The Walam Olum: Excerpt from The Lenâpé and Their Legends

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Walam Olum: Excerpt from The Lenâpé and Their Legends by Daniel G. Brinton, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Daniel G. Brinton ISBN: 9781465576927
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Daniel G. Brinton
ISBN: 9781465576927
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English
This controversial work is purportedly a translation of a sequence of pictographs which give the epic of the Delawares, a tribe which lived in the central Eastern seaboard. Taken at face value, this would be one of the few actual written texts from Native North America, including a clear account of an eastward migration over the 'stone-hard water'. The source of the document, as well as aspects of the Delaware text, and some of the historical episodes have been called into question. I'm not going to rehash this discussion here, but offer some comments based on the content of the text. Most likely, the Walam Olum was forged in the 19th Century by someone who was attempting to provide a mythological underpinning for the theory that Native Americans migrated from Asia at some point in the recent past. It is now believed that this migration took place between ten and fifteen thousand years ago. Instead of a mass emigration over a frozen ocean, it was a gradual infiltration by small groups. They weren't out to discover a new world, but simply following their food sources. Initially they moved over a land bridge that connected Asia and America (Behringia), which was exposed at the time by the the greatly lowered Ice Age sea levels. When the glaciers contracted at the end of the Ice Age, the conventional theory is that a 'corridor' through western Canada was created, which served as a migration route south into North America. another theory is that people could have taken a sea route along the Canadian coast to bypass the ice sheets. In any case, the archeological record indicates that it took hundreds or thousands of years for people to get from Siberia to the shores of the Atlantic.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
This controversial work is purportedly a translation of a sequence of pictographs which give the epic of the Delawares, a tribe which lived in the central Eastern seaboard. Taken at face value, this would be one of the few actual written texts from Native North America, including a clear account of an eastward migration over the 'stone-hard water'. The source of the document, as well as aspects of the Delaware text, and some of the historical episodes have been called into question. I'm not going to rehash this discussion here, but offer some comments based on the content of the text. Most likely, the Walam Olum was forged in the 19th Century by someone who was attempting to provide a mythological underpinning for the theory that Native Americans migrated from Asia at some point in the recent past. It is now believed that this migration took place between ten and fifteen thousand years ago. Instead of a mass emigration over a frozen ocean, it was a gradual infiltration by small groups. They weren't out to discover a new world, but simply following their food sources. Initially they moved over a land bridge that connected Asia and America (Behringia), which was exposed at the time by the the greatly lowered Ice Age sea levels. When the glaciers contracted at the end of the Ice Age, the conventional theory is that a 'corridor' through western Canada was created, which served as a migration route south into North America. another theory is that people could have taken a sea route along the Canadian coast to bypass the ice sheets. In any case, the archeological record indicates that it took hundreds or thousands of years for people to get from Siberia to the shores of the Atlantic.

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book A Desperate Character and Other Stories by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book Riding Recollections by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book Around Old Bethany: A Story of the Adventures of Robert and Mary Davis by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book Commentaries on the Laws of England by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book The American Indian as Participant in the Civil War by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book An Essay on Comedy and the Uses of the Comic Spirit by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book Early Travels in Palestine: Comprising the Narratives of Arculf, Willibald, Bernard, Sæwulf, Sigurd, Benjamin of Tudela, Sir John Maundeville, De La Brocquière, and Maundrell by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book The Chronicle of the Norman Conquest from the Roman de Rou by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book The Blue Dragon: A Tale of Recent Adventure in China by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book A Roman Singer by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book Michel Strogoff De Moscou a Irkoutsk by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book Highways and Byways in London by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book The Coquette's Victim by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book Archimedes by Daniel G. Brinton
Cover of the book The Minor Law-Books by Daniel G. Brinton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy