ere well advanced in civilization so far as the term can
be applied to the aborigines. Their skulls are without angles and
differ greatly from the keel-shaped skulls. They were dolichocephalic
rather than kumbocephalic. They resemble the Polynesians, while the
northern tribes resembled the Mongolians. Whatever their original home
was, their adopted habitat was in accord with their tastes and
character. It did not change them but rather made their traits more
permanent and stable.

The tribes of the northwest coast were seafarers; they inhabited the
forest and worshiped the animals which were peculiar to the forest and
took as their totems the eagle, wolf and raven, but they drew their
subsistence in great part from the sea. They worshiped the animals of
the seas, such as the shark, the whale and the sculpin. Their skill
and courage as navigators have never been equaled. Taking their
families and the few articles of commerce gathered from the forest
they entered the symmetrical and beautifully carved canoes and
breasted the storms and waves of the great sea near which they lived.
There was a wildness in the waves which just suited them. The sea
brought out the best traits and developed the heroic character. They
were the "sea kings" of the Northwest. They were great navigators and
great hero worshipers.

The tribes of the interior, the Pueblos, the Zunis, differed from all
other tribes. They were surrounded by wild tribes, such as the
Apaches, Comanches and Navajoes. Whatever their origin, they had
remained long enough in this territory to be affected by the scenery
and surroundings. They were mild, luxurious, given over to religious
ceremonies, made much of mythology and had many secret societies. They
built their terraced houses, taking the cliffs and mesas as their
patterns, and made them so similar to the rock and cliffs that it was
difficult to recognize them at a distance. They did not mould the
mountains into villages as the Mayas did, but they made their houses
to conform to the mountains, and took the mountain gods and their
nature divinities as chief objects of worship.

The contrast between the ancient tribes of this region and the wild
tribes which intruded upon them was very great. The Navajoes were a
mountain people and drew their religion from the mountains. They
borrowed many myths and customs from the ancient Pueblos, and like
them, settled down to an agricultural life; but their sand paintings
and t