The Great Republic by the Master Historians The Aborigines of America byBancroft, Hubert H.
[The preceding pages have been devoted to the history of the relations between
the inhabitants of the Eastern and Western Continents, and to the various
statements that indicate a possible knowledge of, and voyages to, America in the
era before Columbus. To complete this preliminary survey a brief account of what
is known of the American aborigines in this early era is necessary. In relation
to this period of American history there exists an abundance of literary
material, comprising researches into the languages, raceconditions, customs,
antiquities, traditions, and manuscript annals of the tribes and nations of the
aborigines. None of this material is historical in the full sense of the term,
though much of it may be considered as indirectly so. The editor of this work,
however, has been unable to meet with any general statement in a form
sufficiently condensed to yield a brief yet comprehensive review of the whole
subject. He has, therefore, himself prepared a paper which may serve imperfectly
to fill this vacancy, and to complete the examination of the history of America
prior to Columbus.]
On the discovery an exploration of America it was found to be everywhere
inhabited, from the north polar region to the extreme south, by peoples
differing in degree of culture from abject savagery to a low stage of
civilization. Though at first all these peoples were looked upon as members of a
single race, later research has rendered this questionable, marked diversities
in ethnological character having been perceived. In language a greater unity
appears, philologists generally holding that the American languages all belong
to one family of human speech, though the dialects differ widely in character
and in degree of development. The American languages approach in type those of
northern Asia, though not very closely. The same may be said of the American
features. Yet if the Americans and Mongolians were originally of the same race,
as seems not improbable, their separation must have taken place at a remote
period, to judge from the diversities which now exist between them.
The aboriginal inhabitants of the United States, when first discovered, differed
very considerably in political and social condition. Those of the north were in
a state of savagery or low barbarism. The southern Indians were much more
advanced politically, while the Natchez people of the lower Mississippi
possessed a well-organized despotic monarchy, widely different in character from
the institutions of the free tribes of the north. In Mexico existed a powerful
civilized empire, despotic in character, possessed of many historical
traditions, and having an extensive literature, which was nearly all destroyed
by the Spanish conquerors. In this region were two distinct linguistic races,
the Nahuas of Mexico and the Mayas of the more southern region. To the latter
are due the remarkable architectural remains of Yucatan and Guatemala. In South
America was also discovered an extensive civilized empire, of a highly-marked
despotic type,--the Inca empire of Peru. This rather low form of civilization
extended far to the north and south in the district west of the Andes, while the
remainder of South America was occupied by savage tribes, some of them
exceedingly debased in condition.
Of late years it has been made evident, through diversified archaeological
discoveries, that at some epoch, perhaps not very remote, the whole region of
the Mississippi Valley was the seat of a semi-civilized population, probably
some-what closely approaching in customs and condition the inhabitants of the
Gulf States when first seen by the Spanish and French explorers. This people had
utterly vanished from the region of the northern United States at the earliest
date of the advent of the whites, and perhaps many centuries before that era;
yet the whole region of their former residence is so abundantly covered with
their weapons, utensils, ornaments, and architectural remains, that we are not
only positively assured of their former existence, but are enabled also to form
many conjectures as to their probable history.
What are here spoken of as architectural remains consist principally of earth
mounds, of considerable diversity in character and appearance, and some of them
of enormous dimensions. There is in this fact alone nothing of peculiar
interest. Earth mounds, generally sepulchral in purpose, exist widely throughout
the older continents. But the American mounds are remarkable for their excessive
numbers, their peculiarities of construction, their occasional great size, and
the diversity of their probable purpose. They are found abundantly over the
whole region from the Rocky Mountains to the Alleghanies, and from the Great
Lakes to the Gulf, and to some small extent beyond these limits. In the State of
Ohio alone there are said to be more than ten thousand mounds, with perhaps
fifteen hundred defensive works and enclosures. About five thousand of them are
said to exist within a radius of fifty miles from the mouth of the Illinois
River, in the State of Illinois.
In the South they are equally abundant. The
Gulf States are full of them. From Florida to Texas they everywhere exist, of
the greatest diversity in size and shape. Smaller examples occur beyond the
limits of the region above outlined, though in much less abundance. These mounds
are usually from six to thirty feet high and forty to one hundred in diameter,
though some are much larger. To the vanished race to whose labors they are due
has been given the name of the "Mound-Builders."
Many of these structures were evidently erected for defensive purposes, and they
constitute an extensive system of earthworks on the hills and river-bluffs,
indicating a considerable population in the valleys below. Other works are
remarkably regular earthworks on the valley levels, forming enclosures in
various geometrical patterns, which comprise circles, squares, and other
figures. The purpose of these peculiar enclosures is unknown, though it was
probably connected with religious observances. Of the smaller mounds, some are
supposed to have been used as altars; but the most numerous class are the
burial-mounds, in which skeletons have often been found. In Wisconsin, and to
some extent elsewhere, are found mounds rudely imitating the shape of animals.
But the most extraordinary of these erections, from their great size and the
enormous degree of labor which they indicate, are the so-called "temple mounds,"
of which the one at Cahokia, Illinois, measures seven hundred by five hundred
feet at base and ninety feet in perpendicular height. It was probably the seat
of a temple. Many similar mounds, though none so large as this, exist in the
Gulf States.
The mounds contain very numerous relies of the arts of their builders, these
consisting of various articles of pottery, stone pipes of highly-skilful
construction, in imitation of animal forms, stone implements in great variety,
ornaments of beaten copper, pearls, plates of mica, fragments of woven fabrics,
and other articles, indicative of much industry and a considerable advance in
the simpler arts.
Whether the semi-civilization of this people developed in the region in which
their remains are found, or is due to the northward movement of a civilized
people from the south, cannot be decided. That they were a numerous agricultural
people, under the control of a despotic government, and of strong religious
superstitions, seems evident from the vast labors which they performed and the
religious purpose of the greatest of these works. There is abundant reason to
believe that they were in hostile relations with tribes of savages, perhaps the
original inhabitants of the country, to the northward and eastward. Against the
assaults of these the earthworks were built. These assaults were finally
successful. The "Mound-Builders" were conquered, and either annihilated or, more
probably, driven south. It is highly improbable that they constituted a single
empire, or a series of extensive governments. We may more safely consider them
as a congeries of strong tribal organizations, probably to some extent mutually
hostile, who were weakened by intestine wars and conquered piecemeal by their
numerous and persistent savage foes.
Before considering the political and other relations of the northern Indians,
some reference may be made to the architectural remains of the other aborigines
of America. Remarkable ruins exist in the mountain-region of the west, in parts
of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and northern Mexico. Principal among
these are the Pueblo buildings, huge communistic structures, of several stories
in height, and some of them capable of sheltering a whole tribe within their
very numerous apartments. Of these edifices some are of adobe, others of stone.
They are probably of considerable antiquity, and most of them are in ruins,
though several are still inhabited. Still more remarkable are the "cliff
dwellings," recently discovered in the river-canons of this region. These exist
at considerable heights, occasionally as much as six hundred to eight hundred
feet, in almost inaccessible situations in perpendicular cliffs, in which they
occupy clefts or natural terraces. They were doubtless intended as places of
refuge from dangerous foes, though they occur in localities now so barren that
it is not easy to perceive how their inhabitants obtained subsistence.
The architectural remains of Mexico, Central America, and Peru are far too
numerous and important to be described in the brief space at our command. Some
of the more imposing of those of Mexico are pyramidal mounds, not unlike the
temple mounds of the north, though occasionally much larger. Of these the most
extensive is the great pyramid of Cholula, which covers twice the area of the
great Egyptian pyramid of Cheops. The height is variously estimated at one
hundred and seventy-seven to two hundred and five feet. This huge structure is
built of small sun-dried bricks, alternated with layers of clay. It may have
been moulded on a natural eminence, though this is doubtful. The temple of the
deity Quetzalcoatl, which once occupied its summit, was destroyed by the Spanish
invaders.
In Yucatan, Chiapas, Honduras, and Guatemala have been found the ruins of
enormous and profusely-sculptured stone edifices, built on truncated pyramids,
of which that of Palenque measures two hundred and sixty by three hundred and
ten feet, and is forty feet high. Its sides were originally faced with cut
stone, while the building displays a considerable advance in the arts of
architecture and sculpture. Numerous other such structures exist, which display
great boldness and skill in architecture. As to who built these forest-buried
edifices no positive knowledge exists, though there is some reason to believe
that they were still in use, and surrounded by cities, at the epoch of the
Spanish conquest.
With the ruins of Peruvian art we are less directly concerned. It will suffice
to remark that they are not surpassed in boldness of execution, in the great
labor indicated, and in practicality of purpose, by any similar erections on the
Eastern continent. Many of these works are very ancient, having been built by a
people who occupied that region anterior to the origin of the Inca empire. In
this respect they agree with the architectural monuments of Mexico, which were
attributed by the Aztecs to the Toltecs, a mythical race who preceded them. All
this indicates not only a very considerable antiquity in the civilization of
this continent, but a general overthrow of the primary civilizations, the Mound-
Builders being replaced by the modern Indian tribes in the north, the builders
of the Mexican monuments by the more barbarous Aztecs, and the architects of the
early works of Peru by the conquering Inca race.
The Indian tribes of the northern United States, at the advent of the whites,
were found in a state of savagery in some particulars, though their political
and social institutions may be classed as barbarian. Though usually considered
as hunting tribes, they were in reality largely agricultural, and not unlike the
ancient Germans in organization. They were communistic in habit, holding their
lands, and to some extent their houses, as common property. The tribes were
divided into smaller sections on the basis of family, affinity, and governed by
two sets of elected officers, -- the war-chiefs, selected for their valor, and
the Sachems, or peace-officers, whose office was to a considerable extent
hereditary. In the election of these officers the whole tribe took part, women
as well as men having a vote. The religion of these tribes was of a low type,
being a Shamanism of the same character as that of the Mongolian tribes of
northern Asia. Demon-exorcising "medicine-men" were the priests of the tribes,
and the conception of a supreme "Great Spirit," which has been attributed to
them, was possibly derived from early intercourse with the whites, though it may
have been an inheritance from the Mound-Builders.
The Indians of the southern United States, comprising the Creek confederacy and
other tribes, were considerably move advanced in institutions and ideas. With
them agriculture had attained an important development, and the lands were
divided into fields on a communistic basis, they remaining the property of the
tribe, though cultivated by separate families. The government was in the hands
of a council of the principal chiefs, presided over by an officer called the
Mico, corresponding to the Sachem of the north. His dignity was hereditary, and
his power to some extent despotic. Warlike matters were controlled by a head
chief, under whom were inferior chiefs. These chiefs were elected to their
positions, and composed the council presided over by the Mico, whose authority
was subject to their control. One peculiar feature of the Creek organization was
the possession of a public storehouse, in which a portion of all products of the
field and the chase had to be stored, for general distribution in case of need.
This was under the sole control of the Mico.
The religious ideas were much superior to those of the northern tribes.
Shamanistic worship and the medicine-man existed, but in addition to this there
was a well developed system of sun-worship, with its temples, priests, and
ceremonies. The sacred fire was preserved with the greatest assiduity, and when
extinguished at the close of each year, to be rekindled with "new fire," serious
calamities were feared. The Mico was looked upon as a high dignitary in this
worship, and as, in some sort, a representative of the sun. The degree of
despotism which he exercised was very probably in great measure due to this
religious dignity and the superstition of the people.
But the most remarkable of the Indians of the United States was the small tribe
of the Natchez, occupying a few villages east of the Mississippi at the period
of Spanish and French discovery, and long since extinct. The language of this
tribe is believed to have been quite unlike those of the neighboring tribes. Its
political organization was a well-developed despotism, the ruler being a
religious autocrat whose authority was beyond question. This dignitary was known
as the Sun, and was looked upon as a direct and sacred descendant of the solar
deity. All members of the royal caste were called Suns, and had special
privileges. Beneath them was a nobility, while the common people were very
submissive. The chiefs' dwellings were on mounds, and the mounds were also the
seat of temples, in which the sacred fire was guarded with superstitious care by
the priesthood. La Salle, who visited the Natchez in 1681-82, describes them as
living in large adobe dwellings. The temple of the sun was adorned with the
figures of three eagles, with their heads turned to the east. The Natchez
possessed a completely-organized system of worship, with temples, idols,
priests, keepers of sacred things, religious festivals, and the like, while the
people were thoroughly under the control of their superstitions. The ruler had
the power of life and death over the people, as also had his nearest female
relative, who was known as the Woman Chief, and whose son succeeded to the
throne. The extinguishment of the sacred fire in the temples was deemed the
greatest calamity that could befall them. The death of the Sun cost the life of
his guards and many of his subjects, while few of the principal persons died
without human sacrifices. Captives taken in war were sacrificed to the sun, and
their skulls displayed on the temples.
The customs and religious ceremonies of this tribe are of particular interest,
as there is reason to believe that in the Natchez we have the most direct
descendants of the Mound-Builders, and that in the despotism of their chief and
the superstition of the people there survived until historical times the
conditions under which the great works of the Mississippi Valley were erected.
The destruction of the tribe by the early French colonists has been a serious
loss to archaeological science.
It is believed by some writers that the Mexican civilization was a direct
development of that of the Mound-Builders. Among the peoples of Mexico and
Central America traditions of an original migration from the north were common,
while the affinity between the customs and religious ideas of the Aztecs and the
Indians of the southern United States was so great that the civilization of the
former may with some assurance be considered an outgrowth from the semi-
civilization of the latter.
Land-communism was the general practice in Mexico, and the Creek public
storehouse, under the control of the Mico, was imitated by the Aztec public
stores, under the control of the emperor, in which a fixed portion of all
produce had to be placed. The Creek council of chiefs and elders was represented
by a similar council in Mexico, by whose decisions the emperor was controlled.
Worship of the sun was an early form of the Mexican religious ideas, though it
was afterwards replaced by worship of the god of war. Human sacrifice had grown
to enormous proportions, and the sacrifice of war-captives by the Natchez had
its Aztec counterpart in vast warlike raids for the purpose of obtaining victims
for sacrifice to the terrible wargod. The sacred fire was guarded with the
utmost care, and dire calamities were predicted if it should be extinguished. It
was voluntarily extinguished once every fifty-two years, and rekindled after a
week of lamentation and mortal dread. The passage of the "new fire" through the
country was the occasion of universal joy and festivity.
We have already indicated the resemblance between the temple mounds of the two
regions, and other points of affinity might be named, but the above will suffice
to show the great probability that the civilization of the Mississippi Valley
and that of Mexico and Central America were directly connected and formed parts
of one general growth of American culture. As for the actual history of the
aborigines prior to the advent of the whites, very little is known. Numerous
legends and traditions exist, though few of these can be considered of
historical authenticity. The Indians of the United States, indeed, possess no
records that can be accepted as historical. What seem most so are stories of
migrations; yet none of these can be taken as representative of actual events,
but are rather to be viewed as vague remembrances of some of the many movements
which must have taken place.
The only traditions that are to any extent historical are those of the Nahuas
and Mayas of Mexico and Central America. These describe the movements, during a
number of centuries preceding the Spanish conquest, of several successive
peoples, as the Toltecs, the Chichimecs, and the Aztecs of Mexico, and a
parallel series in the Maya region. Extensive details of the history of these
and other tribes are given, much of which is undoubtedly authentic, yet the
actual is so mingled with the mythical in these records that no trust can be
placed in any but their latest portions, and even these are not to be accepted
without question.
The traditions of migrations from the north and east are so generally reiterated
that they seem to indicate actual events, and the same may be said of the very
common tradition of the coming of a great hero or deity from the east, the
Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs, the Votan of the Mayas, and similar deities of other
tribes. These are fabled to have brought civilization and taught habits of
industry and lessons of political subordination to the previously uncultured
tribes. They may represent the actual advent of civilized navigators from Europe
or elsewhere, though this is a problem that can never be solved.
Much might here be said concerning the historical records of the Nahuas and
Mayas, had we space to review them, yet a consideration of the whole leads to
the conclusion above avowed, that the American aborigines had no records that
can be considered absolutely of historical value previous to the discovery of
America by Columbus. We may, therefore, look upon their trustworthy history as
beginning with that event, since in their earlier records it is impossible to
distinguish between the mythical and the actual.
