CHAPTER VIII. 



CONCLUDINU REMARKS. 



It seems proper to present here some general conclusions to which the facts 

 detailed in the preceding pages lead the mind of the inquirer, though many of them 

 have already been expressed. 



The American race is now, and probably always has been, divided into numerous 

 distinct tribes or nations, occupying different portions of the country, and each having 

 to some extent its own peculiar habits, customs, religion, and even language. Many 

 of the tribes were of a roving disposition, with no fixed place of abode ; while others 

 were more permanent, only leaving their villages for the purpose of war or the 

 chase. Since these nations have been known to us, and their history recorded, we 

 are cognizant of numerous and important changes in the location of different tribes, 

 and even nations. We know of tribes that have become extinct, and of others that 

 have gradually united with their neighbors, adopting their habits, religion, and 

 language. 



We may, therefore, without assuming any far-fetched theories, suppose that a 

 nation or tribe of red men formerly occupied the country now known as Wisconsin, 

 whose superstitions, ceremonies, and beliefs, required the erection of mounds of 

 earth of the various forms represented on the plates accompanying this Avork ; and 

 that these tribes may have emigrated, or been driven off by others having no vene- 

 ration for their ancient monuments. These subsequent tribes may or may not be 

 the same that until very recently occupied that country. They extended their 

 cultivation over the mounds with as little feeling of respect as is manifested by men 

 of the race who are now fast destroying them. It is quite certain that these later 

 tribes continued the practice of mound-building so far as to erect a circular or conical 

 tumulus over their dead. This practice appears to be a remnant of ancient customs 

 that connects the mound-builders with the present tribes. 



The extent of the ancient works in the West indicates a condition of society 

 somewhat different from the purely savage or hunter state : for to accomplish the 

 labor required for the completion of such large structures, it would be necessary to 

 accumulate the means of subsistence ; and this could be done only by an agricul- 

 tural people, or at least agriculture must have been among the pursuits of a people 

 capable of constructing those works. Now we know that nearly all the Indian 

 tribes cultivate the soil to some extent ; and is it not reasonable to suppose that 

 the amount of attention devoted to that pursuit may have been greater at former 

 times than at present ? A tribe or nation may gradually change its habits in rela- 

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