Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/654

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
*
572
*

INDIAN PEOPLES. who are settled cliielly in Hoiiibay, are of great importance in spite of their limited numbers; the Jews have had some inlluenee on the east eoast; and the Chinese in Ceylon. .Since coolie labor ha^ been in demand natives of India have found their way to Madagascar, tiie West Indies, Guiana, and Africa. INDIAN PHYSIC. A genus of North Ameri- can hi ills. Sei' ClLLE.NIA. INDIAN PIPE. .s«- Root P.vrasites. INDIAN POKE. See Helleiiobe. INDIAN QUEEN, The. A tragedy by Sir Robert llowaid, in collaboration with Dryden, produced with great .splendor in 1004. Its suc- cess was probably due to its scenic effects rather than to the heroic verse in which it was written. INDIAN KED. An impure ferric o.xide of a dark red culnr. with a tinge of purple." It is used as a pigment. Much of the Indian red of commerce is prepared artificially by the calcina- tion of a mi.xturc of cop|)eras and lime. INDIAN RESERVATIONS. Si-e I.ndian -All-.ilkS ; TliKATIES. 1.M)I.... INDIAN RIVER. A tidal inlet along the east coast of lloriila. in lirevard and Volusia counties, running inside a sandy bar or lieach a half to one mile in width (.Map: Florida. H 4). It connects with the similar Halifax Itiver at Titusville. and extends 100 miles south-southeast, opening into the ocean at Indian Inlet. Its width varies from a few hundred feet to three miles, and it is navigable for vessels drawing five feet. INDIANS, American. The name applied first by (iilvinilius and his immediate successors to the natives of the newly discovered islands and maiidand of America, under the mistaken im- pression that these regions were a part of the outlying eoast of Asia. The name most fre- quently used by scientific writers, especially in Kurope, is simpl,v American, while the term Amerind has recently been suggested as a substi- tute. Recent authorities class the Eskimo with the .vellow rather than with the red races; the reader will find them treated under Eskimo. Granting the existence of a group of charac- teristic races which niav be termed American, the problem of their origin remains unsolved. It is almost certain that no common origin for all of them can be assumed, but that various sources of population and centres of dispersion must be considered. Failing accurate knowledge of the geological conditions existing in earlier epochs, the most probable sources of immigration were Asia by wa.v of the northwest coast of North America. Europe by wav of Greenland, and the general region of Polynesia by way of South America. There are correspondences in physical types and culHires which tend to support particularly the idea of .Asiatic and Polynesian relations. However, the theorv of the Americas as an independent centre of origin has much in its favor, and must be taken into account. For example, the Eskimo, who form a strikingl.v homogeneous group wherever found, would ap- pear from the evidence to have occupied, in for- mer times, the territory in the neighborhood of Hudson Bay, and to have spread from that focus north and east and west, following the Arctic coastline, and it is unquestioned that the Asiatic group of Eskimo is of American origin. 572 INDIANS. In short, the problem is complex and deals with a very remote period, which prevents satisfactory treatment. The most po]iular explanation is, of course, that of Asiatic origin, based upon the striking similarities in type aiid culture which are evident to even suj>crlicial observation. It must be remembered, however, that any relation is mutual, and it is quite as easy to argue for an Asiatic origin from America as fur an Americ-an from Asia. A striking characteristic of the race is the marked uniformity of physical type throughout the two continents of North and South America. In general the color is brown, frequentl.v with reddish tint, light in some trilics and dark in others. The hair is glossy black, either straight or slightly wavy, and baldness is al- most unknown. The beard is usually scanty, and is seldom allowed to grow, although a light must^iche is somewhat common. The check-bunes are prominent; the nose usually good, and in some tribes strongly aquiline: the e,ves dark and apparently small, from being held less open than in the while man. In cubical brain capacity and structural development the Indian holds a middle place between the white man and the negrn. In mental capacity, physical strength and en- durance, as well as in vital force to resist or overcome disease, he is far below the white man. INDIANS OF TIIE UNITEO STATES AND BRITISH AMERICA. Dress. As became tribes largely made up of himters, the dress was generally of skins, su fashioned as to combine the greatest protective warmth with the least incumbrance of weight. From the Arctic Circle to the Rio (Jrande or far- ther, except in California and the adjacent region, the native dress was usuall,v of buckskin, consist- ing, for the men. of a shirt. G-string. or breech- cloth, leggings, and moccasins, and for the women, of a short-sleeved tunic, waist-cloth or apron, i belt for knife and sewingawl. with leggings and moccasins, generall.v made in one piece. Tli^ warrior's shirt was frequently fringed with scalji locks. In cold weather and on ceremonial occa- sions a decorated robe was worn, while in warm weather or when engaged in active exertion the i men were usually stripped to the G-string. The , young children went entirely naked in warm weather. .Among the plains tribes the investiture of ,a boy with the G-string occurred when he was about ton years old. and was an occasion of goo<l- natured rejoicing in the faniil.v, as indicating that he was now considered old enough to ac- compan.v his older relatives on hunting or war expedition.s. The Gulf tribes and those of the Southwest wore turbans of bright-colored woven stuff; hut elsewhere, except in the extreme North, the head was usually bare. Some tribes west of the Rockies went practically naked. On the northwest coast the woman's dress was often of bark fibre. The Eastern moccasin was made in one piew; the plains moccasin had a separate sole of rawhide. East of the Alississippi the men u.sually shaved the whole head, excepting for a crest along the top and a long scalp-lock plaited and decorated with various trinkets. This scalp-lock, the prize and trophy of the victor in battle, was universal east of the Rocky Moimtains, and over a great part of the country westward, hut seems to have been unknown in California. On the plains the men generally wore their hair its full length, in