ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT 17 



time to time supplied data for incorporation in a new edi- 

 tion of the Handbook of American Indians. 



From the investigations of the bureau it seemed that the 

 Siouan and Muskhogean Languages reseml)led each other 

 morphologically. In view of these circmnstances it was 

 deemed desirable that the Catawba, one of the Siouan 

 tongues, should be restudied, and accordingly, toward the 

 close of May, 1913, Dr. Michelson proceeded to South Caro- 

 lina, where the remnant of the Catawba tribe still reside. 

 Unfortunately, it was found that the language is all but 

 extinct, not even half a dozen persons being able to recall 

 phrases, although isolated words can still be had in goodly 

 number. Owing to this paucity of text material it is 

 hardly likely that the granunar of Catawba will ever be 

 completely elucidated, and as no comparative study with 

 other Siouan dialects has yet been made, it is not prac- 

 ticable at present to say with which Siouan group the lan- 

 guage is most closely associated. A considerable nmnber 

 of native songs are still remembered by the surviving Ca- 

 tawba, nearly all of which Dr. Michelson succeeded in re- 

 cording by dictaphone. 



Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, ethnologist, was occupied during 

 the year in translating unedited Seneca texts of myths 

 which were collected by himself in 1896 and at other times 

 on the Cattaraugus Reservation in western New York and 

 on the Grand River Reservation in Ontario, Canada. 

 These myths, legends, and tales number 13 in all. In ad- 

 dition, Mr. Hewitt undertook the editing of two Seneca 

 texts — " The Legend of S*hagowe''not'ha', or The Spirit 

 of the Tides," and " The Tale of Doa'danege"' and 

 Hotkwisdadege"''a' " — recorded by himself in the form of 

 field notes in 1896 and aggregating 95 tyi^ewritten pages. 

 At the close of the fiscal year about one-third of this work 

 was comjileted. To these texts interlinear translations are 

 to be added for the purpose of aiding in the grammatic 

 study of the Seneca tongue. 



Mr. Hewitt also devoted much time to the collection and 

 preparation of data for answers to correspondents of the 



160658°— 34 ETH— 22 2 



