37^ The National Geographic Magazine 



earlier studies were necessarily devoted 

 to tribal characteristics rather than racial 

 features ; and as the studies proceeded 

 these characteristics were analj^zed and 

 defined in such manner as to jaeld a com- 

 prehensive tribal classification on a new 

 basis. In its essential features the clas- 

 sification is, in the first place, dynamic 

 in that it rests on the activities of men 

 rather than on organic forms and struc- 

 tures ; in the second place, it is demotic 

 in that it rests on collective attributes (or 

 on attributes of men considered as con- 

 stituents of tribes or other assemblages) 

 rather than on merely biotic structures 

 andf unctions. Inotherwords, the press- 

 ing need for a practical classification of 

 the American aborigines compelled the 

 abandonment of the taxonomy borrowed 

 from biology, and led to the development 

 of a distinctiveh^ anthropologic classi- 

 fication, the units of. which are human 

 groups. 



The recognition of the activities as 

 essential characteristics of tribes and 

 peoples leads to analysis of the activities 

 displayed by individuals and groups ; 

 and, with the advance of knowledge up 

 to the present writing, the activities 

 have been arranged in categories which 

 seem to be natural and convenient : 

 (i) the simplest activities are in large 

 part initially spontaneous expressions 

 of hereditary facultj^, and may be classed 

 as esthetic ; (2) next follow the activi- 

 ties reflecting the interrelations between 

 the individual and group {somatikos and 

 demos) and their environment, which 

 may be classed as industrial ; ('3) then 

 follow the activities and superorganic 

 (or institutional) structures reflecting 

 the interrelations among individuals and 

 groups, which may be classed as social ; 

 (4) the simpler activities, which are 

 measurably shared by lower organisms, 

 give .shape to a series of distinctivel}^ 

 human activities, con.stantly exercised 

 in maintaining and extendmg demotic 

 relation, which ma)^ be classed as lin- 

 guistic ; and (5) the several activities 

 of lower order produce a series express- 



ing the sum of human interrelations 

 (comprising knowledge and pseudo- 

 knowledge in all aspects), which may 

 be clas,sed as .sophiologic. The work of 

 the Bureau is organized on lines de- 

 fined by these normal categories of ac- 

 tivities — i. c, the researches pertain tO' 

 (i) Esthetolog}^ (2) Technolog}', (3)' 

 Sociology, (4) Philology, and (5) So- 

 phiology, re.spectiveh^ It is held that 

 this cla!3sification of anthropolog}^ places 

 the Science of Man on the high plane 

 occupied bj^ other sciences in their mod- 

 ern or dynamic aspects — /. e. , in those 

 aspects in which action and sequence 

 are conspicuous and characteristic. 



Definition of the activities renders it- 

 possible to classify tribes and peoples 

 in terms of activital condition or cul- 

 ture, and eventually to trace the course 

 of human development. The culture 

 grades may be expressed vaguel}^ in 

 terms of esthetic development, a little 

 more clearly in terms of ind-ustrial de- 

 velopment, or much more definiteh' in 

 terms of institutional development ; and 

 a practical seriation of the course of 

 human development has been based on 

 the researches among the American ab- 

 origines and other known peoples. The 

 stages are (i) savagery, characterized 

 by consanguineal organization through 

 the maternal line, (2) barbarism, char- 

 acterized b}'^ consanguineal organization 

 through the paternal line, (3) civiliza- 

 tion, characterized by organization on 

 a territorial basis, and (4) enlighten- 

 ment, characterized by organization on 

 a basis of intellectual rights. The cul- 

 ture grades might be expressed still 

 more trenchantly in terms of linguistic 

 development, and most trenchanth' of 

 all in terms of sophiologic development, 

 were the data sufficient ; and indeed the 

 practical clas.sification of the aboriginal 

 tribes of America rests on the linguistic 

 basis. The linguistic activities were 

 adopted as criteria for the classification, 

 partly because of the pensistence and 

 exoteric character (and henc* the ready 

 obtainability) of language, partly be- 



