60 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Wisconsin, has long been known in a general way, but has received little scientific 

 stndy. Dr. Hoffman's memoir embraces a history of the tri))e from their discovery 

 by ISicollet in 1634 to the ])resent day, including the several treaties made with the 

 Federal Government; it includes also the genealogies of the two rival lines of hered- 

 itary chiefs, together with an exposition of the ceremonials (jf the several cult soci- 

 eties, and of the mythology, industries, arts, and manufactures of the tribe. 



SOCIOLOGY. 



From time to time during the year the Director found opportunity for collecting 

 additional information relating to the institutions of the American Indians and for 

 the elaboration of material collected during j)revious years. Mr. McGee also made 

 progress in the arrangement of material pertaining to this subject gathered by 

 various collaborators. Mr. James Mooney spent several months in the held collect- 

 ing information relating to the Kiowa, Caddo, Arapahoe, and Cheyenne Indians, of 

 which a large part is sociologic. In addition he prepared during the year a memoir 

 ontheSiouan Tribes of the East, -which has been sent to press as one of the series of 

 bulletins of the Bureau. In this paper the relations and movements of the tribes 

 recorded by early explorers and settlers of eastern United States are analyzed and, 

 after comiiarative study for the purpose of combining the various consistent records 

 and eliminating the uncertainties due to vague geographic and ethnographic records, 

 grouped as a consistent body of information relating to the aboriginal laud-holders 

 of cisappalachian United States. The memoir represents much patient research 

 among early maps and throughout the earliest literature of the United States. It 

 is enriched by synonymy of the various tribes of the district, and incidentally con- 

 siderable information relating to the organization and social institutions of these 

 tribes is incorporated. 



PICTOGRAPHY AND SIGN LANGUAGE. 



The earlier part of the year was spent by Col. Garrick Mallery in revising the 

 proofs of his monograph on Picture Writing of the American Indians, Avhich has 

 since been published in the tenth annual report of the Bureau. Some years were 

 devoted by Colonel Mallery to the collection of information on this subject and the 

 subject of sign language and gesture speech among the aborigines, and this mono- 

 graph represents the product of labors in the interesting line of research to which it 

 appertains. Bj' reason of the invasion of white men, many of the primitive customs 

 of the Indians have been modified and some have been lost; and in few directions 

 is the modification more complete than in that of inscribing records on rocks and 

 other surfaces; and it has been the purpose to render this work as complete an expo- 

 sition of the crude graphic art of the American Indian as it is jiossible to make at 

 this time. It is believed that the work will be found practically exhaustive and a 

 standard source of information. During the reuuiiuing portion of the year Colonel 

 Mallery has been engaged in the pre])aratiou of acomi)anion monograph on the sign- 

 language of tlie American Indians. The material for this work is eveumore evanes- 

 cent tlian that drawn on in the preparation of the preceding work; but the author's 

 studies have extended over many years and a large part of western America, and he 

 has been favored by rich contributions from correspondents of the office. The work 

 is fully illustrated, as is necessary, since it is ouly by graphic presentation that 

 definite ideas concerning the multiform gestures and motions used in primitive inter- 

 change of thought can be clearly expressed. The monograph is approaching com- 

 pletion 



LINGUISTICS. 



The languages of the American Indians have received a large share of the atten- 

 tion of the Bureau ever since its institution. It has been the i)olicy to collect texts 

 and vocabularies and material for grammars as rapidly and extensively as possible 



