Among the Eastern Indians, the nose, as already mentioned, is in
general relatively small, and the aperture presents often fairly sharp
borders, an exceptional feature among Indians of most other parts of
the continent. The nasal aperture, or more properly the relation of
the breadth to the height of the nose, expressed by the nasal index,
differs considerably in the different tribes. The index is low in
the northeastern states, on Manhattan Island and Long Island, and in
southeastern Canada; medium among the Munsee and other Lenape, among
the more easterly Virginia tribes and in New York State; and elevated
on Staten Island and in the more westerly Virginians. It was also
elevated in both sexes in Rhode Island, which is of interest in that
the specimens from that state show a somewhat exceptional position in
other respects. On Staten Island, the crania of which stand in regard
to nasal index apart from those of Manhattan Island and Long Island,
with which they are otherwise so closely related, the character may
have been influenced by admixture through the accession of females.