REPORT OP THE SECRETARY 61 



a task which is only just begun. The bureau has for many years been 

 a pioneer in this work, and in many areas it has been the only 

 investigator. The first publication of the Smithsonian Institution 

 was on an archeological subject, and with the passing years the 

 bureau has followed this line of work with vigor. 



It is a traditional, sound policy of the Institution, as a result of 

 the relatively small allowance for the field study of the Indians, to 

 cooperate, ratliei- than to attempt to compete with those who have 

 a much larger income. This policy has been pursued by the bureau 

 during the past year. 



The chronicles of De Soto's wonderful trip through our south- 

 eastern States introduced to the attention of historians a remark- 

 able aboriginal American culture, one of the most advanced in 

 North America outside of Mexico. It was, as lias generally been 

 the case, built on agriculture, and the dominant tribal religion of 

 its civilization was a complex of Sun, Fire, and Great Serpent 

 cults. From Tampa- Bay to the Mississippi River, De Soto en- 

 countered numerous tribes differing in language and in minor eth- 

 nological features, but all belonging to the same cidture with a wor- 

 ship characteristic wherever agriculture served as a source of food. 

 As time went by and renewed exploration brought Europeans into 

 more intimate contact with the Indians of the Gulf States, his- 

 torians and others published many articles on their ethnology, but 

 as the tribes were moved west of the Mississippi and the oppor- 

 tunities for the field worker were diminished, the time came for 

 the ethnologist to yield to the archeologist to make his contribution 

 to the subject. Here lies a great field for further studies, with 

 ample work for both the historian and the archeologist. 



The two areas in aboriginal America north of Mexico in which 

 agriculture reached its highest development were the Southwest, or 

 that part of our domain bordering on Old Mexico, and those States 

 bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, including the mound builders 

 from the Ohio River to the Gulf. The investigation of the south- 

 western or pueblo region is at present attracting manj^ archeologists 

 amply furnished with funds, but the Southeastern or Gulf States 

 have been more or less overlooked. The bureau has begun an 

 archeological reconnaissance, as far as its resources will allow, in 

 Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Last year special 

 attention was given to the Indian mounds at Muscle Shoals in 

 Alabama. The work in Tennessee, southern Florida, and Missis- 

 sippi, so auspiciously begun by the late Mr. W. E. Myer, has been 

 continued by Mr. P. E. Cox, State archeologist of Tennessee. Mr. 

 Collins, assistant curator, division of ethnology, United States Na- 

 tional Museum, was allotted a small appropriation for preliminary 



