SECRETARY'S REPORT 9 



greatly increased knowledge about the various peoples who have lived 

 there over a long period of time. Articles about the results and sig- 

 nificance of the studies were published by the Smitlisonian and in 

 professional journals. 



An extensive program of archeological research was carried on at 

 the important Olmec site of La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico. This was 

 a cooperative project in which the Smithsonian Institution, the Na- 

 tional Geographic Society, and the University of California partici- 

 pated. The results obtained at La Venta, published as a bulletin of 

 the Bureau, contribute significantly to a proper understanding of 

 the place the Olmecs occupied in the cultural development of early 

 America. 



During this decade excavations at Russell Cave in Alabama were 

 sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and financed by the Na- 

 tional Geographic Society. Russell Cave is important because of 

 the long sequence of cultural deposits it contains, and the materials 

 from it make possible the reconstruction of aboriginal developments 

 over a period extending back about 9,000 years. Evidences for many 

 cultural traits not previously recognized in the American South came 

 to light during the course of the digging. The National Geographic 

 Society subsequently purchased the cave and presented it to the Na- 

 tional Park Service to be established as a national historic site. 



During the 10-year period the work of the River Basin Surveys 

 progressed in a rewarding manner. During that time 23 reservoir 

 areas were surveyed and archeological excavations were conducted in 

 324 sites. The f mids for the program, transferred to the Smithsonian 

 from other government agencies and private donors, were greatly 

 increased during the last 3 years of the decade, making it possible 

 to expand and speed up the salvage operations. Thirty-two papers 

 reporting on the investigations and their significance were published 

 during the period. Others are currently in press. The information 

 thus far obtained has added tremendously to our knowledge of the 

 aboriginal Americans. 



The archives of the Bureau, constituting a great national scientific 

 research tool, have increased notably in size and diversity of material 

 in this decade. Large collections of Indian photographs have been 

 made available, and either the original negatives or copies have been 

 added to the files. Included are 312 glass negatives of individual and 

 group portraits of Indian delegates to Washington during the period 

 1874-90. The papers of Alice Cunningham Fletcher and her adopted 

 son, Francis La Flesche, both of whom had been members of the Bu- 

 reau staff in earlier years, were donated to the archives by Mrs. G. 

 David Pearlman of Washington, D.C., in memory of her husband. 

 The collection, filling 36 manuscript boxes, includes correspondence 



