THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 583 



qualities and tendencies sympathetic with those of earlier painters 

 in China and Japan, 



From the East, he gathered paintings, potteries, sculptures in 

 stone, in Avood and in lacquer, bronzes, jades, and objects of various 

 other materials. The Chinese field is represented by the largest 

 number of objects covering the longest period of time, but Japan, 

 Korea, Persia and the Near East are represented liberally. 



The Freer Gallery Building, the Freer art collections, and the en- 

 dowment which Mr. Freer provided, represent many millions 

 of dollars, so that this is not only the largest benefaction ever en- 

 trusted to the Smithsonian Institution, but the most generous gift 

 ever made to art. 



THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



The Bureau of American Ethnology was organized in 1879 

 and placed by Congress under the supervision of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. It was directed that all the archives, records, and mate- 

 rials relating to the Indian tribes collected by the Survey of the 

 Rocky Mountain Region under the auspices of the Interior Depart- 

 ment should be transferred to the Institution for use by the bureau. 

 Prof. Spencer F. Baird, Secretary of the Institution, recognizing the 

 great value of Maj. J. W. Powell's services in initiating researches 

 among the western tribes, selected him as the person best qualified 

 to organize and conduct the work. 



The National Government had already recognized the importance 

 of researches among the tribes. President Jefferson, who planned 

 the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806, " for the purpose of 

 extending the internal commerce of the United States," especially 

 stipulated, in his instructions to LeAvis, the observations on the 

 native tribes that should be made by the expedition for the use 

 of the Government. The Government also aided the publication of 

 Schoolcraft's voluminous work on the Indians. The various War 

 Department expeditions and surveys had reported on the tribes and 

 monuments encountered in the West; the Hayden Survey of the 

 Territories had examined and described many of the cliff dwellings 

 and pueblos, and had published papers on the tribes of the Missis- 

 sippi Valley; and Major Powell, as chief of the Survey of the Rocky 

 Mountain Region, had accomplished important work among the 

 tribes of the Rio Colorado drainage in connection with his geological 

 and geographical researches, and had commenced a series of publica- 

 tions known as Contributions to North American Ethnology. The 

 Smithsonian Institution had also taken an active f»art in the publi- 

 cation of the results of researches undertaken by private students. 

 The first volume of its Contributions to Knowledge is The Ancient 



