REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. ' 67 



inhabited pueblos, were added to those already in the possession of tlie 

 Bureau. The methods of surveying followed in previous years were 

 continued in this. The plans, as a rule, are drawn to a scale of I'O feet 

 to 1 inch, and the drawinj>- is finished in tlie lield. The topoi;raphy is 

 in all (tases indicated by contour lines of 5-foot intervals, sketched up«)u 

 a basis oi a number of points determined with a level. The ground plan 

 was usually drawn over a number of points and lines, which were located 

 with an instrumeni, and the direction of all the walls was determined 

 by a com^jass, in order to detect any irregularities. It was found that 

 the regularity and symmetry of i)lan which characterizes uuiuy ))ub- 

 lished ground plans of ruins in the southwest — notably those of the 

 Chaco ruins — are not justified by the facts exhibited by the ruins them- 

 selves, though upon cursory examination, ami even upon preliminary 

 survey, the ground plaus of many of these ruins are apparentl}' sym- 

 metric. The plans obtained will be published in articles now being 

 prepared. 



Mr. A. M. Stephen Avas engaged during half of the fiscal year in col- 

 lecting traditions and other matter from the Tusayan villages and 

 among the Navajos. He has transnutted a nuijd)er of valuable short 

 papers on these topics and also on the house-lore of the Moki Indians, 

 ami has furnished descriptions and drawings of the "Kisis" or rude 

 tem[)orary shelters of the ]\Ioki, comparing these with the priniiti\e 

 structures of the Navajos. 



The publications of Henry R. Schoolcraft, issued in 1853, upon the 

 [)ictographs of the Ojibwa, give tlu' imi)ressi()n that they were nearly 

 as far advanced in hieroglyphic writing as were the Egyptians imme- 

 diately before their pictorial representations had become syllabic. 

 Doubts had been entertained of the accuracy of this account which it 

 was considered to be the duty of the Bureau of Ethnology to lesolve; 

 therefore at the beginning of the fiscal year Col. Garrick INIallery and 

 Dr. W. J. llolfman were directed to ])roceed to Indian reservations in 

 Minnesota and Wisconsin and learn whatever remained accessible on 

 the subject. 



Dr. Hoifman proceeded to the White Earth and Ke<l Lake Reserva- 

 tions, iMinnesota, and remained tor three months, uuiking the lequired re- 

 searches among the Ojibwa. He found that the most important birch- 

 bark records are those relating to the Ojibwa cosnu)gony, the institu- 

 tion of the Midewiu or Grand iAledicine Society (in which is i)reserved 

 all that i)ertains to the su]»posed sacred mission of tlu,' Shanum), and 

 the songs used in connection with the ritual and the initiation of candi- 

 dates into that society. 



The pictographic charts are, as a rule, in the possession of the Mide 

 or Grand Medicine Man, though records relating to hunting and i)er- 

 sonal exploits, as well as directions for killing game, gathering fruits, 

 and making journeys, and even personal letters, aic made by other 

 members of the tribe who possess more than ordinary intelligence. 



