Tacitus spoke of the "Black Celts," and the term, so far as complexion
goes, might not inappropriately be applied to some of the Italians,
Spaniards, and Portuguese, while the Basques are represented as of a
still darker hue. Tylor says ("Anthropology," p. 67), "On the whole, it
seems that the distinction of color, from the fairest Englishman to the
darkest African, has no hard and fast lines, but varies gradually from
one tint to another."
And when we turn to America we find that the popular opinion that all
Indians are "red men," and of the same hue from Patagonia to Hudson's
Bay, is a gross error.
Prichard says ("Researches into the Physical History of Mankind," vol.
i., p. 269, 4th ed., 1841):
"It will be easy to show that the American races show nearly as great a
variety in this respect as the nations of the old continent; there are
among them white races with a florid complexion, and tribes black or of
a very dark hue; that their stature, figure, and countenance are almost
equally diversified."
John T. Short says ("North Americans of Antiquity," p. 189):
"The Menominees, sometimes called the 'White Indians,' formerly occupied
the region bordering on Lake Michigan, around Green Bay.
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