ological district of the Jemez plateau, embracing the Pajarito Park and the Chama, Gallinas, and Jemez valleys.

In Arizona: Grand Canyon, San Francisco Mountain, Black Mesa, Prescott, Pinal Mountains, Mt Graham, Santa Catalina, Santa Rita, and Chiricahua forest reserves.

Many other areas, equally important archeologically, have been withdrawn from sale or settlement pending examination of their forest condition. Noteworthy among these are the Rio Verde district in Arizona, the Taos district in New Mexico, and the Mesa Verde district in Colorado.

2. The Office of Indian Affairs prohibits all unauthorized excavations on Indian reservations and the carrying away of remains of antiquity. Special custodians have been appointed for the ruins in Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto on the Navaho reservation in Arizona, the Mesa Verde on the Southern Ute reservation in Colorado, and the Zuñi reservation in New Mexico. Indian traders on reservations are prohibited from dealing in prehistoric wares, thus removing from the Indians and other persons the temptation to despoil ruins for the sake of the small profits to be derived therefrom. This corrects one of the most prevalent and disastrous of abuses. The most extensive archeological districts that come under the custodianship of the Indian Office are

In Colorado: The Southern Ute reservation.

In New Mexico: The Zuñi and the Santa Clara reservations, and the various Pueblo grants.

In Arizona: The Navaho, Hopi, San Carlos, Walapai, Gila River, and Papago reservations.

Probably twenty-five percent of the southwestern ruins are so situated.

3. The General Land Office holds under withdrawal, awaiting Congressional action, the following important archeological districts:

In Colorado: The Mesa Verde district.

In New Mexico: The Chaco Canyon and Petrified Forest districts, and El Morro or Inscription Rock.

The ruins situated on unappropriated public lands are held to be subject to the authority of the Department of the Interior, and orders have been issued prohibiting unauthorized excavations.

In addition to these measures for the preservation of the ruins it has become necessary for the Departments to formulate some mode of procedure with reference to excavation privileges. In passing on the application of the Southwest Society of the Archæological Institute of America for such privilege, the Office of Indian Affairs held—

". . . It is not satisfied that the Department could legally grant permission to persons or organizations to enter reservations for the purpose of excavating for and carrying away objects of archeological value unless collecting for or under the supervision of the Government.

"It is recommended that permission be granted the Southwest Society of the Archeological Institute of America to conduct archeological explorations and make excavations on Indian reservations in the southwest upon the condition that such work is to be done under the oversight of, and in coöperation with, the Bureau of American Ethnology."

The essentials of a plan prepared in order to meet the requirements of the Office of Indian Affairs in this case and to provide for effective cooperation and avoid duplication or conflict of work are as follows:

1. That this Society shall file with the Bureau of American Ethnology a brief but measurably definite plan of the explorations proposed on the Indian reservations, designating the person who is to have immediate charge of the field work.

2. That it shall furnish data for use in compiling the card catalogue of antiquities now in preparation by your Bureau [the Bureau of American Ethnology] and for properly mapping the sites of the explorations and excavations.

3. That it shall adopt a liberal policy of exchange, to the end that each participating institution may share in the benefits of the others.

4. (a) That thorough work shall be done on each site occupied ; (b) that full notes shall be taken for a catalogue of American antiquities; and (c) that the results obtained by all expeditions shall be made known within a reasonable time through published reports.

This plan was adopted by both the Office of Indian Affairs and the Forest Service and was accepted as entirely satisfactory by the Southwest Society. The Departments concerned have consistently held that excavations may be conducted only for the advancement of the knowledge of archeology and not for commercial purposes. Collections may be made only for permanent preservation in public

museums, and permits will be issued only to qualified archeologists who are under the direction of reputable institutions or societies. Recognizing the necessity for expert advice as to the issuance of excavation permits, the Departments have adopted the plan of referring all applications for such permits to the Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology for an opinion as to the standing of the institution desiring the privilege and the competence of the archeologist who is to be in charge of the work. The spirit in which the Bureau has responded to this duty imposed on it by the Departments is reflected in a letter from its Chief, Mr William H. Holmes, in relation to the application of the Southwest Society of the Archæological Institute of America, from which I quote:

"In the way of report on these inquiries I beg to state that the Archæological Institute of America is to be classed among the most enlightened bodies of students of human history and antiquity in the country, and its component societies, organized in various cities, include in their membership the leading archeologists of the country. It may be safely assumed that the Southwest Society, which is the largest of the allied organizations, has among its members persons fully qualified to undertake the work proposed, and that it will be wise enough to entrust the work to such, and only such, as can be implicitly relied upon to conduct the excavations in a scientific manner, to properly record observations, and to care for the collections obtained.

"This Bureau appreciates fully the attitude of the Indian Office in its endeavor to preserve the national antiquities for the nation, and to prevent unauthorized and unscientific explorations; but it takes the view that whatever materials are intelligently collected and placed in reasonably protected public museums, wherever situated, that provide systematic and permanent custodianship, are preserved for all the people. The field of American archeology is a vast one, and the larger the number of properly qualified institutions that engage in the work, the better for history. and science. The system of exchanges of specimens and replicas of important objects arranged between the National Museum and other museums of the country, and the well-established practice of collaboration on the part of curators and students generally, place the collections of one institution practically at the service of all."

On the whole it would appear that the system as developed secures practically what our students have been asking for; that

the preservation of American antiquities is in a fair way to be accomplished, and that in the matter of excavation privileges substantial justice is being done to all. It is manifestly impossible to concentrate the entire authority in this matter in any one Depart

The purposes for which the lands of the United States are administered are so diverse that no Department could safely undertake to grant privileges of any sort upon lands under the jurisdiction of another Department. Accordingly, if archeological work is proposed on forest reserves the application for permission must be to the Secretary of Agriculture; if on a military reservation, to the Secretary of War; and if on an Indian reservation or on unappropriated public lands, to the Secretary of the Interior. Any other system would lead to great confusion and conflict of interests.

It remains to be considered what is needed in the way of national legislation on this subject. I beg leave to submit for your consideration the following memorandum of provisions which seem to be needed. They are drawn from measures previously brought forward, with such modifications as have become necessary through the rise of new conditions, and the addition of some new matter, designed to meet conditions with which we were previously unacquainted. Every effort has been made to preserve the exact spirit of the measure agreed upon last year by these two organizations (the Archæological Institute of America and the American Anthropological Association) and at the same time meet the wishes of the various Departments of the Government that will be charged with the administration of the law:

1. That any person who shall appropriate, excavate, injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity situated on lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States, without the permission of the Secretary of the Department of Government having jurisdiction over the lands on which said antiquities are situated should, upon conviction, be fined in a sum not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for a period of not more than ninety days, or should suffer both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.

2. That the President of the United States should be authorized, im his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific

AM. ANTH., N. S, 8-8.

interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which in all cases should be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected: Provided, That when such objects are situated upon a tract covered by a bona fide unperfected claim or held in private ownership, that tract, or so much thereof as may be necessary for the proper care and management of the object may be relinquished to the Government, and the Secretary of the Interior should be authorized to accept the relinquishment of such tracts in behalf of the Government of the United States.

3. That permits for the examination of ruins, the excavation of archeological sites, and the gathering of objects of antiquity upon the lands under their respective jurisdictions, should be granted by the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and War, to institutions which they may deem properly qualified to conduct such examination, excavation, or gathering, subject to such rules and regulations as they may prescribe: Provided, That the examinations, excavations, and gatherings are undertaken for the benefit of reputable museums, universities, colleges, or other recognized scientific or educational institutions, with a view to increasing the knowledge of such objects, and that the gatherings shall be made for permanent preservation in public museums.

4. That the Secretaries of the Departments aforesaid should make and publish from time to time uniform rules and regulations for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this law.

In a separate resolution I desire to ask these two organizations to consider the matter of the proposed Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, provided for in a bill introduced by Representative H. M. Hogg, now pending before the national Congress. This is one of the most important pieces of legislation looking toward the preservation of American antiquities that has ever been proposed, and it seems most fitting that these organizations should give it their enthusiastic support.

[The recommendations made by Mr Hewett in the above paper were subsequently considered at the joint business meeting of the Archæological Institute of America and the American Anthropological Association, were unanimously accepted, and subsequently embodied in a bill which has been introduced by the Honorable John F. Lacey of Iowa as H. R. 11016. A resolution was also passed urging the creation of the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.-Editor.]

WASHINGTON, D. C.,

December, 1905.