32 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 
to Camp Verde and beyond. This region had never been thoroughly examined, and 
it was deemed highly probable that it would prove as rich in archeologic remains 
as the region about Camp Verde. Such, however, proved not to be the case. A 
chain of settlements was found extending from Camp Verde southward nearly to 
Fort McDowell, but ,the ruins are not so numerous as in the region immediately 
about Camp Verde. About 10 miles below the latter an extensive and well pre- 
served group of cavate dwellings was found. 
The buildings throughout the whole Verde Valley now in ruins were constructed 
of slabs of caleareous rock, or of river bowlders, or of both, and in their construction, 
location, and ground plans are affiliated with the northern type, rather than with 
the southern type, of which the best example is the Casa Grande on the Gila River. 
Data for a report upon the ruins in the valley of the Rio Verde, and upon the irri- 
gating ditches and horticultural systems there pursued, were collected, and will be 
prepared for publication at once. Mr. Mindeleff remained in the field until after the 
close of the fiscal year. 
General Field Studies.—Mrs. Matilda C. Stevenson remained at the Pueblo of Sia, 
New Mexico, from July to September 15, 1890. She was diligently engaged in com- 
pleting her studies of the customs and mythology of the Sia Indians explained in the 
last annualreport. Theircosmogony, and the rites of their secret cult societies, were 
made by her special subjects of investigation, with the view of securing a clearer 
understanding of their mythology and religious practices. 
Dr. W. J. Hoffman, in July, visited the Menomonee Reservation at Keshena and the 
Ojibway Reservation at Lake Court Oreilles, Wis., the Ojibwa Reservation at La Point, 
and the Ottawa Indians at Petoskey, Mich. At Keshena he attended, by request of 
the Indians, the annual ceremony of the Mitawit or Grand Medicine Society, an 
order of shamans or priests professing the power of prophecy, exorcism of demons, 
the cure of disease, and the ability to confer success in the chase. The introductory 
portion of the ritual of initiation of this society embraces the dramatization of the 
Menomonee ideas of cosmogony and the genesis of mankind, the reception by the In- 
dians from the Great Manito of the power of warding off disease and hunger, and in- 
struction to candidates as to the proper mode of living, so as to gain admission into 
the realm presided over by Naqpote, the wolf, who is brother of Manabush, the 
mediator between the Menomonee and the Great Manito. The services of initiation 
of these ceremonies are preceded by a mortuary ritual lasting one entire night, in 
honor of the deceased member, whose place is filled later on by the initiation of a 
substitute. 
Investigations were made at the Menomonee ceremony to compare it witha similar 
ritual found among the Ojibways. It appears that the Menomonee practices are off- 
shoots from the Ojibway, and also that where the Ojibway shamans repeat certain 
phrases in an archaic form of language, as handed down to them, the Menomonee 
employ Ojibway words and phrases, perhaps to mystify the hearers, or perhaps be- 
cause the ritual was obtained from the Ojibway in that form. The preparation of 
textile materials used in the manufacture of the several kinds of mats made by the 
Menomonee was also investigated and typical specimens were secured. Water color 
and other sketches were made to illustrate ceremonies, daily avocations, the abor- 
iginal houses, grave boxes, and other objects of interest. 
Upon the completion of his work at the above reservations, Dr. Hoffman proceded 
to La Point to inquire of the Ojibway shamen concerning certain sacred birch-bark 
charts employed by them in the introduction of candidates into the society of sha- 
mans, and also to secure additional information relative to the explanation of picto- 
graphic cosmogony records. He then visited the Ottawa Indians on the eastern 
shore of Lake Michigan, near Mackinaw, to ascertain whether the ceremonies of 
the ‘‘ Grand Medicine Society” were still practiced by them. This body of Indians 
professes to have discontinued these pagan rites, but assert that a band of the 
Ottawa, living farther south, near Grand Traverse, adheres to the primitive belief, 
and conducts its ceremonies annually, 
