24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



Since the publication of the Handbook of American In- 

 dians, through which additional i)opular interest in our 

 aborigines has been aroused, it has been the desire to make 

 a beginning toward the preparation of a series of hand- 

 books devoted to the Indians of the respective States. 

 The opportunity was fortunately presented toward the 

 close of the fiscal year, when the bureau was enabled to 

 enlist the aid of Dr. A. L. Kroeber, of the University of 

 California, who has kindly consented to undertake the 

 preparation of the initial volimie of the series, to be de- 

 voted to the Indians of California. It is planned to pre- 

 sent the material in each volume in as popular a form as 

 practicable, in order that it may be made of the greatest 

 use to schools, and it is hoped that the means may be soon 

 available to make possible the extension of the series to 

 other States. 



Under a small allotment from the bureau, Mr. James 

 Murie continued his studies of Pawnee ceremonies. He 

 devoted special attention to the medicine rites, and on 

 June 13, 1913, submitted a description of the ritual per- 

 taining to the " Purification of the Buffalo Skull." 

 " The transcription of the manuscript French-Miami Dic- 

 tionary in the John Carter Brown Library at Providence, 

 R. I., to which attention has been directed in previous re- 

 ports, was finished by Miss Margaret Bingham Stillwell, 

 who submitted the last pages of the vocabulary (which 

 number 1,120 in all) early in January, 1913. The bureau 

 is imder obligations to Mr. George Parker Winship, 

 librarian of the John Carter Brown Library, for his gen- 

 erous cooperation in placing this valued document at the 

 disposal of the bureau and to Miss Stillwell for the effi- 

 cient manner in which this difficvilt task was accomplished. 



In the latter part of the fiscal year Mr. Jacob P. Dunn, 

 of Indianaj^olis, in whose hands the French-Miami Dic- 

 tionary was placed for study, commenced the annotation 

 of the transcription and the addition of English equiva- 

 lents. This necessitated a journey to Oklahoma, where 

 Mr. Dunn enlisted the services of a Miami Indian as an 



