﻿POPULATION 
  OF 
  ANCIENT 
  AMERICA 
  SPINDEN 
  453 
  

  

  Always 
  making 
  allowance 
  for 
  mixed 
  bloods 
  at 
  proportionate 
  value, 
  

   we 
  summarize 
  thus: 
  

  

  North 
  America 
  north 
  of 
  Mexico 
  350, 
  000 
  

  

  Mexico 
  10, 
  000, 
  000 
  

  

  Central 
  America 
  2, 
  600, 
  000 
  

  

  Colombia 
  and 
  Venezuela 
  3, 
  000, 
  000 
  

  

  Ecuador, 
  Peru, 
  and 
  Bolivia 
  6, 
  000, 
  000 
  

  

  Brazil, 
  Paraguay, 
  Uruguay, 
  and 
  Guianas 
  4, 
  000, 
  000 
  

  

  Argentina 
  and 
  Chile 
  200, 
  000 
  

  

  West 
  Indies 
  

  

  26, 
  050, 
  000 
  

  

  This 
  gives 
  a 
  conservative 
  minimum 
  of 
  26,000,000 
  for 
  the 
  red 
  race 
  

   at 
  the 
  present 
  time.* 
  We 
  now 
  look 
  into 
  the 
  past 
  and 
  consider 
  the 
  

   evidences 
  of 
  population, 
  first 
  at 
  the 
  coming 
  of 
  Europeans, 
  and 
  then 
  on 
  

   more 
  ancient 
  levels 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  civilizations. 
  

  

  THE 
  DEPOPULATION 
  OF 
  THE 
  WEST 
  INDIES 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  hardly 
  a 
  drop 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  American 
  blood 
  can 
  

   now 
  be 
  found. 
  Indeed, 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  had 
  scarcely 
  set 
  foot 
  on 
  the 
  

   teeming 
  islands 
  before 
  the 
  native 
  population 
  melted 
  away. 
  Santo 
  

   Domingo 
  was 
  colonized 
  in 
  1493, 
  Porto 
  Rico 
  and 
  Jamaica 
  in 
  1509, 
  

   and 
  Cuba 
  in 
  1511. 
  Las 
  Casas 
  in 
  his 
  famous 
  "Brief 
  Relation" 
  says 
  in 
  

   regard 
  to 
  Porto 
  Rico 
  and 
  Jamaica^: 
  "Whereas 
  there 
  were 
  more 
  than 
  

   3,000,000 
  souls, 
  whom 
  we 
  saw 
  in 
  Hispaniola, 
  there 
  are 
  to-day, 
  not 
  

   200 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  population 
  left." 
  He 
  was 
  writing 
  no 
  later 
  than 
  

   1542. 
  Elsewhere 
  Las 
  Casas 
  places 
  the 
  population 
  of 
  Porto 
  Rico 
  

   at 
  800,000 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  Santo 
  Domingo 
  at 
  3,000,000. 
  These 
  are 
  doubt- 
  

   less 
  extravagant 
  estimates. 
  However, 
  on 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  personal 
  surveys 
  

   of 
  many 
  archeological 
  sites 
  in 
  Porto 
  Rico, 
  I 
  postulate 
  a 
  population 
  of 
  at 
  

   least 
  100,000. 
  Santo 
  Domingo, 
  a 
  much 
  larger 
  island, 
  is 
  archeologic- 
  

   ally 
  almost 
  unknown; 
  but, 
  since 
  characteristic 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  

   Taino 
  culture^ 
  extend 
  from 
  Porto 
  Rico 
  across 
  Santo 
  Domingo 
  to 
  the 
  

   eastern 
  end 
  of 
  Cuba, 
  the 
  total 
  population 
  of 
  the 
  Taino 
  nation 
  may 
  

   easily 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  million. 
  It 
  is 
  clear 
  that 
  Cuba, 
  except 
  for 
  the 
  region 
  

  

  < 
  Karl 
  Sapper 
  in 
  "Die 
  Zahl 
  und 
  die 
  Volksdichte 
  der 
  indianischen 
  Bevolkerung 
  in 
  Amerika 
  von 
  der 
  

   Conquista 
  und 
  in 
  der 
  Gegenwart" 
  (Proc. 
  21st 
  Internatl. 
  Congr. 
  Americanists 
  held 
  at 
  The 
  Hague, 
  Aug. 
  

   12-16, 
  1924, 
  Part 
  I, 
  pp. 
  95-104) 
  estimates 
  the 
  present 
  (1910) 
  Indian 
  population 
  of 
  America 
  at 
  between 
  15 
  and 
  

   16 
  millions 
  and 
  that 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  fiftenth 
  century 
  at 
  between 
  40 
  and 
  50 
  millions. 
  The 
  paper 
  is 
  summary 
  

   in 
  form 
  and 
  undocumented. 
  Sir 
  Harry 
  Johnston 
  in 
  "The 
  Negro 
  in 
  the 
  New 
  World 
  "(1910) 
  estimates 
  at 
  

   "20,855,000 
  hybrids 
  between 
  the 
  white 
  and 
  the 
  Amerindian" 
  and 
  "16,000,000 
  of 
  pure-blood 
  Amerindian 
  and 
  

   Eskimo" 
  in 
  the 
  New 
  World 
  (p. 
  484.) 
  

  

  • 
  F. 
  A. 
  MacNutt: 
  Bartholomew 
  de 
  Las 
  Casas, 
  His 
  Life, 
  His 
  Apostolate, 
  and 
  His 
  Writings, 
  p. 
  316, 
  New 
  

   York, 
  1909. 
  

  

  « 
  J. 
  W. 
  Fewkes: 
  The 
  Aborigines 
  of 
  Porto 
  Rico 
  and 
  Neighboring 
  Islands, 
  25th 
  Ann. 
  Rep. 
  Bur. 
  Amer 
  

   Ethnol. 
  1903-04, 
  pp. 
  3-296, 
  Washington, 
  1907. 
  M. 
  R. 
  Harrington: 
  Cuba 
  before 
  Columbus, 
  Part 
  I, 
  Vol. 
  I 
  

   (Indian 
  Notes 
  and 
  Monographs, 
  Misc. 
  Ser., 
  No 
  17) 
  , 
  Museum 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  Indian, 
  Heye 
  Foundation, 
  

   New 
  York, 
  1921. 
  

  

  