Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-29
ARE THE INDIANS DYINGG
1t 10 Said They Are Increasing, Not Dimin-
ishiug, in Numbers.

AN ETHSoLoeIsr CLAIMS THERE ARE MORE OF
THEN IN THE UNITED STATES THAN WHEN coLUM-
BUS LAsDED-rALK ABOUT THE ExTERMrSA-
TON OF THE RED MAN NOT FOUNDED ON FACT.
lone Of the most curious and widespread of
all popular decisions is that which relates to
the supposed steady determination of the In
dams Of North America before the march of
civilization"
1t was an officer of the bureau Of ethnology
who made the remark in conversation with a
star reporter, and he added:
''As matter Of fact the Indians are prob
ably more numerous on this continent today
than they have ever been in the past. and they
are steadily increasing in numbers from year to
year.
The celebrated traveller Catlin, who dis
covered an imaginary river tunneling the
Rocky mountains gravely stated half a century
ago that the Indians of North America origin
ally numbered 16.0O0.OOO. while DE Tocque-
vile remarked Of these aborigincs that
there no instance on record of SO rapid a
destruction. and Hubert H. Bancroft bewails
very bitterly all the millions of native Ameri-
cans who have persisted under the whitening
influence Of European civilization.
The belief in this regard, backed by
authority so distinguished, has given rise to a
vast amount OF sentimental gusn. ana yet
there is not an atom of fact in IL. There are
now in the United States 265, 900 Indians: when
Columbus landed they were almost undoubtedly
of less number. To understand this you must
take into consideration certain known facts.
In the first place, the Indians of the time Of
Columbus lived altogether by the chase, having
no other means of subsistence. Now, under
such conditions an enormous extent of terri
tory is necessary to supply a tribe with food.
Each tribe, as things were then, ranged over n
great expanse appropriated to its own use in
the purs lit of game and fish. Between one
tribes hunting ground and that of another was
always extensive dividing strip. The whole
country mapped out on this plan could not pos
sibly sustain more than a small population.
There is the best possible reason for believing
that two centuries and q half ago the Indians
in what is now the United States east of the
Mississippi did not all together exceed 10000.
From what source the Indians originally
were derived no one knows. BY some authori-
ties il has been surmised that they were CT
Asiatic origin, having made their way across
Boring strait. But this theory has been effect
ually exploded by chronological researches.
There is not the most remote similarity between
the languages of the Indians and those of East
ern Asia In fact, they could not well differ
more widely than they do, inasmuch as on this
side the tongues are polysyllabic and on the
other side they are monOsyllabic. 1t Is sur
missed. and think very plausibly, that the In
dams are of Polynesan origin. 1t is well known
that the Southern Pacific was few centuries
ago much more thiekly studded with islands
than at present, a fact which has been estab-
lished by soundings. The people who pushed
their way across the great ocean from group to
group, colonizing Samoa. Easter Island and
the Hawaiian Islands. thought nothing of max
ing voyage on that comparatively calm sea of
2, 500 miles in open canoes. merely for visiting
purposes. There was nothing very seriously in
the way of their reaching the west coast of this
continent.
Whether or not this was the case the fact
has been determined that the Indians we're
first settled on this continent in Oregon mainly,
where the Columbia and other salmon rivers
afforded plentiful supplies of food in the shape
Of fish. In that region numerous remains are
found today indicating the former presence
there Of multitudes, though whether the multi
tudes were permanently established resi-
dents or merely temporary sojourners Is not
apparent From that source they spread over
the continent, occupying the fertile Mississippi
valley and the territory near the Atlantic and
the great lakes. As they moved they left be-
hind them vast tracts, which remained for CEN
turtles vacant and unoccupied. The enormous
area west Of the one hundredth meridian and
extending to the Rocky mountains. known
subsequently as the Great American Desert,
was a solitude when America discovered,
the population being at that time confined
chiefly to the wooded borders Of streams and
lakes. The Indians in those days could not
the open prairies, for which purpose they
needed the horse, an animal then for ages ex-
tinct in North America Thus it came about
that comparatively small part Of the United
States was settled by the aborigines when
Columbus came over. and such population as
there was, for reasons l have mentioned, was
thinly spread.
mot only were the conditions unfavorable
to the sustentation Of large population, but
the methods of existence pursued by the saw
ages were calculated to keep down their num-
beers. The tribes were perpetually fighting one
another, war being regarded a necessity for
the assertion Of manhood, if not as a religious
duty. 1t was the main path to distinction,
hunting being merely the business Of life. The
natives were engaged most Of the time in try
ing to kill each other off, and even those of
their own people who were aged or infirm were
customarily disposed of with the tomahawk.
IL twins were born one Of them was always
knocked on the head. In short, little oppor-
tunity was given for an increase in the census
For two centuries and half the Indians
have been exposed to the diseases and alcohol
Of the white man, and yet there is no possible
doubt that they are more numerous today than
when Columbus landed and that they are stead
lily increasing in numbers, though they will
eventually be absorbed by the mingling of
their blood with that Of the superior and
more numerous race"