The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau
of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of
transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North
America from the Interior Department to the Smithsonian Institution. But from
the start, the bureau's visionary founding director, John Wesley Powell,
promoted a broader mission: "to organize anthropologic research in
America."
Under Powell, the bureau organized research intensive
multi-year projects; sponsored ethnographic, archaeological and linguistic
field research; initiated publications series (most notably its Annual Reports
and Bulletins); and promoted the fledgling discipline of anthropology. It
prepared exhibits for expositions and collected anthropological artifacts for
the Smithsonian United States National Museum.
In addition, the BAE was the official repository of
documents concerning American Indians collected by the various US geological
surveys, especially the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky
Mountain Region and the Geological Survey of the Territories. It developed a
manuscript repository, library and illustrations section that included
photographic work and the collection of photographs.
Eighteenth annual
report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, 1896-97, by J. W. Powell, Director.
Two parts, LVII+1-518; 519-997 pp., 174 pls., 165 figs. 1899
[part 1, 1901, part 2, 1902]. Out of print.
Part 1:
Report of the Director. Pp. XXIII-LVII.
The Eskimo about Bering Strait, by Edward William Nelson.
Pp. 3-518, pls. I-CVII, figs. 1-165.
Part 2:
Indian land cessions in the United States, compiled by
Charles C. Royce, with an introduction by Cyrus Thomas. Pp. 521-964
CVIII-CLXXIV.
Index to parts 1 and 2. Pp. 965-997.
CONTENTS – Part II
Introduction, by Cyrus Thomas 507
Right to the soil dependent on discovery 527
Foreign policy toward the Indians 538
The Spanish policy 539
The French policy 545
The English policy 549
Colonial policy toward the Indians 562
The policy in general 562
Virginia 563
Maryland 569
Now York 575
Now Jersey 587
Pennsylvania 591
Massachusetts 599
Connecticut 611
Rhode Island 619
North Carolina 612-13
South Carolina 630
Georgia 634
New Hampshire and Delaware 639
Policy of the United States . 640
Acknowledgments 644
Schedule of treaties and acts of Congress
authorizing allotments of land
Schedule of land cessions 648
LIST OF 67 MAPS