The development of any branch of learning is marked
by periodic synthesis to summarize the knowledge al-
ready gained and to offer interpretations which may be
tested by further detailed research. In anthropology
evolutionary syntheses in the nineteenth century gave
rise to the revolt led by Boas, who insisted that the
principal task of anthropology was to collect quantities
of localized data on vanishing cultures. These data, in
turn, provided the material for the first modern attempt
at integration of knowledge of the American Indian,
that of Wissler in 1917. The next major contribution
of this nature in the American Indian field was that of
Kroeber in 1939, which was limited to North America.
This was followed by the multi-volume work on South
American Indiansb edited by Steward and published
from 1946 to 1950. Volumes five and six of this work
are devoted to synthesis. The time has now arrived for
another integration of North American Indian material
based in part on data accumulated since the above men-
tioned publications of Wissler and Kroeber.

The aim of the present work is to offer a series of
broad generalizations about North American Indian
cultures together with the data on which they are based.
Most of the data are given on a series of schematic maps
on which territories of individual "tribes" are differ-
entiated by means of boundary lines. The map used as
base was originally published under the title "Indian
Tribes of North America," in Indiana University Pub-
lications in Anthropology and Linguistics, Memoir 9,
1953. It was jointly authored by Driver, Cooper, Kirch-
hoff, Libby, Massey, and Spier. The key map accom-
panying this publication is to be found in a pocket at
the end. We wish to thank Indiana University for per-
mission to reproduce it here. A large majority of the
maps ignore the time element although, when well
known, the broad outlines of temporal change are often
given in the text. Where the time element has been
worked out in detail by ethno-historians we have en-
tered dates directly on the maps. It would have been
ideal to have drafted a separate map for each subject
presented, in order to show where the various tribes
were located when the particular traits diffused or were
first reported. At the present time there is too little
known about the time element to make this feasible for
most of the material, and the cost of a series of indi-
vidually drafted maps would have been prohibitive in a
work of this nature.

The generalizations offered are of two major kinds,
which may be called descriptive and relational. The
descriptive generalizations are concerned primarily with
the geographical distributions of single traits or small
clusters of variants on a single topic. The relational
generalizations are concerned with the correlations be-
tween the traits of one topic with those of another topic,
which is often described in another chapter. We have
attempted to indicate only the most obvious correla-
tions except in the last chapter. An exhaustive analysis
of all the significant correlations within a corpus of data
of this magnitude would fill a second monograph as
large as the present one and would be so technical that
it would be read only by a few professional anthropolo-
gists. Although the present work is admittedly fact
packed, we believe it is written simply enough that stu-
dents will find it useful.

The original plan called for chapters on the arts,
games and amusements, life cycle, social control, re-
ligion, and other subjects generally covered in anthro-
pological textbooks. However, when the first draft of
the present chapters was completed it was obvious that
it would take many more years and twice as much space
to carry out the original plan. We, therefore, decided
to offer the present coverage at this time. For teaching
purposes it may be supplemented by lectures on what-
ever additional subjects the teacher may choose.

The selection of material to be mapped and discussed
in the text was largely a matter of expediency. Traits
or topics were chosen more often because of availability
of data than because of intrinsic interest to the authors
or of any notion of indispensability for a pre-conceived
theory of culture. On the other hand we wrote several
chapters on economics, although this material was
poorly reported, in order to provide a continuity be-
tween the sections on subsistence and material culture
on the one hand and that on social organization on the
other. We believe that a theory of culture which
ignores or is unable to account for the geographical
distributions presented here falls short of the mark.

Similarly, traits chosen to represent a particular topic
were selected as much on availability of data as on
representativeness of the topic. Where the topic was
well known, our job was one of simplification; where
it was not well known, to collect enough material to
throw some light on it.

A few of the maps display data which were previously
assembled principally by a single researcher. Those on
fishing, for example, are largely derived from Rost-
lund. However, Rostlund did not cover the areas
south of the Mexican border; so it was necessary for
Massey to fill out all the distributions in these regions.
For other maps as much as half of the data were ob-
tained from a single source. A majority of the maps,
however, are pieced together from many sources and
are a first attempt to distribute the data they display.

Needless to say, all the maps contain some errors.
Ethnological data are too unrefined to make it possible
for anyone to present a broad geographical distribution
which will satisfy every critic. We believe, therefore,
that there is no such thing as a completely correct dis-
tribution. Our goal has been to stay within 10 per cent
error of commission. If our error rises above that level

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