ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XVII 
complete series of models may be estimated to contain 
150 shields and 40 tipis of the Kiowa and confederated 
Apache and a somewhat smaller number from the Chey- 
enne. In April Mr Mooney shifted his base of operations 
about 100 miles north from Mount Scott, in the Kiowa 
country, to a station near Bridgeport, in the Cheyenne 
country, and has since been moving about among the 
widely separated Cheyenne camps. Some weeks were 
devoted to a practical study of the hide-dressing process 
in all its stages in connection with the making of a full- 
sized skin tipi. This important industry is thus for 
the first time placed fully on record. At the close of the 
present year Mr Mooney was preparing to attend the 
great annual sun dance of the Cheyenne, to be held about 
the middle of July. 
In addition to the research work referred to above, 
Mr Mooney has assisted, both in the field and during 
his brief stay in the office, in preparing material for the 
Handbook of Indian Tribes which is in course of prepa- 
ration by the Bureau. 
The heraldry studies of Mr Mooney have opened a new 
field in American ethnology, and are expected to con- 
tribute materially to our knowledge of many questions 
heretofore imperfectly understood in relation to the 
social and military organization, laws of succession, 
war customs, tabu system, and religious symbolism of 
the Plains tribes. The urgency of the work may be 
judged by the fact that of perhaps 300 shields possessed 
by the Kiowa a generation ago only 8 are now known 
to be in existence (4 of which have been obtained by 
Mr Mooney for the National Museum), while more than 
half the information gained on the subject came from 
old men who have passed away since the investigation 
began. 
During the year Dr Cyrus Thomas, ethnologist, was 
engaged mainly on the Handbook of Indian Tribes, under 
the supervision of Mr F. W. Hodge. In the early months 
he made a final examination of the data relating to the 
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