2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



Central Plains." He also took part in a regional conference of Na- 

 tional Park Service officials at which various phases of the River 

 Basins program were discussed and plans for the future were formu- 

 lated. In May he went to Milwaukee, Wis., to attend the annual 

 meeting of the Society for American Archeology and presided pver a 

 symposium on "The Eiver Basin Archeological Surveys." Dr. Rob- 

 erts' report on the River Basin Surveys appears in another section of 

 this report. 



Dr. John P. Harrington, ethnologist, was occupied at the beginning 

 of the fiscal year in the preparation of a supplement to his recently 

 completed Aleutian grammar. This supplement contains a long list 

 of terms relating to natural history, weather, material cultures, 

 sociology, religion, and geography. Following this Dr. Harrington 

 completed a grammar of the Maya language consisting of 750 type- 

 written pages. This study is of particular importance, as Maya is 

 one of the "classic" languages of aboriginal America. 



Dr. Harrington then prepared and brought to completion a gram- 

 mar of the Cahuilla language. The Cahuilla Indians are at present 

 the leading native tribe of southern California. A large report on 

 the Guarani language of South America was also finished. Guarani 

 in the Republic of Paraguay has been given equal official and legal 

 standing with Spanish. This is the only instance in which a native 

 Indian language has been given a true literate status. A smaller paper 

 on the Matako language of the central part of the Gran Chaco of 

 Argentina was next completed. It was found that in many respects 

 this language is surprisingly similar to Guarani. Another large 

 paper was then prepared, describing and discussing the three principal 

 ideographic writing systems of the world, Egyptian, Chinese, and 

 Maya. 



Dr. Henry B. Collins, Jr., ethnologist, spent the period from June 

 19 to August 16 on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., engaged in an archeo- 

 logical survey of the western end of the island. He found a number of 

 prehistoric Indian village and camp sites, mainly in the Chilmark- 

 Menemsha-Gay Head region, and made collections of artifacts. On 

 returning to Washington he resumed his Eskimo studies. 



As chairman of the Board of Governors of the Arctic Institute of 

 North America, Dr. Collins continued to devote considerable time to 

 the affairs of that organization. In the course of the year the Arctic 

 Institute, with increased support from governmental and other sources, 

 expanded its research and other activities. It opened a New York 

 office at the American Geographical Society headquarters, established 

 an open membership, and began publication of a journal. It spon- 

 sored and administered a number of field studies in anthropology, 

 botany, zoology, geology, and geography. These projects carried out 



