SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT 31 



Photographic collections. — ^Anthropologists, historians, publishers, 

 and interested members of the public continued in increasing numbers 

 to draw upon the extensive photographic collections of the Bureau as 

 a source of documentation and illustration. The year's total of 534 

 orders and written and personal inquiries concerning photographs 

 represents a 20-percent increase over the previous year's figure of 

 444, and is almost double the 1956 total of 294. The 1,231 prints 

 distributed is also an appreciable increase over the 1,019 of last year 

 and 978 in 1956. The preparation and distribution, during the past 

 2 years, of descriptive lists of specific portions of the photographic 

 collections have undoubtedly made more searchers aware of the photo- 

 graphic resources of the Bureau, the result being an increased num- 

 ber of purchase requests. Lists describing photographs relating to 

 86 tribes or subjects are now available; 21 such lists were prepared 

 during the past year. 



There were 22 new photographic collections received during the 

 year, some of which are described below : 



A very important collection relating to North American Indians was 

 received by transfer from the Library of Congress. It consists of some 

 7,200 photographs pertaining to over 120 tribal units of the United 

 States, Alaska, and Canada ; the Southwest, the Northwest Coast, the 

 Plains, and the Great Lakes areas are particularly well covered. The 

 photographs were made by professional photographers from approx- 

 imately 1890 to 1920, and are of excellent photographic quality. Over 

 two-thirds of them are outdoor views; the remainder are portraits, 

 most of which are accompanied by the name of the individual. At 

 year's end only a preliminary examination of the collection had been 

 made. The arrangement and cataloging of the photographs by tribe 

 and area will be a major project for the coming year. 



An album of 60 photographs relating to the several Indian tribes re- 

 siding on the Muckleshoot Eeservation, Wash., in the period 1902-36 

 was received as a transfer from the Indian Claims Commission, 

 through the courtesy of Arthur C. Ballard, who made and collected 

 the photographs. The collection, with detailed captions, includes 

 portraits of Indian informants and views of native activities and 

 equipment such as fishing gear, firemaking equipment, ceremonial ob- 

 jects, houses, and tools. 



A collection of about 40 photographs of Plains Indians made by 

 commercial photographers of the late 19th century was received as a 

 gift from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 

 through John Witthoft, chief curator. Another group of 26 such 

 photographs, including a number of Indian portraits by D. F. Barry, 

 was lent for copying through the courtesy of Mr. Witthoft. 



