8 PREFACE. 



dealings with the white race, etc.), its location at various periods, statis- 

 tics of population at different dates, etc., are included. Accompanying 

 each synonym (the earliest known date always being given), a reference 

 to the authority is briefly noted, and these references form a practical 

 bibliography of the tribe for those who desire to pursue the subject fur- 

 ther. It is not claimed that every spelling of a tribal name that occurs 

 in print is given, but it is believed that a sufficient number of forms is 

 recorded to enable the student to identify practically every name by 

 which any group of Indians has been known, as well as to trace the 

 origin of many of the terms that have been incorporated into our geo- 

 graphic nomenclature. 



At the instance of Secretary Langley the scope of the work has 

 recently been enlarged to include brief articles on the various customs of 

 the Indians and of their dealings with the General Government — such as 

 Agriculture, Fishing, Languages, Reservations, Stocks, Treaties, etc. 

 The work includes also a representative collection of Indian geographi- 

 cal names, as Mississippi, Niagara, Ohio, etc., with their origin and ap- 

 plication, as well as brief biographic sketches of Indians of note, and a 

 list of the numerous Indian words that have been incorporated into 

 the English language, as, for example, caucus, hickory, hominy, Mug- 

 wump, opossum, raccoon, etc. 



W. H. Holmes, 

 Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology. 



