Appendix IT. 



EEPOET OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 

 FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1896. 



Sir: Ethnologic researches have been carried forward throughout the fiscal year 

 in accordance with the act of Congress making provision "for continuing researches 

 relating to the American Indians, under the direction of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion." 



As heretofore, the operations have been conducted in accordance with a plan sub- 

 mitted at the beginning of the fiscal year. Field operations of considerable extent 

 have been carried on in Arizona, Florida, Indian Territory, Indiana, Maine, New 

 Mexico, Oklahoma, and Sonora, Mexico. The office researches have been carried 

 forward by the use of material from most of the States and from various other parts 

 of the continent. 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE WORK. 



The immediate purpose of the Congress in instituting the Ethnological Bureau was 

 to obtain definite information concerning Indian tribes, to the end that they might 

 be arranged in amicable groups on reservations; and this primary purpose has been 

 constantly borne in mind and has from the beginning shaped the operations of the 

 Bureau. In considering the qualities which conduce toward amity or tend toward 

 enmity among the tribes it was found that differences in mythology or belief com- 

 monly engender distrust and strife, while similarities in mythology inspire mutual 

 confidence and thus promote peace; accordingly, it was deemed necessary to inves- 

 tigate the aboriginal mythology. It was also found that tribes and confederacies 

 controlled by similar laws and governed by chiefs chosen in the same way, and 

 organized or regimented on parallel lines, usually associate peacefully, while tribes 

 or other groups whose institutions are unlike can not associate without friction and 

 clashing; thus it seemed desirable to take up researches concerning the institutions 

 of the aborigines, and the early work in this direction proved so fruitful as to 

 encourage its prosecution. It was found, too, that tribes and other groups whose 

 industrial arts, sports, and games are of allied character are commonly harmonious, 

 while Indians whose arts are diverse are susjncious of each other and prone to 

 animosity; and for this and other reasons it was deemed needful to investigate the 

 aboriginal arts. 



Finally, it was found that there is a relation between the beliefs, institutions, and 

 arts of the Indians and the languages spoken by them, and as the researches pro- 

 gressed this relation was found so intimate that the languages may safely be regarded 

 as indexes to those qualities, and hence that language alone can safely be used as a 

 basis for the determination of tribal qualities and for the arrangement of the Indians 

 in amicable groups. Accordingly, much attention was given to linguistic researches, 

 and gradually most of the tribes of the United States, with some of those in the con- 

 tiguous territory, were classified on a linguistic basis. Meanwhile investigations 

 concerning other subjects were carried forward, and were found of much importance. 

 In this way four primary lines of research were developed. So far as practicable, the 

 operations of the Bureau have been so conducted as to advance knowledge equally 

 along the several lines. Practical considerations have, however, led to a somewhat 

 arbitrary division of the work into the commonly recognized departments (1) ar- 

 cheology, (2) descriptive ethnology, (3) sociology, (4) linguistics, (5) mvthology, 

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