REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 47 



with all the armorial l)earihgs oCthe olden time, the objects to ]>e preserved in the 

 National Museum after the study is finished. Xaturall y the task has been a tedious 

 one; yet the progress has been "satisfactory. The heraldic systems of the native 

 tribes are of much interest in that they open the way to knowledge of various obscure 

 customs of primitive peoples and also to vital stages in cultural progress. Thus, the 

 devices represent a peculiar development of totemism; they are closely related with 

 the calendric systems found among the tribes of the plains; and through these they 

 arc akin to the glyphic systems employed in the aboriginal books and sculptures of 

 ]Mexic(^ and Central America. IMoreover, since they represent the transition from 

 jirescrii)torial to seriptorial culture, they are found to throw much light on the gene- 

 sis of those European systems of heraldry whose origin is lost in the darkness of the 

 prehistoric. Finally, the heraldry of those tribes in which it is best developed forms 

 a nucleus for the esthetic activities generally; in them artistic shapement and color- 

 ing find their highest expression; in connection with them the powers of imagina- 

 tion and the inspiration of fiducial symbolism attain their highest perfection, and 

 through them ritual and faith and the intensely dramatic ceremonial warfare were 

 crystallized and kept alive. To the lowly aborigines they were more than the text 

 an<l pii'ture and drama of higher culture. The greater part of the material for a 

 monograph on the subject was brought together during the year. 



Ethnologists have long realized that the widest gateway to aboriginal life is that 

 afforded by games of chance; for primitive men, especially in that barbaric culture in 

 which divination is the keynote of psychic character, are habitual gamesters, and not 

 only devote much time to gaming, but play openly and with such infatuation as to afford 

 constant opportunities to the student. The lowly games of the native Australians, 

 New Zealanders, and Polynesians have received much attention; those of Korea, 

 Japan, and China, in which the barbaric element of divination is supplemented by 

 skill, have been described by eminent authors; the games of the American aborig- 

 ines have been studied not only by collaborators of the Bureau, lint l)y other able 

 ethnologists, notably Tylor; and the various studies afford a foundation for systematic 

 research. The work was taken up incidentally Ijy the late Frank Hamilton Gush- 

 ing, with the collaboration of Dr. Stewart Culin, of Philadelphia, author of notal)le 

 treatises on Korean and other games. The joint study was incomplete at the tinie 

 of INIr. Gushing' s death; subsequently it was carried forward independently by Dr. 

 Cnlin. During the year an arrangement was effected with I)r. Gulin under which 

 he has neai'ly completed a monograph on Amerind games for publication by the 

 Bureau. In the prosecution of the work he has made several field trips, has exam- 

 ined material in all the leading museums of the country, and has prepared numer- 

 ous photographic and otlier illustrations. The results of the study are of much 

 interest in that they illustrate a curious commingling of the fiducial and fortuitous in 

 the notions of primitive gamesters. Actually the games are played as of chance 

 rather than skill (though considerable skill is eventually developed); yet the play- 

 ing is essentially devotional toward the mysterious potencies held to control the 

 physical world and govern human affairs. Accordingly the games played for jias- 

 time run curiously into the most sacred ceremonies, and the devices employed afford 

 a fruitful revelation of primitive thought. By reason of the wealth of material, the 

 monograph has become voluminous. It was not quite ready for delivery at the end 

 of the year, but is promised for the lirst quarter of the current year. 



During the year Prof. W. H. Holmes, now of the United States National Museum, 

 completed the monograph on aboriginal pottery of Eastern United States, of wliich 

 he prepared the first draft while an officer of the Bureau. Although primarily tech- 

 nologic, it forms an important addition to knowledge of aboriginal esthetics. As 

 repeatedly noted in the ethnologic work, esthetic motives invariably arise in sym- 

 bolism and develop through a conventionism shaped by ancillary or adventi- 

 tious conditions, including texture of materials, character <»f tools, etc., as well as 



