Indigenous Races of the Earth

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'· i 1 (1 I i 332 TilE CRANIAL CHAUAPTERISTICS l•'ig. 59. GUANQJ!g. ratlt r to tho " Caucasian" family, as sug­g st.ccl by Cuvmn, in his obscrvat.ions upon tbo Venus Hottentotte.2Ml This opinion is con­firmed by a G uancho skuJl in tho Mortonian Collection. 1'hl'ough Orania Americana, it has long boon known to tho scientific world that a remarkable sameness of osteological cha­racter pervades all tho American tribes from Hudson's Bay to 'l'crra del Fuego. It is equally well known, that tho researches of HuMBOLDT aucl GALLATJN have demonstrated a conformity not los remal'kable in tho language and artistic t •udcncics of these numerous and widely-scattered abo­rigtn s. Dr. Mon·roN divides tho American race into two great families- tho Toltccan, possessing a very ancient domi-civilization, and tho Bal'barous tribes. Tho lattol', ho sub-divides into the AI pa­lacllian, Brazi lian, Patagonian, and Fuogian bra11chcs. The Appa­lachians arc cbaractol'izccl by a rounded head; large, salient, and aquiline nose; dark-brown and very slightly oblique eyes; largo and straight mouth, with nearly vertical teeth; tho whole face triangular. The physical traits of the Brazilian group difl:cr but little from those of tho Appalachian. A larger and more expand d nose, and larger mouths aud lips, seem to constitute tho only dif­ference. 'l'all statures, fino forms, nnd indomit<tulo courage distin­guish the Patagonian group. 'l'ho Fucgians have largo heads, broad faces, small eyes, clumsy boclicA, largo chests, and ill-shaped legs: As t.he cranial typo or standard r presentative of these American Barba1·oi, I have selected the head of a Cotonn.y, or Black-foot chief~ Fig. so. namctl tho "Bloody Hanel" (Fig. 60). COTONAY. It is from the upper Missouri, and was presented by J. J. Audubon, Esq. (No. 1227 of the Collection). Thciollowingoxtractfrom the Orania Americana will servo to give the rea­der a general idea of tho cranial pecu­liarities of tho American type, while a comparison with tho subjoined fig­ures will show how extensively this typo has boon djstributed over our continent. "After examining a great number of skulls, I find that tho nations east of i..hc Alleghany Mountains, tog thor with tho cognate tribes, 2llG Mcmoiros du Museum d'lli~toiro ut\turollc, t. iii. OF TJIE RACES OF MEN. 333 have the head more elongated than any other Amot·icans. This remark applief! especially to tho great I~cnap6 stocl~, tl10 hoquois, a~cl tl1c Chcrok' •s. To the west of the Mississippi, we aanin 111 ct w1th the clon~atccl had in the Mandans, Hicaras, AsRinahoinR, and some other tnbcs. Y ct oven in tl1cso instances, tl10 cha1·acterist'ic t1·uncation of the occiput is more or lc~:~s oLvious, while many 11ations cast of tho Rocky Mountains have tl1c rounded head f!o cl1aractct·istic of tho race, as tho Osages, Ottocs, Missouris, Dacota , and 11umcl'ous oth r . The same eo11fol'mation is common in Florida· l>ut some of tl1csc nations arc evidently of the Toltccan family, a; both their characters and traclitionR t stifJ'· Tho head of the Charibs as well of tho Antilles as of Tena l!'irma, arc also natumlly round~d; and we .trace this character, so far as we l1ave had opportunity for cxami­Jlatwn, through tho nations cast of tho Andes, tho I atagoniaus and tho t.ribcs ~f Chili. In fact, tLe flatness of tlte occipital portion· of tlw C?'amunt WlJl probably be found to charactOI'iZO a woater Or Jess number of iniliviclnals in cv ry existing tribe, from 'rcrra del Fuego to the Canaclas.257 If the. c skulls bo viewed fl'om bcl1 i nd wo observe the occipital outline to be moderately curved OlltwardE~, ~vide at tho 257 It iH pleasing to observe tho nnnb~ttcd cncrp;y ~tnd zonl which l11o Professor of History and Bngli slt Litorntnro in University Collcgo, ~·oronto (r1lronrly, ~~~ wo hnvo seen, cclchrntod for his rtrchooological and othnol np;ical rcscarclrcs in Scotland), still bestows upon Jlis fiiVOrito study, in his now C'nnodinn home. In 11 rcoont No. of tho Canadian Jotwnal nf industry, Science, and A ·rt (Novcmhc1·, 185()), of which ho is tho cditorinl hcncl, tho rc:1d~r will find, from his pon, an interesting nccount of tl10 JJiacovery of ludion Herna;ns in Crmada Weal. From this nrticlo J select tho following poragrnpl1, from its bcnl'ing upon tho sub­joct- mnttor· presented in tho text nbovo: "No indicntions," snys Prof. W., "hrtvo yet been 11oticcd of n rncc in Cnnnda concspOllding to tho 13rochy-cophalio or squnro-hcnded mound­builders of tlJo Missis~ippi, rlithoug:h such nn approximation to that typo undoubtedly prevails throughout. this contint•nt nA, to 11 considerable extent, to bear out tho conclusions of Dr. Morton, thnt a conformity of orgrtnizfltion is obvious in tho osteolop;icnl structure of thu whole Amcr·icnn populatiou, extending from tho southom Fuoginns, to tho Jndinns @ldrting tho Arctic Esquimnnx. Dnt such nn npproximntion-and it i: unquestion11bly no moro- still lonvos open many important questions rclnlivo to tho nron and roce of t.ho ancient mound-builders. On our nortlwrn shores of the grcnt clr11in of lnkos, crnnin of tho moro recent bmohy-cephnlio typo hnvo unquestionnlJJy been r~.po11tedly found in compnm­tivoly modern n11tive graves. Such, however, nro tho exception, nnd not tho rule. 1'110 provniling typo, so far ns my prosont oxporionco oxtends, presents a very mnrked pl·cdomi­nanoe of the longituclinnl ovor tho pnl'iotnl nud verticnl dinmotor; whilo, oven in the cxcoptionfll cases, tho bmol1y-ccphnlio chnrnctcristics fall fm· shol't of those so mnrkedly distinguishiug the flnoiout crflnin, tho di~linclivc fcalurce of which some observers bnvo allil'lnod them to exhibit. Jn point of nrchooologicnl evidence of nncicnt occupntion, more- 0\"0J', our noJ·thom sopulchrnl di~olo~uros hnvo hitherto r~ve11lod little thnt is cnlonlntod to ndd to onr dofinito knowl~dgo of tho past, nHhoug:h tho traces of nnciont motnllnrgic nrls suggoAt tho probnbility of such evidence beiug found. 'J'ho di scovery of distinct proofs of tho anoi nt extension of tho mce of the mound-builders into these northern Oil(! cnstcrn r<•gionR, would fur·ni~h fin nddition of no ~light ilnpor·liuJcc to our materials for tlro primovul hi story of tho Grout Lnko districts embrncing l':umdu West."