Excerpt from Current Anthropological Literature, Vol. 2
In his article on "Die melanesische Bogenkultur und ihre Verwandten" (Anthropos, 1909, pp. 726-780, 998-1032) Graebner introduced the concept of the crutch-paddle, which was defined as having a crutch-like grip and a short, broad blade of which the greatest width is in the third nearest to its tip(1. c, p. 763).He called attention to crutch-paddles among the Carib and Arawak Indians, and to the fact that all the types of Melanesian and Indonesian blades turn up in South America (ibid., p.1016); while in North America he found a crutchpaddle with characteristic blade on the Northwest coast (ibid., p.1021). These resemblances served to support the theory of an ancient cultural connection between Indonesia and America. As Graebner included in his brief discussion some paddle types that did not strictly conform to his definition, it was possible to assume that the cross-handle formed the most essential part of his concept. Interpreting Graebner in this way, Dixon invoked against him the principle of limited possibilities: paddle shafts, he argued, must either end in some form of cross-handle or, broom-fashion, lack a cross-grip; hence, the recurrence of either of the only two possible forms is without historical significance (Science, xxxv, 1912, p.50).
However, it appeared from a subsequent statement in Graebner"s Methode der Ethnologic (p.145) that the cross-grip did not completely determine his concept of the crutch-paddle. And in the amply illustrated article before us Graebner sets forth his position at greater length and with still greater clearness. The presence of a mere crutch is indeed considered of some importance since this feature is by no means universally diffused (p.191); but stress is laid especially on the combination of the crutch with the particular type of blade defined in the previous paper (p.193).
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