4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 89 



tribes have descended, probably occurred at an earlier time than 

 has been usually conceded. They may have been the true aborigines 

 of the southeastern country, for as yet no indisputable evidence of 

 Pleistocene man has been discovered in any locality between the 

 Mississippi River and the Atlantic coast. 



The languages of all the peoples of the southeastern section, with 

 the exception of the Iroquoian and the smaller Algonquian groups, 

 show structural similarities that suggest a very early contact or asso- 

 ciation of the various tribes, obviously in a region west of the Missis- 

 sippi before their removal eastward. The numerous tribes appear 

 to have entered the trans-Mississippi country in successive waves, the 

 movements continuing through centuries. 



The Uchean and Siouan groups were probably among the earliest 

 to arrive on the left bank of the Mississippi and, belonging to the 

 same early period, may have been the ancestors of the Natchez, who 

 did not move far eastward, and also of the Timucua tribes and of the 

 little known Calusa, who at the beginning of the historic era occupied 

 many villages on the peninsula of Florida. Undoubtedly, others joined 

 in the early movements, but their identity will never be revealed. The 

 various tribes just mentioned will be considered and referred to in 

 this sketch as the proto-Muskhogean groups ; however, the Uchean 

 and Siouan peoples will be traced separately on the maps. 



It is evident that the Siouan tribes, and others who may have been 

 allied with them, after crossing to the left bank of the Mississippi, 

 continued their advance into the valley of the Ohio. The majority 

 are believed to have settled north of the river and to have developed 

 the remarkable cultures that have been revealed in recent years. All 

 did not cross the Ohio ; some remained south of the stream and con- 

 tinued eastward into the mountainous country, and these probably 

 constituted the southeastern group of Swanton's classification, as 

 mentioned later in this article. 



The Uchean ^ peoples, centuries ago, were probably a numerous, 

 powerful group, some of whom, together with other proto-Muskhogean 

 tribes, are believed by the writer to have extended northward to the 

 vicinity of the junction of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. 

 It is likewise believed that during this early period of occupancy the 

 great earthworks of southern Ohio were erected by the Siouan peoples, 

 and that the massive mounds of the Cahokia and related groups not 

 far from the mouth of the Missouri, and others as far distant as 



* Historical references to the Yuchi and related tribes have been brought 

 together by Swanton in his work : Early history of the Creek Indians and their 

 neighbors. Bull. 73, Bur. Amer. Ethnol., 1922. 



