XLII ANNUAL REPORT OP THE DIRECTOR 



presence of the initiated. As Mr. Dorsey had gained portions 

 of similar traditions among some of the cognate tribes, he was 

 able, after repeating these, to obtain from the Osage portions 

 of their traditions, a hundred and six lines of one and fifty-six 

 of another, with the chant and a part of the symbolic chart 

 associated with them. 



Kwapa. — From two Kwapa he obtained a small vocabu- 

 lary, the kinship system of their tribe, the names of some of 

 the gentes and villages, and a few proper names. 



WORK OF MRS. E. A. SMITH. 



Heretofore the researches of Mrs. Erminnie A. Smith among 

 the Iroquois tribes had been confined to their several reserva- 

 tions in New York State and Upper Canada. During the 

 past year they have been continued in Lower Canada among 

 the descendants of those Iroquois, principally Mohawk, whom 

 the early French missionaries converted to Christianity and 

 transplanted from south of Lake Ontario to the missions pro- 

 vided for them on the banks of the St. Lawrence. 



The almost entire isolation of these Indians from the other 

 Iroquois tribes during two hundred years renders a study of 

 their dialect, peculiar customs, and progress toward civiliza- 

 tion both interesting and important. Their old aboriginal 

 folk stories, through the influence of the Roman Catholic 

 Church, have been replaced by those of a religious character, 

 such as the wonderful preservation of the old church bell, or 

 the remarkable miracles of their aboriginal saint, Te-gah kwi- 

 ta, whose portrait decorates the sacristy of the mission church 

 where her bones are carefully enshrined and revered to this 

 day. 



Although nominally presided over by chiefs, few of the 

 old pagan customs are retained at Cauglmawaga. The old 

 wampum belts are, however, carefully preserved. It is wor- 

 thy of note that the clans of these representatives of the Mohawk 

 outnumber the clans in any of the other Iroquois tribes, and 

 comprise several not found among the others, as the Lark, the 

 Rock, and the Calumet. 



