Report of the President 6 1 



Indians around Hudson's Bay, the Crow and other tribes of 

 the Plains and the nomadic and more sedentary tribes of the 

 Southwest. Within this geographical belt there are survivors 

 of many prehistoric groups, speaking some twenty languages 

 and representing several somatic types. This year all our 

 field staff has concentrated on two main points, the systems 

 of social groupings, or societies, and ritualistic forms. The 

 first derives its importance from the choice of it by some 

 sociological students as an example of a certain inner deter- 

 mined evolution, or scheme, which the assumed unfolding of 

 social life was ordained to follow. Now, our studies have 

 made clear that no such unfolding has taken place in this 

 region, but that we have a rather highly developed system of 

 coordinated societies in a few central tribes with various rem- 

 nants among the marginal groups, seemingly best explained 

 by assuming that some one or two of the central groups con- 

 structed or invented these schemes of organizations and that 

 others copied from them to a greater or less degree. Thus it 

 is probable that the results of this phase of our year's work 

 will be of some general theoretical importance aside from 

 the accumulation of new knowledge covering the tribes in 

 question. 



The study of ritualistic forms has also a theoretical interest, 

 because we find a strong tendency for each group of Indians 

 to conserve one or more individual types of ritualistic cere- 

 monies. This is now apparent since we have fairly complete 

 data on ail the many rituals still known among a few tribes. 

 It remains to work out a comparative view of these types. 

 Waiving this theoretical problem we have resulting collections 

 of systematically recorded data which in a few years will be 

 unavailable except in our field notes. Perhaps few realize 

 that in North America the existing Indian is no longer living a 

 different life from his white neighbors and that information as 

 to his former life is to be had only from a few old people who 

 will pass into the beyond within a few years. 



During the year the Chipewyan, Cree and Sarcee of Canada 

 were visited; also the Menomini, Crow, Hidatsa, Mandan, 

 Santee Dakota, and Teton Dakota of the northern Plains; and 

 the Kiowa Apache and Jicarilla Apache of the Southwest: all 



