shape, [symbol] and +a portion in some cases protruded above the ground when I was there. +The ground was very sandy. The stones were natural slabs, about 1½ in. +thick. + +[350] Stansbury, in his _Report_, describes graphically a “death lodge” +he found, but, unfortunately, space is lacking to reprint it here. + +It is important in studying burial customs of the Amerinds to remember +that all members of a tribe were not necessarily disposed of in the +same way. Cabeza de Vaca mentions that “sometimes common members of a +tribe were buried while medicine men were burned.” + +[351] See p. 46, this book. + +[352] D. G. Brinton, _The Lenapé and their Legends_, pp. 158, 164. + +[353] “The spirit of any plant, any star, or other personage in +creation may become a man’s attendant. In our popular phraseology this +is called his medicine.”—Jeremiah Curtin, _Creation Myths_, p. 29. + +[354] See “The Lessons of Folklore,” J. W. Powell, _American +Anthropologist_, vol. ii., No. 1, N. S., January, 1900. + +[355] Jeremiah Curtin, _Creation Myths of Primitive America_, p. 499. + +[356] Bandelier, _Archæological Tour_, p. 180. + +[357] _Ibid._, p. 193. See p. 170 _et seq._ for his whole discussion of +Quetzalcohuatl. See also the “Book of Quetzalcohuatl.” Payne, _History +of the New World_, II., p. 435 _et seq._ + +[358] _American Hero Myths_, p. 64 _et seq._ + +[359] A. S. Gatschet, “An Indian Visit to Jack Wilson, the Payute +Messiah,” _Journal of American Folk-Lore_. + +[360] _American Hero Myths_, p. 147. + +[361] Payne accepts the Amazon stories as true. _History of the New +World_, vol. ii., p. 11. + +[362] For some Amerind legends delightfully related, see _Blackfoot +Lodge Tales_, and other books, by George Bird Grinnell. + +[363] _Native Races_, vol. i., p. 129. + +[364] _League of the Iroquois_, p. 43. + +[365] Brinton, _The Lenapé_, p. 15. + +[366] _History of the American Indians_, p. 282. + +[367] See Macmillan’s _Dictionary of Architecture_; pronounced +_kee-vah_. + +[368] _First Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 59. + +[369] See Macmillan’s _Dictionary of Architecture_. + +[370] Parkman mentions Beckwourth in the _Oregon Trail_, p. 124, as “a +mongrel of French, American, and Indian blood.... He is a ruffian of +the worst stamp, bloody and treacherous, without honour or honesty”; +but other writers seem to give him a better character. + +[371] Beckwourth, _Life and Adventures_, first ed., pp. 227, 228. + +[372] Brinton, _The Lenapé_, p. 47. + +[373] _The American Race_, p. 46. + +[374] Morgan, _Houses and House Life_, p. 8. “In the ancient gens +descent was limited to the female line.” _Ibid._, p. 5. + +[375] _Ancient Society_, p. 69. + +[376] _American Anthropologist_, N. S., vol i., No. 4, October, 1899, +p. 710. + +[377] _Ancient Society_, p. 71, and _Houses and House-Life_, p. 7. + +[378] Powell, _First Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._, p. 61. + +[379] Originally _Häyowenthä_ in the Mohawk. He and _Däganowédä_ are +usually considered mythical personages. + +[380] _The American Race_, p. 130. + +[381] Payne, as before noted, says “a military despotism.” + +[382] _Archæological Tour_, p. 31, and footnote, p. 31. + +[383] _Conquest of Mexico_, vol. i., p. 23. + +[384] _Ancient Society_, pp. 71, 72. + +[385] _Houses and House-Life_, p. 28. + +[386] See the Preface of this book, and also Payne’s _History of the +New World_, vol. ii., which, unfortunately, the author did not have the +benefit of seeing till after this book was written. + +[387] In this connection see “Archæology of the Thompson River Region, +British Columbia,” by Harlan I. Smith, _Memoirs of the American +Museum_, vol. ii., May, 1900. The Eskimo probably entered Alaska along +the coast from the east. + +[388] It is of course possible that some infusion of blood occurred in +this manner, but it is not likely that it was ever sufficient to tinge +a whole stock. + +[389] “This uniformity finds one of its explanations in the +geographical features of the continent, which are such as to favour +migrations in longitude, and thus prevent the diversity which special +conditions of latitude tend to produce.”—Brinton, _American Race_, p. +41. + +[390] See also “On the Peopling of America,” by August R. Grote, +_Bulletin Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences_, February 2, 1877. + +[391] The tinge of resemblance between certain Amerind stocks and +foreign stocks endures from the pre-glacial period, then, when +intercourse was on different lines, and does not indicate any +latter-day relationship. + +[392] These tools might easily be quite as good as many found on the +surface to-day, and it would be difficult to distinguish them from at +least the ruder forms of modern implements. + +[393] W. H. Holmes, “Preliminary Revision of the Evidence Relating +to Auriferous Gravel Man in California,” _American Anthropologist_, +October, 1899. + +[394] An elevation of the ocean bottom in the Atlantic tropical regions +would probably disturb the existing climate of the North Atlantic +regions by deflecting the warm currents. + +[395] See _A Naturalist in Nicaragua_, by Thomas Belt, Chap. XIV. + +[396] Payne believes that by this lowering of the waters combined with +land elevation, a Miocene land passage was formed leading from Asia to +the North-west coast and that the American continent was then peopled +by this route. + +[397] See also, “Man and the Glacial Period in America,” Payne’s +_History of the New World_, vol. ii., p. 62 _et seq._, and discussion +of the effects of glaciation, _ibid._, p. 348. + +[398] “When first met with the Navajos occupied the same range of +country they now inhabit.”—Bandelier, _Report_, part i., p. 175. + +[399] _National Geographical Magazine_, December 1, 1899, p. 509. + +[400] “That there was a primitive empire ... seems to some minds +confirmed by other evidences than the story of Votan ... and out of +this empire ... have come, as such believers say, after its downfall, +somewhere near the Christian era, and by divergence, the great stocks +of people called Maya, etc.”—Winsor, _Nar. and Crit. Hist._, vol. i., +p. 134. + +[401] _League of the Iroquois._ + +[402] For information on the Amerindian wars, their efforts to preserve +their territory, etc., see Bancroft’s _History of the United States_; +Winsor’s _Narrative and Critical History of the United States_; +Winsor’s other works; Parkman, John Fiske; and numerous other books to +be found in any good library. + +[403] _Harper’s Magazine_, March, 1899, p. 649. + +[404] “The True Route of Coronado’s March,” _Bulletin of American +Geographical Society_, December, 1897. + +[405] _Life and Adventures_, p. 438. + +[406] Bering found no inhabitants on the Aleutian islands and his visit +of discovery was recent—1741. + +[407] The thanks of the author are due to Prof. Otis Tufton Mason, of +the United States National Museum, for kindly reviewing this appendix +in proof. Prof. Mason writes, “Your work has my approval and it is well +done.” + +[408] See map, page 33 this book, and also the original of it in the +_Seventh Ann. Rept. Bu. Eth._ + +[409] See “The True Route of Coronado’s March,” by F. S. Dellenbaugh, +in the _Bulletin of the American Geographical Society_, December, 1897. + + + + + By F. S. DELLENBAUGH + +The North-Americans of Yesterday + + A Comparative Study of North-American Indian Life, Customs, and + Products, on the Theory of the Ethnic Unity of the Race. 8ᵒ. + Fully illustrated net, $4.00 + +The Romance of the Colorado River + + A Complete Account of the Discovery and of the Explorations from + 1540 to the Present Time, with Particular Reference to the Two + Voyages of Powell through the Line of the Great Canyons. + + 8ᵒ. Third Edition Revised. Fully illustrated net, $3.50 + +Breaking the Wilderness + + The Story of the Conquest of the Far West, from the Wanderings of + Cabeza de Vaca to the First Descent of the Colorado by Powell, + and the Completion of the Union Pacific Railway, with Particuvlar + Account of the Exploits of Trappers and Traders. + + 8ᵒ. Fully illustrated net, $3.50 + +A Canyon Voyage + + The Narrative of the Second Powell Expedition down the + Green-Colorado River from Wyoming, and the Explorations on Land + in the Years 1871 and 1872. + + 8ᵒ. Fully illustrated net, $3.50 + + G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS + NEW YORK LONDON + + + Breaking the Wilderness + +_The story of the Conquest of the Far West, from the Wanderings of +Cabeza de Vaca to the first Descent of the Colorado by Powell, and the +Completion of the Union Pacific Railway. With particular account of the +exploits of trappers and traders._ + + By +Frederick S. Dellenbaugh+ + _With about 146 illustrations. 8ᵒ, net $3.50._ + +“Mr. Dellenbaugh has performed here an excellent and valuable service +in collecting a vast array of heretofore disconnected accounts of a +fascinating and wonderful region of land still fraught with mystery +and rich in glorious possibilities. 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In the _Romance of the Colorado_, Mr. +Dellenbaugh gave a brief description of this expedition in order to +make his history of the remarkable river complete, but now feeling +the desirability of a fuller record in the interest of Western United +States history, he tells, in _A Canyon Voyage_, the whole experience. + + _SEND FOR ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTIVE CIRCULAR_ + G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS + New York London + + + _The_ Romance _of the_ + Colorado River : : : + +_A Complete Account of the Discovery and of the Explorations from 1540 +to the Present Time, with Particular Reference to the two Voyages of +Powell through the Line of the Great Canyons_ + +By +Frederick S. Dellenbaugh+ + +_8ᵒ, with 200 Illustrations, net, $3.50. By mail, $3.75_ + + +“As graphic and as interesting as a novel.... Of especial value to the +average reader is the multiplicity of pictures. They occur on almost +every page, and while the text is always clear, these pictures give, +from a single glance, an idea of the vastness of the canyons and their +remarkable formation, which it would be beyond the power of pen to +describe. And the color reproduction of the water-color drawing that +Thomas Moran made of the entrance to Bright Angel Trail gives some +faint idea of the glories of color which have made the Grand Canyon the +wonder and the admiration of the world.”—_The Cleveland Leader._ + +“His scientific training, his long experience in this region, and his +eye for natural scenery enable him to make this account of the Colorado +River most graphic and interesting. No other book equally good can be +written for many years to come—not until our knowledge of the river is +greatly enlarged.”—_The Boston Herald._ + + _SEND FOR ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTIVE CIRCULAR_ + G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS + New York London + + + + + Transcriber’s Notes: + + • Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + • Text enclosed by equals is in bold (=bold=). + • Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. + • Since image attributions are given in the List of Illustrations, + they are not provided for each image. + • Image size and internal details are removed in the text version. + • Front advertisement was moved to the back. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76978 *** |