﻿14 
  BUEEAU 
  OF 
  AMERICAN 
  ETHNOLOGY 
  

  

  PROPERTY 
  

  

  The 
  property 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  is 
  comprised 
  in 
  seven 
  classes 
  : 
  

   Office 
  furniture 
  and 
  appliances; 
  field 
  outfits; 
  linguistic 
  and 
  

   ethnological 
  manuscripts, 
  and 
  other 
  documents; 
  photo- 
  

   graphs, 
  drawings, 
  paintings, 
  and 
  engravings; 
  a 
  working 
  

   library; 
  collections 
  held 
  temporarily 
  by 
  collaborators 
  for 
  

   use 
  in 
  research 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  undistributed 
  residue 
  of 
  the 
  editions 
  

   of 
  Bureau 
  publications. 
  

  

  The 
  additions 
  to 
  the 
  property 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  for 
  the 
  year 
  

   include 
  a 
  typewriter 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  necessary 
  articles 
  of 
  furniture. 
  

  

  ACCOMPANYING 
  PAPER 
  

  

  With 
  this 
  report 
  appears 
  a 
  comprehensive 
  monograph 
  

   on 
  the 
  Omaha 
  tribe, 
  which, 
  it 
  is 
  believed, 
  constitutes 
  an 
  

   important 
  contribution 
  to 
  North 
  American 
  ethnology, 
  

   especially 
  to 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  Siouan 
  group. 
  

   This 
  monograph 
  is 
  peculiarly 
  fortunate 
  in 
  its 
  authorship. 
  

   For 
  thirty 
  years 
  Miss 
  Fletcher 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  close 
  student 
  of 
  

   the 
  Omaha, 
  enjoying 
  a 
  measure 
  of 
  their 
  friendship 
  and 
  

   confidence 
  rarely 
  accorded 
  one 
  of 
  alien 
  race, 
  while 
  Mr. 
  

   La 
  Flesche, 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  and 
  the 
  son 
  of 
  a 
  former 
  

   principal 
  chief, 
  has 
  brought 
  to 
  the 
  work 
  a 
  thorough 
  grasp 
  

   of 
  the 
  subject 
  combined 
  with 
  an 
  earnest 
  desire 
  to 
  aid 
  in 
  

   the 
  preservation 
  and 
  diffusion 
  of 
  information 
  relating 
  to 
  

   his 
  people. 
  

  

  The 
  purpose 
  and 
  plan 
  of 
  the 
  authors 
  are 
  thus 
  succinctly 
  

   stated 
  : 
  

  

  This 
  joint 
  work 
  embodies 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  unusual 
  opportunities 
  to 
  get 
  

   close 
  to 
  the 
  thoughts 
  that 
  underlie 
  the 
  ceremonies 
  and 
  customs 
  of 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  tribe, 
  and 
  to 
  give 
  a 
  fairly 
  truthful 
  picture 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  as 
  

   they 
  were 
  during 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  century, 
  when 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   men 
  on 
  whose 
  information 
  this 
  work 
  is 
  based 
  were 
  active 
  participants 
  

   in 
  the 
  life 
  here 
  described. 
  In 
  the 
  account 
  here 
  offered 
  nothing 
  has 
  

   been 
  borrowed 
  from 
  other 
  observers; 
  only 
  original 
  material 
  gathered 
  

   directly 
  from 
  the 
  native 
  people 
  has 
  been 
  used. 
  

  

  The 
  paper 
  is 
  rounded 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  inclusion 
  of 
  a 
  final 
  

   section 
  dealing 
  with 
  the 
  relations 
  between 
  the 
  Omaha 
  

   and 
  the 
  whites, 
  in 
  which 
  are 
  traced 
  in 
  outline 
  from 
  the 
  

   beginning 
  the 
  ever-increasing 
  encroachments 
  of 
  civiliza- 
  

   tion 
  and 
  the 
  gradual 
  but 
  inevitable 
  molding 
  of 
  the 
  weaker 
  

   race 
  to 
  conform 
  to 
  the 
  conditions 
  imposed 
  by 
  the 
  new- 
  

   order 
  of 
  things. 
  

  

  