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Some physical characteristics of native tribes of Canada
Some physical characteristics of native tribes of Canada Author:Daniel Wilson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ADDRESS DANIEL WILSON, LL.D., R R. S. E., VICE PRESIDENT, SECTION H. SOME PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NATIVE TRIBES OF CANADA. In welcoming the Anth... more »ropological Section of the American Association Fob The Advancement Of Science to its meeting here on Canadian soil, it will not, I trust, appear unsuitable to the occasion, if I invite attention to some of the physical characteristics which distinguish certain native races of the Dominion; and especially to the significance of certain typical head-forms, and their bearing on our special researches in reference to the origin, distribution, and classification of races. In so doing, it is important to keep in view the prevalence throughout the American continent of various artificial modifications of skull-forms. This strange custom is probably at the present time carried on more systematically among the different tribes of Flathead Indians of British Columbia, than in any other region ; though abundant evidence exists to show its prevalence both in past and present times among many tribes and nations in very different stages of progress, alike in North and South America. It has, indeed, attracted more general attention than most other characteristic practices of the American aborigines, owing'to its prevalence alike among the most barbarous and the most civilized races. To all appearance the Peruvians and Mexicans had devel- oped independent phases of progress in arts, science, and social policy, without any knowledge of each other. Nevertheless, we trace the singular practice of moulding the human head into abnormal forms, alike among the civilized races of Peru, the ancient lettered architects of Central America and Mexico, and among barbarous tribes both to the east and west of the Rocky Mountains. The earthworks o...« less