6 PREFACE. 



On the organization of the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1879, 

 the work of recording the tribal synonymy was officially assigned to Pro- 

 fessor Mason and was continued by him until other duties necessitated 

 its suspension. Later it was placed in charge of Mr. Henry W. Henshaw, 

 who devoted to it several years of labor, meanwhile formulating a plan 

 to make the work encyclopedic in character and of equal importance in 

 this respect with the synonymic feature. 



Up to this time a definite classification of the tribes north of Mexico 

 was not possible, since sufficient work of a scientific character had not 

 been conducted toward determining their linguistic affinities. On the 

 organization of the Bureau, however, one of the first steps taken by 

 Major Powell was toward such a linguistic classification, and by 1885 

 his researches had reached a stage that warranted the grouping of the 

 various tribes by linguistic stocks on a scientific basis. This classifica- 

 tion is published in the Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau, and on it 

 is based the present Dictionary, 



It was at this time that Major Powell's attention was directed to the 

 work in classification which Mr. Mooney had been conducting, and his 

 services were thereupon enlisted by the Bureau, the entire available 

 force of which, under Mr. Henshaw's immediate supervision, was assigned 

 to the work that had now grown into a "Dictionary and Synonymy of 

 the Indian Tribes North of Mexico." 



As his special field Mr. Henshaw devoted attention to several of the 

 Calif ornian stocks and to those of the North Pacific Coast, north of 

 Oregon, including the Eskimo. To Mr. Mooney were given the two 

 great and historically important Algonquian and Iroquoian families, and 

 through his wide general knowledge of the Indians he rendered aid in 

 many directions. A list of Liiif^iiistic Families of the Indian Tribes 

 North of Mexico, ivith Provisional List of the Principal Tribal Names and 

 Synonyms (55 pages, octavo), prepared by Mr. Mooney, and containing 

 about 2500 names, was at once printed for use by the collaborators of 

 the Bureau in connection with the complete compilation, and although 

 the list does not include the Calif ornian tribes, it proved of great service 

 in the earlier stages of the work. 



Rev. J. Owen Dorsey assumed charge of the work on the Siouan, 

 Caddoan, and Athapascan stocks; Dr. W. J. Hoffman, under the per- 

 sonal direction of Major Powell, devoted his energies to the Shoshonean 

 family; and Mr. Jeremiah Curtin, by reason of his familiarity with the 

 Calif ornian tribes, rendered direct aid to Mr. Henshaw in that field. 

 Dr. Albert S. Gatschet employed his time and long experience in the 

 preparation of the material pertaining to the Muskhogean tribes of 

 southeastern United States, the Yuman tribes of the Gulf of California, 

 and various smaller linguistic groups. To Col. Garrick Mallery was 

 assigned the French works bearing on the general subject. 



