July 2, 1900.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



153 



It is, moreovei-, noteworthy that tho Indians of North 

 America may be divided into an eastern, or Atlantic, 

 and a western, or Pacific, section, the former of which 

 is characterised by its t^iU st-ature and moderately long 

 head, while the latter is of inferior bodily height and 

 shorter-headed. In this instance also we see tho section 

 nearest to Bering Strait retaining the Mongoloid charac- 

 ters, although it should be added that they are somewhat 

 more hairy than tho eastern section. For tho rest, it 

 must suffice to say that both long, medium, and rather 

 shortrheaded tribes ai-e Baet with iu South America; 

 the former showing a tendency to wavy hair. The 

 tribes in which the head is longest are the Botocudos of 



Fig. 3. — Youug Females, Turinara Indians. 



From a Photo<jyaih i>y Dk. E. Gukldi. 



Brazil, next to whom come the Fuegians, while the 

 approximation to a round-headed type is most marked 

 among the Patagonians. 



Apart from the Eskimo, the aborigines of the New 

 World may be conveniently divided into North, Central, 

 and South Americans, and Patagonians. As already 

 mentioned, the North Americans may be divided into 

 a western and nn eastern section, the latter being further 

 subdivisible into an Atlantic and an Arctic group. To 

 give the names of the numerous tribes constituting these 

 sections and gioups would but weary the reader to no 

 purpose, and would likewise be well nigh impossible 

 within the limits of my space. Allusion may, however, 

 be made to some of the chief linguistic families, or 

 stocks, into which the tribes may be grouped — language 

 being almost the only practical means of classifying 

 American Indians. Foremost among the families of 

 the Arctic slope are the Athabascans : some tribes of 

 which — the Navajos and the Apaches — have, however, 

 migi-ated south into Arizona and New Mexico. On the 

 Atlantic slope the Algonquians even exceed the Atha^ 

 bascans in numbers, and are the largest living family ; 

 some of their best known tribes are the Crees, the 

 Mohicans, and the Chippewas. Among the other 

 Atlantic stocks are the Iroquoians (as represented by 

 the Iroquois and the Mohawks), the Muskhogeans (in- 

 cluding the Choctaws, and Creeks oc Muskhogis), and 



tho Siouans, some of the most famous tribes of the latter 

 being the Sioux or Dakotas, and the Crows. The 

 Pawnee and Kiowa tribes seem to fall into neither of 

 tho great linguistic divisions. Turning to the Indians 

 of tho Pacific slope, whose tendency to a round-headed 

 character h;us been already mentioned, these jippcar to 

 form but a single linguistic stock. Their most interest- 

 ing representatives are, however, the so-called Pueblo 

 (Village) Indians of the jilatcau of Arizona, New Mexico, 

 and pai'ts of the adjacent territories, who have forsaken 

 tho nomatl habits of their fellow aborigines to dwell in 

 large caves hollowed out of tho steep banks of canons, or 

 in large villages (pueblos) built by themselves. These 

 Mokis and Hopis, as they term themselves, are the 

 tallest and most round-headed of all the North American 

 tribes, and possess a number of very remarkable cults 

 and ceremonies, among which the snake-dance is pcr- 

 ha])s the most widely celebrated. 



Mexico is largely po])ulated by the Sonoran and the 

 celebrated Aztec group; tho former being allied by 

 blood to the North Americans of the Atlantic slope, 

 while the latter are more nearly akin to the tribes of 

 Central America. In their mode of life and customs 

 both approximate to the Pueblo Indians; the Pina and 

 Papajo tribes of the Sonorans, for instance, dwelling in 

 large many-storied dwellings commonly known as cams 

 fjraiides, and cultivating with perseverance the sterile 

 soil of the Gila valley — the home, by the way, of that 

 poisonous lizard which is hence known as the Gila 

 monster {lleloderina siixprctuin). The Aztecs, who popu- 

 lated the Pacific slope at the same time that tho 

 Atlantic sea-board was occupied by their relatives the 

 Nahuas, are known to fame by reason of the com- 

 paratively civilized empire they had succeeded in es- 

 tablishing a few centuries previous to the devastating 

 advent of the Spanish eoni/iiiafadores. Among the in- 

 habitants of Central America, which also extend into 

 southern Mexico, the most celebrated are the ancient 

 Mayas of the Mayo valley, Yucatan, whoso civilization 

 was akin to that of Mexico, while their writing (" the 

 Maya script ") forms an anologue to the hieroglyphics 

 of ancient Egypt. Another well-known Mexican tribe 

 are the Miztccs. 



Between Guatemala and Panama dwell a certain 

 number of tribes speaking dialects differing from any 

 of the American stock languages ; the most noteworthy 

 among them being the Mosco, or Mosquito Indians, who 

 are nearly as black as Negroes, but otherwise conforming 

 to the general American type. 



Very brief must be tho mention of the South American 

 aborigines, among which are included all those dwelling 

 to the south of the northern frontier of Costa Rica. 

 Among the Andean section the most interesting 

 linguistic stock is that of the Quechua, on account of 

 its including the ancient Incas of Peru. In western 

 South America, Quechua was, indeed, the lingua franca, 

 as it is to a considerable extent at the present day ; 

 while the Quechua words candor, <jiian(i. iiaiiipa. and 

 qu'ma have boon adojjted in Pairopcan languages. While 

 speaking a different tongue, the Araucans, of Chili and 

 part of Argentina, conform physically to the Quechuas 

 and their relatives the Aymaras. In the Amazonian 

 section come the Caribeans, ethnologically distinguished 

 by their use of the hammock, and including a host of 

 tribes, among whom are the true Caribs of the Antilles 

 and many districts of the mainland, and the Makusis 

 of British Guiana; a peculiar feature of the latter 

 being their habit of going about with down-ca.st eyes. 

 Another linguistic stock in this section is that of the 



