72 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



Nearly all the lower river bend, called the " Mound Bottom " by 

 the local people, contains evidences of walls, many of which have 

 disappeared by long cultivation of the soil. Mr. Myer was not able 

 to determine the age of these mounds, but buildings which they 

 represent were undoubtedly destroyed before the coming of the 

 white people. 



One of the most interesting results of the summer's work was the 

 excavation of a small mound on the Denny farm at Goodlettsville, 

 Sumner County, Tenn., the relics from this mound showing that the 

 inhabitants of this site belonged to a culture quite unlike that of 

 much of the surrounding region in the valley of the Cumberland. 



Mr. Myer also made studies in the southern part of Tennessee in 

 Lincoln and Moore Counties and made a map of a hitherto unde- 

 scribed mound group on Elk River. 



SPECIAL RESEARCHES 



During the summer of 1923 Miss Frances Densmore visited the 

 Makah Indians at Neah Bay, Wash., and recorded their songs, 

 Neah Bay is near the end of Cape Flattery, but the coast is so 

 mountainous that it is reached only by boat. At the time of Miss 

 Densmore's visit there was only one passenger boat a week to this 

 village. The principal industry of the Indians is salmon fishing. 

 The purpose of this trip was to observe the music of Indians who live 

 beside the ocean and to compare the music with that of tribes living 

 on the mountains, plains, and desert. As a result of the comparison 

 it M^as found that the music of the Makah resembles that of the Ute, 

 Papago, and Yuma more than it resembles that of the Chippewa, 

 Sioux, and Pawnee. This is general observation, the detailed com- 

 parison being unfinished. Three instances are as follows: (1) The 

 Makah Indians use a " high drone," or sustained tone held by two or 

 three women's voices, while the others sing the melody. This was 

 heard among the Papago in southern Arizona and is found in certain 

 parts of Asia, This suggests a cultural evidence that the Indians 

 migrated from Asia and down the Pacific coast, the use of the drone 

 being more pronounced among the Makah than among the Papago ; 



(2) the Makah Indians have a considerable number of "non-har- 

 monic " songs to which the term " key " can not properly be applied. 

 These were found in southern Arizona but not in the plains region ; 



(3) the ISIakah songs concerning the whale are marked by a very 

 small compass and small intervals. The Ute songs concerning the 

 bear are also characterized by small intervals, but the compass is not 

 particularly small. The Makah songs recorded were of several 

 classes, including songs of the whale legends and whaling expedi- 



