THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



This period, however, has long since passed. x\t the time 

 when American tribes entered the field of our knowledge, and 

 even in periods of which archteology alone gives evidence, con- 

 tact had been established between the tribes of the north and of 

 the south, of the east and of the west, so that it is no longer 

 possible to consider as the product of isolation the cultural pos- 

 sessions of each tribe. Archaeological evidence also shows that 

 distinct tvpes followed one another in the occupancy of each area. 

 In short, changes of far-reaching importance took place long 

 before the tribes became known to history. These changes imply 

 mixture of blood as well as exchange of cultural achievement. 



A systematic investigation of the question in how far Ameri- 

 can race and culture can be considered as independent must 

 necessarily take up the study of those regions where the geo- 

 graphical connection between the Old World and the New is 

 closest. One of these regions is the coast of the North Pacific 

 Ocean; another is far to the south, where the wide scattering 

 of the Polynesian people suggests the possibility that they also 

 may have reached our continent. Of these two regions the 

 northern one seemed to be more likely to give results. Here the 

 geographical conditions favor migration along the coast-line and 

 exchange of culture. Our knowledge of this area pre\aous to 

 the work of the Jesup Expedition indicated that manifold changes 

 in the culture and location of the tribes inhabiting this area had 

 taken place. The multiplicity of languages spoken along both 

 coasts, and their division into numerous dialects; the great 

 variety of types of the area, their iixegular distribution and 

 their affiliations with types of distant regions ; the peculiar types 

 of culture, — all indicate that the primitive tribes of the coast 

 have passed through a long and varied history. The types of 

 man which we find on the North Pacific coast of America, while 

 distinctly American, show a great affinity to North Asiatic forms, 

 and the question arises, whether this affinity is due to mixture, 

 to migration or to gradual dift'ercntiation. Tlic culture of the 

 area shows many traits that suggest a common origin, and others 

 that indicate diverse lines of development. 



What relation these tribes bear to each other, and particularly 



74 



