﻿394 
  PROCEEDINaS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  die 
  whorls 
  of 
  stone, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  found 
  in 
  mounds 
  made 
  by 
  extinct 
  tribes, 
  and 
  

   others 
  found 
  among 
  the 
  Klamath 
  River 
  Indians 
  and 
  the 
  Nome 
  Lackees, 
  all 
  of 
  

   which 
  bear 
  a 
  close 
  resemblance 
  ; 
  and, 
  in 
  this 
  instance, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  perceptible 
  

   deterioration 
  in 
  the 
  workmanship. 
  I 
  strongly 
  suspect, 
  however, 
  if 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   possessing 
  these 
  implements 
  had 
  been 
  closely 
  questioned, 
  they 
  would 
  have 
  

   acknowledged 
  that 
  they 
  found 
  them, 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  make 
  them, 
  just 
  as 
  they 
  ac- 
  

   knowledge 
  in 
  regard 
  of 
  the 
  superior 
  stone 
  mortars 
  and 
  pestles. 
  That 
  is, 
  they 
  

   are 
  really 
  indebted 
  to 
  their 
  ancestors 
  for 
  them. 
  Near 
  Freestone, 
  Sonoma 
  

   County, 
  I 
  saw 
  in 
  possession 
  of 
  its 
  finder, 
  what 
  was 
  probably 
  a 
  spindle 
  whorl 
  of 
  

   pottery 
  — 
  the 
  only 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  I 
  know 
  of. 
  In 
  regard 
  to 
  tobacco-pipes, 
  

   the 
  deterioration 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  manifest, 
  for 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  soapstone 
  pipes 
  of 
  as 
  hand- 
  

   some 
  workmanship 
  as 
  any 
  obtained 
  from 
  the 
  mounds. 
  But 
  I 
  still 
  think 
  there 
  

   is 
  deterioration 
  shown, 
  in 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  Indians 
  nowadays 
  use 
  so 
  many 
  

   wooden 
  pipes 
  of 
  the 
  rudest 
  construction 
  ; 
  though 
  we 
  have 
  no 
  means 
  of 
  showing 
  

   that 
  their 
  ancestors 
  did 
  not 
  use 
  equally 
  poor 
  ones, 
  since 
  their 
  wooden 
  pipes, 
  if 
  

   they 
  had 
  any, 
  have 
  perished. 
  Then 
  again, 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  shell-mounds 
  themselves. 
  I 
  

   am 
  of 
  opinion 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  merely 
  the 
  accumulations 
  of 
  a 
  race 
  of 
  men 
  who 
  

   dived 
  for 
  clams, 
  as 
  the 
  Wintoons 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  Sacramento 
  do 
  to 
  this 
  day, 
  to 
  

   a 
  limited 
  extent. 
  In 
  other 
  words, 
  the 
  Wintoons 
  and 
  other 
  tribes 
  are 
  descended 
  

   from 
  a 
  people 
  who 
  were 
  more 
  energetic 
  and 
  industrious 
  than 
  themselves. 
  

  

  Langsdorff 
  and 
  La 
  Perouse 
  both 
  mention 
  that 
  they 
  saw 
  many 
  Indians 
  with 
  

   magnificent 
  beards, 
  but 
  now 
  they 
  are 
  almost 
  totally 
  destitute 
  of 
  beards. 
  

   Whether 
  the 
  ever-increasing 
  drought 
  and 
  dessication 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  Coast, 
  

   which 
  have 
  swept 
  away 
  the 
  ancient 
  forests, 
  have 
  also 
  destroyed 
  the 
  beards 
  of 
  

   the 
  aborigines, 
  is 
  a 
  question 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  competent 
  to 
  determine. 
  

  

  The 
  two 
  " 
  Village 
  Sentinels," 
  as 
  the 
  Eurocs 
  call 
  them, 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  

   Klamath, 
  and 
  the 
  human 
  head 
  carved 
  in 
  stone 
  near 
  the 
  Geysers, 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  rel- 
  

   ics 
  of 
  former 
  idolatry 
  ; 
  and 
  indeed 
  the 
  legends 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  latter 
  state 
  

   that 
  their 
  ancestors 
  were 
  idolaters. 
  Their 
  religion 
  now, 
  if 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  

   have 
  any, 
  is 
  a 
  near 
  approach 
  to 
  fetichism 
  ; 
  that 
  is, 
  the 
  worship 
  of 
  animals, 
  such 
  

   as 
  the 
  coyote, 
  the 
  white 
  owl, 
  the 
  black 
  eagle, 
  etc. 
  Fetichism 
  is 
  a 
  lower 
  form 
  of 
  

   religion 
  than 
  idolatry. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  two 
  legends 
  — 
  one 
  among 
  the 
  Cahrocs 
  of 
  the 
  Klamaths, 
  and 
  one 
  

   among 
  the 
  Pallegawonaps 
  of 
  Kern 
  River 
  — 
  which, 
  in 
  my 
  opinion, 
  are 
  undoubt- 
  

   edly 
  a 
  corrupted 
  version 
  of 
  some 
  old 
  zodiac-myth, 
  and 
  therefore 
  point 
  to 
  a 
  

   remotely 
  semi-civilized 
  origin 
  for 
  their 
  narrators. 
  

  

  I 
  might 
  extend 
  these 
  instances 
  and 
  comparisons, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  necessary. 
  The 
  

   California 
  Indians, 
  like 
  their 
  predecessors, 
  belong 
  unmistakably 
  to 
  the 
  Stone 
  

   Age 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  degenerated 
  from 
  a 
  higher 
  to 
  a 
  lower 
  grade 
  

   in 
  that 
  age, 
  argues 
  strongly 
  that 
  their 
  ancestors, 
  after 
  crossing 
  the 
  sea, 
  might 
  

   have 
  degenerated 
  from 
  the 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  or 
  the 
  Iron 
  Age 
  of 
  China. 
  

  

  For 
  these 
  reasons, 
  I 
  am 
  disposed 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  California 
  Indians 
  have 
  

   simply 
  deteriorated 
  from 
  what 
  we 
  (perhaps 
  erroneously) 
  call 
  a 
  pre-aboriginal 
  

   race; 
  and 
  ultimately, 
  fiom 
  the 
  Chinese. 
  Instances 
  are 
  not 
  wanting 
  where 
  a 
  

   people 
  have 
  retrograded 
  from 
  civilization 
  almost 
  to 
  barbarism 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  

  

  