128 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



Athapascan-speaking peoples of California, Oregon and the Plains, all of 

 whom speak a language similar to that of the Navajo and Apache. Miss 

 Mary Lois Kissell, at that time special assistant in textiles but now of the 

 University of California, was assigned to the textile problems of the Papago 

 and Pima. 



Among the Pueblo peoples the numerous villages of the Rio Grande 

 Valley offered an almost virgin, though a very difficult field. Dr. Herbert 

 J. Spinden was engaged to work up the art and material culture of these 

 villages, he having at that time just completed a very important investiga- 

 tion of Maya art at Harvard University. 



In addition to the problem of the living Indians, and in fact the real 

 problem of the area, is the origin and history of the previous or ancient 

 population. For some time it has been clear that the surviving Pueblo 

 Indians were the direct descendants of the people who built many of the 

 ruined prehistoric villages. In view of this it was planned to make our work 

 effective by a study of the living or surviving peoples, and correlate the 

 results with studies of the ruins. Mr. Nels C. Nelson of the University of 

 California was engaged to carry on the prehistoric part of the work. 



During the past three years the work has gone forward. The high 

 development of art in pottery and weaving among all the tribes of the area 

 and the abundance of pottery in the ruins, made it clear that in this phase 

 of culture was to be found one of the most promising leads toward a correla- 

 tion of the ancient and the modern Indians. Consequently a special effort 

 has been made to collect specimens and information along these lines. 

 The above-named members of the staff have brought together a representa- 

 tive collection, the greater part of which was on view during the recent 

 special exhibit for the Indians of the Southwest. 



What is of even more value, a considerable body of data has been 

 brought together from the field and is now being worked over in the Museum 

 laboratories. Dr. Goddard has issued a study of the Jicarilla Apache and 

 a general handbook on the Southwestern Indians as a whole. Dr. Spinden 

 has well under way a study of the industrial arts of the Rio Grande pueblo 

 tribes, Miss Kissell is preparing a manuscript on the basketry of the Papago 

 and Pima and Mr. Nelson is writing a report on the archaeology of the Rio 

 Grande Valley. These studies will eventually enable us to distinguish 

 between the historic and the prehistoric elements of culture in the South- 

 west and to offer the basis for the determination of the prehistoric culture 

 areas therein. 



