| PAGE | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preface | [iii], iv | |
| Table of Contents | [v]-xii | |
| PART I. | ||
| ETHNOLOGIC AND ARCHÆOLOGIC. | ||
| Introductory | [17]–19 | |
| A Review of the Data for the Study of the Pre-historic Chronology of America | [20]–47 | |
| Classification of Data. I. Legendary: of northern tribes; of Peruvians, Mexicans and Mayas; limited range. II. Monumental: pueblos of New Mexico; stone and brick structures of Mexico, Central America and Peru; ruins of Tiahuanaco; artificial shell heaps; the sambaquis of Brazil. III. Industrial: palæolithic implements; early polished stone implements; dissemination of cultivated food plants. IV. Linguistic: multitude and extension of linguistic stocks; tenacity of linguistic form; similarities of internal form; study of internal form. V. Physical: racial classifications; traits of the American type; permanence of the type. VI. Geologic: date of the glacial epochs in North and South America; the earliest Americans immigrants; lines of migrations. Importance of archæological studies. | ||
| On Palæoliths, American and Other | [48]–55 | |
| The cutting instrument as the standard of culture; the three “Ages” of Stone, Bronze and Iron; subdivisions of the Age of Stone into Palæolithic and Neolithic; a true “Palæolith”; subdivision of the Palæolithic period into the epochs of “simple” and “compound” implements; palæolithic finds along the Delaware river; the glacial period in America; earliest appearance of man in America. | ||
| On the Alleged Mongolian Affinities of the American Race | [56]–66 | |
| A practical question; Cuvier’s triple division of the human species; alleged Mongolian affinities in language; supposed affinities in culture; imagined physical resemblances, as color, cranial analogies, the oblique or “Mongoloid” eye, etc. Insufficiency of all these. | ||
| The Probable Nationality of the “Mound-Builders.” | [67]–82 | |
| Who were the “Mound-builders”? Known tribes as constructors of mounds, the Iroquois, Algonkins, Cherokees and Chahta-Muskoki family. Descriptions from De Soto’s expedition; from Huguenots in Florida; from French writers on Louisiana; great size of the southern mounds; probable builders of Ohio mounds. | ||
| The Toltecs and their Fabulous Empire | [83]–100 | |
| Statement of the question; the current opinion; the adverse opinion; Tula as an historic site; the Serpent-Hill; the Aztec legends about Tula; date of the desertion of Tula; meaning of the name Tula or Tollan; the mythical cyclus of Tula; birth of Huitzilopochtli; myth of Quetzalcoatl at Tula; his subjects, the Toltecs; purely fabulous narratives concerning them. | ||
| PART II. | ||
| MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE. | ||
| Introductory | [101]–103 | |
| The Sacred Names in Quiche Mythology | [104]–129 | |
| The Quiches of Guatemala, and their relationship; sources of information. Their Sacred Book, the Popol Vuh; its opening words; The name Hun-Ahpu-Vuch, the God of Light; Hun-Ahpu-Utiu; Nim-ak, the Great Hog; Nim-tzyiz; Tepeu; Gucumatz; Qux-cho and Qux-palo; Ah-raxa-lak and Ah-raxa-sel; Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, the primal pair; Cakulha; Huracan and Cabrakan; Chirakan, the god of the Storm and the Earthquake; Xbalanque and his journey to Xibalba, or the Descent into Hell. | ||
| The Hero-God of the Algonkins as a Cheat and Liar | [130]–134 | |
| Micmac story of Gluskap, the Liar; the Cree god, the Deceiver; Michabo and his tricks; psychological significance of such stories. | ||
| The Journey of the Soul | [135]–147 | |
| General belief in a soul; Egyptian theory of its fate; it sinks and rises with the sun; invocation to Osiris; symbols of the river, the boat, the dog, and the sacred numbers; recurrence of these symbols in Greek, Vedantic and Norse beliefs; the Aztec account of the soul’s journey to Paradise. Origin of these symbolic narratives from the apparent daily course of the Sun. | ||
| The Sacred Symbols in America | [148]–162 | |
| The four symbols of the Ta Ki, the Triskeles, the Svastika and the Cross; the prevalence of the Triskeles in the Old World; the meaning of the Ta Ki in Chinese philosophy; the Yin and Yang; the Svastika; origin illustrated from n picture-writing; the Copan stone; the earth-plain; the wheel-cross; winter-counts and year cycles; time-wheels and sun-motions; the Four Ages and Tree of Life. | ||
| The Folk-Lore of Yucatan | [163]–180 | |
| Mental activity of the Mayas; the diviners; the “field mass”; invocation to the rain-gods; fire-worship; prognostics; transformations of sorcerers; nagualism; a Maya witch story; the Balams; the Man of the Woods; stories of dwarfs and imps; female deceivers; fabulous birds and snakes. | ||
| Folk-Lore of the Modern Lenape | [181]–192 | |
| Source of information; reminiscences of the tribe; Messianic hopes; relics of the Stone Age; methods of hunting and fishing; utensils, boats and houses; the native games; the sweat-lodge; their canticos, and the derivation of the term; medical knowledge; cure for rattlesnake bites; native trephining; position of the Lenâpé as “grandfathers”; wampum belts; totemic divisions; peculiarities of the dialect; Lenâpé grammar. | ||
| PART III. | ||
| GRAPHIC SYSTEMS AND LITERATURE. | ||
| Introductory | [193]–194 | |
| The Phonetic Elements in the Graphic Systems of the Mayas and Mexicans | [195]–212 | |
| Material for the study; were the native hieroglyphs phonetic? Character and arrangement of phonetic symbols; the failure of Landa’s alphabet; phonetic signs in Maya MSS.; hieroglyph of the firmament; phonetic terminals; signs of cardinal points; Mexican phonetic elements; principle of the rebus; examples; the ikonomatic system. | ||
| The Ikonomatic Method of Phonetic Writing | [213]–229 | |
| Thought-Writing and Sound-Writing; the ikonomatic method explained; illustrations from Egyptian inscriptions; from the canting arms in heraldry; from the Mexican picture-writing; values of position and colors; determinatives and ideograms in Aztec MSS.; further illustrations from Maya hieroglyphs; Chipeway pictography. | ||
| The Writing and Records of the Ancient Mayas | [230]–254 | |
| 1. Introductory—Phoneticism in Maya and Aztec writing. 2. Descriptions by Spanish writers; by Peter Martyr; by Las Casas; by Alonso Ponce; by Lizana; by Aguilar; by Buena Ventura; by Cogolludo; by Soto-Mayor; by Landa; facsimile of Landa’s alphabet; critiques on it; conclusions. 3. References from native sources; Maya words for “writing,” “book,” “calendar,” etc.; a prophecy of Ahkul Chel translated. 4. The existing Codices; the Dresden Codex; the Codex Peresianus; the Codex Troano; the Codex Cortesianus; the mural paintings and inscriptions. | ||
| The Books of Chilan Balam | [255]–273 | |
| High civilization of ancient Mayas; destruction of their literature; modern Books of Chilan Balam; signification of this name; contents of the Books; specimen of the prophecies; linguistic value; opinion of Pio Perez; length of the Maya year-cycles; hieroglyphs of the months and days; the 13 ahau katuns; medical contents of the books. | ||
| On the “Stone of the Giants.” | [274]–283 | |
| Location of the Stone near Orizaba; its figures; refer to a date in February, 1502; translation of the hieroglyphs, and identification of the date as that of the death of the Emperor Ahuitzotzin; the stone a sepulchral tablet. | ||
| Native American Poetry | [284]–304 | |
| Nature of poetry; principle of repetition; Eskimo nith songs; other Eskimo songs; a Pawnee song; Kioway love songs; a Chipeway serenade; Aztec love songs; war-songs of the Otomis; of the Aztecs; of the Qquichuas; prophetic chants of the Mayas. Faculty of poetry universal. | ||
| PART IV. | ||
| LINGUISTIC. | ||
| Introductory | [305]–307 | |
| American Languages, and Why we Should Study Them. | [308]–327 | |
| Indian geographic names; language a guide to ethnology; reveals the growth of arts and the psychologic processes of a people; illustration from the Lenâpé tongue; structure of language best studied in savage tongues; rank of American tongues; characteristic traits; pronominal forms; idea of personality; polysynthesis; incorporation; holophrasis; origin of these; lucidity of American tongues; their vocabularies; power of expressing abstract ideas; conclusion. | ||
| Wilhelm von Humboldt’s Researches in American Languages | [328]–348 | |
| What led Humboldt toward the American tongues; progress of his studies; fundamental doctrine of his philosophy of language; his theory of the evolution of languages; opinion on American languages; his criterion of the relative perfection of languages; not abundance of forms, nor verbal richness; American tongues not degenerations; Humboldt’s classification of languages; psychological origin of Incorporation in language; its shortcomings; in simple sentences; in compound sentences; absence of true formal elements; the nature of the American verb. | ||
| Some Characteristics of American Languages | [349]–389 | |
| Study of the human species on the geographic system; have American languages any common trait? Duponceau’s theory of polysynthesis; Humboldt on Polysynthesis and Incorporation; Francis Lieber on Holophrasis; Prof. Steinthal on the incorporative plan; Lucien Adam’s criticism of it; Prof. Müller’s inadequate statement; Major Powell’s omission to consider it; definitions of polysynthesis, incorporation and holophrasis; illustrations; critical application of the theory to the Othomi language; to the Bri-bri language; to the Tupi-Guarani dialects; to the Mutsun; conclusions; addendum; critique by M. Adam on this essay. | ||
| The Earliest Form of Human Speech as Revealed by American Tongues | [390]–409 | |
| The Homo alalus or speechless man, a romance; linguistic stocks; the phonetic elements significant; examples; but not of same significance in different stocks; notion of self and other; pronouns a late development; alternating consonants and permutable vowels; examples; phoneticism inadequate; difficulties thus created; counter-sense in language; notion of Being and Not-Being; incorporation; sentence-words; no dependent clauses; no tenses; no adjectives; no numerals; notion of Animate and Inanimate; classificatory particles; primitive man a visuaire. | ||
| The Conception of Love in Some American Languages | [410]–432 | |
| Significance of love-words; various origins. I. Algonkin love-words; various senses; highest forms. II. Nahuatl love-words; poverty of the tongue; made up by terminations; words for friendship. III. Maya love-words; singular derivations; the Huasteca dialect; the Cakchiquel dialect; comparisons. IV. Qquichua love-words; abundant; various meanings. V. Tupi-Guarani love-words; meaning of. Conclusions. | ||
| The Lineal Measures of the Semi-Civilized Nations of Mexico and Central America | [433]–451 | |
| Metrical standards a criterion of progress; those of the Mayas; of the Cakchiquels; of the Mexicans or Aztecs; of the Mound-Builders of Ohio. Conclusions. | ||
| The Curious Hoax of the Taensa Language | [452]–467 | |
| How it began; the deception exposed; absurdities of the invention; a wonderful calendar; a yet more wonderful marriage-song; a second Psalmanazar; rejoinder of the editor; reply to that; final verdict. | ||
| Index of Authors and Authorities | [469]–474 | |
| Index of Subjects | [475]–489 | |
PART I.
ETHNOLOGIC AND ARCHÆOLOGIC.
INTRODUCTORY.
Ever since America was discovered, the question about it which has excited the most general interest has been, Whence came its inhabitants? The inquiry, Who are the American Indians? has been the theme of many a ponderous folio and labored dissertation, with answers nearly as various as the number of debaters.
Few or none of them have reflected on the unphilosophical character of the inquiry as thus crudely put. Take a precisely analogous question, and this will be apparent—Whence came the African Negroes? All will reply—From Africa, of course. Originally? Yes, originally; they constitute the African or Negro sub-species of Man.
The answer in the case of the American Indians is entirely parallel—their origin is American; the racial type was created and fixed on the American continent; they constitute as true and distinct a sub-species as do the African or the White Race.
Each of the great continental areas moulded the plastic, primitive man into a conformation of body and mind peculiar to itself, in some special harmony with its own geographic features, thus producing a race or sub-species, subtly correlated in a thousand ways to its environment, but never forfeiting its claim to humanity, never failing in its parallel and progressive development with all other varieties of the species.
America was no exception to this rule, and it is time to dismiss as trivial all attempts to connect the American race genealogically with any other, or to trace the typical culture of this continent to the historic forms of the Old World. My early studies inclined me to these opinions, and they have been constantly strengthened by further research. Yet they are not popularly accepted; the very latest writer of competence on the pre-history of America says, “It is now generally held that the earliest population (of the continent) was intruded upon by other races, coming either from Asia or from the Pacific Islands, from whom were descended the various tribes which have occupied the soil down to the present time.”[[1]]
It is true that this opinion is that generally held, and for this reason I have selected for reprinting some articles intended to show that it is utterly fallacious—devoid of any respectable foundation.
The first two papers treat of the archæologic material, and its value for ascertaining the pre-historic life of the American race; the third, on its pretended affinities to Asiatic peoples. These are followed by two papers respectively on the Toltecs and Mound-Builders, setting aright, I hope, the position of these semi-mythical shapes in the culture-history of North America, maintaining that for neither do we have to call in as explanation migrations from Asia, Europe, Oceanica or Africa, as has so often been attempted.