LANGUAGE AS AN INDEX TO ANCIENT KINSHIPS 

 By Pliny E. Goddard 



NEW things and now arrangements and 

 classifications of things require n(nv 

 names. The study of mankind in an 

 objective way is comparatively new 

 and in America has been called anthropology. 

 In Europe however this name is generallj- 

 restricted to the comparative study of man's 

 body, a science distinguished in America as 

 physical anthropology. If the various as- 

 pects of humanity which aic pliysical or 

 biological, such as physical form and inher- 

 ited instincts be segregated, there remain 

 those habits and activities of mankind which 

 are acquired and transmitted in other than 

 direct biological ways. These constitute 

 the culture of any group or race, and the 

 study of this culture has been termed eth- 

 nolog}'. Now the transmission of culture 

 from generation to generation, or from one 

 locality to another, takes place through 

 imitation by the individual of the acts of 

 others, either consciously or automatically. 

 By this means individuals are assimilated 

 into the race or group and a fairly uniform 

 culture is established over considerable 

 areas, and maintained often for many gener- 

 ations with little change. It is this matter 

 of the transmission and spread of culture 

 that particularly interests ethnologists today. 

 Working with peoples that have no written 

 history of the past, attempts are being made 

 to reconstruct the preceding cultural groups 

 and former cultural contacts from a study of 

 cultural similarities. 



Although within the .social group, culture 

 passes from generation to generation by the 

 acculturing of the succeeding generation to 

 the preceding one, this process is not a uni- 

 formly continuous one, but several stages 

 exist through which each normal individual 

 passes. One of these stages is confined 

 to the individuals under adolescence but old 

 enough to mingle freely with other children. 

 The normal child becomes thoroughly accul- 

 tured to this group before reaching the age 

 when he tends to pass into the next higher 

 group, so that he speaks the language of his 

 fellows perfectly and has mastered the 

 technique required for various games and 

 other activities. As the individual matures 

 he moves from one stage to another, acquir- 

 ing in each the culture proper to that stage, 



until in late iniiidlc life he lo.ses the capa- 

 city for furtluT acciuisition or adaptation. 

 Changes in the cuhurc of any group arc 

 usually attributable t(j incomplete accultura- 

 tion resulting in retrogression; to the initiative 

 of individuals, sometimes for the better and 

 sometimes for the wor.se; and to the influence 

 of neighboring social groups pos.sessing a 

 somewhat different culture. 



Now the culture of a people as a whole, 

 regardless of its stratification, due to various 

 classes based on age, sex and wealth, is a 

 very complex thing. It may be analyzed 

 into several large groups of activities, such 

 as language, including all means of com- 

 munication; the practical arts, relating to 

 the securing of the necessities of life; the 

 aesthetic arts, never entirely wanting and 

 often highly developed; social organization, 

 by means of which the people are controlled 

 and grouped into families and clans; and 

 religious activities. 



It is a matter of observation that these 

 several divisions of culture vary in stability 

 or permanence. Upon a priori grounds we 

 should expect the practical arts to be more 

 directly dependent upon physical environ- 

 ment than is language or religion, and such 

 seems to be the case. When a tribe which 

 depends upon wild animals or imcultivated 

 plants for its supply of food, changes its 

 habitat, it is forced to adjust its methods 

 of securing food almost immediately. Even 

 if the animals upon which it has been accus- 

 tomed to live are to be found in the new home 

 of the tribe, the methods necessary to ap- 

 proach and secure them are almost sure to 

 be different. The necessity for daily food 

 brooks no delay in this adjustment. 



The aesthetic arts and religion, while 

 fairly independent, at least in so far as they 

 can and do persist without great change 

 during or after a migration, are especially 

 susceptible to the influence of neighboring 

 social groups. Decorated objects pass from 

 tribe to tribe and are often treasured because 

 of their remote origin and unique character. 

 In this manner designs and styles of art may 

 spread from tribe to tribe. Missionary zeal 

 seems not to be confined to any race or type 

 of religion. The attitude of our Indian 

 tribes toward religion is a queer combination 



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