258 Memoirs Bcrnicc I'. Bishop Miisrtiiii 



theless it seems desirable to repeat the discussion in my paper on Samoan Soma- 

 tology'" and to extend it somewhat. 



I have stated my belief that there was little or no reason for assuming the 

 Samoans to be of European or Caucasian origin. From the evidence available I 

 have concluded that the Samoans are of Mongoloid or \'ellow-lh-own allinities. 

 Scientific opinion has wavered back and forth on the (juestion as to whether there 

 was or was not justification for calling the yellow and the brown elements of this 

 stock separate races. Everyone must admit that there is some justification for so 

 doing. Superficially there are some striking differences in the two stocks. When 

 all the groups composing this stock are considered, anthropologists have found that 

 the two elements have a considerable number of very important characteristics in 

 common. One group may dei)art radically from the other groups in one or two 

 characters but in all other characters will approach the form prevailing in the 

 majority of the groups. At present the line of cleavage between the vellow and 

 brown elements of this stock seems to be rather well marked. This is probablv 

 due not to the fact that such a gap exists but that our data is lacking on many 

 interesting and connecting t\pes. The Chinese, the Japanese, the Koreans, the 

 numerous Siberian peoples, and many other similar Asiatic groups constitute the 

 yellow element of this group. The American Indians, the Malays, the Indonesians 

 and in my opinion the Polynesians constitute the brown element of the Yellow- 

 Brown race. Each one of these groups named represents a departure from the 

 other groups in a greater or less number of important characteristics. Yet 

 analysis reveals a large number of remaining characteristics pointing clearlv to its 

 major afifinities. 



It is for this reason that I insist that no classification based on hair form, 

 cephalic index, or any one single character should be taken too seriouslv. It may 

 very well be that the one character which was hit upon as a basis for classifica- 

 tion may be the very one in which the group under discussion has Ijecome differ- 

 entiated from its closest relatives. Relationship must be based on a totality of 

 characters — the larger the number of physical characters used in indicating rela- 

 tionships the greater the probability that the relationshij) indicated is a real one. 



The evidence for a Caucasian origin of the Samoans and Tongans is 

 decidedly sparse and unconvincing". They do depart somewhat from the bulk of 

 the Yellow-Brown peoples in hair form. Coarse, stiff, or lank black hair occurs 

 only rarely in these two groups. The prevailing form is moderately coarse in 

 texture and either straight or, quite as often, slightly wavy in form. This more 

 than any other one thing is responsible for the theory of a European origin of 

 these peoples. Now while the hair is not so stiff, straight, and coarse as the 

 prevailing form of hair in the \'ellow-Ijrown peoples, neither is it so fine as the 



' Op. cit. 



[28] 



