Ivi ETUNOGRAPniG SKETCU. 



and fifty miles distant from the mountain homes of the Klamath peoj)k', 

 proves more than anything- else their protracted isolation from other tribes 

 and cdso their absence from the sea-coast during their stay about the head- 

 waters of the Klamath River. 



No connection is traceable between tlie languages of the Klamath and 

 the Shoshoni Indians, both immediate neighbors, nor with the Kalapuya, 

 Chinook, and Selish dialects north of them. They must have remained 

 strangers to each other as far back as language can give any clue to pre- 

 historic conditions. The Sahaptin and Wayiletpu families are the only 

 ones with whom a distant kinshijj is not altogether out of the question. 

 Some of the terms common to these languages could have been acquired 

 by the Maklaks through their frequent visits at the Dalles, the great ren- 

 dezvous and market-place of the Oregonian and of many Selish tribes. 

 Friendly intercourse with the Warm Spring Indians (Lokuashtkni) existed 

 long ago and exists now; friendly connections of this kind are frequently 

 brought about by racial and linguistic affinity, just as inveterate enmity is 

 often founded upon disparity of race and language.* 



The resemblances in the lexical part of the three families are not unim- 

 portant, but in view of the small knowledge we have of either and of the 

 large number of words in these languages showing neither affinity nor 

 resemblance, we have to maintain the classification prevailing at present and 

 to regard their dialects as pertaining to three linguistic families. Sahaptin 

 shows more likeness in phonetics and in morphology with Wayiletpu than 

 with Klamath. 



Nowhere is syllabic reduplication so well developed in Oregon and 

 about Columbia River as in the three families above mentioned and in 

 Selish, the distributive as well as the iterative. The latter exists in every 

 language, but of the former no traces could be detected in the Kalapuya 

 and Northern Californian languages, and but few in Shoshoni dialects, 

 though in Mexico it is frequent. This point will prove very important in 

 tracing ancient migrations. 



* We may compare the long-lasting friendly relations once existing between the 

 Lendpo and SliAwano, the SiiDshoni and Bainiock (Panaiti), the Chicasa and the 

 Kasf'hta (a Creek tribe), the Illinois and the Miami Indians. 



