SECRETARY’S REPORT 59 
States who still use agricultural techniques once common to all the 
Indians of this region but heretofore undescribed by careful observers. 
Fields are cleared by cutting and burning, planted without fertilizer, 
and soon abandoned for new fields when fertility decreases and weeds 
become difficult to control. In addition to the ancient North Ameri- 
can Indian crops—corn, pumpkins, and beans—the Seminole grow 
a number of plants that were introduced from the West Indies during 
and after the 18th century (banana, sugarcane, sweetpotato, taro, 
elephantear [Xanthosoma], manioc, papaya, guava, citrus). Semi- 
nole knowledge of wild plants is also extensive, and they still use 
many of them for medicine, food, and in the manufacture of utensils 
and other artifacts. Dr. Sturtevant found that at least two dozen 
fields are being cultivated with aboriginal methods, but intensive 
study of these fields and other aspects of Seminole society and culture 
has been even more difficult than he anticipated, owing largely to 
increased political factionalism and antagonism toward inquisitive 
outsiders. 
Dr. Sturtevant compiled genealogical information preparatory to 
collaboration with Dr. John Buettner-Janusch, a physical anthro- 
pologist at Yale University, on a study of the genetic characteristics 
(chiefly blood groups) of the Seminole, who certainly have fewer 
non-Indian ancestors than any other surviving eastern tribes. 
Besides collecting herbarium specimens of plants used and recog- 
nized by the Indians, Dr. Sturtevant made an ethnological collection 
to supplement the Seminole holdings of the National Museum. He 
paid particular attention to clothing, since Seminole styles have 
changed rapidly but are still unique in many respects, and objects 
made for sale. The latter are an important part of Seminole econ- 
omy and involve objects quite different from those usually made for 
sale by other tribes. 
Dr. Wallace L. Chafe, ethnologist, joined the staff of the Bureau in 
April but did not report for duty until June as he was completing 
teaching duties at the University of Buffalo. Dr. Chafe spent the 
3 weeks before departing on June 29 in preparing for fieldwork on the 
Seneca reservations in western New York State. He will gather 
material that will enable him to complete a Seneca dictionary and 
will make further tape recordings of religious and mythological texts. 
This work was started under the sponsorship of the New York State 
Museum and Science Service and is being continued as a cooperative 
effort. 
On June 3, 1958, Carl F. Miller was temporarily transferred from 
the staff of the River Basin Surveys to that of the Bureau of Ameri- 
can Ethnology in order that he might continue directing the excava- 
tions of the Smithsonian Institution-National Geographic Society 
