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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 846 



well known, and which with great kindness 

 supported the project and lent it its effi- 

 cient aid. 



Permit me now to set forth in a few 

 words the tasks that this new institution 

 will have to take up, and the way in which 

 I think the work should proceed. 



The historian places the highest value on 

 the testimony he can gather from living 

 witnesses. The descendants of the ancient 

 peoples of this country, in so far as they 

 still speak their old languages and observe 

 their old customs, are in a way living wit- 

 nesses, whose testimony is of value for the 

 knowledge of ancient history, ancient polit- 

 ical and social life. The Indian of this 

 country holds so tenaciously to his old cus- 

 toms, he is so devoted to the soil of his 

 birth and that of his ancestors, that only by 

 main force can he be taken from it. 



When we remember that since the time 

 of the Conquest all hostilities and wars 

 between the tribes have ceased, we may 

 take it for granted that on the whole, and 

 with few exceptions, the geographical dis- 

 tribution of tribes that exists to-day is the 

 same as at the time of the Conquest ; that is 

 to say, that if a certain native language is 

 now spoken in a certain place, we may 

 assume until the contrary is proven that 

 the same language was spoken there at the 

 time of the Conquest. For this reason it is 

 of the greatest importance, not only for the 

 ethnologist, but also for the historian and 

 archeologist, to have an exact knowledge of 

 the geographical distribution of the Indian 

 languages spoken to-day; and for this rea- 

 son I consider the preparation of a map 

 that will give all the details of this dis- 

 tribution, as one of the labors that should 

 occupy the attention of the International 

 School of ArehEeology and Ethnology es- 

 tablished to-day. 



The people who speak the same language 

 do not necessarily form a homogeneous 



group; there are differences among them 

 which correspond to the diversity of place 

 and condition in which they live or lived, 

 and to their history. Such differences ex- 

 press themselves even in language, and for 

 this reason the study of the dialects is also 

 essential for historical investigation, and 

 will form one of the tasks of the Inter- 

 national School. We are grateful to my 

 distinguished colleague. Dr. Boas, who of- 

 fers his thorough knowledge and experi- 

 ence in this laborious enterprise. 



Another help in our investigation that 

 may be of great value are the Indian people 

 of to-day, in so far as they still retain the 

 customs of their forefathers of the time of 

 the Conquest, and in so far as they still 

 retain the traditions, beliefs and tales, 

 adulterated or not, which belonged to the 

 time of paganism. The folk-lore of the 

 Indian tribes of this country will be an- 

 other and very important part of the labors 

 of our school. 



Lastly, we should not forget to study the 

 industries and art of the Indian people, 

 however much they may have been influ- 

 enced, mixed and changed by the artistic 

 style and the industries that the Spaniards 

 brought with them; there remain in many 

 places the survivals of ancient industry, 

 designs and forms that remind us of an- 

 cient styles, that will be of value for pur- 

 poses of comparison, and that may complete 

 the history of ancient design and help us 

 in its interpretation. 



Archeology proper — that is to say, the 

 ethnology of the races and peoples that no 

 longer exist — has the same aims as ethnol- 

 ogy, but its methods are much more lim- 

 ited. The archeologist can not collect at 

 will from living people the elements of the 

 language that was spoken, the traditions, 

 the tales, the beliefs and all the evidence 

 of mental development. He must be satis- 

 fied with what writers of earlier times— 



