A REVIEW OF THE DATA FOR THE STUDY OF THE PRE-HISTORIC CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICA.[[2]]
Early in this century the doubt was expressed by Alexander von Humboldt[[3]] whether it is philosophical to inquire into the origin of any of the human races or sub-species. Although he expressed this doubt with particular reference to the American race, I believe I am right in assuming that the hesitancy he felt in pushing inquiry so far should now diminish in view of new methods of research and a wider range of observations. We may not, in fact we shall not, be able to trace the American or any other sub-species directly back to its origin in place or time; but by reviewing all the data which have been offered in solution of such a problem, we may perceptibly narrow the question, and also estimate the relative value of the means proposed. It is to such a review, applied to the American race, that I now invite your attention.
The data upon which theories of the antiquity, the genealogy and the affinities of this race have been constructed are varied. For convenience of treatment I shall class them under six heads. They are:
I. Legendary, including the traditions of the native tribes and their own statements of their history.
II. Monumental, where we have to do with those structures whose age or character seems to throw light on the question.
III. Industrial, under which heading we may inquire as to the origin of both the useful and the decorative arts in the New World.
IV. Linguistic, broaching the immense and important questions as to the diversity and affinities of languages.
V. Physical, which takes into consideration the anatomic and morphologic peculiarities of the American race; and finally,
VI. Geologic, where its position in the geologic horizons is to be determined, and the influence upon it of the physical geography of the continent.
Legendary. Turning to the first of these, the legendary data, I confess to a feeling of surprise that learned scholars should still hold to the opinion that the native tribes, even some of the most savage of them, retain to this day traditions which they had brought from their supposed Asiatic homes. Thus the missionaries, Bishop Henry Faraud and the Abbé Emile Petitot, both entirely familiar with the Cree and the Athapaskan languages and lore, insist that the myths and legends of these tribes bear such strong resemblances to the Semitic traditions that both must have had a common origin.[[4]] No one can deny the resemblance; but the scientific student of mythology discovers such identities too frequently, and at points too remote, to ask any other explanation for them than the common nature of the human mind.