ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT LIII 



Museum, May 23, 189G, and printed in the Smithsonian 

 report for 1895. The records indicate that the four or five 

 dozen distinct linguistic stocks in this country have been ren- 

 dered more or less composite by the blending of peoples; the 

 researches seem to show that a still larger number of distinct 

 languages were originally developed independently, in small 

 discrete groups, which gradually combined into larger tribes 

 and confederacies, and sometimes grew so large as again to 

 subdivide and to spread over vast areas; and in varioiis other 

 directions these researclies have been found to throw light on 

 the characteristics and relations of the Indians. 



Dr Albert S. Gatschet has been continuous!}^ employed in 

 the collection and study of linguistic material pertaining to the 

 Algonquian stock. During July he utilized the services of 

 Mr William Jones, a mixed-blood Sauk of exceptional intelli- 

 gence, a pupil at Phillips Academy, Andover. Although he 

 has been absent from his tribe for some time, he was able to 

 convey to Dr Gatschet a large amount of new material. About 

 the middle of October Dr Gatschet visited the survivors of the 

 Miami Indians at Peru, Indiana, and afterward proceeded to the 

 Miami town on Osage river, Indian Territory, now the center 

 of the Peoria confedei'acy. At both places he was able to 

 obtain extensive collections relatin": to the lang^uaofe and 

 mythology of the people. During the remainder of the fiscal 

 year he was occupied in ai-ranging the new material and in 

 comjjaring it with other Algonquian records, and made consid- 

 erable progress in the preparation of a comparative Algonquian 

 vocabulary. 



Mr J. N. B. Hewitt was employed in the early part of the 

 year in applying the laws of linguistic development to the 

 Iroquoian stock, and thereby tracing the affinities and prehis- 

 toric growth of this extensive and important group of American 

 Indians. Through this study he was able to ascertain the order 

 in which different members of the group differentiated, and 

 either separated from the main 1)ody or developed distinct 

 organization. Representing the Iroquoian body as the trunk of 

 a genealogic tree, it api)ears that the lowest branch is repre- 

 sented by the Chei'okee and the second and third by the Huron 



