XXII REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY. 



thereby producing- a considerable library pertaining to the 

 native races; and it was thought needless to compete with cas- 

 ual observers and extend the superficial and desultory obser- 

 vation such as is alone expedient under the ordinary conditions 

 of exploration. Again, another Federal bureau was charged 

 with the supervision of the current affairs of the Indians, its 

 duties including the record of the lands allotted to, and claimed 

 or conveyed by, the several tribes; it was accordingly deemed 

 inexpedient to give attention primarily to the modern habitat 

 of the tribes. At the same time, a number of students and 

 scientific societies, especiall}' in the eastern part of the con- 

 tinent, were giving attention to the relics of the red men 

 distributed over the country in the ft)rm of stone and copper 

 implements, weapons, and ornaments, as well as in the form of 

 earthworks and g'raves; but since these relics were relatively 

 imperishable and already under investigation, it seemed the 

 less desirable that the energies of the new bureau should be 

 expended in examining them. A still weightier consideration 

 in determining the direction of research was found in the fact 

 that many of the observations of explorers and other students 

 of the Indians suggested, sometimes faintly, sometimes more 

 clearly, l>ut always more or less vaguely, the existence of a 

 system or systems of organization among the Indians, differing 

 widely from the customary organizations of white peoples; and 

 it was thought desirable to investigate this obscure character- 

 istic of the aborigines as thoroughly as possible. Moreover, 

 a wide dissimilarity in lano-uag-e had been broug-ht to lio-ht; and 

 since the earlier researches in this and other countries indicated 

 that tribes and peoples may be classified by language more sat- 

 isfactorily than in any other way, it was thought important to 

 extend linguistic researches energetically. Influenced by this 

 consideration, the E)u-ector planned for a series of researches 

 concerning the I'elations of the native tribes, as expressed in 

 language and organization. 



As the researches progressed, the original plan was modified 

 from time to time, whenever the terms of law or increasing- 

 knowledge required. Conformably to a legal provision, the 

 investigation of the prehistoric mounds was undertaken; and 



