860 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



Mr. A. E. STEVENSON. I move to amend the paragraph just read by 

 striking out "$20,000" and inserting "$40,000, to be immediately 

 available." 



Mr. Chairman. I have offered the amendment increasing this appro- 

 priation for the sole reason that the amount proposed by the commit- 

 tee is wholly inadequate. The letters which I will have printed with 

 my remarks will show that even a larger amount than I have proposed 

 is considered necessary to the efficient prosecution of this work. 



During the last few years Major Powell has made many valuable 

 contributions to our stock of information pertaining to the North 

 American Indians. The object of the present appropriation is to 

 enable him efficiently to continue the work. The Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, in a recent official communication to the 

 Speaker of the House, says: 



From the first the researches in question have been carried on with vigor, and the 

 results already obtained, as shown in numerous publications and the large collections 

 deposited in the National Museum, are of great scientific and general interest. 



Mr. Chairman, the plan proposed by Major Powell, and which, with 

 his well-known energy and ability, will be successfully carried out, 

 embraces a discussion of the manners and customs of the North 

 American Indians, of their religion and language. It will likewise 

 embrace, in so far as it is possible to trace it, a history of each tribe, 

 with its dealings with the white race to the present time. 



Under his supervision catalogues have been made of all that has 

 been written touching the history, literature, religion, and customs of 

 this race. His atlas shows the location of the various tribes when the 

 white race first took possession of this continent, the sites of the 

 ancient villages, the successive cessions of lands to the whites, the 

 various removals of the tribes, whether compulsory or voluntary, the 

 localities where agricultural pursuits have been most extensively fol- 

 lowed and schools for them have been established. 



Another important service has been the collection of the necessary 

 data, including copies of all reports, treaties, and other official docu- 

 ments, with a view to the preparation of a legislative history of the 

 Indian race. The interest and value of such a work will be great. 



Much attention has been given by Major Powell to the study of the 

 different Indian languages. This includes a study of their various 

 sign and picture languages. Much curious and interesting informa- 

 tion of this character has already been accumulated. In addition to 

 this the discussion of the unwritten laws and customs of this people, 

 the ties which hold them together in barbarous or semicivilized rela- 

 tions, of their habits, arts of war, marriage, etc., all these can not 

 fail to be both interesting and instructive to the more favored race 

 which now holds undisputed sway over this continent. 



