50 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



Dr. Truman Michelson, ethnologist, continued his studies among 

 the Algonquian tribes. In the middle of July, 1912, he proceeded 

 to the Fox Indians, at Tama, Iowa, from whom a large additional 

 body of mythological material was obtained ; this, in connection with 

 the myths and legends in the form of texts gathered during the 

 previous season, approximates 7,000 pages. When the translation 

 of this material shall haA^e been finished it will form one of the most 

 exhaustive collections of mythology of any Indian tribe. It is note- 

 worthy that these myths and tales differ essentially in style from 

 those gathered by the late Dr. William Jones (scarcely any of whose 

 material has been duplicated by Dr. Michelson), a fact that empha- 

 sizes the necessity of recording such material in the aboriginal tongue. 

 It may be added that the myths and tales collected are also important 

 in the light they shed on the dissemination of myths. Study of the 

 social and ceremonial organization of the Fox Indians was likewise 

 continued, and especially full notes were obtained on their Keligion 

 dance. Many of the songs of one of the drums were recorded on a 

 dictaphone and several photographs of the native ball game were 

 secured. 



Dr. Michelson next proceeded to Haskell Institute, the nonreserva- 

 tion Indian school at Lawrence, Kans., for the purpose of obtaining 

 notes on Atsina (Gros Ventre) and several other Algonquian lan- 

 guages, the results of which show definitely that Atsina shares with 

 Arapaho all the deviations from normal Algonquian, and that Pota- 

 watomi is further removed from Ojibwa, Ottawa, and Algonkin 

 than any one of these is from the others. 



Dr. Michelson next visited the Munsee, in Kansas, but found that, 

 unfortunately, little is now available in the way of information 

 except as to their language, which is still spoken by about half a 

 dozen individuals, though none employ it habitually. 



The Delawares of Oklahoma were next visited, Dr. Michelson find- 

 ing that their aboriginal customs are still retained to a large extent. 

 Extended observations were made on several dances, and, to a lesser 

 extent, on the social organization. From a study of the Delaware 

 language, together with the Munsee dialect of Kansas, it was ascer- 

 tained, as had previously been surmised, that the Delaware language 

 of the early Moravian missionary Zeisberger represents no single 

 dialect but a medley of several dialects. 



On his way to Washington Dr. Michelson stopped again at Tama 

 to obtain additional notes on the Fox Indians; at the same time he 

 succeeded in arranging for the acquirement of certain sacred packs 

 for the National Museum. He also visited Chicago and New York 

 for the purpose of making comparative observations on the material 

 culture of the Fox tribe, based on collections in the museums of those 

 cities. 



