Sixth annual report of the Bureau of ethnology. (1888 N 06 / 1884-1885)

In Short

This report serves as both a detailed administrative record and a profound repository of anthropological inquiry. It documents the work of numerous scholars investigating the burial sites of Chiriquí, the textile arts of various American tribes, the complex mythology of the Navajo, and the daily life and traditions of the Central Eskimo. By compiling field notes, linguistic vocabularies, and analytical essays, the text preserves a vast array of cultural data, functioning as an essential, scholarly chronicle of the diverse societies that shaped the pre-colonial and contact-era history of the continent.

The Story

The narrative begins with an exhaustive account of the Bureau's administrative reach, detailing the extensive fieldwork conducted across the continent. Directors and field researchers detail their systematic efforts to map the burial mounds of the American East, survey the ancient ruins of the Southwest, and engage in the urgent, often difficult, task of recording the vanishing languages of numerous tribes. This organizational framework provides the stage for a broader intellectual journey, where the focus shifts from administrative logistics to specific, deep-dive investigations into the material and symbolic lives of Indigenous peoples.

The core of the book unfolds through a series of specialized reports. William H. Holmes leads an exploration of the province of Chiriquí, Panama, providing a meticulous, illustrated analysis of the ancient cemeteries, gold work, and pottery that reveal the artistic and technical sophistication of that region's former inhabitants. From there, the inquiry pivots to the evolution of aesthetic forms. Holmes examines how the constraints and possibilities of textile weaving—its grids, warps, and wefts—influence the development of decoration in other media, such as pottery and architecture. These studies suggest that human artistic expression is not haphazard but follows consistent, evolutionary laws.

The scope then widens to include the efforts of Cyrus Thomas to decode the Maya Codices. His work bridges the gap between archaeology and linguistics, treating the ancient manuscripts as puzzles that, once solved, promise to illuminate the history of the Americas with the same clarity that hieroglyphics brought to Egypt. Interspersed with these technical analyses are detailed records of oral histories and religious practices, such as the Navajo "chant of the night" ceremonies recorded by Dr. Washington Matthews. This transition from the inanimate artifact to the living ritual provides a comprehensive view of the cultural systems being studied.

The final, extensive arc of the book centers on the Central Eskimo. This section provides an intimate, exhaustive look at their material culture—from snow houses and skin boats to intricate ivory needlecases and games. The reporting is deeply rooted in the daily realities of the people, incorporating maps of their territories, descriptions of their clothing, and their music. The volume concludes not with a singular narrative resolution, but with a thematic convergence: the argument that, regardless of the geographic or cultural distance between the Chiriquí, the Navajo, or the Eskimo, there is a universal, discernible structure to human development. The report leaves the reader with the sense that the preservation of these traditions is a vital, ongoing duty, necessary for understanding the collective human story before the specific linguistic and cultural details are lost to history.

How It Unfolds

The administrative foundation The volume opens with a comprehensive report of the Bureau’s operations, outlining the strategic necessity of documenting tribal synonymy and creating a standardized, scientific classification for languages. This section establishes the scholarly rigor of the Bureau, emphasizing the need for a "rule of priority" in naming linguistic groups to clear away decades of taxonomic confusion.

The archaeology of Chiriquí The focus shifts to the province of Chiriquí, where researchers catalog an immense collection of gold, stone, and ceramic artifacts recovered from ancient graves. Detailed illustrations demonstrate the craftsmanship of the period, from puma-shaped metates to intricate pottery embellished with highly conventionalized alligator designs.

The evolution of form Moving from specific artifacts to theory, the text explores how the structural requirements of textile weaving dictate the geometric patterns found in pottery and basketry. This provides a compelling look at the "laws of evolution" in art, showing how techniques meant for fabrics are translated into the durable language of clay and stone.

The challenge of ancient scripts Cyrus Thomas presents his ongoing struggle to decipher the Maya Codices, positioning this work as a critical mission to uncover the intellectual history of the continent. He frames the task as a parallel to the decipherment of the eastern hemisphere's hieroglyphs, requiring both meticulous comparison and the courage to propose new hypotheses.

The living culture The final section documents the material life, social organization, and music of the Central Eskimo. Through detailed diagrams of snow houses and lists of tools, the book captures a complex, adaptable society, grounding the analytical theory of the earlier chapters in the concrete, daily survival strategies of a people in a harsh environment.

The People

J. W. Powell, the Bureau’s Director, acts as the architect of this vast undertaking. He is driven by a desire for order and scientific classification, wanting to transform the "voluminous and disconnected" literature of American ethnology into a structured, accessible database. He serves as the intellectual anchor, ensuring that each disparate project contributes to a singular, national record.

William H. Holmes, a central figure in the archaeological and artistic analyses, emerges as a bridge between the physical artifact and the abstract principle. Whether he is dissecting the form of a tripod vase or tracing the influence of textile patterns on pottery, he approaches his work with an artist’s eye for symmetry and a scholar’s devotion to evolutionary classification.

Dr. Washington Matthews stands out for his deep immersion into Navajo culture. Unlike the more distant analytical approach taken by some colleagues, Matthews participates in, observes, and records the "chant of the night," moving beyond mere collection to capture the meaning of the ceremonies through the eyes of the Navajo priests themselves.

Cyrus Thomas represents the patient, persistent intellectual. His work on the Maya Codices is characterized by the slow, methodical labor of comparison—a search for meaning in the face of what he acknowledges are significant, long-standing, and "perplexing" problems.

Finally, the contributors like the Inuit informants (such as Aranin, who draws maps for the report) and the unnamed Navajo shamans provide the essential, lived knowledge that the scholars record. They are the sources of the myths, songs, and technical expertise that form the substance of the Bureau's findings.

In Its Own Voice

"The literature of this subject has become so voluminous, so disconnected, so scattered in time and place, that progress in the classification of Indian languages and the determination of their affinities has been greatly retarded, awaiting the orderly arrangement of accumulated information."

Powell explains the necessity for the Bureau’s systematic approach to cataloging the languages of American tribes.

"There would appear to be no good reason why the rule of priority of name, for instance, should not be followed in linguistic as well as in zoölogic classification, or why the same beneficial result of fixity of nomenclature should not be expected to result from the adoption of this rule in the one case as in the other."

The Director argues for the application of strict, scientific naming conventions to the chaotic field of linguistics.

What It's Really About

The volume is fundamentally an argument for the scientific study of human culture as a coherent, evolutionary process. It posits that the artifacts of a people—their pottery, their stories, their languages, and their tools—are not merely curiosities but are pieces of a puzzle that, when assembled, reveal the underlying laws of human development. The text asks: How do we organize the disparate histories of diverse peoples into a single, intelligible record? It contends that by applying the same rigor to the humanities that zoologists apply to biology, scholars can uncover the "character and power" of human artistic and social evolution. It is a work that seeks to transform the chaos of human history into an orderly, accessible, and permanent archive.

Why Read It Today

Reading this report today is akin to walking through the quiet, glass-cased halls of a nineteenth-century museum. It will appeal most to readers who value historical primary sources and have a genuine interest in the history of science and anthropology. You will find it most rewarding if you are curious about how early ethnologists perceived the world—the tone is consistently formal, precise, and deeply earnest, reflecting the optimistic, encyclopedic spirit of its time.

However, a modern reader must be prepared for the period-specific attitudes embedded in the text. The writing reflects the paternalistic and often detached perspective of its era, particularly in its categorization of indigenous societies as subjects to be "classified." The length of the volume is also a hurdle; it is not a book for a casual weekend read but rather a vast, dense archive of field reports, indices, and detailed descriptions of artifacts. You will encounter extensive technical discussions—like the nuances of textile weaving or the specific geography of Baffin Land—that require patience and a focused mind. Yet, for those who persevere, what stays with you is the sheer scale of the effort: the attempt to catch, in the amber of print, the vanishing details of human ingenuity. It is a monument to the labor of documentation, capturing the voices and the work of people who otherwise might have slipped into a silent history.