The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-04-04

Will The Indian
Become EStinCt ?

Special Correspondence Of I he Tribune
Philadelphia, April ?.
<kH y TWENTY YEARS the Indian in his ma.
tive state will he extinct This re-
4 Inarkablc statement was recently made
Icy Curator Cuiin, of the University of
Pennsylvania Museums. of the most distn..
euiSl.Cl archaeolucistS in America. Mr.. Culin
declares chat While some few representatives. OF
the Indian tribes, who have adopted the life of
the conventional civilization Of the whites may
still live III two decades from now, these VIII
soon AFTER with the second generation, nave DC
lssimilatcd and absorbed by the Anglo.
SaA"n But tie Indian i'll his natural roaming
and hunting statc--l,c OF the government rcscr
vations--wll not last more than few years. In
even ten years the unpolucd rc1.man will, iar
all scientific purposes OF Investigation, be for
ever gone.
This is exceedingly, deporahlc for ii means
that there is an immediate and ulgcut necessity
for further research the manners, customs
and traditions Of this moribund people. if vast
stores Of invaluable information are not 10 he
for all time lost 10 the world. ''The impress
sion exists" says Curator Culin, "tlat VIC have
plenty Of material for studying the fast disap.
rcLring lndan-tmt the museums are full Of
material; but. in point OF fact, compared with
What We can aud must get, we have littlc' 1t
was with view of satisfying himself personally
as To the possibility Of securing relics and
information On this interesting subject that Mr..
CuliH under the direction Of the University of
Pennsylvania recently made all extended tour
among the Indian tribes from Alaska to NV
Mexico, bringing back with him many Oh.
jcc,s and store OF fresh facts.
10 your correspondent, Curator Culn described
briefly some of the results Of his trip among the
American Indian tribes. lie stated that of the
350,000 Indians north oi Mexico, and including
the ES,luimauX, there are nfty.scvcn distinct
linguistic stocks though thrce.tourths of these
are found in eight broad stocks, the Others being
already practically extinct. 1--WE have no evil
dcncc," he continued, "to connect the Indian
with past geologic ages, such as we have dis
covered of The people in the Old World; but
this does not mean that this continent was unin.
hibited until the Indian came. We have no
authentic records Of mans antiquity in America.
The anthropoogists place the age Of man in
America as beginning at the end Of the Ter
taly Age which Gcoogiss fix as 10000 years
age, At present, however, we arc most inter-
,s,cd in studying the Indian somatological!y.
that is, the man himself rather than his history
and traditions
Thi, question Of the antiquity Of the prehistoric
aboriginal in the western hemisphere and Of the
conditions oi his existence has been source of
controversy among scientists for many years. Evil
'cnccs that portcnd world'staltling revelations are
sail 10 slumber under the hicroglyphos that have
just come 10 light in New MEXICO. These evl
d,T,rs were Just discovered by an expedition sent
out by the Northwestern University of Illinois
and scientists all over the world have esnc,d
great interest in the finds. II their meaning as
reported has been correctly interpreted and is
rrricd they will reyolutoniHe scientific research.