The American Race. Brinton Daniel Garrison

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СКАЧАТЬ while in the Umpqua and Tutu branches in Oregon he belongs to that of his father. In all the southern tribes the gens is named from a place, not an animal.83 Marriage is polygamous at will, wives are obtained by purchase, and among the Slave Indians the tie is so lax that friends will occasionally exchange wives as a sign of amity. Usually the position of the woman is abject, and marital affection is practically unknown; although it is said that the Nahaunies, a tribe of eastern Alaska, at one time obeyed a female chief.

      The arts were in a primitive condition. Utensils were of wood, horn or stone, though the Takully women manufactured a coarse pottery, and also spun and wove yarn from the hair of the mountain goat. Agriculture was not practised either in the north or south, the only exception being the Navajos and with them the inspiration came from other stocks.84 The Kuchin of the Yukon make excellent bark canoes, and both they and their neighbors live in skin tents of neatly dressed hides. Many of the tribes of the far north are improvident in both clothing and food, and cannibalism was not at all uncommon among them.

      The most cultured of their bands were the Navajos, whose name is said to signify “large cornfields,” from their extensive agriculture. When the Spaniards first met them in 1541 they were tillers of the soil, erected large granaries for their crops, irrigated their fields by artificial water courses or acequias, and lived in substantial dwellings, partly underground; but they had not then learned the art of weaving the celebrated “Navajo blankets,” that being a later acquisition of their artisans.85

      In their religions there was the belief in deified natural forces and in magic that we find usually at their stage of culture. The priests or shamans were regarded with fear, and often controlled the counsels of the tribe. One of their prevalent myths was that of the great thunder-bird often identified with the raven. On the Churchill river it was called Idi, and the myth related that from its brooding on the primeval waters the land was brought forth. The myth is found too widespread to be other than genuine. The Sarcees seem to have had some form of solar worship, as they called the sun Our Father and the earth Our Mother.

      The Navajos, who have no reminiscence of their ancestral home in the north, locate the scene of their creation in the San Juan mountains, and its date about seven centuries ago. Their story is that the first human pair were formed of the meal of maize brought by the gods from the cliff houses in the cañons.86

      The Athabascan dialects are usually harsh and difficult of enunciation. In reducing them to writing, sixty-three characters have to be called on to render the correct sounds.87 There is an oral literature of songs and chants, many of which have been preserved by the missionaries. The Hupas of California had extended their language and forced its adoption among the half-dozen neighboring tribes whom they had reduced to the condition of tributaries.88

      ATHABASCAN LINGUISTIC STOCK

      Apaches, in Arizona, Chihuahua, Durango, etc.

      Ariquipas, in southern Arizona.

      Atnahs, on Copper river, Alaska.

      Beaver Indians, see Sarcees.

      Chepewyans, north of the Chipeways.

      Chiricahuas, in southern Arizona.

      Coyoteros, in southern Arizona.

      Hupas, in California, on Trinity river.

      Janos, in Chihuahua, near Rio Grande.

      Jicarillas, in northern New Mexico.

      Kenais, on and near Kenai peninsula, Alaska.

      Kuchins, on Yukon and Copper rivers, Alaska.

      Lipans, near mouth of Rio Grande (properly, Ipa-ndé).

      Loucheux, on lower Mackenzie river; most northern tribe.

      Mescaleros, in New Mexico, W. of Rio Grande.

      Montagnais, north of Chipeways.

      Nahaunies, on Stickine and Talton rivers, Alaska.

      Navajos, northern New Mexico and Arizona.

      Sarcees, on upper Saskatchewan and at Alberta.

      Sicaunies, on upper Peach river.

      Slaves, on upper Mackenzie river.

      Tacullies, head waters of the Fraser river, Brit. Col.

      Tinné, synonym of Athabascan.

      Tututenas, on Rogue river, Oregon.

      Umpquas, Pacific coast near Salem, Oregon.

      4. THE ALGONKINS

      The whole of the north Atlantic coast, between Cape Fear and Cape Hatteras, was occupied at the discovery by the Algonkin stock. Their northern limit reached far into Labrador, where they were in immediate contact with the Eskimos, and along the southern shores of Hudson Bay, and its western littoral as far north as Churchill river. In this vicinity lived the Crees, one of the most important tribes, who retained the language of the stock in its purest form. West of them were the Ottawas and Chipeways, closely allied in dialect, and owners of most of the shores of lakes Michigan and Superior. Beyond these again, and separated from them by tribes of Dakota stock, were the Blackfeet, whose lands extended to the very summit of the Rockies. South of the St. Lawrence were the Abnakis or Eastlanders, under which general name were included the Micmacs, Echemins and others. The whole of the area of New England was occupied by Algonkins, whose near relatives were the Mohegans of the lower Hudson. These were in place and dialect near to the Lenâpés of the Delaware valley, and to the vagrant Shawnees; while the Nanticokes of Maryland, the Powhatans of Virginia and the Pampticokes of the Carolinas diverged more and more from the purity of the original language.

      These and many other tribes scattered over this vast area were related, all speaking dialects manifestly from the same source. Where their ancient home was situated has been the subject of careful investigations, the result of which may be said to be that traditions, archæology and linguistic analysis combine to point to the north and the east, in other words, to some spot north of the St. Lawrence and east of Lake Ontario, as the original home of the stock.

      The Algonkins may be taken as typical specimens of the American race. They are fully up to the average stature of the best developed European nations, muscular and symmetrical. The distinguished anthropologist Quetelet measured with great care six members of the Chipeway tribe, and pronounced them as equaling in all physical points the best specimens of the Belgians.89 Their skulls are generally dolichocephalic, but not uniformly so. We have in the collection of the Academy seventy-seven Algonkin crania, of which fifty-three are dolichocephalic, fourteen mesocephalic, and ten brachycephalic.90 The eyes are horizontal, the nose thin and prominent, the malar bones well marked, the lips thin. The color is a coppery brown, the hair black and straight, though I have seen a slight waviness in some who claim purity of blood. The hands and feet are small, the voice rich and strong. Physical endurance is very great, and under favorable circumstances the longevity is fully up to that of any other race.

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