APPEJfDIX 2. 



REPORT ON THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. 



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

 tions of the Bureau of American Etlinology during the fiscal year 

 ended June 30, 1916, conducted in accordance with the provision of 

 the act of Congress approved March 3, 1915, making appropriations 

 for the sundry civil expenses of the Government, and with a plan of 

 operations submitted by the ethnologist in charge and approved by 

 the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The provision of the 

 act authorizing the researches of the bureau is as follows : 



Amei'ican ethnology : For continuing ethnological researches among the Amer- 

 ican Indians and the natives of Hawaii, including the excavation and preserva- 

 tion of archfeologic remains, under tlie direction of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 including necessary employees and the purchase of necessary books and periodi- 

 cals, $42,000. 



Mr. F. W. Hodge, ethnologist in charge, devoted most of his ener- 

 gies, as usual, to administrative affairs. However, in pursuance of a 

 plan for cooperative archeological research by the Bureau of Amer- 

 ican Ethnology and the Museum of the American Indian (Heye 

 Foundation) of New York, Mr. Hodge early in July joined Mr. 

 George G. Heye, of the museum mentioned, in the excavation of the 

 Nacoochee mound in ^^^lite County, northeastern Georgia, permis- 

 sion to investigate which was accorded by the owner. Dr. L. G. 

 Hardman. 



The Nacoochee mound is an earthwork occupied by the Cherokee 

 Indians until early in the nineteenth century. The name " Nacoo- 

 chee," however, is not of Cherokee origin ; at least, it is not identifi- 

 able by the Cherokee as belonging to their language, and by no means 

 does the word signify " the evening star " in any Indian tongue, as 

 one writer has claimed. 



The summit of the mound, which had been leveled for cultivation 

 about 30 years ago, measured 83 feet in maximum and about 67 feet 

 in minimum diameter; the height of the mound above the adjacent 

 field was 17 feet 3 inches, and the circumference of the base 410 feet. 

 These measurements are doubtless less than they were at the time 

 the mound was abandoned by the Cherokee, as all the dimensions 



49 



