30 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



needed improvement. ProgresH has also been made in furnishing with 

 suitable exhibition cases the new galleries, which temporarily relieve 

 a part of the congestion, and some interesting collections heretofore 

 crowded into narrow limits have thus been less inadequatel}^ displayed, 

 though the general aspect mav yet be said with truth to be rather that 

 of a storehouse than a museum. 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. 



The operations of the Bureau of American Ethnology were continued 

 under the direction of Maj. J. W. Powell and his efficient assistants. 

 The field work of the regular corps extended into Maine, New York. 

 Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indian Territory, Oklahoma, California, Ari- 

 zona, New Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Ontario, and Nov^a Scotia, while 

 special work was done in other districts. The explorations and 

 researches continue to yield valuable results in the form of contri- 

 butions to the science of ethnology, while the collections made in con- 

 nection with the work form an important tributary to the National 

 Museum, 



One of the reconnoissances of the year extended to the Antillean 

 islands, which are supposed by students to have lain in the pathway 

 of important aboriginal migrations, and data of consequence were 

 obtained in the course of the work. 



Among the recent acquisitions of the Bureau are two aboriginal 

 vocabularies, both famed among students. One of these is the Trum- 

 bull Dictionary of the Natick (Massachusetts) Indian language, which 

 was conveyed to the Bureau for publication through the intervention 

 of Dr. Edward Everett Hale, vice-president of the American Anti- 

 quarian Society, the custodian of the manuscript. The other is a dic- 

 tionary of the Maya language,- known as the Diccionario de Motul, 

 which has been in existence in manuscript form for centuries, and 

 which is finally to be published through the agency of the Bureau. 



Some practical importance attaches to the recent work of the Bureau 

 in connection with aboriginal agricvilture and crop plants. The inves- 

 tigation of the wild-rice industr}^ of the northern lake region espe- 

 cially, brings out a neglected phase of aljoriginal industry, and at the 

 same time directs attention to a promising natural resource. 



One of the collaborators of the Bureau was detailed to the Govern- 

 ment Board of the Pan- American Exposition, and made importtmt 

 collections in the Philippine Islands, some of which are designed for 

 ultimate deposit in the Museum. 



The details of the work of the Bureau are set forth fully in the 

 Appendix to this report. 



