REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 69 



in charac-ter and purpose. Mr. Mooney's collections are peculiarly valuable in that 

 they are so complete as to indicate the genesis and development of the tribal tradi- 

 tions. It would appear that the parent myth usually begins as a trivial story or 

 fable, perhaps carrying a moral and thus introducing and fixing some precept for the 

 guidance of conduct; the great majority of these fables drop out of the current lore 

 within the generation in which they are born, but those chancing to touch the local 

 life strongly or happening to glow with local genius survive and are handed down 

 to later generations. The transmitted fables form a part of the lore repeated by the 

 eldermen and elderwomen night after night to while away the long evenings by the 

 camp fire, and in this way they become impressed on the memory and imagination 

 of the younger associates; for under the conditions of prescriptorial life they come to 

 take the place of learning and literature in the growing mind of the youth. In the 

 successive repetitions the weaker fables are eliminated, while the more vigorous are 

 gradually combined and eventually strung together in an order made definite by 

 custom; at the same time they acquire sacredness with age, and some of them 

 become so far esoteric that they may not l)e repeated by youths, or perhaps even by 

 laymen, when they are the exclusive property of sages or shamans. Now the fable, 

 per se, is seldom vigorous enough to pass unaided into the esoteric lore of the tribe; 

 but when it serves to interpret some interesting natural phenomenon, either in its 

 original form or in its subsequent association, it is there! )y fertilized, and, with the 

 combined vitality of fable and interpretation, enjoys greatly increased chance of sur- 

 vival. Sometimes the historical element is also added, when the composite intel- 

 lectual structure is still further strengthened, and may persist until history blends 

 with fancy painted prehistory, and the story becomes a full-fledged cosmogonic 

 myth. Accordingly, the character and the age of myths are correlated in significant 

 fashion. Mr. Mooney's memoir is incorporated in the Nineteenth Annual Report, 

 which was sent to the printer on March 28, and proofs were in hand before the close 

 of the fiscal year. Since it is the first of a series of memoirs on the Cherokee by the 

 same author, it was thought well to preface the publication with an extended review 

 of the history of the Cherokee Indians from the time of discovery up to the removal 

 of a portion of the tribe to Indian Territory, and in collecting material for this his- 

 torical sketch Mr. Mooney was able to throw new light, not only on the movements 

 of the tribesmen themselves, but on the routes of travel taken by various explorers 

 from De Soto down. 



Although handicapped by illness, Mrs. Matilda C. Stevenson continued the prepa- 

 ration of the final chapters in her monograph on Zuni mythology. The work was so 

 nearly completed at the end of the fiscal year that it was assigned a definite place in 

 the Twenty-first Annual Report. 



Dr. Fewkes's olxservations on the winter ceremonies of the Hopi Indians yielded 

 important data of the nature suggested in previous paragraphs, and on his return 

 from the field he at once took up the preparation of a memoir designed for incorpo- 

 ration in an early report. 



A notable acquisition of the year was the Pawnee ritual, known as the Hako, 

 obtained by Miss Alice C. Fletcher. Its basis is one of those house ceremonies which 

 hold so large a place in aboriginal thought; and it is so exceptionally full as to at once 

 reveal some of the most strictly characteristic phases of primitive thought and illu- 

 mine the simpler house rituals already recorded. It is cosmogonic in import, and 

 thus reflects the faith of the tribe. At the same time its details indicate the tribal 

 migrations for many generations. It reveals primitive notions concerning the origin 

 of fire and the relations of this agency to deified animals. It comprises a partially 

 archaic vocabulary which promises to throw light on tribal affinities, and it includes 

 rhythmic and fundamental melodic features which contribute in important degree 

 to knowledge of aboriginal music. The entire ritual, including the musical accom- 

 paniment, is well advanced in preparation for the Twentieth Report. 



