The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-17
THE ORIGIN OF OUR INDIANS.
A Scientific Opinion to the Eject
That IL Was Purely American.
From the Literary DIgest.

FROM the Literary Digest.
America is not rich in the relics Of an
and too fresh to be interesting. Even
when we point to the mound-builders and
cliff-dwellers we are met with the theory
that they were not indigenous. but were
an Importation from Carthage, or Allan
It's, or China, or some other PARKWAY land.
At last, however we are coming TO our
rights. and may be allowed soon to in
dulge the proud sense of undisputed pro-
prietorship over a prehistoric ciVili2a-
ton, such as IL was. The Indian is really
our own, totems, war dances and all. and
II is only necessary now 10 extend the
Monroe doctrine and call hands on to all
outsiders who are striving to deprive as
OF the credit due us. Such are the refiec-
tons aroused by an article written by the
German traveller. DR.. Edward Seller, in the
Prussiche Jahrbucher. of Berlin. He ex-
presses his views as follows:
During the sixteenth century, at a time
when II was much more difhcult to deter
mine the Size and shape of the American
continent, the idea prevailed that the an
cestOrs of the Indians reached the CONT
nent in vessels from a long distance. La
ter II was common to picture the ancient
Americans as crossing the Boring sea in
large masses. The proofs offered in de-
Tense of these theories are not very con
Vlncing. The old story told by Aristotle,
that ships from Carthage sailed west
from the Pillars of Hercules, until, after
many days, they discovered great inhab-
tied islands with large ..'vers. win hardly.
be accepted as a pre- Columbian history
of America and the Platonic fairy tales
about Atlantis are just as unreliable An
ctent Chinese annals speak OF the land
Fu-San, l2,o0O Ii east Of China, and this
has been thought to refer TO Mexico But
FuSan was a country we'll known 10 the
Chinese, and the descriptions given of its
rulers and the customs of its people de-
scribe It as altogether Asiatic. Fu-San
was probably one of the islands north of
Japan, but certainly not Mexico. The at
tempts to deduce the beginnings of Amer
lean civilization from foreign sources are
all the more curious as nobody tries to
prove that Chinese civilization began in
Egypt or Indian civilization in Chalden
The Mex'cdns 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 ony regarded the
north as their ancient home, because the
north appeared to them strange and i'm
penetrable. The tale that the Aztees came
from over the water may be explained by
the fact that they settled on an island in a
salt water lake.
Mexican civilization shotys that il be-
longed strictly to the soil where it de-
veloped and 1t Influenced the whole Of
the continent. Only a small portion of
svely as hunters and fishermen Even
the wild pratria Indians. the Dakotas
Cneyennes, and Mandans, know some
thlng of agriculture. In languages, re-
ligion, customs, and tribal constitution
all Indians show a wonderful similarity
to the Mexicans and TO each other which
leads TO the assumption that all came
from a common stock.
The writer thinks that cross-shaped
ornaments and hieroglpyhlcs cannot well
be taken as proofs of the prehistoric Wis
its CT Christian missionaries, nor do Chi
nese signs prove the presence of Budd-
histic monks. Inventions are often made
in different countries at the same period
and do not prove that communications
between the inventors has taken place
A close examination Of the ancient myth
ology of the Indians shows that additions
were made to please the Spaniards Be
fore the arrival of the latter there was
no legend pointing to a 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 Amer
lea contain nothing that can be construed
into a proof Of an Introduction of old
world civilization. Tho story that an en-
tire people reached Lambayeque on RATS
and founded a dynasty there, as well as
the tale that foreign race landed on the
coast of Ecuador and established q new
dynasty in the capital of that country
must be regarded as referring to sea vow
ages of a somewhat local character .
The Monroe doctrine with its motto
America for Americans, must certainly
be accepted with regard to the study Of
old American civilization. American
scientific researches will be conducted
much better when the fruitless attempts
to prove imaginary connection cease.
That the curious mounds in the region
of the Mississippi and the articles found
nation of mound builders may be regard
ed as certain The latest American re-
searches prove that these mounds are the
work Of the ancestors Of the Indians
That the civilization of the cliff dweIlers
and the former Inhabitants Of the pueblos
of New Mexico and Arizona is very SINH
lar to that of tribes still found In these
regions is clear 70 all who have had a
chance for comparison