54 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



be made available. It is fully realized that such a collection must 

 grow slowly and it is not hoped to reach with a leap the end aimed 

 at. The owners of historical relics throughout the State, seeking 

 to dispose of them in such a way as to guarantee their care and 

 perpetuate their associations, will make them of greatest use to 

 the public by depositing them with the museum. 



In the execution of the plan it has seemed wise to begin at the 

 beginning, with our aboriginal culture wherein there is a logical 

 and working connection with the past and present operations rep- 

 resented by the section of Archeology. It is eminently proper that 

 the remarkable achievement of the Iroquois Confederacy, which 

 affords a unique example of native culture and democratic polity, 

 should be conserved and reportrayed as fully and as effectively as 

 it is now possible to do. The general scheme for such an Iroquois 

 collection involves : 



1 The assembling in proper association of the relics of the 

 Iroquois nation now or to be in the possession of the State. 



2 The preparation of a series of life-size groups of figures ex- 

 pressing the various phases of the domestic, industrial and military 

 life of the native tribes, with careful detail as to costumes, acces- 

 sories and scenery, the work to be executed by expert artists and 

 craftsmen and the models cast from the best living types. Each 

 of these groups, of which six are now planned, would contain five 

 or more life figures and have a front length of 15 to 20 feet. 



3 A series of busts, mounted on suitable pedestals, of typical 

 Iroquois heads, one of each of the Six Nations. 



It is very agreeable and encouraging to be able to record a 

 substantial evidence of private interest in this public undertaking. 

 Mrs Frederick F. Thompson of New York, a daughter of former 

 Gov. Myron H. Clark, has given the sum of $15,000 for the execu- 

 tion of this plan for an Iroquois collection, which on its completion 

 is to be known as The Myron H. Clark Museum of Iroquois Culture. 



Work on the preparation of this collection has begun, the models 

 are being assembled and the sculptor to execute the casts is 

 engaged. 



VII 



ARCHEOLOGY 

 Field work in archeology began in May when certain localities 

 in Essex, Warren and Clinton counties were visited to determine 

 the availability of the sites. A number of interesting sites of 

 former Algonquin occupancy were examined in the vicinity of 



