The women were beardless and the men more or
less nearly so; commonly the men plucked out by the roots the scanty hair
springing on their faces, as did both sexes that on other parts of the
body. The crania were seldom deformed artificially save through cradle
accident, and while varying considerably in capacity and in the ratio of
length to width were usually mesocephalic. The facial features were
strong, yet in no way distinctly unlike those found among neighboring
peoples.
Since the advent of white men the characteristics of the Siouan Indians,
like those of other tribes, have been somewhat modified, partly through
infusion of Caucasian blood but chiefly through acculturation. With the
abandonment of hunting and war and the tardy adoption of a slothful,
semidependent agriculture, the frame has lost something of its stalwart
vigor; with the adaptation of the white man's costume and the incomplete
assimilation of his hygiene, various weaknesses and disorders have been
developed; and through imitation the erstwhile luxuriant hair is cropped,
and the beard, made scanty through generations of extirpation, is commonly
cultivated. Although the accultural condition of the Siouan survivors
ranges from the essentially primitive status of the Asiniboin to the
practical civilization of the representatives of several tribes, it is
fair to consider the stock in a state of transition from barbarism to
civilization; and many of the tribesmen are losing the characteristics of
activity and somatic development normal to primitive life, while they have
not yet assimilated the activities and acquired the somatic
characteristics normal to peaceful sedentary life.
Pages:
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62