KBPOKT OF THE SECEETARY. 67 



musical value, both in pleasing melody and rhythmic interest. This 

 suggests an inquiry as to whether the songs accompanied by the rattle 

 are generally more musical than those accompanied by the drum. 

 It is interesting to note that the songs of the Yuma and Cocopa 

 resemble each other but differ entirely from the songs of the Papago 

 who live adjoining them. The songs of the Yaqui, so far as observed, 

 differ from both these tribes except in the frequent use of rests. The 

 rhjrthm of the rattle in Yuma and Cocopa performances is more 

 elaborate and contains more frequent changes than that of the ac- 

 companying instrument in any tribe thus far studied. A correspond- 

 ence between the words of the song and the progressions of the 

 melody is particularly evident in these songs. 



Early in March, 1922, Dr. T. T. Waterman, ethnologist, proceeded 

 to Alaska, under temporary appointment in the bureau, with instruc- 

 tions from the chief to scrutinize certain native towns in southeastern 

 Alaska. His purpose was to ascertain how many totemic monuments 

 exist there, and to get information concerning the carvings. The 

 place of special interest was a former settlement of Alaskan' Haida, 

 known as Kasaan. It was possible during the three months that 

 Doctor Waterman spent in Alaska to make a rapid survey not only 

 of Kasaan but of the towns known as Village Island, Tongass, Cape 

 Fox, Klinkwan, Howkan, Sukwan, Klawak, and Tuxekan. Some ex- 

 tremely interesting monuments, including many tall and imposing 

 totem poles, were examined and photographed. Charts or sketch 

 maps were brought back from the field, which show the number of 

 monuments still standing in each town and their state of preserva- 

 tion. The observer was fairly successful in obtaining from the In- 

 dians an account of the meaning of the carvings on the poles, which 

 have never been adequately described. In many cases the carvings 

 refer to mythical tales, which are often of a very interesting type. 



In addition to the work on the totemic monuments, the observer 

 recorded a relatively complete list of the native place names in the 

 southeastern part of Alaska. Many hundreds of these names were 

 entered on the map of the region, and translations and explanations 

 were obtained from the Indians. The work was fairly complete for 

 the area covered. 



Under further instructions from the chief. Doctor Waterman ex- 

 amined the coast line of the part of Alaska which he visited, with a 

 view to discovering sites where archeological excavations might 

 possibly be conducted. The results of this work were largely nega- 

 tive. As a matter of fact only one site was found where there seemed 

 to be archeological remains. This hasty survey seemed to indicate 

 that archeological remains in this part of Alaska are extremely 

 scanty. 



