This
people is the Eskimo. If Dawkins' view is true, we have in the Eskimo
carvings of to-day a true ethnic survival--an outcropping of the same
passion which displayed itself in the mammoth carving of La Madelaine.
Scarcely anything in the range of American antiquities has caused more
wonder and led to more discussion than the animal mounds of Wisconsin.
We do not pretend to explain their purpose. Perhaps they were village
guardians; perhaps tribal totems marking territorial limits; some may
have been of use as game drives; some may even have served as fetich
helpers in the hunt, like the prey gods of Zuni. We may never know
their full meaning. It is sufficient here for me to remind you what
they are and where. They are nearly confined to a belt of moderate
width stretching through Wisconsin and overlapping into Minnesota and
Iowa. Within this area they occur by hundreds. Dr. Lapham published a
great work on the effigy mounds in 1855, in which he gave the results
of many accurate surveys and described many interesting localities.
Since his time no one has paid so much attention to the effigies as
Stephen D. Peet, editor of the _American Antiquarian_, whose articles
have during this year been presented in book form.
Pages:
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177