Chapter VII. 



ORIGINS. 



This brief sketch of the anthropology of the Plain- 

 naturally raises a few quite fundamental questions: 

 How did these tribes come to be here? How long have 

 they been here? What was the origin of their cultures? 

 While no satisfactory answers can be given for these, 

 some progress toward their solution has been made. 

 We have seen that no definite correlation seems to 

 exist between language, culture, and physical type, 

 since the distribution maps for each have little in 

 common. Taking the cultural classification as our 

 point of view, we see that Plains Indians are not 

 peculiar in stature or head form, but seem to fall into 

 two unequal groups with many representatives in other 

 parts of the continent. The shorter western tribes 

 ranging from 165 to 170 cm. fall into a large group of 

 low statures including most of the Calif ornian, Plateau, 

 North Pacific Coast, and Southeastern Areas. The 

 Comanche who speak a language of Shoshonean stock 

 widely distributed over the Plateau area are also 

 relatively short. The greater part of the typical and 

 village tribes, however, range from 170 to 175 cm., 



138 



