EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 
OF THE 
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 
By J. W. Powe tt, Director 
INTRODUCTION 
Researches relating to the American Indians have been 
carried forward during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, 
in accordance with the act of Congress making provision ‘for 
continuing researches among the American Indians, under 
the direction of the Smithsonian Institution,” approved June 
11, 1896. 
The operations have been conducted in accordance with a 
plan submitted on June 13,1896. The field work of the regu- 
lar officers of the Bureau has extended into Arizona, Indian 
Territory, lowa, Maine, New Brunswick, New Mexico, New 
York, Oklahoma, and Ontario, while operations have been car- 
ried on by special agents in California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, 
Utah, and Washington state, as well as in Argentina, British 
Columbia, Chile, and Mexico. The office researches have dealt 
with material from most of the states and from various other 
portions of the American continents. 
A classification of ethnic science has grown up in connection 
with the classification of the aboriginal tribes through the opera- 
tions of the Bureau, and this has been perfected from year to 
year. During recent years, and particularly during the fiscal 
year just closed, the researches have been shaped by this classi- 
fication of the subject-matter of the science. The primary lines 
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