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Albert Gallatin and Native American Languages

Today we think of Albert Gallatin as a public official who served his country as Secretary of the Treasury and as a foreign service diplomat. However, after his retirement from government, he though of himself as a scholar, and in fact, his senior years were largely devoted to the study of Native American languages. Perhaps this calling so late in life stemmed from his student days in Switzerland at the Academy of Geneva. His courses there included Greek and Latin which may have served as models for his later studies of American vocabularies. Also, while in the Academy, stories about American natives may have sown the seeds for his later interest in ethnology, the comparative study of cultures, even before his 1780 voyage as a young man to Massachusetts.

Shortly after his arrival in New England, Gallatin penned a firsthand report of Native Americans for his friend Jean Badollet in Switzerland: We have already seen several savages, all of them nearly as black as Negroes, dressed almost in European fashion, except the women who -- But I ought to leave a little to your curiosity without satisfying it, so that you have as many motives as possible for coming to join us very soon.

Separating facts form whimsical tales about the natives was not easily accomplished in the late eighteenth century. Despite years of contact, the endemic peoples were still a "curiosity" for most European-Americans as few professional studies had been conducted. Regardless of the lack of reliable facts, numerous questions about the the native inhabitants were debated by politicians, army officers, intellects, and common settlers as the boundaries of the United States moved westward. One of the most often discussed was the origin of Native Americans. Many ideas given due consideration by citizens of the post-colonial period included lost Tribes of Israel, survivors of mythical Atlantis, legendary Trojans or ancient Athenians.

Many believed the origin mystery could be solved by the study of New World languages for clues to their roots. Accordingly, antiquarians, and others collected, recorded, and made pronouncements about the spoken words of native populations. Languages that appeared to have complex grammars were heralded as having Old World lineages! However, such grand statements often supported foregone conclusions and typified the romance of the era. All too frequently such studies were flawed as jargon samples were too small, showcased words that had been taken out of their context, or were conducted in an inconsistent manner. Sometimes these studies had a dark side, and were concocted to justify the harsh treatment of American aborigines.

While Albert Gallatin believed the original abode of Native Americans was Asia, he did not bias his studies by trying to prove any particular theory. His preferred field of expertise was the structure of languages, and he employed methods which stressed quantity, accuracy, and consistency in data collection. The 1826 map he drafted, A Table of Indian Languages of the United States, is an excellent example of his methodologies. Through library research, information requests, and personal observation, Gallatin enlarged his vocabulary base, and in so doing, he acquired facts about native customs and traditions which were included in his language essays: Synopsis of the Indian tribes of Mexico, Yucatan, and Central America; and the introduction to Hale's Indians of North-west America. Additionally, these compositions contained comments on topics such as agriculture, advanced societies and lifestyles of Native Americans.

The meticulous attention to facts and procedures Albert Gallatin employed in his scholarship brought him worldwide recognition, and in 1842 he became a founder of the American Ethnological Society. As a scholar he advocated factual knowledge and did not agree with contemporaries who cited skewed studies as justification for differential treatment of native peoples. In this regard, he is an example to follow in our own time as we address prejudice, bigotry and unequal treatment of our fellow humans.