The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 5, Primitive History

Id., vol. vi., p. 125.

197

Id., p. 45.

198

Id., p. 142.

199

Id., p. 246. Duran sustains the theory that the Indians are the descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel. After giving several reasons founded on the Scriptures, he refers to the traditions obtained by him from the old people of the country. They related that their ancestors, whilst suffering many hardships and persecutions, were prevailed upon by a great man, who became their chief, to flee from that land into another, where they might have rest; they arrived at the sea-shore, and the chief struck the waters with a rod he had in his hands; the sea opened, and the chief and his followers marched on, but were soon pursued by their enemies; they crossed over in safety, and their enemies were swallowed up by the sea; at any rate, their ancestors never had any further account of their persecutors. Another tradition transmitted from generation to generation, and recorded in pictures, is, that while their first ancestors were on their journey to the promised land, they tarried in the vicinity of certain high hills; here a terrible earthquake occurred, and some wicked people who were with them were swallowed up by the earth opening under their feet. The same picture that Father Duran saw, showed that the ancestors of the Mexican people transmitted a tradition, relating that during their journey a kind of sand (or hail) rained upon them. Father Duran further gives an account furnished him by an old Indian of Cholula (some 100 years old) concerning the creation of the world: The first men were giants who, desirous of seeing the home of the sun, divided themselves into two parties, one of which journeyed to the west, and the other to the east, until they were stopped by the sea; they then concluded to return to the place they started from, called Vztacculemjueminian; finding no way to reach the sun, whose light and beauty they highly admired, they determined to build a tower that should reach the heavens. They built a tower; but the Lord became angry at their presumption, and the dwellers of heaven descended like thunderbolts and destroyed the edifice; the giants on seeing their work destroyed, were much frightened, and scattered themselves throughout the earth. Duran, Hist. Indias, MS., tom. i., cap. i.

200

Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. vi., p. 246.

201

Id., p. 248.

202

Id., p. 253.

203

Id., p. 254.

204

Id., p. 312.

205

Id., p. 361.

206

Id., p. 382.

207

Id., p. 401.

208

To enter into details on all these subjects would require volumes as large, and I may add, as unreadable, as those of Lord Kingsborough. The reader who wishes to investigate more closely, will find all the points to which I have referred in volumes vi. and viii. of the noble writer's work, Mexican Antiquities. Mr James Adair, 'a trader with the Indians, and resident in their country for forty years,' very warmly advocates the Hebrew theory. As his intercourse with the Americans was confined to the wild tribes, the genuine 'red men' inhabiting the south-eastern states of North America, his argument and analogies differ in many points from those of Kingsborough and García, who treated chiefly of the civilized nations of Mexico and Central America. Here are some of his comparisons: 'The Israelites were divided into Tribes and had chiefs over them, so the Indians divide themselves: each tribe forming a little community within the nation – And as the nation hath its particular symbol, so hath each tribe the badge from which it is denominated.' If we go from nation to nation among them we shall not find one individual who doth not distinguish himself by his family name. Every town has a state house or synedrion, the same as the Jewish sanhedrim, where almost every night the headmen meet to discuss public business. The Hebrew nation were ordered to worship Jehovah the true and living God, who by the Indians is styled Yohewah. The ancient heathens, it is well known, worshiped a plurality of Gods: but these American Indians pay their religious devoir to Loak Ishtohoollo Aba, The Great Beneficent Supreme Holy Spirit of Fire. They do not pay the least perceptible adoration to images. Their ceremonies in their religious worship accord more nearly with the Mosaic institutions, which could not be if they were of heathen descent. The American Indians affirm, that there is a certain fixed time and place, when and where every one must die, without the possibility of averting it; such was the belief also of the ancient Greeks and Romans, who were much addicted to copying the rites and customs of the Jews. Their opinion that God chose them out of all the rest of mankind as his peculiar and beloved people, fills both the white Jew and the red American, with that steady hatred against all the world, which renders them hated and despised by all. We have abundant evidence of the Jews believing in the ministration of angels, during the Old Testament dispensation, their frequent appearances and their services on earth, are recorded in the oracles, which the Jews themselves receive as given by divine inspiration, and St Paul in his epistle addressed to the Hebrews speaks of it as their general opinion that "angels are ministering spirits to the good and righteous on earth." The Indian sentiments and traditions are the same. They believe the higher regions to be inhabited by good spirits, relations to the Great Holy One, and that these spirits attend and favor the virtuous. The Indian language and dialects appear to have the very idiom and genius of the Hebrew. Their words and sentences are expressive, concise, emphatical, sonorous, and bold, and often both in letters and signification synonymous with the Hebrew language. They count time after the manner of the Hebrews, reckoning years by lunar months like the Israelites who counted by moons. The religious ceremonies of the Indian Americans are in conformity with those of the Jews, they having their Prophets, High Priests, and others of religious order. As the Jews had a sanctum sanctorum or most holy place, so have all the Indian nations. The dress also of their High Priests is similar in character to that of the Hebrews. The festivals, feasts, and religious rites of the Indian Americans have also a great resemblance to that of the Hebrews. The Indian imitates the Israelite in his religious offerings. The Hebrews had various ablutions and anointings according to the Mosaic ritual – and all the Indian nations constantly observe similar customs from religious motives. Their frequent bathing, or dipping themselves and their children in rivers, even in the severest weather, seems to be as truly Jewish as the other rites and ceremonies which have been mentioned. The Indian laws of uncleanness and purification, and also the abstaining from things deemed unclean are the same as those of the Hebrews. The Indian marriages, divorces and punishments of adultery, still retain a strong likeness to the Jewish laws and customs on these points. Many of the Indian punishments resemble those of the Jews. Whoever attentively views the features of the Indian, and his eye, and reflects on his fickle, obstinate, and cruel disposition will naturally think of the Jews. The ceremonies performed by the Indians before going to war, such as purification and fasting, are similar to those of the Hebrew nation. The Israelites were fond of wearing beads and other ornaments, even as early as the patriarchal age, and in resemblance to these customs the Indian females continually wear the same, believing it to be a preventive against many evils. The Indian manner of curing the sick is very similar to that of the Jews. Like the Hebrews, they firmly believe that diseases and wounds are occasioned by divine anger, in proportion to some violation of the old beloved speech. The Hebrews carefully buried their dead, so on any accident they gathered their bones, and laid them in the tombs of their forefathers: thus, all the numerous nations of Indians perform the like friendly office to every deceased person of their respective tribe. The Jewish records tell us that the women mourned for the loss of their deceased husbands, and were reckoned vile by the civil law if they married in the space of at least ten months after their death. In the same manner all the Indian widows, by an established strict penal law, mourn for the loss of their deceased husbands; and among some tribes for the space of three or four years. The surviving brother by the Mosaic law, was to raise seed to a deceased brother, who left a widow childless to perpetuate his name and family. The American law enforces the same rule. When the Israelites gave names to their children or others they chose such appellatives as suited best their circumstances and the times. This custom is a standing rule with the Indians. Amer. Ind.

209

Amer. Antiq., pp. 68-70.

210

'See Deut., chap. vi., from 4th to 9th verse, inclusive; also, chap. xi., verse 13 to 21, inclusive; and Exodus, chap. xiii., 11 to 16, inclusive, to which the reader can refer, if he has the curiosity to read this most interesting discovery… It is said by Calmet, that the above texts are the very passages of Scripture which the Jews used to write on the leaves of their phylacteries. These phylacteries were little rolls of parchment, whereon were written certain words of the law. These they wore upon their forehead, and upon the wrist of the left arm.' Id.

211

Antiquities of Licking County, Ohio, MS.

Brasseur de Bourbourg, although he rejects Kingsborough's theory, thinks that some Jews may have reached America; he recognizes a Jewish type on certain ruins, and calls attention to the perfectly Jewish dress of the women at Palin and on the shores of Lake Amatitlan. Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. 17. Customs and relics seem to show that the Americans are of Hebrew descent, and that they came by way of the Californias. Giordan, Tehuantepec, p. 57. The theory of descent from the ten tribes is not to be despised. On the north-west there are many beliefs and rites which resemble the Jewish; circumcision obtains in Central America, and women wear Jewish costumes. Father Ricci has seen Israelites in China living according to Moses' laws, and Father Adam Schall knew Israelites who had kept the Old Testament laws, and who knew nothing of the death of the Savior. This shows that the ten tribes took this direction, and as an emigration from Asia to America is perfectly admissible, it is likely that the Jews were among the number who crossed, probably by the Aleutian islands. Rossi, Souvenirs, pp. 276-7. Jones, as might be expected, 'will not yield to any man in the firm belief that the Aborigines of North America (but North America only) and the ancient Israelites are identical, unless controverted by the stern authority of superior historical deductions.' Hist. Anc. Amer., pp. 2, 11-26, 188-90. Parker does not accept the Jewish theory, chiefly because of the great variety of distinct languages in America, but he points out several resemblances between north-west tribes and Jews. Explor. Tour, pp. 194-8. Meyer finds many reasons for regarding the wild tribes of the north as Jews; such as physical peculiarities; numerous customs; the number of languages pointing to a Babylonian confusion of tongues. Most Indians have high-priests' temples, altars, and a sacred ark which they carry with them on their wanderings. They count by four seasons, celebrate new-moon and arbor festivals, and offer first fruits. In September, when the sun enters the sign of the scales, they hold their feast of atonement. The name Iowa he thinks is derived from Jehova. They work with one hand and carry their weapons in the other. The pillars of cloud and pillars of fire which guided the Israelites, may be volcanoes on the east coast of Asia, by whose aid the ten tribes reached America. Nach dem Sacramento, pp. 241-5. If the Toltecs were Jews, they must have visited the Old World in the year 753 of the Roman era, to obtain the Christian dogmas apparent in their cult. Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., p. 45. The Navajo tradition that they came out of the water a long way to the north; their peaceful, pastoral manner of life; their aversion to hogs' flesh; their belief that they will return to the water whence they came, instead of going to hunting-grounds like other tribes; their prophets who prophesy and receive revelation; their strict fast-days, and keenness in trade; their comparatively good treatment of women – are Jewish similarities, stronger than any tribes can present. 'Scalping appears to have been a Hebrew custom… The most striking custom of apparently Hebraic origin, is the periodical separation of females, and the strong and universal idea of uncleanness connected therewith.' Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., pp. 60, 62. The Tartars are probably descended from the ten tribes; they boast of being Jews, are divided into tribes, and practice circumcision. The separation of women at certain times, and the expression Hallelujah Yohewah, are proofs of Jewish descent; scalping is mentioned in Bible (68th Psalm, ver. 21). Crawford's Essay. According to various manuscripts the Toltecs are of Jewish descent. Having crossed the Red Sea, they abandoned themselves to idolatry, and fearing Moses' reprimand, they separated from the rest and crossed the ocean to the Seven Caves, and there founded Tula. Juarros, Hist. Guat., tom. ii., pp. 7-8. Juarez, Municipalidad de Leon, p. 10, states that Leon de Cordova is of the same opinion. Em. de Moraez, a Portuguese, in his History of Brazil, thinks nothing but circumcision wanting to form a perfect resemblance between the Jews and Brazilians. He thinks that America was wholly peopled by Jews and Carthaginians. Carver's Trav., pp. 188-9. Catlin thinks the North Americans are a mixed race, who have Jewish blood in them. The mixture is shown by their skulls, while many customs are decidedly Jewish. Probably part of tribes scattered by Christians have come over and intermarried. He gives analogies in monotheism, sanctuaries, tribeship, chosen people belief, marriage by gifts, war, burial, ablutions, feasts, sacrifices, and other customs. Any philological similarity is unnecessary and superfluous. The Jew element was too feeble to influence language. Catlin's N. Amer. Ind., vol. ii., pp. 231-5. Melgar gives a list of the Chiapanec calendar names, and finds fourteen agree with suitable Hebrew words. He concludes, therefore, that ancient intercourse with the Old World is proven. Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom. iii., p. 108. Jarvis, Religion Ind. N. Amer., pp. 71-87, compares words in Hebrew and American languages. Ethan Smith, Views of the Hebrews, presents eleven arguments in favor of the Jewish theory. Beatty, Journal of Two Months' Tour in America, gives a number of reasons why the Hebrew theory should be correct. See further, for general review of this theory: Crowe's Cent. Amer., pp. 64-8; Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., pp. 46-9; Simon's Ten Tribes, which is, however, merely a cheap abridgement of Kingsborough; Dally, Races Indig., pp. 5-6; Thorowgood's Jewes in America; Worsley's Amer. Ind., pp. 1-185; L'Estrange, Americans no Jewes; Spizelius, Elevatio Relationis, a criticism on Menasse Ben Israel's Hope of Israel; Tschudi's Peruvian Antiq., pp. 8-11.

In opposition to the Hebrew theory we read that Wolff, the Jew traveler, found no Jewish traces among the tribes of North America. Fontaine's How the World was Peopled, p. 157. 'The strong trait in Hebrew compound words, of inserting the syllable el or a single letter in the names of children, derived from either the primary or secondary names of the deity, does not prevail in any Indian tribes known to me. Neither are circumstances attending their birth or parentage, which were so often used in the Hebrew children's names, ever mentioned in these compounds. Indian children are generally named from some atmospheric phenomenon. There are no traces of the rites of circumcision, anointing, sprinkling, or washing, considered as consecrated symbols. Circumcision was reported as existing among the Sitkas, on the Missouri; but a strict examination proved it to be a mistake.' Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., p. 61. The Rev. T. Thorowgood in 1650, published a work entitled Jewes in America, or Probabilities that the Americans are of that Race. This was answered in 1651, by Sir Hamon L'Estrange, in a book entitled, Americans no Jewes. L'Estrange believes that America was peopled long before the dispersion of the Jews, which took place 1500 years after the flood. A strong mixture of Jewish blood would have produced distinct customs, etc., which are not to be found. The native traditions as to origin are to be regarded as dreams rather than as true stories. The analogous customs and rites adduced by Thorowgood, L'Estrange goes on, are amply refuted by Acosta and other writers. The occasional cannibalism of the Jews was caused by famine, but that of the Americans was a regular institution. The argument that the Americans are Jews because they have not the gospel, is worthy only of ridicule, seeing that millions of other pagans are in the same condition. Of the Hebrew theory Baldwin, who devotes nearly two pages to it, writes: 'this wild notion, called a theory, scarcely deserves so much attention. It is a lunatic fancy, possible only to men of a certain class, which in our time does not multiply.' Anc. Amer., p. 167. Tschudi regards the arguments in favor of the Jewish theory as unsound. Peruvian Antiq., p. 11. Acosta thinks that the Jews would have preserved their language, customs, and records, in America as well as in other places. Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 79-80. Macgregor argues that the Americans could not have been Jews, for the latter people were acquainted with the use of iron as far back as the time of Tubal Cain; they also used milk and wheaten bread, which the Americans could and would have used if they had once known of them. Progress of Amer., vol. i., p. 24. Montanus believes that America was peopled long before the time of the dispersion of the Jewish tribes, and raises objections to nearly every point that has been adduced in favor of a Hebrew origin. Nieuwe Weereld, p. 26, et seq. Torquemada gives Las Casas' reasons for believing that the Americans are of Jewish descent, and refutes them. Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 22-7. The difference of physical organization is alone sufficient to set aside the question of Jewish origin. That so conservative a people as the Jews should have lost all the traditions, customs, etc., of their race, is absurd. Democratic Review, vol. xi., p. 617. Rafinesque advances, as objections to Jew theory, that the ten tribes are to be found scattered over Asia; that the Sabbath would never have fallen into disuse if they had once introduced it into America; that the Hebrew knew the use of iron, had plows, and employed writing; that circumcision is practiced only in one or two localities in America; that the sharp, striking Jewish features are not found in Americans; that the Americans eat hogs and other animals forbidden to the Jews; that the American war customs, such as scalping, torturing, cannibalism, painting bodies and going naked, are not Jewish in the least; that the American languages are not like Hebrew. Priest's Amer. Antiq., pp. 76-9.

212

I translate freely from Bertrand, Mémoires, p. 32, et seq., for this account.

213

In the State of New York.

214

The discovery was in this wise: 'Près du village de Manchester, dans le comté d'Ontario, État de New York, se trouve une éminence plus considérable que celle des environs, et qui est devenue célèbre dans les fastes de la nouvelle Église sous le nom de Cumorah. Sur le flanc occidental de cette colline, non loin de son sommet, et sous une pierre d'une grande dimension, des lames d'or se trouvaient déposées dans un coffre de pierre. Le couvercle en était aminci vers ses bords, et relevé au milieu en forme de boule. Après avoir dégagé la terre, Joseph (Smith) souleva le couvercle à l'aide d'un levier, et trouva les plaques, l'Urim-Thummim, et le pectoral. Le coffre était formé de pierres reliées entre elles aux angles par du ciment. Au fond se trouvaient deux pierres plates placées en croix, et sur ces pierres les lames d'or et les autres objets. Joseph voulait les enlever, mais il en fut empêché par l'envoyé divin, qui l'informe que le temps n'était pas encore venu, et qu'il fallait attendre quatre ans à partir de cette époque. D'après ses instructions, Joseph se rendit tous les ans le même jour au lieu du dépôt, pour recevoir de la bouche du messager céleste, des instructions sur la manière dont le royaume de Dieu devait être fondé et gouverné dans les derniers jours… Le 22 septembre 1827, le messager des cieux lui laissa prendre les plaques, l'Urim-Thummim et le pectoral, à condition qu'il serait responsable, et en l'avertissant qu'il serait retranché, s'il venait à perdre ces objets par sa négligence, mais qu'il serait protégé s'il faisait tous ses efforts pour les conserver.' Bertrand, Mémoires, pp. 23-5.

215

Though the question of the Scandinavian discoveries would seem to merit considerable attention from one who wrote a 'colonial history' of America, yet Mr George Bancroft disposes of the entire subject in a single page: 'The story of the colonization of America by Northmen,' he writes, 'rests on narratives, mythological in form, and obscure in meaning; ancient, yet not contemporary. The chief document is an interpolation in the history of Sturleson, whose zealous curiosity could hardly have neglected the discovery of a continent. The geographical details are too vague to sustain a conjecture; the accounts of the mild winter and fertile soil are, on any modern hypothesis, fictitious or exaggerated; the description of the natives applies only to the Esquimaux, inhabitants of hyperborean regions, the remark which should define the length of the shortest winter's day, has received interpretations adapted to every latitude from New York to Cape Farewell; and Vinland has been sought in all directions, from Greenland and the St. Lawrence to Africa.' Bancroft's History, vol. i., pp. 5-6. Irving says that as far as he 'has had experience in tracing these stories of early discoveries of portions of the New World, he has generally found them very confident deductions drawn from very vague and questionable facts. Learned men are too prone to give substance to mere shadows, when they assist some preconceived theory. Most of these accounts, when divested of the erudite comments of their editors, have proved little better than the traditionary fables, noticed in another part of this work, respecting the imaginary islands of St. Borondon, and of the Seven Cities.' Columbus, vol. iii., p. 434. All of which would certainly be true enough of most theories, but that it was erroneous as far as the Northmen's visits are concerned, has, I think, been conclusively shown in later years.

216

'It might also be argued, if it were at all necessary, that, if these Sagas were post-Columbian compositions drawn up by Icelanders who were jealous of the fame of the Genoese navigator, we should certainly be able to point out something either in their structure, bearing, or style, by which it would be indicated. Yet such is not the case. These writings reveal no anxiety to show the connection of the Northmen with the great land lying at the west. The authors do not see anything at all remarkable or meritorious in the explorations, which were conducted simply for the purpose of gain. Those marks which would certainly have been impressed by a more modern writer forging a historical composition designed to show an occupation of the country before the time of Columbus, are wholly wanting. There is no special pleading or rivalry, and no desire to show prior and superior knowledge of the country to which the navigators had from time to time sailed. We only discover a straightforward, honest endeavor to tell the story of certain men's lives. This is done in a simple, artless way, and with every indication of a desire to mete out even handed justice to all. And candid readers who come to the subject with minds free from prejudice, will be powerfully impressed with the belief that they are reading authentic histories written by honest men.' Pre-Columbian Disc. Amer., pp. xli. – xlii.

217

Vol. viii., p. 114, et seq.

218

The exact dates in these relations I cannot vouch for; but the several authors who have written on the subject differ by only a year or two.

219

'Helluland, from Hella, a flat stone, an abundance of which may be found in Labrador and the region round about.' De Costa's Pre-Columbian Disc. Amer., p. 28. 'From data in the Landnama and several other ancient Icelandic geographical works, we may gather that the distance of a day's sailing was estimated at from twenty-seven to thirty geographical miles (German or Danish, of which fifteen are equal to a degree; each of these accordingly equal to four English sea-miles). From the island of Helluland, afterwards called Little Helluland, Biarne sailed to Heriulfsnes (Ikigeit) in Greenland, with strong south-westerly gales, in four days. The distance between that cape and Newfoundland is about 150 miles, which will correspond, when we take into consideration the strong gales. In modern descriptions it is stated that this land partly consists of naked, rocky flats, where no tree, not even a shrub, can grow, and which are therefore usually called Barrens; thus answering completely to the hellur of the ancient Northmen, from which they named the country.' Abstract of Hist. Evid., in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., p. 123.

220