Chapter VI. 

 PHYSICAL TYPE. 



SO FAR we have concerned ourselves with how the 

 Plains Indians lived, or with their culture, but 

 our subject would not be complete without a 

 general idea of their anatomy and physical condition. 

 According to the census of 1910 there resided within the 

 United States o(),208 members of the tribes we have 

 designated as Plains Indians. The number for each 

 tribe, together with the extent of mixture, is shown in 

 the table. Nearly all of the mixed-bloods are descend- 

 ants of white men and Indian women. We have no 

 exact data as to the number of these Indians in Canada, 

 but consider it to be less than 12,000. Since 1880 there 

 seems to have been little change in the density of this 

 population, though some tribes are now increasing. As 

 to how the number of 1910 compares with the popula- 

 tion of a century or more ago we can but guess, but 

 there is no reason to believe that it ever exceeded 

 100,000. 



Xo careful study of the physical types for the Plains 

 has been made. Our general impression of the tribal 

 appearance is largely influenced by hair dress, costume, 

 and posture, and it is difficult to dissociate these 

 externals from somatic features. Yet, a brief scrutiny 

 of casts of faces or photographs usually reveals tribal 

 resemblances like those we see in families among our- 

 selves. As the Indians of the Plains are but a sub- 



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