REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 21 



The total (listribution of Museum publications during the year 

 aggregated 118,332 copies. Over 4,000 volumes, pamphlets, and 

 unbound papers were added to the library, which now contains 

 54,685 volumes and 87.109 pamphlets and unbound papers. 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. 



The usual activities of the Bureau of American Ethnology, defined 

 by law as " ethnological researches among the American Indians, in- 

 cluding the excavation and preservation of archeologic remains," 

 have been carried on during the year under the direction of Dr. J. 

 Walter Fewkes, chief. Intensive studies were made of the dying lan- 

 guages of the numerous Indian tribes in order to discover the rela- 

 tionship of the various stocks of the aborigines and to gain a clearer 

 insight into the origin, history, and migration of man on this con- 

 tinent. The continued study of the material culture of the Indians 

 also has its practical value, while another instructive line of work 

 relates to the history of the Indians both before and after the advent 

 of Europeans. 



Field researches include, in addition to those mentioned above, 

 the excavation and preservation of archeological remains. A iev. or 

 these researches are mentioned very briefly here in Order to show the 

 nature of the work. A somewhat more detailed account of these and 

 other undertakings of the bureau during the year will be found in an 

 appendix hereto. Valuable work was done by Dr. Fewkes in the 

 McElmo and tributary canyons in Colorado and in Utah as far west 

 as Montezuma Canyon, on the aboriginal castles and towers of that 

 region, and through his efforts the Aztec Spring Ruin was presented 

 by the owner, Mr. Henry van Kleeck, of Denver, to the National 

 Park Service, and accepted by the Secretary of the Interior. 



Dr. J. R. Swanton, ethnologist, devoted much of his time to the 

 collection of material from published sources for a study of the 

 economic background of the life of the American Indians north of 

 Mexico. He has also continued his study of the languages of the 

 Indians of the lower Mississippi Valley and of the social systems of 

 the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians. 



Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, ethnologist, prepared for the press the 

 Onondaga version of the Myth of the Beginnings, the Genesis Myth 

 of the Iroquoian peoples, and continued his previous study of the 

 league. 



Mr. Francis LaFlesche, ethnologist, is now completing for publica- 

 tion his notes on the rite of the chiefs, the tribal rite of the Osage 

 people. In this ritual is embodied the story of the four stages of the 

 development of the tribal government, including both the military 



