28 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF INDIAN LANGUAGES. 
§ 12. ANIMALS. 
Zoodtheism largely prevails among North American Indians—that is, 
many of their gods are animals; not the present race of animals, but the 
progenitors or prototypes of the present species. In the study of North 
American mythology it is very desirable that we know the names used 
by the Indians for the animals with which they are acquainted. It is 
manifest that from any one tribe but few of the names in the list can be 
collected, for the reason that it includes many species restricted to limited 
geographic areas. The list should be considered simply as suggestive and 
should be increased—the collector adding the names of all the animals 
known to the tribe studied. 
Sometimes the name for the ancient animal (or animal god) has a 
different termination or is denoted by some other slight change in the 
word; where this is the case the animal name used for the name of a per- 
son is the same as the name of the animal god, rather the name of the 
existing species. 
The method of distinguishing sex should also be noted, which is gen- 
erally by the use of words signifying male and female; also note the name 
of the young of each species. It is a mistake to suppose that the Indians 
have no class-names or generic terms; such terms are very common among 
them, but their methods of classification do not agree with those used by 
civilized people—that is, their generic terms embrace categories easily 
recognized by a savage people, but different from those recognized by a 
civilized people. Thus a class-name may be found to embrace those ani- 
mals which live in trees, as raccoons, porcupines, squirrels, &c.; another, 
those which burrow, as badgers, prairie-dogs, &c.; and still another, those 
which roam over the plains, as buffaloes, deer, antelope, &e. 
All animate and inanimate objects are thrown into classes, among the 
several tribes, in diverse and curious ways. Not only do the Indians have 
many class-names, but class distinctions are curiously woven into the gram- 
matic structure of their languages. An Indian system of classifying natural 
objects is a very interesting subject for study. 
