pii vsn ai. i ypi 145 



than the definition of minute differences. In historical 

 times, at Least, there was a great deal of intermarriage 



and visiting between those 1 tribes which must have 

 tended to level down somatic differences and which 

 makes the successful determination of genetic relation- 

 ship quite improbable. As to head form, we find an 

 index of about 80 for the Ute, Cree, Dakota, Blackfoot . 

 Cheyenne, Arapaho, Pawnee, and a considerably higher 

 value for the Comanche, Osage, Omaha, Wichita, and 

 Kiowa. 



Thus in general it appears that the Indians 

 of the Plains are not anatomically distinct from 

 those occupying some other parts of the continent. 

 Yet, when closely considered, they tend to form a 

 group in distinction to the tribes of other areas. In the 

 preceding chapters we observed, that the tribes in the 

 center of the Plains were more original in culture, where- 

 as those on the borders had assimilated may foreign 

 traits. So in much the same way we find that the 

 central tribes tend to be tall, while the marginal ones 

 are shorter, like those of the neighboring culture areas. 

 The same kind of differences appear in other characters. 

 It is thus plain that the Indians of the Plains are some- 

 what distinct from other Indians, but these differences 

 are small as compared with the differences between 

 Indians and Europeans. 



