first, over large areas.
THE ATHABASKANS.
The geographical distribution of the Athabaskans should be studied
along with that of the Eskimo; since, like this last, it has an
east-and-west, or (if the expression may be allowed) a horizontal
extension. It has, however, an extension from north to south, or what
may be called a _vertical_ one as well. As a general rule, the southern
limit of the Eskimo is the northern limit of the Athabaskan area.
ATHABASKANS.
_Area._--Discontinuous.
_Divisions._--Northern and southern.
NORTHERN ATHABASKANS.
_Conterminous_ with the Algonkins on the south-east, the
Shushwap on the south-west, the Kolúches and Hailtsa west, and
the Eskimos north.
_Area._--From Hudson's Bay to about 100 miles from the Pacific
in 50° 30´ N.L.; on the Misinissi (Churchill) Peace, Fish, and
M'Kenzie's Rivers; on the _Athabaska_, Slave and Bear Lakes; on
the northern portion of the Rocky Mountains, and on each side
of them.
_Political Relations._--Hudson's Bay Company--Russia(?).
_Divisions (according to Mr. Isbister)._--1. The Chippewyans
Proper. 2. The Beaver Indians. 3. The Daho-dinnis. 4. The
Strong Bows. 5. The Hare Indians. 6. The Dog-ribs. 7. The
Yellow Knives. 8. The Carriers.
_The Chippewyans Proper._--From Hudson's Bay to the Lake Athabaska;
speaking a harsh and meagre dialect, and calling themselves
_See-eessaw-dinneh_=_Rising Sun Men_. These were the first Athabaskans
known to Europeans. The name _Chippewyan_ is probably misapplied; at
any rate, the _See-eessaw-dinneh_ are a different people from the
Chippeways or Ojibbways. In even the early Chippewyan vocabularies of
Dobbs and M'Kenzie there is a sufficiency of Eskimo words to throw
suspicion over the current doctrine as to the great breadth of the line
of demarcation between the Athabaskans and Eskimos.
_The Beaver Indians._--The valley of the Peace River, from the Lake
Athabaska to the Rocky Mountains. Their dialect is the softest and most
copious of the Athabaskan tongues. It is also most mixed with words
from the Cree dialect of the Algonkin.
_The Daho-dinnis._--Called from their warlike disposition the Mauvais
Monde, and inhabiting the head-water of the Rivière-aux-liards.
_The Strong Bows._--Mountaineers of their upper part of the Rocky
Mountains; slightly differing in dialect from the Daho-dinnis, and
still more slightly from the--
_Hare_, or _Slave Indians_.--Occupants of the valley of the River
M'Kenzie, from Slave Lake to Great Bear Lake. These extend to the
Arctic Circle, and consequently, along with the Dog-ribs, are the most
northern of the Athabaskans. "Their condition is the most wretched and
deplorable that can be imagined. Cannibalism, almost justified by the
extreme necessity of the case, exists to a frightful extent. It is but
just, however, to say, that this practice is looked upon with horror
by the tribe generally; and many, rather than resort to this dreadful
expedient, put an end to their own lives. Instances have been known of
parents destroying their own families, and afterwards themselves, to
avoid this fatal alternative.
"They are almost entirely clothed in the skins of rabbits, tagged
together after the rudest fashion with the ends of sinew; hence the
name of _Hare Indians_ applied to the tribe. They have neither tents
nor huts of any kind, living all the year round in the open air. As
might be expected, they are a puny and stunted race, and are rapidly
decreasing in numbers, and must soon disappear altogether."
_The Dog-ribs._--Due-east of the Hare Indians.--"They live upon the
rein-deer, which frequent their lands in great numbers, following the
migrations of these animals as closely as if they formed part and
parcel of the herd. They are almost entirely independent of the whites,
and present a marked contrast with their neighbours of the Hare Tribe.
They are well-clothed in the skins of the rein-deer, and have all the
elements of comfort and Indian prosperity within their reach. They are
a healthy, vigorous, but not very active race, of a mild and peaceful
disposition, but very low in the mental scale, and apparently of very
inferior capacity. There is no reason to think that they are decreasing
in numbers. They receive the name of the Dog-ribs, from a tradition
that they are descended from the dog."
_The Yellow Knives._--Called also the Copper Indians, from occupying,
like the Dog-ribs, a portion of the river so called.
_The Carriers, Tahkali, or Taculli._--These occupy the greater portion
of New Caledonia, and, of all the Athabaskans, they are those that are
best known. They are divided into "eleven clans, or minor tribes, whose
names are, beginning at the south, as follows:--(1) the _Taūtin_, or
_Talkótin_; (2) the _Tsilkótin_, or _Chiltokin_; (3) the _Naskótin_;
(4) the _Thetliótin_; (5) the _Tsatsnótin_; (6) the _Nulaáutin_; (7)
the _Ntshaáutin_; (8) the _Natliáutin_; (9) the _Nikozliáutin_; (10)
the _Tatshiáutin_; and (11) the _Babine_ Indians. The number of persons
in these clans varies from fifty to three hundred. All speak the same
language, with some slight dialectical variations. The _Sikani_ (or
_Secunnie_) nation has a language radically the same, but with greater
difference of dialect, passing gradually into that of the _Beaver_ and
_Chippewyan_ Indians.
"The _Tahkali_, though a branch of the great _Chippewyan_ (or
_Athabascan_) stock, have several peculiarities in their customs and
character which distinguish them from other members of that family. In
personal appearance they resemble the tribes on the Upper Columbia,
though, on the whole, a better-looking race. They are rather tall, with
a tendency to grossness in their features and figures, particularly
among the women. They are somewhat lighter in complexion than the
tribes of the south.
"Like all Indians, who live principally upon fish, and who do not
acquire the habits of activity proper to the hunting tribes, they
are excessively indolent and filthy, and, as a natural concomitant,
base and depraved in character. They are fond of unctuous substances,
and drink immense quantities of oil, which they obtain from fish and
wild animals. They also besmear their bodies with grease and coloured
earths. They like their meat putrid, and often leave it until the
stench is, to any but themselves, insupportable. Salmon roes are
sometimes buried in the earth and left for two or three months to
putrefy, in which state they are esteemed a delicacy.
"The natives are prone to sensuality, and chastity among the women is
unknown. At the same time, they seem to be almost devoid of natural
affection. Children are considered by them a burden, and they often
use means to destroy them before birth. Their religious ideas are
very gross and confused. It is not known that they have any distinct
ideas of a God, or of the existence of the soul. They have priests,
or doctors, whose art consists in certain mummeries, intended for
incantations. When a corpse is burned, which is the ordinary mode
of disposing of the dead, the priest, with many gesticulations and
contortions, pretends to receive in his closed hands something, perhaps
the life of the deceased, which he communicates to some living person,
by throwing his hands towards him, and at the same time blowing upon
him. This person then takes the rank of the deceased, and assumes his
name in addition to his own. Of course the priest always understands to
whom this succession is properly due.
"If the deceased had a wife, she is all but burned alive with the
corpse, being compelled to lie upon it while the fire is lighted, and
remain thus till the heat becomes beyond endurance. In former times,
when she attempted to break away, she was pushed back into the flames
by the relations of her husband, and thus often severely injured. When
the corpse is consumed, she collects the ashes and deposits them in a
little basket, which she always carries about with her. At the same
time she becomes the servant and drudge of the relations of her late
husband, who exact of her the severest labour, and treat her with every
indignity. This lasts for two or three years, at the end of which
time a feast is made by all the kindred; and a broad post, fifteen or
twenty feet high, is set up, and covered on the sides with rude daubs,
representing figures of men and animals of various kinds. On the top is
a box in which the ashes of the dead are placed, and allowed to remain
until the post decays. After this ceremony the widow is released from
her state of servitude, and allowed to marry again. The Carriers are
not a warlike people, though they sometimes have quarrels with their
neighbours, particularly the tribes of the coast. But these are usually
appeased without much difficulty."[107]
_The Tsikanni_, or _Sikani_.--The evidence that these are Athabaskan is
taken exclusively from their language. In the United States Exploring
Expedition, the same sentence which speaks to the similarity of tongue,
speaks also to the difference of manners and customs.--
"The _Sikani_, though speaking a language of the same family, differ
widely from the _Tahkali_ in their character and customs. They live
a wandering life, and subsist by the chase. They are a brave, hardy,
and active people, cleanly in their persons and habits, and in general
agreeing nearly with the usual idea of an American Indian. They bury
their dead, and have none of the customs of the _Tahkali_ with respect
to them."
A tabulated vocabulary of Mr. Howse, publishing by the Philological
Society, is further evidence to the Athabaskan character of the
Tsikanni language.
_The Sussees_, or _Sarsees_.--On the head-waters of the Saskatchewan.
It is not certain that the previous list is exhaustive of the northern
Athabaskans. In Gallatin's enumeration we have, besides those
enumerated--
1. The Northern Indians on Hudson's Bay.--As these are mentioned in
addition to the Chippewyans Proper, it is fair to suppose that they
constitute a variety under that division.
2. The Birch-rind Indians, living near the Slave Lake, and probably
most closely akin to the Hare Indians.
3. The Thickwood Hunters.
4. The Sheep Indians.
5. The Brushwood Indians.
6. The Nauscud-dennies of M'Kenzie's River.
7. The Slaoucud-dennies of M'Kenzie's River.
8. The Naotetains to the west of Tacullis.
9. The Nagail, or Chin Indians; are probably Tacullis under another
name.
In the Athabaskan language, _dinne_=_man_; so that we now understand
the prevalence of that termination.
The _Chippewyans Proper_ are called Saweesaw-_dinneh_.
The _Birch-rind_ Indians are called Tan-_tsawhot-dinneh_.
The _Dog-ribs_ are called Thlingeha-_dinneh_.
On the other hand, the Thickwood, Sheep, and Brushwood Indians
are called Edch-_tawoot_, Ambah-_tawoot_, and Tsillaw-_awdoot_,
respectively; whilst the Hare Indians are called _Kancho_.
Lastly, it should be added that, although Mr. Isbister makes the
Nehannies Kolúch, Gallatin places them amongst the Athabaskans. A
vocabulary of their language would probably settle the point. Such,
however, is yet wanting.
SOUTHERN ATHABASKANS.
_Area._--A narrow strip at the mouth of the river Columbia, and
along the sea-coast to the river Umkwa.
_Divisions._--1. Kwalioqwa. 2. Tlatskanai. 3. Umkwa.
1. The Kwalioqwa, _north_ of the river Columbia, from which,
and from the Tlatskanai, they are separated by the Tshinúks.
Number, about 100.
2. The Tlatskanai, _south_ of the river Columbia, from which,
and from the Kwalioqwa, they are separated by the Tshinúks.
Number, about 100.
3. The Umkwa, occupying the upper part of the river so-called,
about lat. 43°. Number, about 400.
The first vocabulary of this section (one of the Umkwa language) was
collected by Mr. Tolmie. The notice, however, of its affinities with
the Tlatskanai and Kwalioqwa, and the more important discovery of
its Athabaskan character, is one of many valuable additions made to
Ethnographical Philology by Mr. Hales. I consider, for my own part,
that the following table[108] justifies his classification.
ENGLISH. CHIPPEWYAN. TLATSKANAI. UMKWA.
_Man_ dinnie khanane titsun.
_Woman_ chequois tse_u_keia ekhe.
_Father_ _yi_tah (_my_) mama stanli.
_Mother_ _yi_nah (_my_) naa _u_nla.
_Son_ _yi_ayay (_my_) sik_u_te-teints_u_ n_u_sla shashai.
_Daughter_ _yi_lengai (_my_) slk_u_-ts_u_kaisla éte.
_Head_ edthie _khu_st_u_ma s_u_gha.
_Hair_ thiegah _kho_ts_u_sea zugha.
_Ear_ " _kho_tskhe tshigha.
_Eye_ nackhay _kho_nakhai naghe.
_Nose_ " _kho_ints_u_s mintshesh.
_Mouth_ " _kho_kwaitshaále ta.
_Tongue_ edthu _kho_tshutkhltshikhltsaha lásom.
_Tooth_ goo (_pl_) _kho_tsiakatatkhltsin uo.
_Hand_ law _kho_láa _sh_láa.
_Fingers_ " _tkh_lakhakhatesa schlatsune.
_Feet_ cuh (_sing._) _kho_akhastls_u_kai shke.
_Blood_ dell tutkhl shtule.
_House_ cooen k_un_t_u_kh ma.
_Axe_ thylne katst_u_n sen_u_tl.
_Knife_ bess tekhe natlmi.
_Shoes_ kinchee ke khe.
_Sky_ " ià ishtshi.
_Sun_ sah ta_u_se sha.
_Moon_ sah ta_u_se ighaltshi.
_Star_ " " khatlatshe.
_Day_ " khautkhlkante shaitltiti.
_Night_ " kleak_u_t kh_u_tli.
_Fire_ counn tkhlkane khong.
_Water_ tone to tkho.
_Rain_ thinnelsee natkakh natkhlhika.
_Snow_ yath yakhs tatkhliyitkhl.
_Earth_ " neé nanee.
_River_ tesse taseke khanee.
_Stone_ thaih tshetse seh.
_Tree_ " t_u_k_u_n sintshunata.
_Meat_ bid ts_u_ts_u_n isung.
_Dog_ sliengh tkhlin tkhli.
_Beaver_ yah " sha.
_Bear_ yass t_u_ls_u_n_u_ shtetkhlshu
(black).
_Bird_ " tsheuse naake.
_Great_ unshaw wane mintshaghe.
_Cold_ edyah kwatsakh_u_towa skais.
_White_ " itesina hal_u_kai.
_Black_ dellzin tkhls_u_ne h_u_ldji.
_Red_ delicouse tkhltsohwe t_u_tkhl.
_I_ ne sik shi.
_Thou_ nee nann_u_k na.
_He_ " ian_u_k hatake.
_One_ slachy tkhlie aitkhla.
_Two_ naghur nat_u_ke nakh_u_k.
_Three_ taghy tage tak.
_Four_ dengky t_u_ntshe t_u_ntshik.
_Five_ sasoulachee ts_u_kwalae shwullak.
_Six_ alkitarhyy kw_u_stanahe w_u_sthane.
_Seven_ " shostshita hoitahi.
_Eight_ olkideinghy tshanivaha nakanti.
_Nine_ cakinahanothna tkhleweet aitkhlanti.
_Ten_ canothna kwunéshin kwuneza.
We now come to a series of languages which, like the Kolúch, and unlike
the Athabaskan and Eskimo, have no great extension from west to east,
and which are spoken on the _western_ side of Rocky Mountains only.
Hence we get a great geographical line of demarcation; whilst the
river systems with which we deal are those of Frazer's River and the
Columbia, rather than of the Peace, the M'Kenzie, the Saskatchewan, and
the Missinissi rivers.
West of the Rocky Mountains, the ethnological affinities run from north
to south (or _vertically_) until we reach the area of the great Paduca
family; one, in respect to its direction and distribution, of the most
remarkable in America.
The ethnology of the parts between the Pacific, the Rocky Mountains,
the Northern Athabaskan, and the Paduca area, is very nearly the
ethnology of Oregon. Here we find two great families; and by their
sides four or five isolated, or nearly isolated, languages, a
phenomenon for which we are now prepared.
The first of the great divisions is one that is conveniently called--
THE TSIHAILI.
_Synonym._--Tsihaili-Selish. _Hales._
_Area._--Discontinuous. Chiefly the lower part of Fraser's
River, and the parts between that and the Columbia.
_Divisions._--1. Tribes to the north of the Columbia,
continuous. 2. Tribes to the south of the Columbia, either
wholly or nearly isolated.
_Sub-divisions._--Value of the classification unascertained.
_a._ Continuous Tsihaili. 1. Shushwap. 2. Salish. 3.
Skitsuish. 4. Piskwaus. 5. Kawitchen. 6. Skwali. 7. Checheeli.
8. Kowelits. 9. Noosdalum.
_b._ Isolated, or nearly isolated, Tsihaili.--The Nsietshawus,
or Killamucks(?).
_Conterminous_, with the _a._ Hailtsa, _b._ Nass, _c._
Athabaskan Taculli and Tsikunni on the north; _d._ Kitunaha,
on the east; _e._ Sahaptin; _f._ Tshinúk on the south.
The isolated Tsihaili surrounded by Tshinúks, Tlatskanai
(discontinous Athabaskans) and Jakons.
The _Shushwap_, or _Atnahs_, are the northernmost of the Tsihaili,
and are conterminous with the Taculli. Their number, according to Mr.
Hales, is about 1200, increased from 400.
_The Salish._--The Salish language falls into three dialects; those of
_a_, the Kullelspelm or Ponderays (Pend' oreilles), _b_, the Spokan,
improperly called Flat-heads (since they have no such habit as the one
suggested by the name), and _c_, the Okanagan.
A fair sample of the Salish traditions is the following. A ceremony
called by them (the Salish) _Sumash_, "deserves notice for the
strangeness of the idea on which it is founded. They regard the
spirit of a man as distinct from the living principle, and hold that
it may be separated for a short time from the body without causing
death, or without the individual being conscious of the loss. It is
necessary, however, in order to prevent fatal consequences, that the
lost spirit should be found and restored as quickly as possible. The
conjuror, or medicineman, learns, in a dream, the name of the person
who has suffered this loss. Generally there are several at the same
time in this condition. He then informs the unhappy individuals, who
immediately employ him to recover their wandering souls. During the
next night they go about the village from one lodge to another singing
and dancing. Towards morning they enter a separate lodge, which is
closed up, so as to be perfectly dark; a small hole is then made in the
roof, through which the conjuror, with a bunch of feathers, brushes in
the spirits in the shape of small bits of bone, and similar substances,
which he receives on a piece of matting. A fire is then lighted, and
the conjuror proceeds to select out from the spirits such as belong
to persons already deceased, of which there are usually several;
and should one of them be assigned by mistake to a living person he
would instantly die. He next selects the particular spirit belonging
to each person, and causing all the men to sit down before him, he
takes the spirit of one (_i.e._, the splinter of bone, shell, or wood,
representing it), and placing it on the owner's head, pats it, with
many contortions and invocations, till it descends into the heart and
resumes its proper place. When all are thus restored the whole party
unite in making a contribution of food, out of which a public feast is
given, and the remainder becomes the perquisite of the conjuror.
"Like the _Sahaptin_, the _Salish_ have many childish traditions
connected with the most remarkable natural features of the country, in
which the prairie-wolf generally bears a conspicuous part. What could
have induced them to confer the honours of divinity upon this animal
cannot be imagined; they do not, however, regard the wolf as an object
of worship, but merely suppose that in former times it was endowed
with preternatural powers, which it exerted after a very whimsical and
capricious fashion. Thus, on one occasion, being desirous of a wife (a
common circumstance with him), the wolf, or the divinity so called,
visited a tribe on the Spokan River and demanded a young woman in
marriage. His request being granted, he promised that thereafter the
salmon should be abundant with them, and he created the rapids which
give them facilities for taking the fish. Proceeding further up, he
made of each tribe on his way the same request, attended with a like
result; at length he arrived at the territory of the Skitsuish (_Cœur
d'alène_); they refused to comply with his demand, and he therefore
called into existence the great falls of the Spokan, which prevent the
fish from ascending to their country."[109]
In the Salish tribes we have the best sample of a true _inland Oregon_
family, a section of the American Indians distinguished by certain
negative as well as positive characters which require notice.
_a._ As contrasted with the Indians to the north of them they have a
milder climate, are south of the true fur-bearing countries, and below
the line of the rein-deer.
_b._ From the islanders and coast tribes of the Pacific they are
distinguished by the necessary absence of maritime habits, and a diet
consisting to a great extent of sea fish.
_c._ To the families on the east of the Rocky Mountains they stand in
the remarkable opposition of being imperfect agriculturists rather
than hunters. In other words, in getting beyond the range of the Rocky
Mountains we get beyond the country of the prairie and the localities
of the buffalo; as a set-off to which, although the botany of the
Oregon is at present but imperfectly known, the whole district is
described as being preeminently productive of edible _roots_; not,
however, in respect to the number of individuals (for the land is
poor), but in respect to the variety of their species.
Oregon, then, at least in its central parts, is the area of an
undeveloped agriculture; and (probably like other tribes besides)
the Salish look to the returning seasons not, as in Siberia, Arctic
America, and the parts to the east of the Rocky Mountains, with a view
to the migrations of the buffalo and the rein-deer, but with respect
to the production of their successive vegetable esculents; added to
which their river-system gives them, in its season, a supply of fish.
Upon this point, even if external evidence were wanting, we might find
proof in the Salish names of the seasons (with which the Piskwaus
agree), a list which gives us in the months of the _camass-root_ and
the _exhausted salmon_ the extreme seasons of want and plenty.
MEANING IN
PISKWAUS. SALISH. ENGLISH. ENGLISH MONTH.
Skwusús Siistikwo ---- December and Jan.
Skiniramun Skwusus _cold_ January and Feb.
Skuputskiltin Skiniramun _a certain herb_ February & March.
Skasulku Skaputru _snow gone_ March and April.
Katsosumptun Spatlom _bitter-root_ April and May.
Stsaok Stagamawus _going to root-ground_ May and June.
Kupukkalotltin Ittlwa _camass-root_ June and July.
Silump Saanttllkwo _hot_ July and August.
Tshepomtum Silamp _gathering berries_ August and Sept.
Parpattllitlen Skilues _exhausted salmon_ September and Oct.
Skaai Skaai _dry_ October and Nov.
Siistkwu Keshmakwaln _snow_ November and Dec.
_The Piskwaus._--"On the main Columbia, between the Salish proper,
and the Wallawallahs below Fort Okanagan. A miserable, beggarly
people, great thieves. Their country very poor in game and
roots."--_Transactions of the American Ethnological Society_, p. 13.
_The Skitsuish._--_Cœur d'alène._--"About 400 souls live on the lake
of that name above the falls of the Spokan, have no salmon, raise
potatoes, and have a tendency to cultivate."--_Transactions of the
American Ethnological Society_, p. 13.
_The Kawichen_, _Skwali_, _Checheeli_, _Kowelits_, _Kwaintl_,
_Kwenawitl_ and _Núsdalum_.--The exact relations of these tribes
to each other, as well as their position in the Tsihaili family, is
unascertained.
Geographically they agree in forming the south-western division of the
stock, and in occupying the peninsula (or _acté_) between the mouth of
the Columbia, Puget's Sound, and Cape Flattery; where, in the latter
locality, they are in contact with the Wakash Klassets and Klallems,
and, in the former, with the Tshinúks.
Philologically the Atna, as tested by the first known vocabulary of the
language, a short one of M'Kenzie's, is closely allied to the Núsdalum.
But, then, on the other hand the Núsdalum, Kawichen and Skwali (or
Squallyarnish) are by no means so like each other as are the two
vocabularies first mentioned.
Again, Dr. Scouler gives reasons against disconnecting this branch of
the Tsihaili from the Wakash dialects of Quadra and Vancouver's Island,
with which he shows that they have at least the following words in
common.
ENGLISH. CHEKEELI. WAKASH.
_Plenty_ haya aya.
_No_ wake wik.
_Water_ chuck tchaak.
_Good_ closh hooleish.
_Bad_ peshak peishakeis.
_Man_ tillicham tchuckoop.
_Woman_ cloochamen tlootsemin.
_Child_ tanass tannassis.
_Now_ clahowiah tlahowieh.
_Come_ sacko tchooqua.
_Slave_ mischemas mischemas.
_What are you doing?_ ekta mammok akoots-ka-mamok.
_What are you saying?_ ekta-wawa au-kaak-wawa. .
_Let me see_ nannanitch nannanitch.
_Sun_ ootlach opeth.
_Sky_ saya sieya.
_Fruit_ camas chamas.
_To sell_ makok makok.
_Understand_ commatax commatax.
For the particular dialect spoken by another Tsihaili tribe, and placed
by Dr. Scouler in the present section, we have no vocabulary, viz.: the
Commagsheak in the northern part of the Gulf of Georgia.
ISOLATED (_or nearly Isolated_) TSIHAILI.(?)
_The Nsietshawuss._--Occupants of the sea-coasts to the south
of the Columbia. Numbers in 1840 about 700. Conterminous
with the Tshinúks, on the north, the Jakon on the south, and
the Tlatskanai on the east.--_Appearance and manners of the
Tshinúks._
_Synonym._--Killamuk.
The elements of doubt denoted by the note of interrogation(?) consist
in the discrepancy between the evidence of the Killamuk language, and
the evidence of the Killamuk physiognomy; the former being Tsihaili,
the latter Tshinúk. Hence, whilst Mr. Hales makes them the former, Dr.
Scouler classes them with the latter.
Now comes a small family, falling into no minor divisions, and spread
over an area of but third-rate magnitude.
THE KÚTANIS (KITUNAHA).
_Synonym._--Flat-bows.
_Locality._--Banks of the Kútani River, one of the feeders of
the Columbia.
_Conterminous._--with the Blackfoots, Ponderay, Salish,
Shushwap, and Carrier Athabaskans.
The Kútanis are described by Simpson as undersized, irregularly fed,
poor, and squalid; the women being plainer than the men. Irregularly
fed upon fish and venison, they dig up the kammas and mash it into a
pulp. This, in times of unusual scarcity, they flavour with a sort
of moss or lichen collected from the trees. On the other hand they
are sharp-sighted in making bargains, prudent enough to be the best
economisers in their district of the fur-animals, steady in their
fidelity to the whites, and so brave, under attacks, as to hold their
own against the powerful Blackfoots of the eastern side of the Rocky
Mountains.
According to Mr. Hales their numbers are about 400; they are great
hunters, furnishing much peltry, and in appearance and character
resembling the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains rather than those of
the Oregon.
These accounts agree; whilst the evidence of language as known from the
vocabularies of the American Exploring Expedition, and a MS. vocabulary
of Mr. Howse's disconnect them from the tribes around them.
In physical appearance they are _contrasted_ by Simpson with the Salish
Ponderays. These last struck him with the stateliness of their manners;
and so much did they show to advantage, that he considered them as the
finest-looking men he had seen, next to the Indians of the plains.
CHINÚKS (TSHINÚK).
_Locality._--Mouth of the Columbia.
_Divisions._--1. Chinúks Proper, on the southern bank of the
Columbia, at its mouth. 2. Klatsops, at Point Adams, south of
the Chinúks. 3. Kathlamut, on the south bank of the Columbia,
above the Chinúks. 4. Wakáikam. 5. Watlala, or Upper Chinúk,
farthest up the river. 6. Nihaloitih.
_Physical Appearance._--"The personal appearances of the
Chinook differs so much from that of the aboriginal tribes of
the United States, that it was difficult at first to recognise
the affinity. Taking them collectively, they are even inferior
in stature to the tribes of Interior Oregon; the general form
is shorter and more squat, and the face is rounder and broader
when viewed in front. Instances occurred of a fairness of
complexion, which I have not seen in other parts of aboriginal
America; and in young children, the colour was often not
strikingly deeper than among Europeans.
"The oblique eye I have scarcely noticed in other parts of
America; nor such frequent difficulty in distinguishing men
from women, whether in youth or age. The arched nose, was,
however, very prevalent among the Chinooks. The beard was
not always absolutely wanting, but it occasionally attained
the length of an inch or more. One man had both beard and
whiskers, quite thin, but full two inches long; and in other
respects he much resembled some representations I have seen
of the Esquimaux." * * * "The head is artificially flattened
in infancy; _but as the children grow up, the cranium tends
to resume its natural shape, so that the majority of grown
persons hardly manifest the existence of the practice._ One
effect, however, seemed to be permanently distinguishable, in
the unusual breadth of the face."--Pickering, p. 27.
We have already, in speaking of the Salish, met with the word
_Flat-head_, and, although in that particular case, it was misapplied,
it is still an important term in American ethnology, since more than
one family of American Indians has the practice of _artificially
flattening the head_. This we meet with, for the first time, amongst
the Tshinúks, the true _Flat-heads_ of those parts.
The process itself was witnessed by Pickering. In one of the stockaded
villages of the Chinúks, where the influence of the missionaries had
so far found its way as for some of the houses to stand in a small
cultivated enclosure, of about a quarter of an acre in size, an infant
was confined to a wooden receptacle, with a pad tightly bandaged over
the forehead and eyes, so that it was alike impossible for it to see or
move. He also observed that when the child was suspended according to
usage, the head was actually lower than the feet.
So much for the children. The adults improve upon Nature by piercing
the septum of the nose and putting a ring through it, by earrings, and
by painting the face--in default of paint, by smearing it with soot,
the marks being after a pattern. A black and dull red paint, with
which they ornament their canoes, hats, and masks, are aboriginal, the
others procured from traders. A sail, also, seen in one of the larger
boats was considered not native, but copied from the Russians. In other
respects the management of their canoes, as well as the construction,
was skilful; so were some of the contrivances both for fowling and
fishing. For the former purpose tall masts were set up to intercept by
means of connecting nets(?) the water-fowl at night. Sturgeon were
speared or noosed; the darts used for killing fish being double-headed.
The capture of whales, an exploit never attempted by even the most
enterprising of the Polynesians, is attempted by the Chinúks.
The art, however, of platting, or weaving, seems to be that wherein
the Chinúks have the best claim for excellence. Still it is doubtful
whether, in this respect, they are above the level of the American
tribes in general. The mats are made of the _scirpus lacustris_ placed
side by side, and strung at intervals. The wool of the mountain goat
is woven into blankets, marked, in the way of pattern, with angular
figures, coloured black and red. The former seem to be made by changing
the material, and substituting the black hair of the dog for that of
the goat.
Carving in claystone is another Chinúk art. So many, however, of the
specimens in museums are made in imitation of imported articles that
the original patterns, consisting generally in the representation of
grotesque imaginary quadrupeds, are nearly extinct.[110]
I shall close the account of the Tshinúks with a notice of the Lingua
Franca, taken from Mr. Hales, which is now in the actual process of
formation in the parts about the mouth of the Columbia. It first began
to be developed in the harbour of Nútka Sound; from the language of
which district a few words were adopted by the early English traders.
When the intercourse with the inhabitants of the Columbia began, these
Nútka words became transferred to the Chinúk country; and the three
languages which then contributed elements to the so-called _jargon_,
were the Nútka, the Chinúk, and the English. From the second of these
tongues were taken, besides certain substantives and adjectives, the
first ten numerals, the word for a hundred, twelve pronouns, and about
twenty adverbs and prepositions. Additions were also supplied from the
French of the Canadian _voyageurs_.
Some of the processes by which this medium of communication has
been formed deserve study; and they have been well exhibited in the
philological portion of the United States Exploring Expedition, the
source of the present information.
1. For a language to be spoken by three different nations it is
convenient to admit only such articulations as are common to the three
languages. An approach to this occurs here. The harsh Chinúk sounds are
modified. The French nasal is dropped. The English _tsh_ becomes _dzh_;
perhaps, in the mouth of a Frenchman, _zh_.
2. In names of objects common to both languages, the choice seems to be
determined by the hardness or easiness of the pronunciation. For _man_,
_sun_, _moon_, _stick_, _snow_, _warm_, &c., the terms are English;
although the equivalents were part and parcel of the Chinúk and Nútkan,
equally. They were, however, preeminently unpronounceable, being
_kottllelikum_, _ottllatl_, &c. On the other hand where the Indian
is moderately adapted to European organs terms from _both_ languages
become current, _e.g._
ENGLISH. JARGON.
Water _tsok_ and _wātā_
Cold _tsis_ " _kol_
Fire _olapitski_ " _paia_.
3. Grammar is, as we should expect it to be, at its _minimum_ amount.
_a._ _b._ There are no signs of either the possessive case or the
plural number. The former is determined by the construction only--_kata
nēm maika papa_=_what name thou father_=_wh(-at) is (the) name (of)
th(-y) father_. The latter is sometimes denoted by _haiu_=_many_.
_c._ In general the tense of verbs is to be discovered by the context.
When it is absolutely necessary to fix the time, certain adverbs are
resorted to; as, _now_, _formerly_, _tomorrow_. The future sense is
expressed by _tuké_=_wish_.
_d._ The notion of condition is expressed by the Chinúk
_klunas_=_perhaps_, or by the English _pos_=_suppose_. The only other
conjunction in the language is _pi_ =the French _puis_=_and_, _or_,
_then_, &c.
_e._ The substantive verb is generally (as in the normal state of the
Semitic languages) omitted--_maika pilton_ = _thou art foolish_.
The changes that European words undergo may be collected from the
following vocabulary.
WORDS OF ENGLISH ORIGIN.
Boston, American[111]
Bōt--boat.
Hakatshum--handkerchief.
Haus--house.
Klai--clay.
Klas--glass.
Kintshosh--Englishman.[112]
Kitl--kettle.
Kōl--coal.
Lēk--lake.
Lēsi--lazy.
Lûm--rum.
Oluman[113]--father.
Paia--fire.
Pilton[114]--foolish.
Pēpa--paper.
Pōs--suppose.
Shŭt--shirt.
Stutshin---sturgeon.
Tala--silver, dollar.
Tlai--cry.
Tshaket--jacket.
Tumola--tomorrow.
Wām--warm.
Wata--water.
Win--wind.
WORDS OF FRENCH ORIGIN.
Kapo--capot.
Kasét--casette.
Kuli--courir.
Labúsh--la bouche.
Lahásh--la hache.
Laklés--la graisse.
Lalán--la langue.
Lamestin--la médecine.
Lamontai--le montaigne.
Lasuai--la soie.
Latapl--la table.
Lawie--la vieille.
Lebiskwi--le biscuit.
Liman--la main.
Letan--les dents.
Loup-marin--loup marin[115].
Pasianks--Français.
Putāli--poudre.
Sawash[116]--Indian.
Shante--chanter.
Seápot--chapeau.
Siápul--ditto.
ONOMATOPŒIC WORDS.
Hehe--laugh.
Liplip--boil.
Tiktik--watch.
Ting-ting--bell.
Tum--heavy noise.
Tum-wata--cataract.
The power of combination is greatly developed. Almost every verb and
adjective may receive a modification in its meaning by the prefixion of
the word _mamúk_=_make_ or _cause_. Thus--
Tsháko[117] = come mamúk tsháko = bring.
Klátawa[117] = go " klátawa = send.
Kikwili[118] = below " kikwili = bury.
Pepa = paper " pepa = write.
That of composition is equally so; _e.g._ _ship-man_=_sailor_,
_ship-stik_=_spar_, _stik-skin_=_bark_, _sél-haus_ (sail-house) =
_tent_, &c.
"The place at which the _jargon_ is most in use is at Fort _Vancouver_.
At this establishment five languages are spoken by about five hundred
persons--namely, the _English_, the _Canadian French_, the _Tshinúk_,
the _Cree_ or _Knisteneau_, and the _Hawaiian_. The three former
are already accounted for; the _Cree_ is the language spoken in the
families of many officers and men belonging to the Hudson's Bay
Company, who have married half-breed wives at the posts east of the
Rocky Mountains. The _Hawaiian_ is in use among about a hundred natives
of the Sandwich Islands, who are employed as labourers about the fort.
Besides these five languages there are many others--the _Tsihailish_,
_Wallawalla_, _Kalapuya_, _Naskwali_, &c., which are daily heard from
natives who visit the fort for the purpose of trading. Among all
these individuals, there are very few who understand more than two
languages, and many who speak only their own. The general communication
is, therefore, maintained chiefly by means of the _jargon_, which may
be said to be the prevailing idiom. There are Canadians and half-breeds
married to Chinook women, who can only converse with their wives in
this speech; and it is the fact, strange as it may seem, that many
young children are growing up to whom this factitious language is
really the mother tongue, and who speak it with more readiness and
perfection than any other."
CATHLASCOU.
_Locality._--From the Falls of the Columbia to Wappatoo Island,
falling into a number of small tribes.
The third of the larger divisions of the Oregon Indians is that of the--
SAHAPTIN.
_Area._--The northern bank of the Columbia from the Tshinúk
country, at the mouth, to the junction of the river Lewis. The
valley of the river Lewis (or Snake River). As far east as the
Rocky Mountains.
_Conterminous_ with the Salish Tsihaili to the north, the
Upsaroka (Crows) to the east, the Paducas and Wailatpu to the
south, the Skwali Tsihaili and the Watlala Tshinúks to the west.
_Divisions._--1. Wallawallas, Kliketat. 2. Proper Sahaptin or
Nez-percés. 3. Pelús. 4. Yakemas. 5. Cayús(?).
_Numbers._--About 4000.
_Aliment._--Roots, salmon.
_Extract from Mr. Hales._--"Both the Sahaptin and Wallawallas
compress the head, but less than the tribes on the coast."
_The Kliketat_ are distinguished by having the lower part of the septum
of the nose cut away.[119]
The imperfect industry of the Sahaptin tribes is considered to be on a
higher level than that of either the Tshinúks or Tsihaili; so that, in
this respect, they stand the first of the Oregon aborigines.
The same applies to their susceptibility of religious influences. With
no family have the efforts of the missionaries been more successful
than with the Nez-percés.
In physical appearance they are more like the Indians to the east of
the Rocky Mountains, than any tribes hitherto described.
Lastly, the easternmost Sahaptin are on the limits of the buffalo area;
and as such are partially hunters, as well as common to the two sides
of the Rocky Mountains.
It is now convenient to return to the Pacific, and to follow from west
to east the tribes that lie south of the area already described.
THE YAKON.
_Locality._--A strip of sea-coast between the Nsietshawus
(Tsihaili) the Tlatskanai, the Kalapuya, the Umkwa, and the
Saintskla.
_Numbers._--About 700.
KALAPUYA.
_Locality._--Valley of the Upper Willamet.
_Conterminous_ with the Watlala Tshinúks, the Molele, the
Tlatskanai and Umkwa Athabaskans.
_Numbers._--About 500.
_Dialects._--1. Proper Kalapuya. 2. The Tuhwallatie or
Follatie. 3. Yamkallie of Mr. Tolmie.--How far are these the
same?
MOLELE.
_Locality._--Parts about Mount Hood and Mount Vancouver, south
of the Columbia.
_Conterminous_ with the Watlala Tshinúks, the Kalapuya, the
Cayús, and the Lutuami.
_Numbers._--"Reduced in 1841, by disease, to twenty souls.
Probably now extinct."--_Hales._
_Divisions._--1. Molele. 2. Cayús(?)
CAYÚS.(?)
_Locality._--South bank of the Columbia, between the Molele and
the Paduca Shoshonis.
_Numbers._--About 500 good warriors, with extensive pasturage
and large droves of horses, one chief having 2,000.--_Hales._
The note of interrogation denotes that the ethnological position of the
Cayús is ambiguous. Mr. Hales makes them Molele, Dr. Scouler, Sahaptin.
LUTUAMI.
_Synonym._--Tlamatl or Clamet.
_Locality._--Head-waters of the river Clamet, due south of
the Molele, and conterminous with the Umkwa on the west, the
Wihinast Shoshonis on the east, and the Palaiks and Shastis on
the south.
We are now approaching a series of tribes known by little more than
their names. Beginning at the sea-coast to the south of the strip
occupied by the Yakon, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the Umkwa
country, we find in proceeding from west to east--
THE SAINTSKLA.
_Locality._--South of the Yakon, between the Umkwa and the sea.
THE TOTOTUNE.
_Locality._--Sea-coast south of the Saintskla.
THE KILLIWASHAT.
_Locality._--Mouth of the Umkwa.
THE TSALEL.
_Locality._--Middle course of the Umkwa.
THE KAUS.
_Locality._--Between the river Umkwa and the river Clamet, or
(ethnologically) between the Killiwashat and the Lutuami.
SHASTI.
_Locality._--South-west of the Lutuami.
PALAIK.
_Locality._--South-east of the Lutuami, and conterminous with
the Shasti.
The list of the tribes and families of the Oregon territory, is now,
with one exception, complete, at least according to the present state
of our knowledge; whilst the section that still stands over for notice,
extends so far beyond it, and is in other respects so remarkable in its
distribution, that it forms an ethnological break.
Hence, although in a purely descriptive ethnography it would be
advisable to take the tribes of California in immediate succession to
those of Oregon, and those of Mexico next in order to the Californian,
the present arrangement will be different, and the transition will
be from the Oregon Indians to the Indians on the east of the Rocky
Mountains. This departure from the strict line of ethnological
continuity, is demanded in the present volume; because the question
as to the origin of the American population, being considered of so
much more importance than the mere description of different tribes,
the arrangement follows the order, in which the reader requires facts
as a basis for his reasoning, rather than the absolute sequence of
ethnological relationship. This accounts for certain departures, which
may possibly have been noticed, from the form and method of description
adopted in the ethnology of Asia; it also is a reason for sometimes
placing together groups on the score of _difference_ rather than
_likeness_. Such is the case here. The classes about to be noticed
follow those that have already been considered, not because they are
closely related, but because they present marks of disconnection which
are necessary to be known and appreciated previous to any argument upon
subjects like the unity or _non_-unity of the American population, or
its connexion or _non_-connexion with the population of the Old World.
In other words, as the nearest affinities of the Oregon tribes are with
the Californian, the present order of sequence is artificial rather
than natural.
As to the line itself which thus diverts our inquiries from the
true ethnological sequence, it is the area of a family already[120]
mentioned--the area of the _Paduca_ tribes. Of this the peculiarity is
as follows. It begins with the country of the Wihinast, is separated
from the Pacific by the comparatively small areas of the Wailatpu,
Molele, Kalapuya, and Yakon, and extends in a south-east direction as
far as the Gulf of Mexico. Hence, with the exception of a narrow tract
on the Lower Columbia, it runs from sea to sea; so separating all the
numerous sections of the Indians of the United States and Canada from
those of Spanish America, _i.e._ from those of Mexico wholly, and from
those of California partially.
This gives us a limit for the parts about to be noticed, which, roughly
speaking, constitute--
_Politically._--the United States and Canada--
_Physically._--the river-systems of the St. Lawrence, the Red River,
and the Mississippi, and also of those rivers which, like the Potomac,
fall into the Atlantic--
_Ethnologically._--the country included between the Eskimo, Athabaskan,
Kútani, Salish, Sahaptin, and Paduca areas.
Concerning this it may be said that the ocean on one side is hardly
a more definite boundary than the Rocky Mountains on the other, so
truly do they, as a physical division, coincide with the ethnological
one,--at least for the parts between the Athabaskans and Paducas.
The climate of the area may be measured by the fact of its containing
Florida on the South, and Labrador on the North, the coasts of the Gulf
of Mexico, and the coasts of Hudson's Bay.
The east-and-west conditions are less self-evident; the two most
important differences being that between the parts east, and that
between the parts west of the Mississippi. Speaking roughly, the former
is the country of the forest, the latter of the prairie; the former the
seat of an incomplete agriculture, the latter the range of the buffalo.
The divisions of the American population that occupy, or occupied,
this area, are of unascertained value; I shall give them, in the first
instance, nearly according to the classification and nomenclature of
Gallatin's standard dissertation in the Archæologia Americana. Some
of these will be large, some small; some like the Turk, some like the
Dioscurian; phænomena for which we are now prepared. The first in the
list, single handed, takes up more than half the whole area.
ALGONKINS.
_Synonyms._--Lenapian, Wapanachki=_men of the east_. This is
said by Heckewelder to have been their national and collective
name. Probably, however, it was so only for the tribes on the
Atlantic.
_Distribution._--East and west from the Rocky Mountains to
Newfoundland; north and south, from Labrador to the Carolinas.
Breadth greatest in its northern part, decreasing towards the
south.
_Area._--Newfoundland, part of Labrador, Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia, Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, south-eastern
part of the Hudson's Bay territory, the boundary line between
British North America and the United States, the north-western
part of the Missouri territory, part of the Wisconsin
territory, parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
York, &c., the New England States, Virginia, Kentucky(?), North
Carolina.
_Divisions._--_a._ Bethucks. _b._ Central Algonkins. _c._
Shiennes. _d._ Blackfoots. Classification provisional.
_a._ _Bethucks._--Locality Newfoundland. Probably extinct. Not
hitherto recognised as Algonkin.
_b._ _Central Algonkins._--1. _The Crees_, _Knisteneaux_,
_Klisteno_, or _Kilistheno_. Native name, _Nĕhethowuck_=_exact
people_. Situation, the river-system of the rivers Nelson,
Salmon, and Albany, falling into Hudson's Bay.
2. _Ojibways_, on the south and west sides of Lake Superior,
south of the Crees.
3. _Algonkins Proper._
4. _Nipissing._--Closely allied tribes on the sides of the Lake
of the Two Mountains, in the district of Montreal.
5. _Ottawas._--On the river Ottawa, in the islands of Lake
Superior. Northern part of Michigan, Closely allied to the
Proper Algonkins.
6. _Montagnards_, _Mountaineers._--The French name and its
translation, of the name of the tribes between Montreal and the
mouth of the St. Lawrence.
7. _Scoffis_--_Nascopies_.--The Algonkins of Labrador.
Conterminous with the Eskimo.
8. _Sheshatapoosh._--Ditto.
9. _Abenakis._--In the state of Maine, in the valley of the
Kennebec.
10. _Etchemin._---From whom the state of Maine, took its name.
A tribe of these occupy the valley of the St John's River, in
New Brunswick.
11. _Passamaquoddy._--Maine. A branch of the Etchemin.
12. _Micmacs._--New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, parts
of Labrador and Newfoundland.
13. _Penobscot._--Maine.
14. _Messisaugis._--North of Lake Ontario, at its junction with
the St. Lawrence.
15, 16. _Pequod and Mohicans._--Extinct. In 1674, in
Connecticut.
17. _Narraganset._--Extinct. In 1674, in Rhode Island.
18. _Massachusetts._--Extinct. In 1674, in the state so called.
19, 20, 21, 22, 23.--_The Pawkunnawkuts_ (_or Wampanoag_),
_the Pawtucket_, _the Pennakuk_, _the Nipmuk_, _the
Montaug_.--Extinct. In 1674, in Long Island. The language of
these Indians is represented by Jonathan Edwards' Grammar of
the Mohican, and by Eliot's translation of the Bible.
24. _Lenni-Lenapi or Delawares._--Three tribes, _a._ the Unami,
or Turtle. _b._ The Minsi or Wolf. _c._ The Unalachtigo, or
Turkey.
25. _The Monakans_(?)--Extinct. Virginia, one day's journey
beyond the Falls, at Richmond. People of the high country as
opposed to the Powhattans of the low--said to build stone
houses.
The Indians of Virginia, especially the Powhattans, will
be noticed in the sequel as affording a measure of the
civilization of the Algonkins.
26. _The Pamticoes_ (_Pamticoughs_).--South Carolina. This is
the southernmost limit of the Eastern Algonkins.
The list is now continued from the south-eastern boundary of
the Ojibways, and from the parts south of Lake Superior, and
west of Lake Michigan.
27. _The Menomeni._--Due south of Lake Superior, from which
they are separated by the Ojibways.
28, 29. The _Sauks_=_white-clay_ and the _Ottogami_=_foxes_.
These last are also called _Musqkuakuik_=_red-clay_.
30. _The Kickapoos._--Southern part of Illinois. Closely allied
to the Sauks and Foxes.
31. _The Potawotomi._--South of Lake Michigan.
32. _The Shawno._--The most south of the Western Algonkins,
being south of the Ohio, in the state of Kentucky. Now removed
to the west of the Mississippi, to a reserve immediately south
of that of the Delawares.
33, 34, 35, 36, 37.--Illinois Indians=the Miami, Piankeshaws,
Kaskkaias(?)[121], Cabokias, Tamaronas, Peorias, and Mitchigami.
_c._ _Shyennes._--Between the head-waters of the Yellow-stone
River and the River Platte. Conterminous with the Upsaroka,
Pawnees, and probably the northern Shoshonis. As such, isolated
from the other Algonkins.
_d._ _Blackfoot Algonkins._--Head-waters of the south branch
of the Saskatchewan, and extended as far west as the Rocky
Mountains, by which they are divided from the Kútanis. Bounded
on the north by the Athabaskans, the south by the Upsarokas
(Sioux), the east by the Ahnenin and Crees. The Blackfoots have
been but recently recognised as Algonkin.
The numerous details of this great division prevent anything beyond the
doubtful points of the classification being noticed. These apply to
three members of it, the Bethuck, the Shyennes, and the Blackfoots.
1. _The Bethuck._--The particular division to which the aborigines
of Newfoundland belonged, has been a matter of doubt; some writers
considering them to have been Eskimo, others to have been akin to the
Micmacs, who have now a partial footing in the island.
Reasons against either of these views are supplied by a hitherto
unpublished Bethuck vocabulary with which I have been kindly furnished
by my friend Dr. King, of the Ethnological Society. This makes them a
_separate section of the Algonkins_,[122] and such I believe them to
have been.
2. _The Shyennes._--It has been already stated that the present Shyenne
area is isolated. This had a tendency to mislead inquirers and to
originate the notion that the Shyennes were Sioux.
Again,--in a treaty between the United States and the Shyennes, in
1825, the names of the chiefs who signed are Sioux. This misled also.
Still, on the evidence of Mr. Kennet M'Kenzie, of the St. Louis Fur
Company, who informed Mr. Gallatin that "there was not at that time
any European interpreter for the Shyenne, that the treaty was carried
on through the medium of some Sioux, and that he had reason to believe
that the names subscribed to it were Sioux translations of those of
the Shyenne chiefs," their position was left as doubtful by that
philologist.
However, a vocabulary of Lieutenant Abert has since settled the matter,
"in which no affinity whatever is discovered with the Sioux. Although
from its nature it contains but a small number of primitive words,
or of those for which we have equivalents in other languages, there
are enough to establish the fact that the Shyennes are, like the
Black-feet, an Algonkin tribe. Out of forty-seven Shyenne words for
which we have equivalents in other languages, there are thirteen which
are indubitably Algonkin, and twenty-five which have affinities more
or less remote with some of the languages of that family. Of these
last I would have rejected more than one half had they stood alone,
but they corroborate, to some extent, the evidence afforded by the
words, the etymology of which is clear. The nine remaining words (out
of the forty-seven), which have no apparent affinity with the Algonkin,
are _hill_, _mountain_, _stone_, _little_, _white_, and the numerals
VI, VII, VIII, IX, on comparing the vocabulary with those of other
families, I could discover no other words which had any resemblance
but the following:--_little_=_nakee_, Shyenne, _okeye_, Wyandott;
_fire_=_sist_, Shyenne; _ojishta_, _ojista_, Seneca, Oneida."[123]
Furthermore, the evidence of Lewis and Clarke, confirmed by that of
M'Kenzie and Gallatin, shows that the separation of the Shyennes from
the other Algonkins, took place within the historical period. "They
were originally settled on a stream called Chayenne, or Cayenne, an
upper branch of the Red River of Lake Winnepeg, from which they were
driven away by the Sioux; an account which is confirmed by Alexander
M'Kenzie. They retreated west of the Missouri, below the river
Warreconne, where their ancient fortifications still existed in 1804.
Thence they were again compelled to retreat farther west, near the
Black Hills, on the head branches of the river which now bears their
name."[124]
That the evidence of the Shyenne numerals, the only part of Lieut.
Abert's vocabulary then known to him, made the Shyennes Algonkin,
was also stated by the present writer at the meeting of the British
Association, in 1847, at Oxford.--_Transactions of the Sections_, p.
123.
3. _The Blackfoots._--Until lately all that was known of the Blackfoot
language was from two short vocabularies, one of Humphreville's and one
of Mr. Catlin's.
The addition of a third in MS. has fixed the language as Algonkin; such
being the opinion formed independently by both Mr. Gallatin[125] and
the present writer, who was favoured by Dr. Prichard with the MS. It is
further confirmed by a tabulated vocabulary of Mr. Howse's, now in the
press.[126]
With the exception of the Shyennes, who seem to have moved within
the historical period, the Algonkin area is _continuous_; but though
_continuous_, it is not _uninterrupted_. The important class of the
Mohawk, or Iroquois, tribes, is different from the Algonkin. It lies
_within_ the Algonkin area, surrounded by Algonkins, but not itself
Algonkin.
THE IROQUOIS.
Measured by the extent of ground that it covers the Iroquois class
is of less importance than the Algonkin. Measured by its prominence
in history it is equal or greater. The _Five Nations_ were Iroquois.
The once formidable _Mohawks_ were Iroquois. Before the arrival of
the Europeans the Five Nations were dominant over their Algonkin
neighbours; and after the arrival of the Europeans the Iroquois
warriors were more feared than those of the Algonkins. At one time the
head of the Algonkin confederacy was an Iroquois chieftain.
It has been stated above that the Iroquois are, at present,
encompassed (or nearly encompassed) by Algonkins; so as to have become
isolate in respect to the other classes of Indians, and cut off from
contact with them. This, and more than this, is the case. Portions of
the Iroquois family are cut off from each other, so that in coming to
the details we shall expect to hear of the Northern division of the
Iroquois, and of the Southern division of the Iroquois. At present
it is sufficient to state that such a division exists, and that the
localities for the Northern Iroquois are the parts about Lake Huron;
for the Southern, North Carolina. In the latter locality alone are they
in contact with tribes other than the Algonkin.
_Area._--Discontinuous.
_Divisions._--_a._ Northern Iroquois. _b._ Southern Iroquois.
_Sub-divisions._--_a._ Northern Iroquois. 1. The Five
Nations=The Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagoes, the Senecas,
and the Cayugas. 2. The Confederacy (?) of the Hurons (or
Wyandots), the Erigas, the Andastes, and the Attiondarons, the
Tionontates, the Anies(?), &c.
_b._ Southern Iroquois.--The Tutelo, Nottoway, Meherrin, and
Tuscaroras.
_Localities._--_a._ For the Northern Iroquois the parts about
and between Lakes Huron, Ontario, and Erie. _b._ For the
Southern Iroquois.--North Carolina. Separation effected by
tribes of the Algonkin division, especially the Delawares.
The Iroquois and Algonkins exhibit in the most typical form the
characteristics of the North American Indians as exhibited in the
earliest descriptions, and are the two families upon which the current
notions respecting the physiognomy, habits, and moral and intellectual
powers of the so-called Red Race are chiefly founded.
THE SIOUX.
_Area._--Central North America, between the Mississippi and
the Rocky Mountains, east and west. Between Lake Winebago and
the Arkansas, north and south. The valley of the Missouri.
The water-system of Lake Winebago. One division east of the
Mississippi.
_Divisions._--1. Winnebagoes, Hochungohrah=_Trout Nation_.
2. Dakotas, Sioux, or Nadowessiou. 3. Assineboins, or Stone
Indians. 4. Upsaroka, or Crows. 5. Mandans. 6. Minetari. 7.
Osage.
_Sub-divisions._--_a._ Of the Dahcota--1. Yanktons. 2.
Yanktoanans(?) 3. Tetons. 4. Proper Sioux.
_b._ Of the Osage.--1. Konzas. 2. Missouris. 3. Ottos. 4.
Omahaws. 5. Puncas. 6. Ioways. 7. Quappas. 8. Osage Proper.
The Sioux is the third great division of the North American Indians,
and it is the division which comprises the tribes of the interior, of
the Far West in opposition to the sea-coast, of the prairie country in
opposition to the tracts that are or have been forest, and of the foot
of the Rocky Mountains. The country of the buffalo is shared between
them and the Western Algonkins.
Broadly speaking, we may say between these three nations the basins
of all the feeders of the Upper Mississippi are distributed: the
exceptions being insignificant. This they have and more; since the
Canadian population is, in great part, Algonkin.
The Sioux tribes are essentially inland or continental.
CATAWBA.
_Locality._--The Santee, or Catawba River, in North Carolina.
WOCCOON.
_Locality._--North Carolina. Extinct.
The Catawba and Woccoon languages, which are allied to each
other, probably represent those aboriginal languages of North
Carolina, which were _not_ of the Algonkin class.
Besides these, however, there occur the following names, concerning
which we only know that they belonged to North Carolina. The extent
to which they spoke mutually unintelligible dialects is uncertain. 1.
Cheraws; 2. Waterees; 3. Congarees; 4. Enoes;(?)[127] 5. Sewees; 6.
Santees; 7. Wyniaws; 8. Waxsaws; 9. Esaws; 10. Toteros; 11. Keyauwees;
12. Sissispahaws; 13. Machapanga; 14. Connamox; 15. Coramines; 16.
Chowans; 17. Wyanokes; 18. Sawara.
Add to these for South Carolina:--1. The Saluda; 2. Stonoes; 3.
Edistoes; 4. Westoes; 5. Yamassees.
This indicates a new branch of research, viz.: the ethnology of the
extinct tribes; and the extent to which it may be carried in the way
of _minute_ investigation is shown by the length of the list of the
divisions or sub-divisions of the population of the Carolinas alone. It
is nearly as long for the original colony of Virginia, where the first
settlers mention amongst others--
1. _Kecoughtans._--At the mouth of James River. A colony of this people
was transplanted by Powhattan in 1608 to the banks of the Montgomery.
2. _Paspaheghes._--James River, just above the Kecoughtans.
3. _Arrohatecks._--James River, just above the Paspaheghes.
4, 5, 6, 7, 8.--_Appamatucks_, _Quiyoughcohanocks_, _Warraskoyacks_,
_Nandsamunds_, _Chesapeaks_.--All on the south-east side of James
River. On York River we find the names of Youghtamund and Mattapament;
but whether these be the names of districts, or of tribes, is uncertain.
9. _The Bocootawwonaukes._--So called by the Powhattans, situated to
the north-east of the Falls, and said to smelt copper and other metals.
10, 11, 12.--_Indians of the Rappahannock._--In the high-country at its
head-waters the Mannahoacks, the Cuttatawoman(?), the Nandtaughtacund;
these last numbering 150 men.
13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.--_Indians of the Potomack._--The
Wighcocomoco with 100 fighting men; the Cekakawwon with 30; the
Onawmament with 100; the Satawomeck with 160; the Taxenent with 40; the
Potapoco with 20; the Pamacoack with 60; the Moyoones with 100; and,
lastly, Nacothtank with 80.
22, 23, 24.--_Indians of the Pawtuxunt._--The Aquintanacsuck, the
Pawtuxunt, and Mattapament. Number of fighting men about 200.
Besides the following are mentioned as surrounding the Powhattan's
territories--
1. The _Chawonocks_, bounded on the north by
2. The _Mangoangs_.
3. The _Mannohocks_ conterminous with the Mannoacks.
4. The _Acquanachuk_.
5. The _Tockwoghs_.
6. The _Nuskarawaok_.
Of all these there is the special evidence of Strachey, from Captain
Smith, that none understand each other except by interpreters; an
observation which applies to the Monacans and Susquehannas as well.
Besides these names we collect from the map the additional ones of the
(1) _Massawomecks_, and (2) _Kuskarawaoks_.
Some of these spread northward, and represented part of the population
of the Northern States (which, however, was chiefly Minsi), just as
some of the Carolina tribes reached into Florida. Still, the great
number of sub-divisions, for comparatively small areas, constitutes
one of the difficulties of American ethnology. For none of these lost
families do we possess vocabularies; so that, although from external
evidence we are sometimes able to give them an ethnological position,
the evidence is not conclusive. That conclusive evidence is necessary,
and that we can by no means at once assume any given tribe to be
Algonkin, simply because it is within the Algonkin area, is well known
to every investigator for these parts.
Again, not only have whole tribes become extinct since the settlement
of Europeans, but at the very beginning of the American historical
period, tribes were found mutually exterminating each other. The
empire of Powhattan was founded upon the annihilation of some tribes,
and the incorporation of others. The Huron Iroquois were nearly
extinguished by the Five Nations. The Mandans, within the last
decennium, after being thinned and weakened by the small-pox, were,
as a separate tribe, destroyed by the Sioux, who incorporated with
themselves those who were not killed in the attack.
The Catawbas and Waxas are said to have flattened the head.
THE CHEROKEES.
_Locality._--Valley of the Tennessee River.
_Conterminous_ with the Southern Algonkins, the Southern
Iroquois, the Catawbas, and the Choctahs.
The Cherokee is one of the few so-called savage nations which is
_increasing_, and not _de_creasing, in numbers. It is, also, the most
industrial of all the American families; the Cherokee landholder
having, in some cases, as much as five hundred acres under tillage, and
possessing slaves as well. Lastly, a native Cherokee has reduced the
language to writing--the alphabet (which will be noticed in the sequel)
being syllabic.
THE CHOCTAHS.
_Area._--Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, parts of Louisiana,
Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
_Bounded_ by the Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic,
the Catawba, the Cherokee, and the South Algonkin areas.
_Divisions._--_a._ Choctahs _b._ Muscogulges, Muskohges, or
Creeks.
_Sub-divisions._--_a._ Of the Choctahs, the Chikkasahs. _b._ Of
the Creeks, the Hitchittee and Seminoles.
The Choctahs flatten the head.
The Choctah civilization is partially industrial, differing but little
from that of the Cherokee.
The Choctah family has, probably, been a family of _encroaching_ area,
the population which it displaced being represented by--
THE UCHÉ.
_Locality._--The Coosa River.
_Synonym._--Probably the Apalaches of De Soto.
_Language._--as known from a single vocabulary, peculiar.
Also by--
THE COOSADA.
_Conterminous_ with the Uché, and said to speak a peculiar
language, but which is not known from any vocabulary.
Also by--
THE ALIBAMONS.
_Conterminous_ with the Uché, and said to speak a peculiar
language; but which is not known from any vocabulary.
We now see that a separate group of tribes or families, aboriginal to
Florida, but now replaced by Creeks, has existed within a recent period.
We also see that these groups may have been as many as three in number;
since it by no means follows that, because the Uché, Coosadas, and
Alibamons are different from the Choctahs, they must be allied to each
other.
Again,--one or more of the extinct tribes of South Carolina may have
been an element (and a fresh one too) in the population of Florida.
That such was the case with the Yamassis is almost certain, since they
were destroyed by the Seminoles during the last century.
Hence, when we hear that the Creek confederacy was formed upon either
the extermination or incorporation of fifteen families, we have a
measure of the multiform character of the ethnology of Florida and
Alabama.
CADDOS.
_Locality._--Between the rivers Mississippi and Sabine.
_Language._--Known by a vocabulary. Not closely connected with
any other. Most like the Cherokee.
The provisional character of all these groups has been noticed. This
is so great that scarcely two inquirers would give the same answer to
the question, "What is the difference between a member of (say) the
Algonkin and one of (say) the Cherokee, Choctah, or Iroquois class?"
The most extreme opinions are, perhaps, those of Gallatin, as expressed
in the Synopsis, and the present writer. According to the former, the
Algonkin, Iroquois, Sioux, Catawba, Cherokee, Choctah, and Caddo, and
Uché languages differ from one another, as the English and Turkish,
or the Greek and Lapplandic, i.e. as languages reducible to no common
class, a view which makes divisions so large as the Algonkin, and so
small as the Uché, equally equivalent to the great class denominated
Indo-European--a doctrine by no means improbable in itself, since it
differs in degree rather than in kind, from the similar juxtaposition
of large and small, simple and sub-divided classes, which we find in
Europe; where the isolated Basque and Albanian are, in the present
state of our knowledge, co-extensive in the way of classification with
the wide and varied Indo-European, Semitic, and Ugrian groups.
The present writer allows a value, equal to that expressed by the term
_Indo-European_ to three groups only, the first of which contains the
Algonkin, which is apparently more different from the others than they
are from each other; the second, the Uché, which, although it has
several miscellaneous affinities, is not at present subordinated to any
other class; and the third, the remainder, _i.e._ the Iroquois, Sioux,
Catawba, Cherokee, Choctah, and Caddo, or (probably) the Iroquois,
Sioux, and Cherokee, as primary divisions, to the last of which the
Catawba, Choctah, and Caddo are subordinate. This is the very utmost
he would do, in the way of recognising differences. He will, however,
hereafter give reasons for doing less. At present the notification of
fresh divisions of the population is continued.
THE NATCHEZ.
_Locality._--Banks of the Mississippi, in the parts about the
present city of the same name. Extinct, or incorporated. The
last remnant of the Natchez occupied a small village on the
River Talipoosa, in Alabama.
_Language._--Known through a single vocabulary. Not closely
connected with any other; but with miscellaneous affinities.
Great prominence in Indian history has been given to the Natchez from
the destruction, at their hands, of the first French colony planted
within their territory, in 1729, followed by an almost exterminating
revenge on the part of the French, in the following year.
And great prominence is no more than is required for them in Indian
ethnology.
They flattened the head.--There is evidence to this in the account of
Du Pratz; and there is evidence to it in the fact of the disinterred
skulls from the Natchez area, examined by Morton, bearing marks of
compression. This, however, is what we have already seen, to the east
of them, _i.e._ amongst the Choctahs.
They practised human sacrifices on the death of their chief.
They not only worshipped the sun, but (like the ancient Romans) kept
burning an eternal fire.
Their religion so far acted upon their social or political
constitution, as to develop a sort of _caste_-system, the principal
chief being the _Great Sun_, and his children, _suns_; whilst the
portion of the tribe not supposed to be so descended, were destitute of
civil power.
Their nobility was transmitted through the _female_.
Such is a brief notice of the customs of the Natchez, which more or
less differentiate them from the neighbouring tribes, with which (the
Chetimachas excepted) they are said to have had but little intercourse.
Competent investigators consider that more than one of these
peculiarities point to a Mexican origin, a view which is considered
to be confirmed by the Natchez traditions doing the same; these being
to the effect that their nation migrated from Mexico at two different
periods.
TAENSAS (TENSAWS?).
_Locality._--Originally conterminous with the Natchez. If the
same as the _Tensaws_, they are, at present, on the _west_ of
the Mississippi. Special evidence to their temples being of the
same kind with those of the Natchez in A. D. 1682.--Gallatin's
Synopsis, p. 115.
PASCAGOULAS.
_Locality._--Red River of Louisiana; originally on the River
Pascagoula. If the same as the Bayagoulas, there is special
evidence to their worship of the sun and fire.--Gallatin's
Synopsis, p. 114.
COLAPISSAS.
_Locality._--In 1721 near the present site of New Orleans.
Extinct or incorporated.
BILUXI.
_Present locality._--Below Natchitoches. Originally east of the
Mississippi. Probably in the same class with the two preceding.
The notion that the Taensas, Pascagoulas, Colapissas, and Biluxi,
belong to the Natchez family, is favoured by certain facts and
traversed by none. This is not the case with--
THE CHETIMACHAS.
_Conterminous._--with the Natchez, from whom they differed in
language, and (probably) in customs as well, but with whom they
were united in the way of political confederation. Extinct or
incorporated.
_Language._--Known through a single vocabulary. Not closely
connected with any other, but with miscellaneous affinities.
Of two skulls exhumed from a cemetery within the Chetimacha area, and
examined by Morton, neither gives evidence of artificial compression.
HUMAS.
_Original locality._--East of the Mississippi, above
New Orleans, "of whom a few are said to remain below
Manchac, and others to be found in the vicinity of the
Attacapas."--Gallatin, p. 115.
TUNICAS.
_Original locality._--Opposite the mouth of the Red River.
_Present locality._--Avoyelle, on the Red River.
PACANAS.
_Present locality._--West of the Mississippi.
_Original locality._--West Florida.
There is the special evidence of Dr. Sibley, the chief authority for
the Indians west of the Mississippi, that the Humas, Tunicas, Biluxas,
and Pascagoulas, each speak (or spoke) a different language.
The tribes which now follow are considered by Dr. Sibley to
be _indigenous_ to the country west of the Mississippi; those
last-mentioned having moved thither from the present states of
Mississippi, Alabama, and West Florida, within the memory of man, or at
least within the period of authentic history.
They chiefly lie to the east of the River Sabine; (_i.e._ between that
river and the Mississippi), so as to belong to the original area of
the United States, rather than to Texas, a distinction of importance;
inasmuch as, whilst the ethnology of the parts which belonged to the
United States in A. D. 1836,[128] is, comparatively speaking, well
understood, that of Texas is still fragmentary and imperfect.
As far, however, as the Sabine, Dr. Sibley is the chief first-hand
authority.
NATCHITOCHES.
_Divisions._--1. Natchitoches. 2. Yatassis.
_Numbers._--In 1836, about 150, together.
_Language._--Stated by Dr. Sibley to be different from any
other.--Gallatin, p. 116.
ADAHI.
_Conterminous_ with the Natchitoches and Yatassis.
_Language._--Known by a vocabulary. With no particular, but
with miscellaneous affinities.--Gallatin's Synopsis.
_Numbers._--In 1836, about fifty.
APELUSAS.
_Numbers._--In 1836, about 40. Said by Dr. Sibley to speak a
distinct language.
_Locality._--The district so called.
ATTACAPAS.
_Numbers._--In 1836, about 50. Said to have been cannibals and
flat-heads.
_Language._--Known by a vocabulary. With no special but with
miscellaneous affinities.
_Divisions._--1, Attacapas; 2, Carankuas. At least this latter
tribe, according to Dr. Sibley, speaks the same language with
the Attacapas.--Gallatin, 116.
Now if the Karanchuhuas of Texas be the Carankua Attacapas, the
extension of that family is remarkable, since the locality of the
Karanchuhuas is sea-coast about Matagorda Bay. Again,--the Cokes are a
branch (extinct or nearly so) of the Karanchuhuas.
Having reached the River Sabine, we may look both west and east.
Eastward the question lies as to the extent to which the present
list has been exhaustive--if not of individual tribes, at least of
families and groups. Now the Creeks and Choctahs have been tribes of
an _encroaching_ area; whilst as special fact, we find that in A.D.
1763, the Colooses retreated before the Creeks: first to the extremity
of Florida, and afterwards to the Havannah. Upon good grounds, then,
it has been believed that the natives of Florida, anterior to the
spread of the Creeks, were other than Creek or Choctah. Into how many
divisions this Floridian population fell, and amongst what known
families (if any) it was divided, is unascertained. It might be one.
It might be distributable amongst many--Uché, Catawba, Natchez, &c. It
might, too, be represented by a wholly extinct family. Probably it was
Uché on the south-west, and Catawba on the north. The Yamassis may have
been the latter, the Colooses the former. Still the question is wholly
open.
Westward we come to Texas. Now the imperfect and fragmentary character
of our information makes the consideration of the Texian Indians (known
by little beyond their names) most conveniently follow the enumeration
of the tribes to the north and west of them--besides which, four
unplaced families have still to be enumerated as belonging to, and
interrupting the great Algonkin and Sioux areas.
THE AHNENIN.
_Synonym._--Arrapahoes(?)--Fall Indians, from their locality.
_Locality._--The Falls of the River Saskatchewan.
_Language._--Peculiar.
ARRAPAHOES.
A tribe of this name is placed in Mr. Catlin's map, in California, on
one of the eastern feeders of the Colorado, in the latitude of Santa Fé.
The Arrapahoes, again, according to Gallatin, are a detached tribe of
the Ahnenin, who have wandered as far south as the Platte and Arkansas
Rivers.
The identity, when ascertained, of name, is _primâ facie_ of this.
Still it is not much more. On the other hand the fact is by no means
improbable. A vocabulary of the southern Arrapahoes has yet to be
collected.
RICCAREES.
_Locality._--The Missouri, about 150 miles below the Mandans.
The Riccarees have been classed in the section next following. The
scanty vocabulary, however, of the two languages, by no means justifies
us in making this affinity a very close one. On the other hand, they
are kept distinct in the present work, provisionally.
PAWNEES (PANIS).
_Locality._---Valley of River Platte, extending as far west as
its sources, and as far south as the Arkansas.
_Divisions._--_a._ The Loup Pawnees. _b._ The Republican
Pawnees.
The Towiatch[129] of Texas are also called Pawnees; probably
improperly.
* * * * *
Conterminous with the Pawnees are the Paducas. Paduca is a name given
to a division of the Indians, but imperfectly known, and concerning
which the information found in Prichard seems to be chiefly from Pike.
It is the name given, collectively, to those tribes who, on the almost
unexplored parts about the head waters of the River Platte, succeed
the Sioux on the south, and the Pawnees on the west. That they are
conterminous with this last-named family is inferred from the name;
Paduca, being no native designation, but the one given by the Pawnees.
As great extension is now given to the tribes represented by those of
the parts in question, the word will be used as a general name of a
class.
The most important fact, however, connected with the Paducas, is their
distribution, or the configuration of the area which they occupy. The
inland projection of the Gulf of Mexico so narrows the southern part
of North America, that the phenomenon of a family extending, like the
Eskimo and Athabaskans, _across_ the continent, may now be expected.
Farthermore, a family thus spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
would be of greater ethnological significance than even the similarly
extended Athabaskans and Eskimo; since from its central position
(_central_ in respect to its north and south relations) it would
disconnect the northern and southern populations.
Still more remarkable would be the distribution if the parts thus
separated geographically, were also separated by marked contrasts in
the way of language, manners, or civilization.
Now all this is the case with the great Paduca area. Spreading from
the Pacific to the Atlantic, it has to the north developments like
those of the Oregon and the valley of the Mississippi: to the south
those of Mexico, Guatimala, and Yucatan.
The physical geography of the northern part of the Paduca area is
as remarkable as is its ethnology; since it is a table-land from
which four great rivers rise, to run their course in four opposite
directions. There, within a small distance of each other, are
the sources of the Saptin, a feeder of the Columbia running in a
_north_-westernly direction, of the Colorado running _south_-west, of
the Yellow-Stone branch of the Missouri, and of the Rio del Norte of
Texas. This latter running in an elevated narrow valley, from about 41°
N. L., through the whole of New Mexico, is preeminently the river of
the Cumanch tribes; tribes of which the exact east and west direction
is not ascertained, but of which the north and south area is one of the
longest in America.
PADUCAS.
_Direction of the Paduca area._--Oblique; _i.e._ from N.W. to
S.E., or _vice versâ_.
_Longitudinal Extension._--From the Pacific to the Gulf of
Mexico; from the water-system of the River Columbia to that of
the River Sabine; from north of 45° N.L. to south of 25° S.L.
_Conterminous._--_a._ On the north with the Tototune(?),
Shasti(?), Palaiks(?), Lutuami, Molele(?) Wailatpu, Sahaptins,
Sioux (chiefly Upsarokas), Pawnees, Sioux (chiefly Osages),
Towiach, and the _non_-Paduca Indians of Texas. _b._ On the
south, with the _non_-Paduca Indians of California and Mexico.
_Divisions._--Value undetermined.--Wihinast, Bonaks, Diggers,
Utahs, Sampiches, Shoshonis, Kiaways, Kaskaias(?), Keneways(?),
Bald-heads(?), Cumanches, Navahos, Apaches, Carisos.
_Wihinast._--Called by Mr. Hales, Western Shoshonis, and unequivocally
members of that division. Locality 45° N.L. 117° W.L., on the southern
bank of the Snake or Lewis River, and conterminous with the Wailatpu.
Of the Northern Paducas, these are the nearest to the Pacific, from
which they are separated by the Lutuami, Umkwa and Saintskla. The
evidence that the Wihinast are Shoshoni is derived from a vocabulary of
their language.--_Philology of the U.S.E.E._
_Bonaks._--Classed with the Shoshonis on the strength of external
evidence only.--Between them and the Wihinast.
_Diggers._--Classed with the Shoshonis on the strength of external
evidence only.--They are a poverty-stricken tribe of the Californian
Desert, who live by _digging_ for roots.
_Utahs._--Classed with the Shoshonis, &c.--Occupants of the parts about
the Utah Lake.
_Sampiches._--Classed with, &c.--South of the Utahs. Manner of life
like that of the Diggers.
_Shoshonis._--These are the Paducas which are at once the most northern
and the most eastern of the group. They also are remarkable for
occupying both sides of the Rocky Mountains, and are bounded on the
north by the Sahaptin, and on the east by the Sioux, west by the Bonaks
and Wihinast, and south by the Proper Paducas of Pike.
_Kiaways_, _Kaskaias_, _Keneways_, _Bald-heads_.--Of these I know
little, except that they seem to fill up the area between the Shoshonis
and the--
_Cumanches._--The chief Indians of Texas.--It is the ethnological
position of the Cumanches that determines the extent of the Paduca
group. That the Kiaways, &c., are Cumanche is believed on external
evidence, and on the _a priori_ probability. That the Cumanche are
Shoshoni is believed upon external evidence by those Americans who
have had means of forming an opinion, and also upon the evidence of a
short MS. vocabulary of the Cumanche, with which the present writer was
favoured by Mr. Bollaert, compared with an equally short one of the
Shoshoni in Gallatin's Synopsis. This was in 1844;[130] since which
time, although the _data_ for the Shoshoni have greatly increased,
those of the Cumanche are as imperfect as ever. Still the author
has but little doubt as to the truth of the opinion of the Shoshoni
affinity with the Cumanche, or (changing the expression) of the common
Paduca character of the two.
_Navahos._--Considered Paduca, because they are stated to be akin to
the--
_Apaches._--who are stated to be akin to the Cumanche, and who
are widely spread both westward and southward of the area of the
Proper Cumanche, between the River Puercos and the Rio Del Norte. In
Chihuahua, and Cohuahuila (especially in the Bolson de Mapimi), we find
tribes under the names of Apaches Farones, and Apaches Mescaleros,
extending--in their incursions at least--as far as the interior of
Durango. Of the Apaches, the--
_Carisos._--are said to be a branch.
Such are the members of the great Paduca family, to which it
is safest, in the present imperfect state of our knowledge, to
give an ethnological position, subject to correction from future
investigations; which, necessary in most departments of the science,
are preeminently necessary here.
How far the prominence thus given to a section of the American
population, which is generally disposed of in a short notice, is
necessary, is to be found in its geographical relations to Mexico
and California on the one hand, and to the Indians of Oregon and the
Mississippi on the other.
The Cumanches are the chief Indians of Texas; hence, from the north
and west of that state they form an ethnological boundary. The names
(all that the author can give) of the Texian tribes not already
included in the several extensions of the Cumanche, Pawnee, Sioux,
Cherokee, Choctah, Natchez, and other smaller families, are--
COSHATTAS.
Knowing of no vocabulary of the Coshatta language, I am unable to say
what it is or is not. The tribe is a member of the Creek confederacy.
It is not indigenous to its present locality, having immigrated
from the east of the Mississippi. In a notice of the earlier Creek
confederation we find mention of _Cussetahs_, and in connection with
the Alibamons, _Coosadas_ on the River _Coosa_. The former of these
facts suggests a Creek, the latter a Uché, affinity. Still, it gives
nothing more than a suggestion.
TOWIACHS.
_Divisions._--1. Towiach; 2. Tawakenoes; 3. Towecas(?); 4.
Wacos.
_Localities._--1. Of the Towiach,--two villages, Nitehata and
Towahach, on the Red River; 2. Of the Tawakenoes,--200 miles
of Nacogdoches, south of the Red River. Said by Dr. Sibley to
speak the same language as the Towiachs; 3, 4. The Towecas and
Wacos are in villages north of Red River.
The Towiachs of Texas are sometimes called Pawnees,[131] probably
improperly. Perhaps they form a branch of the Paducas rather than a
separate substantive family; since there is the express statement of
Kennedy, that the Texian _Towacanis_, or _Tahuacanos_, are Cumanche;
and that the Wacos on the upper River Brazos, are the same.
LIPANS (SIPANS).
_Locality._--Between the River Aransas and River Grande.
_Numbers._--In 1845 about 500.
ALICHE.
_Synonym._--Eyeish.
_Locality._--Near Nacogdoches. Name only known. Enumerated in
the Mithridates.
ACCOCESAWS.
_Locality._--West of the Red River, 200 miles from Nacogdoches.
Name only known. Enumerated in the Mithridates.
NAVAOSOS(?).
Of the Navaosos, I only know that they are said to be a branch of the
Lipans. If so, and if also they are _Navahos_, we are enabled to fix
the Lipans as Paduca. They are extinct in Texas.
MAYES.
_Locality._--St. Bernard's Bay. Name only known. Enumerated in
the Mithridates.
CANCES.
_Locality._--Ditto, ditto.
TONCAHUAS.
The Toncahuas, or Tonkeways, are mentioned by Kennedy as being, like
the Lipans, the hereditary enemies of the Cumanches, and as retreating
before them from the hunting grounds of the upper country.
On the other hand, I find that Mr. Bollaert makes them an offset of the
Cumanches. In 1845 they numbered about 300 souls.
TUHUKTUKIS (TAHOOKATUKES).
The Tuhuktukis are members of the Cherokee confederacy; within, but not
considered indigenous to, Texas.
UNATAQUAS.
_Synonym._--Anadarcos.
The Unataquas are members of the Cherokee confederacy; within, but not
indigenous to, Texas.
MASCOVIE.
IAWANIS (_Ionis_).
Each of these divisions (of which the value is unascertained) are
members of the Cherokee confederacy.
WICO(?)[132]
_Locality.-_-Head waters of the upper Red River, conterminous
with the Kioways and Cumanch.
AVOYELLES.
WASHITAS.
_Original Locality._--West of the Mississippi. Extinct or
incorporated.
KETCHIES.
XARAMENES.
CAICACHES.
Extinct.
BIDIAS.
_Locality._--Middle part of Trinity River. _Numbers._--In 1845,
ten families only.
A MS. of Mr. Bollaert's, and the work of Kennedy, on Texas, have been
the chief authorities for the previous. The notes of interrogation
show the extent to which it may be amended. _Data_ for doing this are
probably more abundant in America than here.
For the whole area between the three oceans--(Arctic, Pacific, and
Atlantic)--and the break formed by the Paducas, the chief groups have
now been enumerated--perhaps exhaustively, or nearly so.
Not, however, finally. Although the details of even the wider
groups have been so numerous as to make the present notice of them
_classificational_ rather than _descriptive_, there are still a certain
series of facts which, from having a significance beyond that of their
mere occurrence, require notice.
Whatever has an important bearing upon the following two great problems
comes under this category--
1. The unity or non-unity of the American populations, one amongst
another.
2. The unity or non-unity of the American populations as compared with
those of the Old World.
1. The unity or non-unity of the American populations one amongst
another--a short history of the different opinions upon this point will
give two things at once--_a_, the history itself, and, _b_, the chief
facts by which changes in it were brought about.
The broad differences between the American Indians, as a body, when
compared with even the most anomalous of the tribes of the Old World,
were such as would naturally engender on the part of the earliest
investigators--those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries--an
opinion in favour of a general fundamental unity amongst the several
sections of them. This was the effect of the natural tendency of the
human mind to connect with each other those things which disagree
with certain others rather than the result of any definite series of
comparisons. The Brazilian and the Mohawk equally agreed in disagreeing
with the Laplander, or Negro; and this common difference was enough to
bring them within the same class.
The observed facts which first had a tendency to disturb this notion,
were, most probably, those connected with the languages. These really
differ from each other to a very remarkable extent--an extent which to
any partial investigator seems unparalleled; but an extent which the
general philologist finds to be no greater than that which occurs in
Caucasus, in the Indo-Chinese frontier, and in many parts of Africa.
The phænomena, however, which the multiplicity of mutually
unintelligible tongues spoken within limited areas exhibited, were
first made known in the case of the languages of America; and, as
new facts, they were not likely to be undervalued. On the contrary,
another natural tendency of the human mind, viz., a readiness to
exaggerate difference in cases where similarity had been expected, was
allowed full play; and not only were the really remarkable phænomena of
philological diversity overstated, but the inferences from them rather
exceeded than fell short of their legitimate compass. A measure of the
extent to which this was carried may be collected from the following
extract from Prichard,--"We owe the earliest information respecting
the languages of America to the missionaries sent from time to time
by the kings of Spain at the instigation of the Pope, with the view
of converting the native inhabitants to the Christian religion. Many
of these persons devoted immense labour to the acquisition of the
idioms of various tribes, with the intention of qualifying themselves
for the effectual performance of their duties. They represent the
number of distinct languages spoken in the New World as very great.
Abbé Gilii, who wrote a history of the Orinoco and collected specimens
of the languages spoken in different districts with which he was
acquainted, says that if a catalogue were formed of all the idioms
of the continent, they would be found to be 'non molte moltissime,'
but 'infinite, innumerabili.' Abbé Clavigero declares that he had
cognisance of thirty-five different idioms spoken by races within the
jurisdiction of Mexico. Father Kircher, a celebrated philologer of his
time, after consulting the Jesuits assembled in Rome on the occasion
of a general congregation of the order in 1676, informs us that those
missionaries who had been in the New World supposed the number of
languages, of which they had some notices in South America, to be five
hundred. But the Abbé Royo, who had made diligent inquiries about the
language of Peru, where he had dwelt, asserts that the whole people
of America spoke not less than two thousand languages. The learned
Francisco Lopez, a native of South America, who had extensive knowledge
of that country as well as of the northern continent, a great part of
which was traversed by the Jesuits, thought it no rash assertion to say
that the idioms, 'notabilmente diversi,' of the whole country were not
less than fifteen hundred."
It is difficult to say what would have been the natural growth, in the
way of opinion from these strong (and not much overstated) phænomena,
as to the apparently radical differences between the languages in
question if they had come down to the present generation of scholars in
an unmodified and unqualified form. This, however, was not the case. A
most important disturbing element was soon indicated, which I follow
Prichard in ascribing to Vater.
It was this--viz.: that different as may be the languages of America
from each other, the discrepancy _extends to words or roots only, the
general internal or grammatical structure being the same for all_.
Of course this grammatical structure must, in and of itself, be stamped
with some very remarkable characteristics. It must differ from those
of the whole world. Its verbs must be different from other verbs, its
substantives other than the substantives of Europe, its adjectives
unlike the adjectives of Asia. It must be this, or something like
this--otherwise its identity of character goes for nothing; inasmuch
as a common grammatical structure in respect to common grammatical
elements is nothing more than what occurs all the world over.
At present it is enough to say, that such either was or appeared to be
the case. "In Greenland,"[133] writes Vater, "as well as in Peru, on
the Hudson river, in Massachusetts as well as in Mexico, and as far as
the banks of the Orinoco, languages are spoken, displaying forms more
artfully distinguished and more numerous than almost any other idioms
in the world possess." "When we consider these artfully and laboriously
contrived languages, which, though existing at points separated from
each other by so many hundreds of miles, have assumed a character
not less remarkably similar among themselves than different from the
principles of all other languages, it is certainly the most natural
conclusion that these common methods of construction have their origin
from a single point; that there has been one general source from which
the culture of languages in America has been diffused, and which has
been the common centre of its diversified idioms."
"In America," says Humboldt,[133] "from the country of the Eskimo
to the banks of the Oronoco, and again, from these torrid banks
to the frozen climate of the Straits of Magellan, mother-tongues,
entirely different with regard to their roots, have, if we may use the
expression, the same physiognomy. Striking analogies of grammatical
construction are acknowledged, not only in the more perfect languages,
as that of the Incas, the Aymara, the Guarani, the Mexican, and the
Cora, but also in languages extremely rude. Idioms, the roots of which
do not resemble each other more than the roots of the Sclavonian and
Biscayan, have those resemblances of internal mechanism which are found
in the Sanscrit, the Persian, the Greek, and the German languages.
Almost everywhere in the New World we recognise a multiplicity of
forms and tenses in the verb, an industrious artifice to indicate
beforehand, either by inflection of the personal pronouns which form
the terminations of the verb, or by an intercalated suffix, the nature
and the relation of its object and its subject, and to distinguish
whether the object be animate or inanimate, of the masculine or the
feminine gender, simple or complex in number. It is on account of this
general analogy of structure; it is because American languages, which
have no words in common, the Mexican for instance, and the Quichua,
resemble each other by their organisation, and form complete contrasts
with the languages of Latin Europe, that the Indians of the missions
familiarise themselves more easily with other American idioms than with
the language of the mistress country."
Lastly, definitude was given to these and similar somewhat too
general expressions as to the _difference_ in grammatical structure
on the part of the American languages from those of the Old World,
and their likeness to each other by the analytical investigations of
Du Ponceau,[134] whose term _polysynthetic_, as descriptive of the
_characteristic and peculiar complicated_ grammar of the American
idioms from Greenland to Cape Horn, has been generally received.
We now see in a general way (and this is as much as in a work like the
present can be shown), the meaning of a statement made in a former
page,[135] viz.: that "where the American languages differ from each
other they differ in a manner to which Asia supplies no parallel,"
whilst when they "agree with each they agree in a way to which Asia
supplies no parallel"--_i. e._, whilst they agree grammatically they
differ glossarially; so exhibiting what may be called a philological
paradox.
At present we are neither doubting the reality nor measuring the amount
of this paradox; we are only asking in which of two ways it has been
interpreted. What has been the effect of the antagonism between the
philologico-grammatical and the philologico-glossarial test? Which has
told most? the difference or the likeness? Has the first determined
investigators to separate what the latter unites, or has the latter
united what the former separates?
The answer to this is--that the likeness in the grammars has been
generally considered to over-ride the difference in the vocabularies;
so that the American languages are considered to supply an argument in
favour of the unity of the American population stronger than the one
which they suggest against it.
The evidence of language, then, is in favour of the unity of all the
American populations--the Eskimo _not_ excepted.
The evidence, however, of language, forms but a fraction of the
argument; indeed, it is only one part of the great division which
contains the _moral_ elements of ethnological difference or likeness
in opposition to the _physical_. The complementary question as to the
unity or non-unity of the general social or mental development of the
aboriginal American still stands over.
What are the facts which chiefly influence opinion here?
In which direction is their influence?
The facts are of two kinds--
1. Those which disconnect the Eskimo--
2. Those which disconnect the Mexicans and Peruvians from the other
Americans--the former on the strength of an inferior, the latter on the
score of a superior civilizational development. What is their value?
This will be best ascertained when _all_ the sections of the American
population involved in the question have been noticed. At present the
Eskimo only have been dealt with; the Mexicans and Peruvians still
remaining to be described. Enough, however, has been said to show
that the question has taken a complication; since the evidence of the
_non_-philological moral and mental phænomena is _against_ the unity of
the American population--the Mexicans and Peruvians on one side, and
the Eskimo on the other being isolated.
The evidence, however, of the moral and mental phænomena (philological
and _non_-philological combined), is but one division of the argument.
The complementary question as to the unity or non-unity of the physical
conformation of the aboriginal American still stands over. What are the
facts which chiefly influence opinion here?
_Mutatis mutandis_, the statements which have just been made may _very
nearly_ be made here. The test of physical conformation is considered
to exclude the Eskimo; and the test of physical conformation is
considered to exclude, if not the Mexican, at least the Peruvian.
* * * * *
Notwithstanding the convenience of deferring the more general
discussion of the question until the Peruvians--indeed, until the
whole of the American tribes have been considered--the present
is, nevertheless, a convenient time for taking in, by means of a
retrospect, some of the more material facts connected with the social
and civilizational capacity of the Indians which have last been
described--_i.e._ the _non_-Eskimo tribes of the parts between the
Rocky Mountains and the Paducas. This is to be measured by what is
called the Indian biography of their men of mark like Thyandeeeya
(Brandt), Tecumseh, or Powhattan, by the history of the Indian wars
and confederations, and, better still, by an exponent which, because
it has a special application upon the problems last indicated, will
find a place amongst our present investigations--their architectural
archæology.
The Trustees of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge have broken
ground with the publication of a careful, elaborate, and critical
description of the ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley, the
result of original surveys and explorations, by Mr. Squier and Dr.
Davis; and it is only the contemporary publication of the Ethnology and
Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition, that makes this
the _second_ of the great contributions to ethnological science, which
have been supplied by the same country within the same year.
And first, as to the area over which these remains are spread.--West of
the Rocky Mountains,[136] the most that has hitherto been found is a
few mounds, _tumuli_, or barrows. They will be called _mounds_. North,
too, of the Great Lakes, the remains are but few, and imperfectly
described. On Lake Pepin, on Lake Travers (in 46° N.L.), we find
notices of them; so we do for the Missouri, as much as 1000 miles
above its junction with the Mississippi. Eastward, they decrease as we
approach the Atlantic; _i.e._ on the Atlantic aspects of Pennsylvania,
New York, and Virginia, they become scarcer. They become scarce, too,
on the other side of the River Sabine; not that they are wanting in
Texas, but that they either fall off in number or change in character
as we approach Mexico.
The great centre of their development is the vast valley of the
Mississippi, and amongst the valleys of its feeders--that of the Ohio
preeminently. Here the accumulation is at its _maximum_. In Ross
country alone, 100 enclosures and 500 mounds have been noticed; whilst
the whole amount for the state of Ohio has been reckoned at 10,000 of
the former, and 1,000 or 1,500 of the latter.
[Illustration]
This indicates their locality and distribution. It has also indicated
their nature and character. Oftener earthworks than buildings of
stone, they are generally (but not exclusively) either raised mounds
or embankments forming enclosures,--mounds in some cases 70 feet in
height, and 1000 in circumference at the base, and embankments (with
ditches corresponding) enclosing spaces of 300 acres. Such are some of
the greatest measurements.
In form both the mound and embankment are very varied. The enclosure
may be a square, a circle, a parallelogram, an ellipse, a polygon, or
a wholly irregular outline, following the inequalities of the soil or
the configuration of the country in which it occurs. The ditch may be
either exterior or interior to it; the entrance simple or complex.
Sometimes the square and circle are combined; so that a round inclosure
leads into a quadrangle, or _vice versâ_. Sometimes a quadrangle is
enclosed with a square.
[Illustration]
The mounds are sometimes simple cones; sometimes (an important
difference) truncated pyramids; often simple slopes; often terraced.
More remarkable, however, than any others, is "a succession of remains,
entirely singular in their forms, and presenting but slight analogy to
any others of which we have an account, in any portion of the globe.
The larger proportion of these are structures of earth, bearing the
forms of beasts, birds, reptiles, and even of men; they are frequently
of gigantic dimensions, constituting huge _basso-relievos_ upon the
face of the country. They are very numerous, and in most cases occur in
long and apparently dependent ranges. In connection with them are found
many conical mounds and occasional short lines of embankment, in rare
instances forming enclosures."[137]
The reader anticipates the object for which these works were
undertaken--the purposes of war and the purposes of religion. This
is the most general way of stating it; those for the latter purposes
falling in the divisions of sepulchral and sacrificial.
[Illustration]
Besides the usual human remains which are found in the sepulchral
mounds, works in stone, earthenware, and metal are frequent; relics
which, taken along with the vast and numerous works which contain
them, give us the elements of the ante-historical civilization of the
northern section of the North American Indians.
The prevalence of works of a certain type varies with the area. The
animal bas-reliefs are chiefly characteristic of Wisconsin, the
truncated pyramids of the southern States, the simple mound and
enclosure of Ohio, and the midland parts.
It should now be added, that where a square is attempted, it is truly
rectangular, and that the circles are generally perfect; also that, in
several cases, either the sides or the entrances accurately coincide
with the east, west, north, and south points of the compass.
Other customs, such as the Indian council of war, the Indian calumet of
peace, the stoic fortitude of the Indian warrior, the patient bearing
of the Indian squaw, their scalpings during war, their probationary
tortures during peace, preeminently interesting objects of description,
have a subordinate value in ethnology. Value, however, they have. The
list of them is a long one, and out of it may be selected numerous
characteristics of a twofold import.
1. American, or general characteristics, viz.: those which (without
being universal) are general in the new world, whilst (without being
absolutely non-existent) they are rare in the old.
2. Sectional characteristics, or those which distinguish one American
tribe from another.
Of the first series, there are two divisions, the positive and the
negative. In respect to the positively characteristic practices of
America, the use of the scalping-knife is, perhaps, the most typical.
Horrible modes of mutilation are common in Asia and Africa (in Africa
most especially); but the exact method in question I have not found
except in America. Next to this, the habit of artificially flattening
the head deserves notice. It is not, however, wholly unknown in the old
world; since in Arakan we find traces of it.
The negative characteristics are, perhaps, more important than the
positive ones--preeminent amongst these being the utter absence (with
the exception of a partial approach to it in the care bestowed by
the Peruvians upon the llama and vicugna) of the true pastoral state
throughout the whole length and breadth of America. Agriculture there
is, and hunting there is,--the former developing an approach to an
industrial development, and the latter determining a semi-nomadic
form of life--but the absence of a true pastoral state wherein horses
are used for riding, oxen for draught, and cows, ewes, or mares, for
milking, is a remarkable negative characteristic which distinguishes
the aboriginal American from the Arctic Sea to Cape Horn.
That the appreciation of _differentiæ_ of this kind is wholly incapable
of being arrived at _à priori_, but that it must be the result of a
special induction by which we historically determine how one (or more)
of certain undoubtedly allied divisions of the human species may want
characteristics which occur in the others (and _vice versâ_) is a
truth which requires a fuller recognition than it has found; since it
is far easier for a writer to show in what customs two great sections
of a population differ from one another, than to ascertain what that
discrepancy imports. Whilst one, therefore, makes it a difference
_in kind_, another considers it as one _in degree only_. The present
writer, who _has_ bestowed some pains on the special question of
_valuation_ or _appreciation_, generally speaking puts them low.
As the criticism respecting the _general_ characteristics, has its
bearing upon the relations of the American aborigines to those of the
world at large, so that of the _sectional_ ones determines our views as
to their unity or non-unity among themselves. It is the same in both
cases. It is an easy matter to say that the Athabaskans (for instance)
burn their dead to ashes, whilst the Peruvians desiccate them into
mummies; that the Nehannis treat their women with respect, whilst
servitude, on the part of the female, is the rule elsewhere; or that
(enterprise and industry being exceptional phænomena in the western
hemisphere), the Waraws are navigators, and the Haidah islanders
tradesmen; and easier still is it to discover that in populations which
live on fishing, we miss certain elements of the social state of the
hunter or agriculturist. The real difficulty is to take the exact
measure of their value. Failing the _data_ for doing this, the parallel
statement of the points of agreement becomes a duty on the part of the
ethnologist.
Now, in this respect, the phenomenon which has been noticed in
Australia, reappears in America, viz.: a habit or custom, which shall
not be found in more than one or two tribes in the neighbourhood of
each other, shall appear, as if wholly independent of mutual imitation,
at some other (perhaps some distant) part of the island. Such, in
Australia, was the case of similar family names; and such in America is
the remarkable distribution of the habits of flattening the head, and
burying on elevated platforms; to say nothing of the two parallel forms
of semicivilization in Mexico and Peru, so concordant on the whole, yet
differing in so many details, and, evidently, separate and independent
developments rather than the results of an extension of either one or
the other as the original.
The same reasons which prevent us, in the present state of our
knowledge, from drawing any inferences into the higher problems of
ethnology from those manners and customs of the American Indians,
which in the mere way of simple description give so much interest to
the writings of the adventurous traveller, save us the necessity of
exhibiting them in detail. No such economy, however, of time and paper
is allowed in respect to a question which has already been more than
once alluded to, viz.: the peculiarities of the American languages;
peculiarities which are as remarkable in respect to the points
wherein they agree, as they are in respect to the points wherein they
differ--peculiarities, however, which, remarkable as they are, may
easily be over-rated.
No preliminary is more necessary for this question than the distinction
between _a_, the American languages as considered in respect to their
roots or words, and _b_, the American languages as considered in
respect to their grammatical structure. The clear perception of this is
required on the part of the reader. On the other hand, the writer must
remember that he is composing a work not on philology in general, but
only upon such points of that science as illustrate ethnography. Hence
the peculiarities of the American languages will not be considered in
full; but all that will be done with them will consist in the selection
of those phænomena which explain what has already been called the
philological paradox of the American grammars being alike, whilst the
American vocabularies differ.
1. And first in respect to the facts which account for the difference
between the vocabularies. Here arise two questions--the determination
of the extent to which such a difference really takes place, and the
reasons for its reaching that extent whatever it is ascertained to be.
What follows, is a table representing the degree in which languages
lying within so small a geographical area as the Uché, Natchez, and
Adahi, may differ in their vocabularies.
ENGLISH. UCHÉ. NATCHEZ. ADAHI.
Man cohwita tomkuhpena haasing.
Woman wauhnehung tahmahl quaechuke.
Father chitung abishnisha kewanick.
Mother kitchunghaing kwalneshoo amanie.
Son tesunung (my) akwalnesuta tallehennie.
Daughter teyunung (my) mahnoonoo quolasinic.
Head ptseotan tomne apoo tochake.
Hair ptsasong etene calatuck.
Ear cohchipah ipok calat.
Eye cohchee oktool analca.
Nose cohtemee shamats weecoocat.
Mouth teaishhee heche wacatcholak.
Tongue cootincah itsuk tenanat.
Tooth tekeing int awat (pl.)
Hand keanthah ispeshe secut
Feet tetethah hatpeshé (sing.) nocat (sing.)
Blood wace itsh pchack.
Sky houpoung nasookta ganick.
Sun ptso wah (fire) naleen.
Moon shafah kwasip nachaoat.
Star yung tookul otat.
Day uckkah wit nestach.
Night pahto toowa arestenet.
Fire yachtah wah nang.
Water tsach koon holcut.
Rain chaāh nasnayobik ganic.
Snow stahae kowa towat.
Earth ptsah wihih caput.
River tauh wōl gawichat.
Tree yah tshoo tanaek.
Meat colahntha wintsé hosing.
Bear ptsaka tso kohp solang.
Bird psenna shankolt washang.
Fish potshoo henn aesut.
White quecah hahap testaga.
Black ishpe tsokokop hatoua.
Red tshulhuh pahkop pechasat.
He coheetha akoonikia (this here) nassicon.
One sāh witahu nancas.
Two nowāh ahwetie nass.
Three nokah nayetie colle.
Four taltlah ganooetie tacache.
Five chwanhah shpedee seppacan.
Six chtoo lahono pacanancus.
Seven latchoo ukwoh pacaness.
Eight peefah upkutepish pacalcon.
Nine 'tah'thkah wedipkatepish sickinish.
Ten 'tthklahpee ōkwah neusne.
Furthermore, had the two other conterminous languages of the Attacapas
and the Chetimachas been added, the difference between the _five_ would
have been just the same as that between the _three_, _i. e._, they
would have all differed from each other, as much as the Natchez and
Uché, the Uché and Adahi, the Adahi and Natchez differ.
This is a fair measure of the _glossarial_ separation between
contiguous languages as determined by what may be called the _simple
comparison_ (_inspection_ or _collation_) of vocabularies; and it is
by no means strange that, such being the case, writers should have
regarded it with something approaching to surprise.
I am not aware that much has been done to bring down this feeling to a
reasonable limit; a result which might easily have been brought about
by one or both of the two following processes.
_a._ The value of the mere simple comparison of vocabularies may be
tested by seeing what would be the result of placing side by side
two languages known to be undoubtedly, but also known to be not very
closely, allied. Such, for instance, might be the German and Greek,
the Latin and Russian, the English and Lithuanic, all of which are
Indo-European, and all of which, when placed in simple juxtaposition,
by no means show themselves in any very palpable manner as such. This
may be seen from the following table, which is far from being the
first which the present writer has compiled; and that with the special
view of ascertaining by induction (and not _a priori_) the value of
comparisons of the kind in question.
ENGLISH. LATIN. CAYUSE. WILLAMET.
Man homo yúant atshánggo.
Woman mulier pintkhlkaiu pummaike.
Father _pater_ píntet sima.
Mother _mater_ penín sinni.
Son filius wái tawakhai.
Daughter filia wái tshitapinna.
Head _caput_ talsh tamutkhl.
Hair crinis tkhlokomot amutkhl.
Ear _auris_ taksh pokta.
Eye _oculus_ hăkamush kwalakkh.
Nose _nasus_ pitkhloken unan.
Mouth os sumkhaksh mandi.
Tongue _lingua_ push mamtshutkhl.
Tooth _dens_ tenif púti.
Hand manus epip tlakwa.
Fingers digiti épip alakwa.
Feet _pedes_ tish puüf.
Blood sanguis tiweush méënu.
House domus nisht hammeih (--fire.)
Axe securis yengthokinsh khueshtan.
Knife culter shekt hekemistāh.
Shoes calcei taitkhlo ulumóf.
Sky cœlum adjalawaia amiank.
Sun _sol_ huewish ampiun.
Moon _luna_ katkhltóp utap.
Star _stella_ tkhlitkhlish atuininank.
Day _dies_ eweiu umpium.
Night _nox_ ftalp atitshikim.
Fire ignis tetsh hamméih.
Water aqua iskkainish mampuka.
Rain pluvia tishtkitkhlmiting ukwíï.
Snow _nix_ poi nukpeik.
Earth terra lingsh hunkhalop.
River _rivus_ lushmi mantsal.
Stone lapis ápit andi.
Tree arbor lauik huntawatkhl.
Meat caro pithuli umhók.
Dog canis náapang mantal.
Beaver castor pieka akaipi.
Bear ursa limeaksh alotufan.
Bird avis tianiyiwa pōkalfuna.
Great magnus yaúmua pul.
Cold frigidus shunga pángkafiti.
White albus tkhlaktkhláko kommóu.
Black niger shkupshkúpu maieum.
Red ruber lakaitlakaitu tshal.
I _ego_ ining tshii.
Thou _tu_ niki máha.
He ille nip kak.
One _unus_ na wáän.
Two _duo_ leplin kéën.
Three _tres_ matnin upshín.
Four _quatuor_ piping táope.
Five _quinque_ táwit húwan.
Six _sex_ nóiná taf.
Seven _septem_ nóilip pshinimua.
Eight _octo_ nōimát kēëmúa.
Nine _novem_ tanáuiaishimshin wanwaha.
Ten _decem_ ningitelp tínifia.
Again--the process may be modified by taking two languages known to be
_closely_ allied, and asking how far a _simple_ comparison of their
vocabularies exhibits that alliance on the surface, _e.g._:--
ENGLISH. BEAVER INDIAN. CHIPPEWYAN.
One it la day ittla hē.
Two onk shay day nank hay.
Three ta day ta he.
Four dini day dunk he.
Five tlat zoon e de ay sa soot la he.
Six int zud ha l'goot ha hé.
Seven ta e wayt zay tluz ud dunk he.
Eight etzud een tay l'goot dung he.
Nine kala gay ne ad ay itla ud ha.
Ten kay nay day hona.
A man taz eu dinnay you.
A woman iay quay tzay quay.
A girl id az oo ed dinna gay.
A boy taz yuz é dinnay yoo azay
Interpreter nao day ay dinnay tee ghaltay.
Trader meeoo tay ma kad ray
Moose-deer tlay tchin tay tunnehee hee.
Rein-deer may tzee ed hun.
Beaver tza tza.
Dog tlee tlee.
Rabbit kagh kagh.
Bear zus zus.
Wolf tshee o nay noo nee yay.
Fox e yay thay nag hee dthay.
I hunt na o zed naz uz ay.
Thou huntest nodzed nan ul zay.
He hunts nazin zed nal zay.
We hunt naze zedeo na il zay.
Ye hunt nazin zedeo nal zin al day.
They hunt owadié tzed na hal zay.
I kill uz éay gha zil tir.
Thou killest uz éay ghan zil hil tir.
He kills ud zeay gha tla in il tir.
We kill uz ugho-ghay uzin tla in il dir.
Ye kill uz ugho ghay uzin zee ool dir.
They kill utza ghay agho tla in il tay.
I laugh utzay rad lotsh naz-lo.
Thou laughest utlint lotsh na-id-lo.
He laughs utroz lotsh nad-lo.
We laugh utlo wod lotshay tlo a-ee-el-tee.
Ye laugh tlodzud udzee tlo gha ee-ol-tee.
They laugh tlodzud udzee tlo-gha-ee-el-tee.
I trade mata oz lay naz nee.
Thou tradest mata an eelay na el nee.
He trades kita od eenla na el nee.
We trade mata ad oz id la na-da-ell nee.
Ye trade mata a la ozayo na ool nee.
They trade ma ta a leeay la eghon a el nee.
Now there is no doubt here as to the difference appearing to be
considerable. Yet the two languages--or, rather, dialects--are mutually
intelligible.
_b._ The method of _indirect_ comparison--although by some considered
illegitimate--supplies us with another means of checking the tendency
towards over-valuing glossarial differences as tested by simple
collation; since, a language of which the isolation goes beyond a
certain point must not only be unlike any single given language,
but unlike other languages altogether. Now, taking the Adahi as
an illustration, the following table shows its _miscellaneous_ or
_general_ affinities.
_English_, man
Adahi, _haasing_
Otto, _wahsheegae_
Onondago, _etschinak_
Abenaki, _seenanbe_=_vir_
" _arenanbe_=_homo_
_English_, woman
Adahi, _quaechuke_
Muskoge, _hoktie_
Choctah, _hottokohyo_
Osage, _wako_
Sack and Fox, _kwyokih_
Ilinois, _ickoe_
Nanticoke, _acquahique_
Delaware, _okhqueh_
Algonkin, &c., _squaw_
Taculli, _chaca_
_English_, girl
Adahi, _quoâtwistuck_
Chikkasaw, _take_
Choctah, _villa tak_
Caddo, _nuttaitesseh_
Oneida, _caidazai_
Micmac, _epidek_
English, _child_
Adahi, _tallahening_
" _tallahache_=_boy_
Omahaw, _shinga shinga_
Otto, _cheechinga_
Quappa, _shetyïnka_
_English_, father
Adahi, _kewanick_
Chetimacha, _kineghie_
Chikkasaw, _unky_
Choctah, _aunkke_
_English_, mother
Adahi, _amanie_
Caddo, _ehneh_
Sioux, _enah, eehong_
Tuscarora, _ena_
Wyandot, _aneheh_
Kenay, _anna_
Eskimo, _amama_
_English_, husband
Adahi, _hasekino_
Chetimacha, _hichehase_
Winebago, _eekunah_
Taculli, _eki_
Tchuktchi, _uika_
_English_, wife
Adahi, _quochekinok_
" _quaechuke_=_woman_
Tuscarora, _ekening_=_do_
Cherokee, _ageyung_=_woman_
Chetimacha, _hichekithia_
" _hichechase_=_man_
_English_, son
Adahi, _tallehennie_
Caddo, _hininshatrseh_
Omahaw, _eeingyai_
Minetare, _eejinggai_
Winebago, _eeneek_
Oneida, _yung_