APPENDIX 4 

 KEPORT ON THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the re- 

 searches, office work, and other operations of the Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Ethnologj^ during the fiscal year ending Jime 30, 1924. These 

 were conducted in accordance with the act of Congress approved 

 June 12, 1923, which contains the following item : 



American ethnology: For continuing ettinological researclies among the 

 American Indians and the natives of Hawaii, including the excavation and 

 preservation of archeologic remains, under the direction of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, including the necessary employees and the purchase of necessary 

 books and periodicals, $44,000. 



The Bureau of American Ethnology was founded by Maj. J. W. 

 Powell and placed under the direction of the Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution by act of Congress. This bureau is de- 

 • voted to the increase of knowledge of the American Indian, as well 

 as of the natives of Hawaii and the aborigines of Porto Rico. It 

 follows the ideal of the Smithsonian Institution as applied to 

 researches on the American Indians, including all branches of their 

 archeology and ethnology. The bureau publishes annual reports and 

 bulletins, the whole number of these thus far published being 40 

 reports and 81 bulletins. The former assume the form of me- 

 moirs, often large and highly technical; the latter are generally 

 smaller in size, often preliminary in character. 



The fundamental idea which led to this appropriation was the 

 recognized necessity for reliable information for a proper appre- 

 ciation of the Indian, as an aid to legislation. Very extravagant 

 and diametrically opposite opinions were rife regarding the char- 

 acter of our aborigines. In the early days of contact of the Euro- 

 pean and Indian races erroneous romantic ideas were largely 

 prevalent, but with the application of the science of anthropology 

 new values of Indian character developed. The Indian in some 

 quarters was regarded solely as an object of research; the humani- 

 tarian side was lost sight of, and the fact that he is a man belonging 

 to one of the most important races in the ultimate amalgamation of 

 the different peoples was overlooked. The aim of the Bureau of 

 American Ethnology is to discover and to disseminate correct ideas 

 of the Indian as a race, that our people may better understand and 

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