The Place of the Indian Language^ etc. 181 



American languages, as tlie most fertile and important branch 

 of American archasology. Europeans accuse us, witli too 

 mucli reason, of indifference and inefficiency with, regard to 

 preserving memorials of the races whom we have dispossessed 

 and are dispossessing, and to promoting a thorough comj^re- 

 hension of their history. Indian scholars, and associations 

 which devote themselves to gathering together and making 

 public linguistic and other archaeological materials for con- 

 struction of the proper ethnology of the continent, are far 

 rarer than they should be among us. " " So much the more 

 reason have we to be grateful to the few who are endeavoring 

 to make up our deficiencies by self -prompted study, and espe- 

 cially to those self-denying men who, under circumstances of 

 no small difficulty, are or have been devoting themselves to 

 the work of collecting and giving to the world original 

 materials." 

 M. 



