REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I915 57 



is increasingly attracted to this institution and a movement is 

 now under way which will bring to every earnest collector the 

 feeling that this division of the Museum has been created for his 

 use and benefit. 



Cooperation with state departments. This division is fre- 

 quently called upon by the various departments of the state gov- 

 ernment and by the national government for information and 

 opinions regarding New York State Indian subjects. These depart- 

 ments include the Secretary of State's office and the Attorney 

 General's office. In the national government information and 

 opinions have been rendered to the Secretary of the Interior and 

 the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 



The legal status of the New York Indians and a definite deter- 

 mination of their holdings have never been made. Questions con- 

 stantly arise as to their rights under treaties and as to the proper 

 interpretation of tribal laws and customs. Our division constitutes 

 in no uncertain sense a repository of source material, making it a 

 valuable center of information. 



Relations with the Indians of the State. Cordial relations are 

 maintained with the descendants of the Iroquois Indians who still 

 live within the borders of our State. Those who live on reserva- 

 tions number about five thousand and are distributed according to 

 tribe, on reservation tracts. These reservations are situated as 

 follows : the Allegany Seneca reservation in the southern portion 

 of Cattaraugus county, along the Allegheny river; the Cattaraugus 

 reservation in the northern portion of Cattaraugus county and the 

 western portion of Erie county, along Cattaraugus creek ; the Tona- 

 wanda reservation in the northeastern portion of Erie county, along 

 Tonawanda creek; the Tuscarora reservation in central western 

 Niagara county near Lewiston ; the Onondaga reservation seven 

 miles south of Syracuse in Onondaga county; the St Regis reserva- 

 tion on the northern border of St Lawrence and Franklin counties 

 and extending over the international line into Canada. The so- 

 called reservations on Long Island are not held under any state or 

 national treaty right, but were set aside by the land grantors during 

 colonial times and confirmed to the Poosepatuck and Shinnecock 

 Indians. These tribes have now become practically extinct through 

 the admixture of white and negro blood and are never regarded in 

 the light of Indian communities, though certain Indian traditions 

 still continue among the colored folk who have supp^.anted the 

 original occupants. 



