ADMINISTKATIVE REPORT 17 



from the Mesa Verde ruins. Doctor Fewkes completed his 

 work at Spruce-tree House on June 27. 



Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, ethnologist, remained in the office 

 during the entu-e year. Much time was devoted to the collec- 

 tion and preparation of linguistic data for a sketch of Iro- 

 quoian grammar as exemplified by the Onondaga and the 

 Mohawk, with illustrative examples from the Cayuga, Seneca, 

 and Tuscarora dialects, for the forthcoming Handbook of 

 American Indian Languages. In pursuing these studies Mr. 

 Hewitt was fortunate in obtaining data which enabled him to 

 supply translations of a number of very important archaic 

 political and diplomatic terms in the native texts embodying 

 the founding, constitution, and structure of the government of 

 the League of the Iroquois. The meanings of these terms are 

 now practically lost among those who speak the Iroquoian 

 languages. As time permitted these texts were studied and 

 annotated for incoiporation in a monograph on the above- 

 mentioned phases of the government of the League of the 

 Iroquois, a work which hitherto has not JDeen seriously under- 

 taken because of its cuml^rousness, its extremely complicated 

 character, and the great difficulty in recording the native 

 material expressed in tens of thousands of words. 



In addition to these studies Mr. Hewitt prepared for the 

 Handbook of American Indians descriptions of the early 

 mission towns and villages of the Iroquois tribes, and also 

 brief biographical sketches of Red Jacket (Shagoyewatha) 

 and Thayendanegen (Joseph Brant) . He wi'ote the articles 

 Seneca, Sauk, Squawkihow, and Tuscarora, and has in 

 preparation the articles Woman and Wampum. 



From time to time Mr. Hewitt was called on to assist also 

 in preparing data of an ethnologic natm-e for replies to 

 correspondents of the office. 



During the greater part of the year Dr. Cp'us Thomas, 

 ethnologist, devoted attention chiefly to the preparation of 

 the catalogue of books and papers relating to the Hawaiian 

 Islands. After the number of titles had reached about 4,000 

 the Institution's committee on printing suggested some 



87584°— 29 eth— 16 2 



