Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 167K words
Chapters: 17

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Sixth annual report of the Bureau of ethnology. (1888 N 06 / 1884-1885) by Boas et al.Author: ,Language: English, Class: E011: History: America: America, Release Date: Mar 8, 2016

Editor's review

This is a digitized version of the Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, covering ethnological research conducted in 1884–1885, with contributions by Franz Boas and others. As an official scholarly document from the late nineteenth century, its primary value is as a historical source: readers can trace the early development of anthropology and ethnology in the United States and see the questions, survey methods, and modes of presentation that concerned researchers of the time. The field records and classificatory descriptions it contains are useful to anyone studying Native American cultures or the relationship between early museums and government survey agencies. Note that this is an English public-domain book, reproduced in scanned or transcribed form; it is not popular reading and requires scholarly patience and background knowledge. It is best consulted as research material rather than read cover to cover. For readers interested in the history of anthropology, colonial-era knowledge production, or nineteenth-century scientific writing, it offers a first-hand text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Anthropology and ethnology students who need nineteenth-century primary sources
Scholars studying Native American history and early government surveys
Advanced readers interested in the history of science and knowledge production
Researchers who need English public-domain historical sources for citation

Not a good fit for

General readers looking for an accessible introduction to anthropology
Readers with limited English who need a Chinese parallel text
Readers expecting a continuous narrative or modern scholarly introduction

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and introduction, identify the peoples or topics that interest you, then consult chapters selectively.
Read alongside a history-of-anthropology textbook or Boas scholarship to understand the text's historical position.
Take notes on unfamiliar terms and classificatory systems; do not try to absorb every detail in one pass.
For citation, verify specific page numbers and original wording rather than relying on second-hand summaries.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?

It is an English public-domain book released by Project Gutenberg, with an English body text and no Chinese translation. Readers need reasonable English proficiency, especially with nineteenth-century academic prose and terminology.

Does the content represent modern anthropological views?

No. This is an official annual report from 1884–1885 and reflects the survey frameworks and conventions of its time. Read it as a historical document rather than as modern anthropological conclusions, and distinguish period limitations from source value.

Can a general reader read it from cover to cover?

That is not advisable. Reports of this kind are large and organized more like compilations of material, and reading straight through can be tiring. A better approach is to begin with the table of contents and select chapters or entries of interest as reference material.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.