SEVENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT 5 



States who still us© agricultural techniques once common to all the 

 Indians of this region but heretofore undescribed by careful observers. 

 Fields are cleared by cutting and burning, planted without fertilizer, 

 and soon abandoned for new fields when fertility decreases and weeds 

 become difficult to control. In addition to the ancient North Ameri- 

 can Indian crops — corn, pumpkins, and beans — the Seminole grow 

 a number of plants that were introduced from the West Indies during 

 and after the 18th century (banana, sugarcane, sweetpotato, taro, 

 elephantear \_Xanthosoma\^ manioc, papaya, guava, citrus). Semi- 

 nole knowledge of wild plants is also extensive, and they still use 

 many of them for medicine, food, and in the manufacture of utensils 

 and other artifacts. Dr. Sturtevant found that at least two dozen 

 fields are being cultivated with aboriginal methods, but intensive 

 study of these fields and other aspects of Seminole society and culture 

 has been even more difficult than he anticipated, owing largely to 

 increased political factionalism and antagonism toward inquisitive 

 outsiders. 



Dr. Sturtevant compiled genealogical information preparatory to 

 collaboration with Dr. John Buettner-Janusch, a physical anthro- 

 pologist at Yale University, on a study of the genetic characteristics 

 (chiefly blood groups) of the Seminole, who certainly have fewer 

 non-Indian ancestors than any other surviving eastern tribes. 



Besides collecting herbarium specimens of plants used and recog- 

 nized by the Indians, Dr. Sturtevant made an ethnological collection 

 to supplement the Seminole holdings of the National Museum. He 

 paid particular attention to clothing, since Seminole styles have 

 changed rapidly but are still unique in many respects, and objects 

 made for sale. The latter are an important part of Seminole econ- 

 omy and involve objects quite different from those usually made for 

 sale by other tribes. 



Dr. Wallace L. Chafe, ethnologist, joined the staff of the Bureau in 

 April but did not report for duty until June as he was completing 

 teaching duties at the University of Buffalo. Dr. Chafe spent the 

 3 weeks before departing on June 29 in preparing for fieldwork on the 

 Seneca reservations in western New York State. He will gather 

 material that will enable him to complete a Seneca dictionary and 

 will make further tape recordings of religious and mythological texts. 

 This work was started under the sponsorship of the New York State 

 Museum and Science Service and is being continued as a cooperative 

 effort. 



On June 3, 1958, Carl F. Miller was temporarily transferred from 

 the staff of the Kiver Basin Surveys to that of the Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Ethnology in order that he might continue directing the excava- 

 tions of the Smithsonian Institution-National Geographic Society 



