NO.    I  ARCHEOLOGY    OF    ST.    LAWRENCE    LSLAND COLLIN.S  371 
analysis  of  the  religious  ideas  and  of  the  folk-lore  of  these  tribes  gives  us  the 
unexpected  result  that  among  the  Chukchee  we  have  not  only  a  great  number 
of  Eskimo  stories,  but  also  a  considerable  number  of  Raven  myths,  which  show 
a  striking  analogy  to  Raven  traditions  of  the  Indians  of  the  North  Pacific  coast. 
Among  the  Koryak  and  Kamchadal  the  Eskimo  elements  become  much  fewer 
in  number,  while  the  relative  proportion  of  Raven  myths  which  show  similarity 
to  Raven  tales  of  America  is  much  larger.  This  feature  is  so  striking  that 
Mr.  Bogoras  and  Mr.  Jochelson  have  independently  reached  the  conclusion  that 
a  close  affiliation  exists  between  eastern  Siberian  folk-lore  and  that  of  southern 
Alaska  and  British  Columbia.  Mr.  Jochelson  finds  that  the  Koryak  have  many 
incidents  in  their  tales  in  common  with  the  Old  World  and  with  the  North 
American  Indians,  and  quite  a  number  which  are  common  to  the  Koryak,  the 
Eskimo  and  the  Indians,  but  none  that  belong  to  the  Koryak  and  to  the  Eskimo 
alone.  This  is  clear  evidence  that  contact  between  Koryak  and  Eskimo  is  more 
recent  than  that  between  Koryak  and  Indian. 
Tliis  clew  once  given,  we  investigated  the  cultural  similarities  in  this  whole 
area,  and  found  ample  evidence  that  there  must  have  been,  at  an  early  period, 
an  intimate  relationship  between  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Pacific  coast  and  the 
peoples  of  eastern  Siberia.  The  peculiar  fact  that  this  relationship  comes  out 
much  more  clearly  some  distance  to  the  west  of  Bering  Strait,  particularly 
among  the  Koryak,  proves  that  the  similar  traits  of  culture  cannot  have  been 
transmitted  indirectly  through  the  Eskimo. 
....  So  far  as  the  available  material  allows  us  to  judge,  it  would  seem  that 
the  similarities  between  the  Eskimo  and  the  North  Pacific  Coast  Indians  are 
unimportant  as  compared  to  the  similarities  between  the  Koryak  and  Chukchee 
and  these  Indians.  We  must  infer  from  these  facts  that  the  Eskimo  are  new- 
arrivals  on  the  Pacific  side  of  America,  that  their  original  home  was  some- 
where near,  or  east  of  the  Mackenzie  River,  and  that  they  interrupted,  at  an 
early  period,  the  communication  between  the  Siberian  and  Indian  tribes,  which 
left  its  trace  [?]  in  many  cultural  traits  common  to  the  peoples  on  both  sides  of 
the  Bering  Sea. 
The  ])ossibility  .sugge.st.s  it.self  that  the  Thule  E.skinios  may  liave 
l)roiight  with  them  from  the  central  regions  not  only  eastern  dialects 
and  culture  but  also  the  Eastern  Eskimo  pattern  of  folklore,  and  that 
it  was  the  introduction  of  the  latter  that  produced  the  break  at  Bering 
.Strait.  1liis.  of  course,  is  only  a  supposition,  which  would  he  difficult 
cither  to  prcjve  or  disprove.  However,  since  the  effects  of  the  presumed 
late  wave  of  Thule  culture  seem  to  have  been  felt  to  some  extent  by 
the  Chukchee,  it  would  appear  as  by  no  means  improbable  that  their 
mythology,  along  with  that  of  the  Western  Eskimos,  had  been  influ- 
enced in  the  same  way.  The  Koryak  and  Kamchadal,  on  the  other 
hand,  would  not  have  been  affected  to  the  same  degree,  and  conse- 
quently the  Indian  elements  in  their  mythology  would  have  remained 
prominent. 
Although  we  have  been  led  to  conclude  that  the  Thule  culture,  in 
its  known  aspects,  is  to  be  identified  with  the  modern  or  protohistoric 
