Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber's Note: This work was originally published as a part of:

Powell, J.W.
1881 _First Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1879-'80_. pp. 553-577.
Washington: Government Printing Office.

The Table of Contents and Index included in this version were abstracted from the full publication and inserted in the appropriate place.

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

* * * * *

CATALOGUE
OF
LINGUISTIC MANUSCRIPTS
IN THE
LIBRARY OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

BY

JAMES C. PILLING.

Table of Contents

Introductory 555 List of manuscripts 562

CATALOGUE OF LINGUISTIC MANUSCRIPTS IN THE LIBRARY OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

BY JAMES C. PILLING.

Mr. Henry R. Schoolcraft, while engaged in the preparation of his work--"Information respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States"--sent to various persons residing among the Indians a "Comparative Vocabulary of the Languages of the Indian Tribes of the United States," a quarto paper of 25 pages, comprising 350 words, and the numerals one to one billion. The returns from this were for the most part incorporated in his work; a few, however, found their way into the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1853-'54, Mr. George Gibbs, while engaged under Gov. Isaac I. Stevens in "Explorations for a route for the Pacific Railroad near the 47th and 49th parallels of north latitude," became interested in the study of the languages of the Indians inhabiting the Northwest, and collected many vocabularies. To further extend this work, he prepared and had printed a folio paper of three leaves entitled "A vocabulary of 180 words which it is desired to collect in the different languages and dialects throughout the Pacific Coast for publication by the Smithsonian Institute at Washington."

These were sent to such persons as, in his judgment, were competent to furnish the material desired, and many of them, filled or partly filled, were returned to him. A second edition of this vocabulary, 6 ll., folio, was issued.

In 1863 there was published by the Smithsonian Institution a pamphlet with the following title:

Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. | --160-- | Instructions | for
research relative to the | Ethnology and Philology | of | America. |
Prepared for the Smithsonian Institution. | By | George Gibbs. |
Washington: | Smithsonian Institution: | March, 1863.

2 p. ll., pp. 1-51. 8^o.

In his introductory remarks, Professor Henry thus states the object of the paper:

"The Smithsonian Institution is desirous of extending and completing its collections of facts and materials relative to the Ethnology, Archæology, and Philology of the races of mankind inhabiting, either now or at any previous period, the continent of America, and earnestly solicits the coöperation in this object of all officers of the United States Government, and travellers or residents who may have it in their power to render any assistance."

Under the head of Philology, Mr. Gibbs gave a brief account of some of the peculiarities of Indian languages, with general directions for the best method of collecting certain words; a simple and practical alphabet; and a vocabulary in English, Spanish, French, and Latin of 211 words. Speaking of the latter, he says:

"In view of the importance of a uniform system in collecting words of the various Indian languages of North America, adapted to the use of officers of the government, travellers, and others, the following is recommended as a STANDARD VOCABULARY. It is mainly the one prepared by the late Hon. Albert Gallatin, with a few changes made by Mr. Hale, the Ethnologist of the United States Exploring Expedition, and is adopted as that upon which nearly all the collections hitherto made for the purpose of comparison have been based. For the purpose of ascertaining the more obvious relations between the various members of existing families this number is deemed sufficient. The remote affinities must be sought in a wider research, demanding a degree of acquaintance with their languages beyond the reach of transient visitors."

The vocabulary given in this paper was separately printed on writing paper, 10 ll., 4^o, and reprinted, 6 ll., folio, and was distributed widely among the missionaries, Indian agents, travelers, and local collectors in ethnology, and has served a valuable purpose, resulting in the collection by the Smithsonian Institution of a large number of vocabularies, comprising many of the languages and dialects of the Indian tribes of the United States, British America, and Mexico.

This material, as it was received, was placed in the hands of Mr. Gibbs for revision and classification--a work in which he was engaged at the time of his death, which occurred before any of it was published.

In 1876, Professor Henry turned this material over to Maj. J.W. Powell, then in charge of the United States Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, to be consolidated and published in connection with like material collected by himself and his assistants while among the Indians of the western portion of the United States. A number were accordingly published in the "Contributions to North American Ethnology," Vols. I and III, a quarto series issued by the Survey.

Wishing to extend the work already begun by the Smithsonian Institution, Major Powell, in 1877, prepared the following paper:

Introduction | to the | Study of Indian Languages, | with words, phrases,
and sentences to be collected. | By J.W. Powell. | Washington: |
Government Printing Office. | 1877.

Pp. 1-104, 10 ruled ll., 4^o.

In his opening remarks, referring to the manuscripts derived from the distribution of Mr. Gibbs' paper, the author says: "It has, in fact, greatly stimulated investigation, giving wiser direction to inquiry, and the results have abundantly proved the value of the 'Instructions' and the wisdom of its publication; and it serves to mark an epoch in the history of ethnographic investigation in America. The material which has thus been accumulated is of great amount, and its study has led to such important conclusions that it is deemed wise to prepare a new system of instruction, more comprehensive in plan and more elaborate in detail. First, it is found necessary to enlarge the alphabet so as to include a greater number of sounds, which have been discovered in the North American languages, and to mark other letters with greater precision. Second, it is necessary to enlarge the vocabulary so as to modify it somewhat, as experience has dictated, so that new words may be collected. Third, it is desirable that many simple phrases and sentences should be given--so chosen as to bring out the more important characteristics of grammatic structure."

In the preparation of this paper, the alphabet was considered to be of prime importance. Concerning it, the author says: "After devoting much time to the consideration of the subject, and the examination of many alphabets devised by scholars and linguists, none was found against which there was not serious objections, and the author attempted to devise an alphabet which would contain all the supposed requirements; but there were many difficulties in the way, and many compromises to be made in weighing the various considerations. At this stage of the work he applied to the eminent philologist, Prof. W.D. Whitney, for assistance. After much consultation and the weighing of the many considerations arising from the large amount of manuscript material in the author's hands, Professor Whitney kindly prepared the following paper on the alphabet."

The words, phrases, and sentences to be collected are arranged in schedules, each preceded by instructions, and followed by blanks for additions, as follows:

I. Persons, 15 words.

II. Parts of the body, 103 words.

III. Relationships:
Relationships arising from the first and second generations,
58 words.
Relationships arising from the third generation, 224 words.
Relationships arising from the fourth generation, 24 words.
Names of children in order of birth, 26 words.

IV. Social organization.

V. Governmental organization, 22 words.

VI. Religion, 6 words.

VII. Disposal of the dead, 8 words.

VIII. Dress and ornaments, 39 words.

IX. Dwellings, 26 words.

X. Implements and utensils, 36 words.
Basket-ware, 15 words.
Woodenware, 7 words.
Utensils of shell, horn, bone, &c., 5 words.
Stone implements, 13 words.
Pottery, &c., 11 words.

XI. Food, 6 words.

XII. Games and sports, 5 words.

XIII. Animals:
Mammals, 91 words.
Parts of the body, &c., of mammals, 36 words.
Birds, 192 words.
Parts of the body, &c., of birds, 26 words.
Fish, 12 words.
Parts of the body, &c., of fish, 12 words.
Reptiles, 6 words.
Insects, 11 words.

XIV. Trees, shrubs, fruits, &c., 8 words.

XV. The firmament, meteorologic and other physical phenomena and
objects, 41 words.

XVI. Geographic terms, 8 words.

XVII. Geographic names.

XVIII. Colors, 13 words.

XIX. Numerals:
Cardinal numbers, 58 words (1-1000).
Ordinal numbers, 30 words.
Numeral adverbs denoting repetition of action, 23 words.
Multiplicatives, 22 words.
Distributives, 23 words.

XX. Measures.

XXI. Divisions of time, 29 words.

XXII. Standard of value.

XXIII. New words, 84 words.

XXIV. Phrases and sentences, 545 phrases, &c.

This paper was prepared with special reference to the wants of the collector, being printed on bond paper and bound in flexible cloth. It was widely distributed and, like that of Mr. Gibbs, resulted in the collection of valuable linguistic material.

In 1879 Congress consolidated the various surveys, including that of the Rocky Mountain Region, into the United States Geological Survey, but made provision for continuing the publication of the Contributions to North American Ethnology under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and directed that the ethnologic material in Major Powell's hands be turned over to the Institution. Thus the Bureau of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution was organized, and Major Powell was placed at its head.

By this time the growing interest manifested in the study of North American linguistics rendered necessary the preparation of a new edition of the Introduction. In the words of the author:

"The progress made by various students, and the studies made by the author, alike require that a new edition be prepared to meet the more advanced wants and to embody the results of wider studies. Under these circumstances the present edition is published. It does not purport to be a philosophic treatment of the subject of language; it is not a comparative grammar of Indian tongues; it is simply a series of explanations of certain characteristics almost universally found by students of Indian languages--the explanations being of such a character as experience has shown would best meet the wants of persons practically at work in the field on languages with which they are unfamiliar. The book is a body of directions for collectors.

"It is believed that the system of schedules, followed _seriatim_, will lead the student in a proper way to the collection of linguistic materials; that the explanations given will assist him in overcoming the difficulties which he is sure to encounter; and that the materials when collected will constitute valuable contributions to philology. It has been the effort of the author to connect the study of language with the study of other branches of anthropology, for a language is best understood when the habits, customs, institutions, philosophy--the subject-matter of thought embodied in the language--are best known. The student of language should be a student of the people who speak the language; and to this end the book has been prepared, with many hints and suggestions relating to other branches of anthropology."

The title of this publication is as follows:

Smithsonian Institution--Bureau of Ethnology | J.W. Powell Director |
Introduction | to the | Study of Indian Languages | with | Words
Phrases and Sentences to be Collected | By J.W. Powell | Second
edition--with charts | Washington | Government Printing Office |
1880

Pp. i-xii, 1-228, and 8 ruled leaves. 4^o.

The following is the

TABLE OF CONTENTS.