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  INDIAN 
  LINGUISTIC 
  FAMILIES. 
  

  

  established 
  points 
  resorted 
  to 
  from 
  time 
  immemorial. 
  As, 
  however, 
  

   they 
  had 
  not 
  yet 
  entered 
  completely 
  into 
  the 
  agricultural 
  condition. 
  

   to 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  fast 
  progressing 
  from 
  the 
  hunter 
  state, 
  they 
  may 
  

   be 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  nomadic 
  to 
  a 
  very 
  limited 
  extent. 
  The 
  method 
  

   of 
  life 
  thus 
  sketched 
  was 
  substantially 
  the 
  one 
  which 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   were 
  found 
  practicing 
  throughout 
  the 
  eastern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States, 
  as 
  also, 
  though 
  to 
  a 
  less 
  degree, 
  in 
  the 
  Pacific 
  States. 
  Upon 
  

   the 
  Pacific 
  coast 
  proper 
  the 
  tribes 
  were 
  even 
  more 
  sedentary 
  than 
  

   upon 
  the 
  Atlantic, 
  as 
  the 
  mild 
  climate 
  and 
  the 
  great 
  abundance 
  and 
  

   permanent 
  supply 
  of 
  fish 
  and 
  shellfish 
  left 
  no 
  cause 
  for 
  a 
  seasonal 
  

   change 
  of 
  abode. 
  

  

  When, 
  however, 
  the 
  interior 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  were 
  first 
  

   visited 
  by 
  Europeans, 
  a 
  different 
  state 
  of 
  affairs 
  was 
  found 
  to 
  pre- 
  

   vail. 
  There 
  the 
  acquisition 
  of 
  the 
  horse 
  and 
  the 
  possession 
  ■ 
  of 
  

   firearms 
  had 
  wrought 
  very 
  great 
  changes 
  in 
  aboriginal 
  habits. 
  The. 
  

   acquisition 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  enabled 
  the 
  Indian 
  of 
  the 
  treeless 
  plains 
  to 
  

   travel 
  distances 
  with 
  ease 
  and 
  celerity 
  which 
  before 
  were 
  practically 
  

   impossible, 
  and 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  firearms 
  stimulated 
  tribal 
  aggres- 
  

   siveness 
  to 
  the 
  utmost 
  pitch. 
  Firearms 
  were 
  everywhere 
  doubly 
  

   effective 
  in 
  producing 
  changes 
  in 
  tribal 
  habitats, 
  since 
  the 
  somewhat 
  

   gradual 
  introduction 
  of 
  trade 
  placed 
  these 
  deadly 
  weapons 
  in 
  the 
  

   hands 
  of 
  some 
  tribes, 
  and 
  of 
  whole 
  congeries 
  of 
  tribes, 
  long 
  he 
  fore 
  

   others 
  could 
  obtain 
  them. 
  Thus 
  the 
  general 
  state 
  of 
  tribal 
  equilib- 
  

   rium 
  which 
  had 
  before 
  prevailed 
  was 
  rudely 
  disturbed. 
  Tribal 
  

   warfare, 
  which 
  hitherto 
  had 
  been 
  attended 
  with 
  inconsiderable 
  loss 
  

   of 
  life 
  and 
  slight 
  territorial 
  changes, 
  was 
  now 
  made 
  terribly 
  destruc- 
  

   tive, 
  and 
  the 
  territorial 
  possessions 
  of 
  whole 
  groups 
  of 
  tribes 
  were 
  

   augmented 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  those 
  less 
  fortunate. 
  The 
  horse 
  made 
  

   wanderers 
  of 
  many 
  tribes 
  which 
  there 
  is 
  sufficient 
  evidence 
  to 
  show 
  

   were 
  formerly 
  nearly 
  sedentary. 
  Firearms 
  enforced 
  migration 
  and 
  

   caused 
  wholesale 
  changes 
  in 
  the 
  habitats 
  of 
  tribes, 
  which, 
  in 
  the 
  

   natural 
  order 
  of 
  events, 
  it 
  would 
  have 
  taken 
  many 
  centuries 
  to 
  pro- 
  

   duce. 
  The 
  changes 
  resulting 
  from 
  these 
  combined 
  agencies, 
  great 
  

   as 
  they 
  were, 
  are, 
  however, 
  slight 
  in 
  comparison 
  with 
  the 
  tremendous 
  

   effects 
  of 
  the 
  wholesale 
  occupancy 
  of 
  Indian 
  territory 
  by 
  Europeans. 
  

   As 
  the 
  acquisition 
  of 
  territory 
  by 
  the 
  settlers 
  went 
  on, 
  a 
  wave 
  of 
  

   migration 
  from 
  east 
  to 
  west 
  was 
  inaugurated 
  which 
  affected 
  tribes 
  

   far 
  remote 
  from 
  the 
  point 
  of 
  disturbance, 
  ever 
  forcing 
  them 
  within 
  

   narrower 
  and 
  narrower 
  bounds, 
  and. 
  as 
  time 
  went 
  on, 
  producing 
  

   greater 
  and 
  greater 
  changes 
  throughout 
  the 
  entire 
  country. 
  

  

  So 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  radical 
  change 
  in 
  tribal 
  habitats 
  as 
  took 
  place 
  in 
  

   the 
  area 
  remote 
  from 
  European 
  settlements, 
  mainly 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  

   Mississippi, 
  is 
  chiefly 
  unrecorded, 
  save 
  imperfectly 
  in 
  Indian 
  tra- 
  

   dition, 
  and 
  is 
  chiefly 
  to 
  be 
  inferred 
  from 
  linguistic 
  evidence 
  and 
  

   from 
  the 
  few 
  facts 
  in 
  our 
  possession. 
  As, 
  however, 
  the 
  most 
  im- 
  

   portant 
  of 
  these 
  changes 
  occurred 
  after, 
  and 
  as 
  a 
  result 
  of, 
  European 
  

  

  