374 The Smithsonian Institution 



perhaps be discriminated collectively on the physical basis, 

 the tribes, the confederacies into which they are sometimes 

 united, and the clans and gentes of which they are composed, 

 are defined by purely human attributes growing out of the 

 preeminently intellectual character of mankind. The studies 

 of the Rocky Mountain Survey had shown that the human 

 attributes are essentially collective, at once the product and 

 parent of cooperation among individuals ; and hence that the 

 classific unit among mankind is not the individual, as among 

 lower animals, but the cooperative group. When the force 

 of the official demand for a practical classification of the 

 Indians was felt, and it was recognized that a physical classi- 

 fication was incompetent, the collective or demotic characters 

 were carefully considered; and it was soon perceived that 

 the tribes of identical belief are commonly harmonious, and 

 might safely be grouped on reservations; it was also found 

 that similarity in institutions usually accompanies similarity 

 in belief and conduces to harmonious relation; and it was 

 found too that similarity in arts prepares the way for pacific 

 association. Further study showed that tribes having related 

 arts commonly spoke related tongues, that tribes of related 

 institutions almost invariably spoke cognate dialects, and that 

 similarity in belief was always accompanied by close similarity 

 or identity in speech. Thus it was ascertained that the tribes 

 might be classified roughly by arts, more definitely by insti- 

 tutions, and with sufficient refinement for all practical pur- 

 poses by beliefs ; and at the same time that language is 

 equally useful with belief as a basis for classification, while 

 its data are more easily obtained. Accordingly the linguistic 

 classification was adopted; and through the aid of collabo- 

 rators and correspondents material pertaining to the native 

 languages was rapidly collected. 



Through administrative necessities each collaborator has 



