Man, Past and Present

by A. H. Keane

From the data available J. R. Swanton and R. B. Dixon draw the following conclusions[802]. "It appears that the origin of the tribes of several of our stocks may be referred back to a swarming ground, usually of rather indefinite size but none the less roughly indicated. That for the Muskhogeans, including probably some of the smaller southern stocks, must be placed in Louisiana, Arkansas and perhaps the western parts of Mississippi and Tennessee, although a few tribes seem to have come from the region of the Ohio. That for the Iroquoians would be along the Ohio and perhaps farther west, and that of the Siouans on the lower Ohio and the country to the north including part at least of Wisconsin. The dispersion area for the Algonquians was farther north about the Great Lakes and perhaps also the St Lawrence, and that for the Eskimo about Hudson Bay or between it and the Mackenzie river. The Caddoan peoples seem to have been on the southern plains from earliest times. On the north Pacific coast we have indications that the flow of population has been from the interior to the coast. This seems certain in the case of the Indians of the Chimmesayan stock and some Tlinglit subdivisions. Some Tlinglit clans, however, have moved from the neighbourhood of the Nass northward. Looking farther south we find evidence that the coast Salish have moved from the inner side of the coast ranges, while a small branch has subsequently passed northward to the west of it. The Athapascan stock in all probability has moved southward, sending one arm down the Pacific coast, and a larger body presumably through the Plains which reached as far as northern Mexico. Most of the stocks of the Great Plateau and of Oregon and California show little evidence of movement, such indications as are present, however, pointing toward the south as a rule. The Pueblo Indians appear to have had a mixed origin, part of them coming from the north, part from the south. In general there is to be noted a striking contrast between the comparatively settled condition of those tribes west of the Rocky mountains and the numerous movements, particularly in later times, of those to the east."

With regard to the Pacific coast Dixon[803] notes that it "has apparently been occupied from the earliest times by peoples differing but little in their culture from the tribes found in occupancy in the sixteenth century. Cut off from the rest of the country by the great chain of the Cordilleras and the inhospitable and arid interior plateaus, the tribes of this narrow coastal strip developed in comparative seclusion their various cultures, each adopted to the environment in which it was found....

"In several of the ingenious theories relating to the development and origin of American cultures in general, it has been contended that considerable migrations both of peoples and of cultural elements passed along this coastal highway from north to south. If, however, the archaeological evidence is to be depended on, such great sweeping movements, involving many elements of foreign culture, could hardly have taken place, for no trace of their passage or modifying effect is apparent.... We can feel fairly sure that the prehistoric peoples of each area were in the main the direct ancestors of the local tribes of today....

"In comparison with the relative simplicity of the archaeological record on the Pacific coast, that of the eastern portion of the continent is complex, and might indeed be best described as a palimpsest. This complexity leads inevitably to the conclusion that here there have been numerous and far-reaching ethnic movements, resulting in a stratification of cultures."

Archaeological Classification.

W. H. Holmes has compiled a map marking the limits of eleven areas which can be recognised by their archaeological remains[804]. He points out that the culture units are, as a matter of course, not usually well-defined. Cultures are bound to over-lap and blend along the borders and more especially along lines of ready communication. In some cases evidence has been reported of early cultures radically distinct from the type adopted as characteristic of the areas, and ancestral forms grading into the later and into the historic forms are thought to have been recognised. Holmes frankly acknowledges the tentative character of the scheme, which forms part of a synthesis that he is preparing of the antiquities of the whole American continent.

Cultural Classification.

North America is customarily divided into nine areas of material culture, and though this is convenient, a more correct method, as C. Wissler points out[805], is to locate the respective groups of typical tribes as culture centres, classifying the other tribes as intermediate or transitional. The geographical stability of the material culture centres is confirmed by archaeological evidence which suggests that the striking individuality they now possess resulted from a more or less gradual expansion along original lines. The material cultures of these centres possess great vitality and are often able completely to dominate intrusive cultural unity. Thus tribes have passed from an intermediate state to a typical, as when the Cheyenne were forced into the Plains centre, and the Shoshonian Hopi adopted the typical Pueblo culture. Wissler comes to the conclusion that "the location of these centres is largely a matter of ethnic accident, but once located and the adjustments made, the stability of the environment doubtless tends to hold each particular type of material culture to its initial locality, even in the face of many changes in blood and language." It is from his valuable paper that the material culture traits of the following areas have been obtained.

Eskimo: Material Culture.

I. Eskimo Area. The fact that the Eskimo live by the sea and chiefly upon sea food does not differentiate them from the tribes of the North Pacific coast, but they are distinguished from the latter by the habit of camping in winter upon sea ice and living upon seal, and in the summer upon land animals. The kayak and "woman's boat," the lamp, harpoon, float, woman's knife, bowdrill, snow goggles, trussed-bow, and dog traction are almost universal. The type of winter shelter varies considerably, but the skin tent is general in summer and the snow house, as a more or less permanent winter house, prevails east of Point Barrow.