The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1890-06-18
CHINAMEN'S COUSINS.
A CLAIM THAT AMERICAN INDIANS
ARE OF MoNGoL. DESCENT.

Reasons for Thinking They Arc - The
Striking Resemblance In Language and
Appearance Curious Custom OF De-
pressing the Skull Artlhcially.
Having in youth visited the upper
Missouri, and obtained considerable
knowledge of the tribes who dwelt on
that river, l have always felt deep in
terest in the investigations as to the ORR
gin of the American Indians. From the
settlement of this country down to our
own time all sorts of theories have been
advanced, some of them Of the widest
character, and others plausible and rea-
sonable. Catlin tells the story of Prince
Modoc and his Welshmen, and speaks of
blue eyed and light haired Indians of the
Mandan tribe in support of the legend.
Neither Catlin nor any OF his critics
seem to have thought of the simple fact
that the pure blooded Welshman is
neither blue eyed nor light haired. And
this is but sample of the way in which
the subject has been dealt with even by
careful and inquiring writers.
SIMILAR WORDS.
My own opinion--if it is Of any value
lis thar the North American Indians,
or the greater part of them, are descend
ed from Asiatic immigrants and closely
akin to the Monaghan race. In the
Sioux language, with which have some
acquaintance. the word for chief, or
head man. is "eetoncha." Among GER
tain tribes of Alaska the chief is called
''eeton" and "tyone." This certainly
brings us very near the Japanese word
Tycoon" | have mentioned this word
in particular because it is one Of the
terms likely to be perpetuated under any
change OF circumstances, just as the
Saxon word skiing, In England, survived
alike Norman conquest and Celtic adj
mixture. The Sioux word for a tent, or
home, is "teepee," and this is very SINH
lar to the Tartar word, while there is
also q marked similarity in the appear
ance Of the tents alike of the Tartars and
the.American Indians. The photographs
brought by travellers from Siberia of the
tribes there subject to Russian authority
might well be mistaken for pictures Of
American Indians in unusual attire.
It is true that the Indians are. rs a
rule, superior in physique to the average
Monaghan, at least to the specimens of
the Monaghan race that we meet In
America. but the difference ia no greater
than between the average Celtic i,mrnia
grant of fifty years ago and his grandson
of today: whereas the Indian immigration
probably took place many hundreds of
years ago. The writer has not been the
only traveller impressed by the resem-
blance Of Indians to the Mongols. both
in Central and South America tribes
have been found whose likeness. in Ian
guage, physique and manner. to the
Monaghan race has lntely been the sub
iect of considerable observation and re-
mark. One Of these tribes--the Guara-
ris--has its seat on the far confines Of
Paraguay; vet, in the opinion of q gem
tongue, their speech is distinctly Moz.
golian. -
1t does not follow that all the aborig-
inaI inhabitants of America are of Mon
golian descent. even If they all came
from Asia. The writer has seen the de-
scendants of the Aztecs in Mexico, and
it is difficult to imagine any relationship
between them and the Mongolian. Yet
Aztec tradition points to the north as
their original seat, and among people
who had no method of transmitting his
tory by writing tradition is likely to have
been fairly accurate. 3 Europe was not |
all settled by one blood. The. fair and
the dark haired, the Celt and the Goth,
swept over the continent, the current
eddying here and there, where o wan /
dering horde wasutempted or compelled
to rest. So that ether races besides Mon
gols may have emigrated from Asia to
America. stma \
AZTEC TRADITIoN. 'W
The Aztec tradition Of northern mi
grafton is supported by various circum-
stances, and one tothe bearing of which, /.
l think, attention has never before been
called. Il is wellsknown that the Aztecs
have slanting forehead-or. in other
words. they haye,uio forehead.a at all-the