The low state of culture of the original stock from which the American aborigines were derived, implied in their distinct subsequent development in language, arts, etc., indicates that man appeared in America previous to the invention of boats capable of crossing broad oceans. The necessary inference from this—if the hypothesis of one place of origin for the human race is accepted—is that migration to America was by land, or at most across narrow straits. The geography of the continents must have been markedly different from what it is at present to admit of this, providing the proof that access was not gained where Asia and America make a near approach to each other at Bering Strait is conclusive, and at present that evidence seems unquestionable.
The present state of opinion in reference to the origin of the American aborigines is thus expressed by one well qualified to speak with authority. At the close of a review of several lines of evidence J. W. Powell says:
"Thus we are forced to conclude that the occupancy of America by mankind was anterior to the development of arts, industries, institutions, languages, and opinions; that the primordial occupancy of the continent antedates present geographical conditions, and points to a remote time which can be discovered only on geological and biological investigation."
Antiquity of the Aborigines.—The conclusions to be drawn from the studies of ethnologists in reference to the
length of time man has made his home in America are qualitative, not quantitative. The time is certainly long, probably embracing tens of centuries; but how long no one can state in years. This claim for a great although indefinite antiquity is based on several lines of evidence, some few of which the reader may find it profitable to briefly consider.
A comparison of physiological characteristics shows that the American aborigines have well-marked differences from all other varieties of the human race. This conclusion is not based on any one special feature, although colour and character of the hair are the most conspicuous, but on the resultant, so to speak, of many attributes. It is, in a measure, a comparison of ideal type-examples of each variety. While each characteristic that may be chosen has individual and tribal variations, and but few of them are perhaps conspicuously different from those pertaining to the peoples of the Old World, yet taken together they clearly differentiate the American aborigines from all other varieties of the human species.
Applying the same principles to man that are used in the study of the geographical distribution of the lower animals, the only legitimate conclusion the naturalist can deduce from the evidence just referred to is that the branch of the human family indigenous to North America has been isolated for a sufficient length of time to develop into a new variety. The American aborigines are different from all other varieties of the human species because each more or less isolated community or group of communities the world over has varied in its own way in accord with climatic and other conditions, and the connecting links have been lost. The differences that have arisen in this manner are so great that the nature of the parent stock is no longer determinable from its living representatives. This process of development among the lower animals is understood to involve a great length of time; and the inference is that man's development is no exception to the rule.
The evidence favouring a great antiquity for the American aborigines is strengthened by the fact that when first known to Europeans both North and South America were
inhabited by tribes having more or less well-defined territorial limits. If this population spread from one or even from several centres it is evident that a great length of time would be required for it to reach all parts of the New World and to become adjusted to a wide range in climatic and other conditions, as is known to be the case.
Students of languages have shown that the most enduring characteristics of man are to be found in his speech. The fundamental principles of a language outlive not only political and social changes, but even physiological distinctions, and are inherited from a primitive stock by all its branches. We might reasonably expect, therefore, that a study of the languages spoken in America in pre-Columbian days would be a sure index as to the primitive stock from which the various tribes came, and show to which of the many other branches of the linguistic tree they are most closely related. Turning with this question to those who have made a critical study of the languages of the American aborigines, and no one is better qualified to bear testimony in this connection than J. W. Powell, the honoured director of the American Bureau of Ethnology, we find a definite answer. He says: