Africa and the Discovery of America

Leo Wiener's fascinating study connects Central American linguistics and words with those of African tribes, and the Europeans who first explored the New World.

Wiener seeks to demonstrate many apparent cultural connections between various tribes in Africa, and those of Central and North America. It was the author's view that the Americas were visited and colonized by African peoples long before Christopher Columbus made his famous voyages in the 1490s. In advancing his theories, Wiener illustrates a variety of similarities - the tribal artworks and craftsmanship, their manner of dress, and their methods of communication are variously described.

Much of this work surrounds the journals of Columbus's voyages; their descriptions and parallels drawn between the New World tribes and those of Africa. Being as these sources constitute the first accounts of a European author who traversed the Atlantic Ocean, they serve as Wiener's primary basis. However, to reinforce his ideas of connections between tribes separated by the ocean, Wiener cites numerous other books published across the centuries. Thus the enquiry brims with interesting comparisons and anecdotes of primitive cultures.