The development of the dramatic art can be clearly traced
in the American nations. When the Spaniards first explored
the West Indian Islands they found the inhabitants much
given to festivals which combined dancing with chanting,
and the introduction of figures with peculiar costumes. The
native name of these representations was adopted by the
Spaniards, and applied to such performances elsewhere. The
word is _areytos_, and is derived from the Arawack verb, _aririn_,
to rehearse, recite.[83]

Such dramatic recitations were found among most of the tribes of North
and South America, and have been frequently described by travelers.
Often they were of a religious nature, having something to do with
devotional exercises; but not seldom they were simply for amusement.
Occasionally they were mere pantomimes, where the actors appeared in
costume and masks, and went through some ludicrous scene. Thus, to quote
one example out of many, Lieutenant Timberlake saw some among the
Cherokees, about the middle of the last century, which he speaks of as
"very diverting," where some of the actors dressed in the skins of wild
animals, and the simulated contest between these pretended beasts and
the men who hunted them, were the motives of the entertainment.[84]

From the solemn religious representations on the one hand and these
diverting masquerades on the other, arose the two forms of tragedy and
comedy, both of which were widely popular among the American
aborigines.[85] The effete notion that they were either unimaginative or
insusceptible to humor is, to be sure, still retained by a few writers,
who are either ignorant or prejudiced; but it has been refuted so often
that I need not stop to attack it. In fact, so many tribes were of a gay