6 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



both carved and painted symbols and figures — but the designs at 

 each of these sites were different and distinctive, and they could not 

 be correlated with any of the Bluff Dweller caves. 



In the middle of July Mr. Walker went to Louisiana, where for 

 a month explorations of mound and village sites in various parts of 

 northern Louisiana were undertaken, principally in the Ked River 

 and Mississippi Valleys. At Natchitoches, on Eed River, while 

 preparations were going on for the construction of some ponds for 

 a new Government fish hatchery, an ancient Indian burial ground 

 was discovered. Mr. Walker arrived in time to save some of the 

 skeletal material and fragments of a beautiful highly decorated and 

 polished pottery. The period from January to June was spent in 

 the compiling of an index of all archeological sites so far reported 

 from the region of the lower Mississippi Valley, with maps showing 

 the location of these sites in the States of Louisiana and Arkansas. 



From the study of the material found at Natchitoches a paper 

 has been prepared for publication entitled ''Discovery of a Caddo 

 Site at Natchitoches, Louisiana." The results of this study seem to 

 justify the conclusion that this was the burial ground of the tribe 

 of the Natchitoches, a branch of the Caddo, found inhabiting this 

 location by Henri de Tonti in 1690. The beautful polished and 

 engraved pottery is very similar to that made by the Ouachita 

 Indians living along the river of that name in Louisiana and 

 Arkansas. 



SPECIAL RESEARCHES 



The study of Indian music was continued during the past year by 

 Miss Frances Densmore, a collaborator of the bureau. The three 

 outstanding results of the year's work are a study of the Peyote cult 

 and its songs among the Winnebago Indians, an intensive study of 

 the songs and customs of the Seminole in Florida, and the comple- 

 tion for publication of a manuscript entitled " Nootka and Quileute 

 Music." In addition, numerous Pueblo songs recorded in 1930 have 

 been transcribed and other Pueblo songs recorded. Eight manu- 

 scripts and the transcriptions of 109 songs have been submitted, 

 together with the phonographic records and complete analyses of the 

 songs. 



Field trips were made to Wisconsin Dells in August and Septem- 

 ber, 1931. The first trip was devoted to the Pueblo work, the re- 

 cording of Winnebago dance songs, and a continuance of the general 

 study of the Winnebago. Following this a visit was made to a 

 basket makers' camp near Holmen, Wis., where the ceremonial songs 

 of the John Rave branch of the Peyote organization were recorded 

 by William Thunder, a leader in the ceremony. On the second trip 

 to Wisconsin Dells the ceremonial songs of the Jesse Clay branch 



