ABSTRACT

"The polysynthetic arrangement which prevails throughout the majority of the American-Indian languages is less prominent, and decidedly less intricate, in the Dakota tongue than in those of the other tribes of this continent. A vast amount of research and ingenuity has been employed in establishing resemblances between the archaeological remains of Mexico and those of Central America and Peru, and the temptation to transfer many of the assumed proofs or arguments to these pages is naturally very great. Many remarkable facts exist; but in truth, they exist thus far, like the record of Hoei-shin, rather as an incentive to further research than as clearly-defined historical monuments. There is enough in it, as in the narrative of Hoei-shin, to amply warrant research, and to encourage labour in the direction pointed out; but it would be in the highest degree rash and arrogant to assume, on no better grounds than the two present, that America was settled by the Mongolian race.