XVI BUREAU OF AMP:RICAN ETHNOLOGY 



especially with respect to the relation of the Zuiii people 

 to other tribes of the general region. Chief attention was 

 given to the mythological system and to the ceremonial 

 dances, which followed in quick succession during the late 

 winter and the early spring months. 



Mrs Stevenson found the people of Zuhi much changed 

 in recent years. The former gentleness of character and 

 the marked courtesy of the. primitive aborigines have en- 

 tirely disappeared, except with a few of the older men and 

 women, the desire of sordid gain engendered by contact 

 with the whites outweighing every other motive. 



Mrs tStevenson was commissioned to collect material 

 illustrative of her researches in Zuhi, to form part of the 

 Bureau's exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 

 the special topic being the religious symbolism embodied 

 in the various arts, such as pottery, textiles, basketry, and 

 in costumes, altars, images, and other ceremonial objects. 

 Her study of this subject, heretofore much neglected, was 

 thorough, and the signification of nearly every sjanbol now 

 used by the Zuni was obtained. She observed that, while 

 the officers of the secret fraternities have a thorough un- 

 derstanding of the symbolism associated with their altars, 

 few persons know the meanings of the designs employed 

 in pottery and the other useful arts, the artists themselves 

 having little appreciation of the poetic imagery involved 

 in the various figures. Mrs Stevenson believes that the 

 original significance of the decorative motives of the Zuhi 

 people will soon be lost by them. 



Aside from her systematic researches a number of spe- 

 cial subjects were investigated by Mrs Stevenson, includ- 

 ing the irrigation system of the Zuiii at Ojo Caliente, the 

 manufacture and use of native dyeing materials, the prepa- 

 ration of pigments, etc. 



Early in August Dr John R. Swanton, ethnologist, sub- 

 mitted a typewritten copy of the Haida texts obtained at 

 Skidegate, Queen Charlotte islands, during the winter of 

 1900-1901, with accompanying translations. Subsequently 

 he was engaged in copjung and translating a second set of 



