130 THE HURON RACE AND ITS HEAD-FORM. 



Meigs further remarks : " In its general configuration, as viewed later- 

 ally, it resembles the Creek and Chetimache skulls, but differs from 

 them in general elevation of crown. This coronal elevation is shown also 

 in the other three skulls" in the Morton collection, and he adds : " they 

 are all short skulls." In reality, none of the examples referred to can 

 be regarded as unmodified examples of the Huron head. The Wyan- 

 dots of Detroit were the descendants of the Petuns, who, after they 

 were driven out by the Iroquois, settled for a time on the Island of 

 Mackinac, at the mouth of Lake Michigan, where chey were joined by 

 Ottawas and other Algonquin fugitives who had experienced a like 

 fate. Driven forth from this refuge, they migrated from place to place, 

 mingling for a time with the Illinois, another Algonquin people ; and 

 finally removed to Detroit and Sandusky, where, under the name of 

 Wyandots, they were settled at the beginning of the present century. 

 They retained the traditions of their fathers, and were among the most 

 formidable of the Indian tribes who joined the famous Ottawa Chief, 

 Pontiac, in 1763, in a war of extermination against the English. The 

 skull figured in the Crania Americana, and minutely described by 

 Dr. Meigs, is that of a Wyandot chief, killed near Detroit in a rencontre 

 with another Indian. But it is not only inferior to the general 

 character of Huron skulls ; but both it and the other examples in the 

 Philadelphia collection indicate such deviations from any prevalent 

 Huron type as was to be looked for from the history of the Petun- 

 Wyandots, subsequent to their migration from their original settlements. 

 On Plate I, are presented fair average specimens of the male and 

 female Huron head. The male example, on the left, illustrates the 

 prevailing characteristics of the larger number of the skulls as seen in 

 profile. The supercilliary ridges are prominent, though less so than 

 in some other examples ; the forehead is low and receding, but by no 

 means below the average; the maxilla large; and the malar bones 

 broad and massive. The nasal bones are imperfect; but sufiice to 

 indicate a prominent nose, as is the prevailing character in other exam- 

 ples. The female head, though illustrating the general characteristics 

 of female Huron skulls, is decidedly the largest and best formed of all 

 those in Dr. Tache's collection. Unfortunately the fracture of the 

 zygoma deprives it of one feature in which the greater delicacy of the 

 female skull is apt to show itself most definitely. The superciliary 

 ridge, as usual in the female, is wanting. The frontal region is well 

 developed for an Indian; the occiput is little protruded; and the whole 



