1945 Ray Tribal and Linguistic Map of South America

This is a rare 1945 Verne F. Ray tribal and linguistic map of South America. Ray employs hachuring patterns to mark regional linguistic differences and numerically identifies two hundred thirty-eight tribes. Often tribes with comparable linguistic heritage are separated from one other by groups speaking languages from a radically different language family - underscoring the incredible complexity of South America's indigenous linguistic heritage. The hachuring patterns allow Ray to connect these related tribes simply and effectively. It is important to remember that names printed on the map refer to languages, not individual tribes. The tribes are listed in two different indexes situated along the map's bottom border. The index in the lower right corner lists the tribes linguistically, grouping them by language classifications and provides each tribe's number, which are conveniently presented in numerical order. The index of the lower-left lists the tribes alphabetically noting the number associated with each tribe.

Publication History and Census

This map was compiled by Verne F. Ray in 1945. One others example is known, cataloged in OCLC as part of the collection at Harvard.