﻿NO. 2 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I924 II5 



in them, that their bodies are beset all over with a fine short milkwhite 

 down, which adds to the whiteness of their skins. They are not a 

 distinct race by themselves but now and then one is bred of the 

 coppercolored father and mother." The little island of Ustuppu has 

 ten of these White Indians on it. 



The Tule say that their ancestors used to live around the base of 

 Tacarcuna Mountain, west of the mouth of the Rio Atrato, the 

 highest peak in their territory, and that they spread from there up 

 the San Bias range and coast. It was at that mountain that God, 

 Olokkuppilele, created the Indians. 



The language exceeds in softness and beauty the melodious Cas- 

 tilian. It has no sounds that do not ocur in English. Its sounds are 

 only 17 in number, a e i o u g r/ d c s 1 r n b m w y. These occur 

 single or double, as in Finnish, thus securing the required number 

 of syllables for the formation of words; c. g.,, kwalu, potato, but 

 kwallu, grease. 



The Indians know hundreds of place-names of the coast and moun- 

 tains. Chief Igwa has prepared a large map showing these places. 



The large collection presented by Mr. Marsh to the National Mu- 

 seum has afforded unusual opportunity for investigation of material 

 culture. The sociology and religion of the Indians have formed 

 fruitful fields of study. To assist the work the Dictaphone Corpora- 

 tion has installed machines for recording texts and songs. 



The vocabulary comprises names of places, persons, parts of the 

 body, sociological terms and other data. Dictaphone records of ex- 

 tended discourse have been made which will serve as the basis for 

 further study of the language. 



In 1914 Mr. Harrington made a six weeks study of this language 

 at the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, California, the informant 

 being a Tule boy who was brought from Panama Harbor to San Pedro 

 on a private yacht. This work was conducted through the kind interest 

 of Dr. Hector Alliot, then director of the museum. 



STUDY OF THE TULE INDIAN MUSIC 



A remarkable opportunity for the study of primitive music was 

 afforded by the presence in Washington of a group of Tule Indians 

 from the Province of Colon, in Panama. This study was made by 

 Miss Frances Densmore. The Indians were brought to the United 

 States by Mr. R. O. Marsh and became known as " white Indians " 

 because of the fair skin of certain individuals. A frequent occurrence 



