Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-06-19
ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY,
Origin of the Indian Soma
Scientific Opinions.
WHAT DR.. ED. seller HAS TO SAY
Facts That Are Proven by the Ano,o..
Mythology of the Indians-Ancient
Chinese Annals.

America is not rich in the relics of
antiquity. Travellers tell us we are too
new and too fresh to be interestino
Even when we point to the mound.
builders and cliff jewellers we are met
with the theory that they were not in.
digenous, but were an Importation from
Carthage, or Atlantis, or China. or
some other far-away land, says tina
Epoch. At last, however. we are com.
ing to our rights, and may be allowed
soon to indulge in the proud sense of
undisputed proprietorship over pre-.
historic civilization, such as it was
The Indian is really our own, totems,
war dances and all, and it is only neces.
sary now to extend the Monroe doctrine
and call hands off to all outsiders who
are striving to deprive us of the credit
due us. Such are the reflections
aroused by an article written by the
German traveller, DIR. Edward Seller,
in the Prussiche Jahrbucher of Berlin.
He expresses his views as follows:
During the sixteenth century, at Il
time when it was much more difficult
to determine the size and shape of the
American continent, the idea prevailed
that the ancestors of the Indians
reached the continent in vessels from
long distance. Later it was common
to picture the ancient Americans a
crossing the Behring sea in large
masses The proofs offered in defense
of these theories are not very conyinc.
ing. The old story told by Aristotle
that ships from Carthage sailed west
from the Pillars of Hercules until,
after many days, they discovered great
uninhabited islands with large rivers.
will hardly be accepted as pre-
Columbian discovery of America, and
the Platonic fairly tales about Atlantis
are Just as unreliable.
Ancient Chinese annals speak of the
land Fu-San, 1000 Ii east of China.
and this has been thought to refer to
Mexico. But Fu-San was country
we'll known to the Chinese. and the
descriptions given to it's rulers and the
customs of its people describe it as
altogether Asiatic. Fu-San was pro.
badly one of the islands north of Japan,
but certainly not Mexico. The at
tempts to deduce the beginning Of
American civilization from foreign
nobody tries to prove that Chinese
civilization began in Egypt or Indian
civilization in Chaldea. The Next
cans relate that their ancestors lived
as hunters in the north. The Aztecs
say that their fathers lived on an island
in the sea. 1t is very probable that
some of the Mexican tribes only re-
garded the north as their ancient home
because the north appeared to them
strange and impenetrable. The tale
that the Aztecs came from over the
water may be explained by the fact
that they settled on an island in salt
water lake.
"Mexican civilization shows that it
belonged strictly to.the soil where it
developed and it influenced the whole
of the continent. Only small por-
ton of the North American tribes lived
exclusively as hunters and fishermen.
Even the wild prairie Indians the
Dakotas. Cheyennes and Mandans knew
something of agriculture. In Ian.
guages, religion, customs and tribal
constitution all Indians show a wonder
full similarity to the Mexicans and to
each other, which leads to the assump-
ton that all came from common
stock"
The writer thinks that cross shaped
ornaments and hieroglyphics cannot
we'll be taken as proofs of the prehis-
toric visits of Christian missionaries,
nor do Chinese signs prove the presence
of Budhistic monks. Inventions are
often made in different countries at
the same period and do not prove that
communication between the inventors
has taken place. A close examination
of the ancient mythology of the In
dians shows that additions were made
to please the Spaniards. Before the
arrival of the latter there was no
legend pointing to European origin
of the ancient legends or the gods
whose deeds they describe. On this
point DR.. Seller says:
"In truth, the traditions of South
America contain nothing that can be
construed into proof of an introduce
tion of old.world civilization. The
StUIy budb CupilO PCoPiO iOoohOu
Lambayeque on RATS and founded
dynasty there as we'll as the tale that
foreign race landed ON the coast of
Ecuador and established a new dynasty
in the capital of that country must be
regarded as referring to sea voyages OF
somewhat local character.
The Monroe doctrine with its motto
America for Americans must Ger
tainly be accepted with regard to the
study of old American civilization
American scientific researches will DO
conducted much better when the fruit
less attempts to prove imaginary con-
nections cease.
"That the curious mounds in the re-
gion Of the Mississippi and the articles
found therein are not the work OF
strange nation Of mound-builders
may be regarded as certain. Ihe