Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/662

* INDIANS. 578 INDIANS. ber but 51. The confederated Kiowa, Comanche, aud Apache liave decreased over 10 ]>er cent, since 181)0. Tlic Navahn and llupi, who as yet have remained almost UM<listurl)id, seem to liold their own, hut in California the native popuhttion has been ahnost wiped out. . that remain of some twenty tribes of the Oregon coast are now gathered upon Siletz reservation to the number of 482 in 1!K)0, with the record for the year of 22 birtlis and .'tl deaths. (.)n the North I'acilic coast the Aleuts have dwindled within a century from an estimated 25.000 to a present 2000. The cele- brated Haida, with .'V.t villages and 7000 souls in 1S40, are now reduced to two villages with a population of but 000. The chief destruction has been from changed conditions, new diseases and dissipation intro- duced by the white man. The present Indian population north of ilexieo, according to the best otTicial estimates, is approximately as fol- lows: United States proper. 200.000; Rritish America, 100,000: Alaska, 20,000; or a total considerably under 400,000 souls. INDIAN'S OF MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND WEST INDIES. The tribes of Mexico and Central America ex- hibited every stage of culture from the brutish Cochimt and savage ."seri to the civilized Maya. Tarasco, or .-Vztec. with theii higlily developed agriculture, arcliilecture. an<l literature. Krom the Rio (irande to Panama some thirty linguis- tic stocks were represented. Ix'sides the .ra- wakan and Cariban tribes of the West Indies. From traditional and other evidence nearly all of the more important tribes of Mexico and Guatemala, including those of Pinian, Kahuat- lan, and Mayan stock, appear to have migrated from the north. The Otonil and Chinantec, however, ajjpear to have antedated this move- ment and may pro|K'rly be considered indige- nous. There are shadowy traditions of earlier cultivated races, the ITniec and Toltce, from whom the ruder .ztee acquired their first civ- ilization, but it is (lifTieult to decide whether these names belong to the domain of history or of myth. The roving tribes of the northern fron- tier seem to have been akin to the .pache. but have now so completely disappeared that even their aflinity is not certainly established. The Comanche and Kiowa, as well as the Apache, made constant inroa<ls from the north, penetrat- ing as far down as Zacatecas. The destruction of the peaceable Carrizo tribes of the lower Rio Grande is chiefly due to thfse raids. The trilics of the California peninsula, appa- rently of Yunian stock, were among the lowest of the human race, possessing every lieastly in- stinct without even the savage virtue of bravery. The Seri of Tiburon Island in the adjacent giilf were but slightly bi<.'lier in the scale, but earned respect by their determined defense of their terri- tory against all intruders. Their southern neigh- bors, the Yaqui. were as much noted for their fighting qualities as for their superior industry and reliability. The Tarimiari and other Piman tribes of the Sierra Madre. as far south as .Jalis- co. difTer but little in general habit of life from the northern Pueblos. Physically they are dark and rather undersized. The Otomi of the central plateau were but little inferior in culture to the Aztec, by whom they had been subjected. The Chiehimec of the same region, so long the sub- ject of ethnologic conjecture, are now known to have been a dehnite people of distinct stock. The Nahuallan tribes which consiiluled the nucleus of the ancient Aztec Kmpiie dwelt ehielly in the present stales of -Mexico and Puebhi, the Aztec proper having their capital on the site of the ])resenl city of Mexico. Uetached ollshoots of the same stock were found as far south as Costa Rica. The empire included many tribes or nations of diverse stocks, but not all the cognate Nahuatlan tribes, even in the central territory, were under the rule of the .ztec. their bitterest enemies in fad being their neighbors and kinsmen, the Tlasealtee. By reason of their military importajiee, the .ztec have been somewhat overrated. Their gen- eral culture, while high in itself, was not su- perior to that of the Tara.sco or Zapotec. and was inferior to that of the Maya. In their .social organization they had passed the matriarchal stage and reckoned descent and inheritance in the male line. The national prosperity rested U[x>n agriculture. Land belonged to the clan and marriage was regulated by gentile laws. In archit<>cture they had reached a high stage of advam-ement, the pyramid of hewn stone being one of the most characteristic featires. They knew the secret of bronz.e. and were skillful work- ers in gold and cop[)cr. but stone imjilements con- tinued in common >ise. particularly obsidian for cutting purposes. Their dress was of native cotton, woven and <lycd in brilliant c<dors. They had an extensive pantheon with orders of priests and priestesses, and a ritual ceremonial, im- pressive but cruel an<l bloodthirsty in charac- ter, thousands of human victims being annually .sacrificed to the god of war, and their llesh after- wards eaten by the nuiltitude. Children of the higher classes were educated in public schools, where boys studied military .science, writing, his- torj'. and religion, and girls were tflught cooking, household work, weaving, and morals. There was a large native literature preserved in books written upon parchment or maguey paper. 24,000 bundles of this fibre being exacted as an annual tribute from the conquered tribes. The characters were ikonomatic. or partly ideo- graphic, partly phonetic, upon the principle of the rebus. Their calendar recognized 365 days in the year. In Southern ilexieo were the Tarasco. Toton- aco, Zapotec and Mixtcc. all populous and civ- ilized nations equal in culture to the .ztec. if not superior. They built houses of cut stone, brick, and mortar, planted fields and orchards, worked gold and -copper — the Tarasco wearing complete body armor of wood plated with copper or gold — made beautiful inlaid pottery, and wove cotton garments and rolies of briiiht-eolored feathers. They had elaborate ritual religions, accompanied sometimes by human sacrifice, with calendar sys- tems and hieroglyphic literatures like those of the -Aztec tribes. The Tntonaco. who practiced circumcision and head-flattening, claimed to have built the pyramid ruins of Teotihuacan. a few miles northwest from the city of Mexico. The wonderful ruins of Mitla are claimed by the Zapotec. Passing by the ruder Zoque, Mixe. and Chinan- tec. and the more advanced Chiapanec. in Oaxaea and Chiapas, we enter the territorv of the hiirhlv civilized Mavnn tribes, who held the whole peninsula of Yucatan, with large portions