20 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



the Winnebago Indians of Wisconsin and Nebraska; the Piegan, 

 Blackfeet, Cheyenne, and Menominee Indians of the Algonquian 

 family; the Chippewa Indians, especially with reference to their 

 music; the Osage Indians, now in Oklahoma, and the Iroquois in 

 New York. 



A study of the past and present population of the Indians, with 

 the various causes of their decrease is being conducted. 



Some very interesting studies were made in Cuba, indicating that 

 the western end of the island, including the Isle of Pines, was once 

 inhabited by a cave-dwelling people of low culture and without agri- 

 culture. It is believed that these people were in that condition at 

 the time of the visit of Columbus, and that they were the survivors of 

 a cave-dwelling population once occupying all of Cuba and repre- 

 sented in Porto Eico and elsewhere in the West Indies. 



The Smithsonian Institution, through its Bureau of American 

 Ethnology in cooperation with the Archeeological Institute of Amer- 

 ica, has carried on excavations in prehistoric cliff dwellings and 

 pueblo ruins in New Mexico. In one locality these dwellings extend 

 along the walls of a canyon for about 2 miles. In cooperation with 

 the Colorado Cliff Dwellers' Association, the Institution excavated 

 and repaired the celebrated Balcony House in Colorado. Excava- 

 tions have also been made in newly discovered cliff dwellings and 

 other archeological remains in northwestern Arizona. 



INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES. 



An idea of the magnitude of the work conducted by this branch 

 of the Institution may be obtained from the statement that 228,698 

 packages were handled during the year, an increase over the number 

 for the preceding 12 months of 7,073. The weight of these packages 

 was 560,808 pounds, a gain of 76,124 pounds. 



The total available resources for carrying on this work were 

 $36,954.99, $32,200 of which was appropriated by Congress, and 

 $4,754.99 was derived from the exchange repayments to the Insti- 

 tution. 



Several changes made during the year in the routine of the Ex- 

 change Office have resulted in a more economical and efficient admin- 

 istration of the service. 



It was stated in the last report that the German authorities had 

 under consideration the founding in Berlin of an establishment to 

 promote cultural relations between Germany and the United States, 

 and that one of its functions would be to conduct on behalf of Ger- 

 many the international exchange of publications which the Smith- 

 sonian Institution carries on for the United States. This establish- 

 ment, which is known as the Amerika-Institut, was organized in the 

 fall of 1910 and the exchange duties were assumed by it on January 



