INTRODUCTION.
The prosecution of research among the North American Indians, as directed by act of Congress, was continued during the fiscal year 1884-'85.
No change has been made in the general plan upon which the work has been prosecuted as set forth in former reports. Certain lines of investigation have been decided upon, which are confided to persons trained in their pursuit, and the results of these labors are presented from time to time in the publications of the Bureau provided for by law. A brief statement of the work upon which each of the special students was actively engaged during the fiscal year is furnished below; this, however, does not embrace all the studies undertaken or services rendered by them, since particular lines of research have been suspended in this, as in former years, in order to prosecute temporarily work regarded as of paramount importance. From this cause delays have been occasioned in the completion of several treatises and monograph's, already partly in type, which otherwise would have been published.
Invitation is renewed for the assistance of explorers, writers, and students who are not and may not desire to be officially connected with the Bureau. Their contributions, whether inthe shape of suggestions or of extended communications, will be gratefully acknowledged, and, if published either in the series of reports or in monographs or bulletins, as the liberality of Congress may in future allow, will always receive proper credit.
The items now reported upon are presented in three principal divisions. The first relates to the publication made; the second, to the work prosecuted in the field; and the third, to the office work, which largely consists of the preparation for publication of the results of field work, with the corrections and additions obtained from the literature of the subjects and by correspondence.