REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 49 



from material preserved iu the National Museum; both represent the mature conclu- 

 sious of an able aud carefully trained arch;i'ologist. The classification and interjjre- 

 tation adopted by Mr. Holmes are primarily indigenous, though his comparative 

 studies have extended over the archieologic literature of the world, and it is believed 

 that his conclusions will form a lirm basis for those branches of arch;eology to which 

 liis work relates. To him science is indebted for a consistent method of interpret- 

 ing primitive art products through study of the arts of primitive [teoples cognate 

 to those whose relics have come down to us from prehistoric times. It was with 

 great regret that the Director accepted his resignation from the Bureau toward the 

 end of the fiscal year, in order tliat he might transfer his labors to the Field Colum- 

 bian Museum. 



DESCRIPTIVK ETHNOLOGY. 



An important line of work iu the Bureau for some years past has been the collec- 

 tion aud systematic arrangement of tribal names and characteristics, with brief 

 description of the habits, customs, arts, beliefs, and institutions of the aborigines. 

 The information thus collected has been recorded on cards under the head of Tribal 

 Synonymy. 



During the last year Mr. F. "W. Hodge devoted several months to the descriptive 

 ethnology of several southwestern families, the Piman, Tanoan, Keresan, and Zunian 

 stocks receiving chief attention. Advantage was taken of the presence in Wash- 

 ington of Mr. Carl Lumholtz, who has spent several seasons among the tribes of 

 Chihuahua, to oljtain valuable information relating to the Tarahumar, Tepehuan, 

 and Tubar Indians for use in the synongmy of the Piman stock. Mr. Hodge's lit- 

 erary research during the year has enabled him satisfactorily to identify the 

 obscurely recorded Jumauo of the early Spanish explorers with the Comanche of 

 more recent date. In connection with the condensed descriptions contained in the 

 systematic work, Mr. Hodge has made progress in the preparation of a bibliography 

 of the Pueblo Indians, designed to serve as a basis for further research concerning 

 this interesting portion of our aboriginal population. 



Mr. J. Owen Dorsey made a number of important additions to the portion of the 

 tribal synonymy relating to the Siouan tribes, and Mr. James Mooney devoted some 

 time to classifying and extending the material already obtained relating to the 

 Cherokee Indians. Mr. Albert S. C4atschet also made contributions to this work. 



Although the collection of material for the general descriptive ethnology of the 

 tribal synonymy of the American Indians was commenced some years since, and 

 although a large body of information has been collected and arranged on cards for 

 office use, publication has not yet been undertaken, partly by reason of the great 

 volume of the material, partly because the work is of such character as not soon to be 

 completed, since each new investigation yields additional information ; but within 

 the past five years the records have been found so useful, and the demand for 

 information contained therein so extensive, that a plan for publication has been 

 formulated. 



In accordance with this plan the material will be arranged by linguistic stocks and 

 published in bulletin form in the order of completion, each bulletin comprising a 

 stock. In addition to the usual pagination the bulletins devoted to the subject will 

 be consecutively paged (at bottom) for the series, and it is proposed to complete the 

 series by a bulletin so arranged as to form at the same time an index to the whole 

 aud an abbreviated dictionary of the tribal and other names used by the American 

 Indians. In accordance with this plan the materials pertaining to a number of the 

 stocks have been made ready for the press, with the exception of brief introductions 

 which remain to be written. 



During the first half of the fiscal year Dr. W. J. Hofiman continued the investi- 

 gation of the Menomoni and related Indians in field and office and prepared an 

 elaborate memoir, entitled "The Menomoni Indians,'' which has been submitted for 

 publication in the fourteenth annual report. This tribe, located in northeastern 



SM 94 4 



