Oct.  1897. 
Annual  Report  of  the  Director. 
187 
Bloods  and  the  South  Piegans,  another  tribe  of  the  Blackfeet.  From 
this  it  will  be  possible  to  make  a  full  and  complete  representation  of 
their  physical  characteristics.  A  large  number  of  measurements  and 
photographs  was  also  taken.  From  both  the  Flathead  and  Kootenay 
Indians  as  complete  ethnographic  collections  were  secured  as  was 
possible.  The  Kootenay  collection  included  a  curious  full  size  bark 
canoe,  which  is  sharp  at  each  end,  and  both  ends  navigate  under 
water,  in  the  manner  of  a  modern  man  of  war.  Two  complete  skele- 
tons, a  male  and  female,  were  also  secured  from  the  Kootenay  near 
Bonner's  Ferry.  These,  it  is  believed,  are  the  only  Kootenay  skele- 
tons ever  secured,  owing  to  the  strict  watch  kept  by  those  Indians 
over  their  burial  grounds.  As  the  Museum  was  already  in  posses- 
sion of  a  very  large  and  comprehensive  collection  from  the  tribes 
of  the  Northwest  coast,  the  attention  of  the  expedition  was  chiefly 
confined  to  the  filling  in  of  such  gaps  as  existed,  and  to  the 
securing  of  material  necessary  to  build  culture  and  physical  groups. 
In  both  these  respects  the  expedition  was  especially  successful 
among  the  Haidas.  By  visiting  several  of  the  abandoned  villages 
of  the  Haidas,  on  the  north  shore  of  Graham's  Island  of  the 
Queen  Charlotte  group,  a  large  collection  of  complete  skeletons 
of  both  sexes  and  of  various  ages  was  secured,  together  with  many 
objects  of  ethnological  interest.  From  the  village  of  Masset  addi- 
tional ethnographic  material  was  collected  and  many  measurements 
and  photographs  were  made.  Among  the  latter  were  several  of 
aged  persons,  showing  the  former  manner  of  wearing  the  labret  and 
tattooing  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  women,  and  of  tattooing  the  arms, 
feet  and  breast  of  the  men.  From  the  Tsimshians  and  Tlingits  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  secure  osteological  material,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  until  within  the  present  decade  the  dead  were  cremated,  while  at 
present  the  dead  are  buried  after  the  manner  of  the  whites.  For 
this  reason  only  a  single  skeleton  could  be  secured  from  each  tribe. 
That  of  the  Tlingits  is  of  special  interest  as  it  is  the  skeleton  of 
a  Shaman  or  Medicine  man.  The  Shamans  were  not  cremated 
owing  to  the  prevalence  of  a  belief  that  their  bodies  would  not  burn. 
The  Tsimshian  skeleton  is  that  of  a  chief.  By  ascending  the  Skeena 
River  to  the  far  inland  Tsimshian  villages,  it  was  possible  to  secure  a 
large  collection  of  objects  representing  their  domestic  life,  objects 
which  are  not  usually  found  in  Musuem  collections  from  this  region.'' 
With  the  addition  of  this  material  to  that  already  in  the  Museum,  it 
is  confidently  believed  that  the  Museum  possesses  the  most  complete 
existing  representation  of  the  Northwest  coast  Indians.  Among 
the  Molds   and  Zunis,    time  did   not   permit  of   any  exploration 
