The following paper is a partial and incomplete report on the modern tribes of the Southwest. More properly speaking, it perhaps should be called a report on the Pueblo Indians of the Southwest, as time has not permitted any investigation of the non-Pueblo tribes. I have, however, indicated the principal sources for each group so that anyone carrying on this study will be able to outline the salient points without any lost motion.

With regard to the Pueblos, the material on the Eastern or Rio Grande Pueblos is far more complete than that on the Western Pueblos, time again having been the limiting factor. I have presented this material in a running account, generalizing for the two major divisions of the Pueblos without much specific data being given for the individual Pueblos. In the main I have attempted not only an assemblage but an interpretation of the facts. I should like to point out, moreover, that these generalizations and interpretations are based on hundreds of pages of notes specifically referring to the individual Pueblos and developed by constant checking and cross-checking against not only my notes but the original sources. Where it has been possible to have the sources at hand continuously, I did not develop any elaborate series of notes beyond an index.

The Pueblo material is referenced to the authors and works most used and containing the bulk of the most reliable material. Page references have not been particularly practical in this running account for the reason that the organization here presented has involved the complete reclassification of the original data, in many instances. I have in almost no instance attempted to give any descriptions of ceremonies, as these are extremely complex; and to describe the public dances in particular would involve hundreds of pages of descriptive material. Such descriptions may be found in the references.

In the time allotted for the study, detailed reference to each Pueblo would, of course, have been out of the question. It may be felt that the specifically localized or geographic features has been unduly slighted but with the bulk of the ethnographic material I do not see how it is possible to do more than locate each Pueblo and outline a few of its main features. Someone working up road guides on the ground with the detailed sources at hand might be able to locate various shrines, clay pits, fields, etc., but when working at a distance, this could not possibly be done.