528 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



It is believed that the first printed account of the use of a phono- 

 graph among Indians was that of Jesse Walter Fewkes, published in 

 1890. In April of that year Dr. Fewkes took a phonograph operated 

 by a treadle among the Passamaquoddy Indians in Maine and re- 

 corded their language and songs. Sixteen items were recorded, five 

 of which were songs. Later he recorded Zuiii and Hopi songs, using a 

 phonograph with storage batteries, but he considered this less satis- 

 factory than the instrument with a treadle. These songs were tran- 

 scribed and studied by Dr. Benjamin Ives Gilman. With his keen 

 appreciation of advancement in science, Dr. Fewkes was also a pioneer 

 in the recording of Indian songs on disks, in the field. Assisted by 

 Dr. John P. Harrington he thus recorded 11 Hopi songs. (See 43d 

 Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., p. 5, 1925-1926.) A complete record- 

 ing equipment was installed by a piano company and operated by a 

 professional sent for the purpose, and the disk records were released 

 through commercial channels. 



It is impossible to mention all the ethnologists and musicians who 

 have included Indian music in their studies, but each has contributed, 

 in some way, to the development of the research. 



As this paper is to trace the development of my own work on In- 

 dian music, let me first express my appreciation of the inspiration 

 and aid extended to me by these pioneers in a unique and highly 

 specialized field of research. Miss Alice C. Fletcher's work was 

 called to my attention a year or two before the publication of her 

 book on Omaha music, and with the encouragement of Professor Fill- 

 more, whose acquaintance I had made, I wrote to Miss Fletcher, tell- 

 ing of my interest in the subject. If she had been less gracious in 

 her response it is probable that I would not have taken up the study 

 of Indian music. My interests were entirely musical as I was teach- 

 ing piano and lecturing on the Wagnerian operas. Indian music 

 attracted me only as a novelty, but in 1895 I added it to my lecture 

 subjects, presenting Miss Fletcher's material with her permission. 

 I availed myself of every opportunity to hear Indians singing at 

 fairs and other exhibitions, and began a systematic course of reading 

 on the history and customs of the American Indians. About 1901 I 

 wrote down a Sioux song that was sung by Good Bear Woman, a 

 Sioux living in a small Indian village near Eed Wing, Minn. Among 

 the attractions at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, 

 in 1904, was the old Apache warrior Geronimo. I stood behind him 

 and noted down a melody that he hummed as he printed his name in 

 careful letters on cards to sell to passersby. 



Every year, on June 14, the Chippewa at White Earth, Minn., hold 

 a celebration with much singing and dancing. I attended this cele- 

 bration in 1905 and had my first impression of Indian dancing on a 



