Native American Nations
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In the first place, the linguistic map, based as it is upon the
earliest evidence obtainable, itself offers conclusive proof, not
only that the Indian tribes were in the main sedentary at the time
history first records their position, but that they had been
sedentary for a very long period. In order that this may be made
plain, it should be clearly understood, as stated above, that each
of the colors or patterns upon the map indicates a distinct
linguistic family. It will be noticed that the colors representing
the several families are usually in single bodies, i.e., that they
represent continuous areas, and that with some exceptions the same
color is not scattered here and there over the map in small spots.
Yet precisely this last state of things is what would be expected
had the tribes representing the families been nomadic to a marked
degree. If nomadic tribes occupied North America, instead of
spreading out each from a common center, as the colors show that the
tribes composing the several families actually did, they would have
been dispersed here and there over the whole face of the country.
That they are not so dispersed is considered proof that in the main
they were sedentary. It has been stated above that more or less
extensive migrations of some tribes over the country had taken place
prior to European occupancy. This fact is disclosed by a glance at
the present map. The great Athapascan family, for instance,
occupying the larger part of British America, is known from
linguistic evidence to have sent off colonies into Oregon (Wilopah,
Tlatskanai, Coquille), California (Smith River tribes, Kenesti or
Wailakki tribes, Hupa), and Arizona and New Mexico (Apache, Navajo).
How long before European occupancy of this country these migrations
took place can not be told, but in the case of most of them it was
undoubtedly many years. By the test of language it is seen that the
great Siouan family, which we have come to look upon as almost
exclusively western, had one offshoot in Virginia (Tutelo), another
in North and South Carolina (Catawba), and a third in Mississippi
(Biloxi); and the Algonquian family, so important in the early
history of this country, while occupying a nearly continuous area in
the north and east, had yet secured a foothold, doubtless in very
recent times, in Wyoming and Colorado. These and other similar
facts sufficiently prove the power of individual tribes or gentes to
sunder relations with the great body of their kindred and to remove
to distant homes. Tested by linguistic evidence, such instances
appear to be exceptional, and the fact remains that in the great
majority of cases the tribes composing linguistic families occupy
continuous areas, and hence are and have been practically sedentary.
Nor is the bond of a common language, strong and enduring as that
bond is usually thought to be, entirely sufficient to explain the
phenomenon here pointed out. When small in number the linguistic tie
would undoubtedly aid in binding together the members of a tribe;
but as the people speaking a common language increase in number and
come to have conflicting interests, the linguistic tie has often
proved to be an insufficient bond of union. In the case of our
Indian tribes feuds and internecine conflicts were common between
members of the same linguistic family. In fact, it is probable that
a very large number of the dialects into which Indian languages are
split originated as the result of internecine strife. Factions,
divided and separated from the parent body, by contact,
intermarriage, and incorporation with foreign tribes, developed
distinct dialects or languages. Indian Linguistic Families of America North of Mexico, 1891
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