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III. [[underline]]Encyclopedia of North American Indians[[/underline]]

The Center for the Study of Man is producing a twenty-volume [[underline]]Encyclopedia of North American Indians[[/underline]] which will summarize all that is known of the pre-history, history, and traditional and modern cultures of all the Indian groups north of Mexico and bring up to date and replace the previous standard encyclopedia work which was issued by the Smithsonian in 1907-1910. This will become the standard reference work on all aspects of North American Indian history and anthropology for students, teachers, authors, researchers, and administrators, both non-Indian and Indian, both U.S. and foreign. Ever since its founding, the Smithsonian has conducted important research on American Indian history and cultures, and has been looked to as an important source of information on these topics. As a result, the resources of the Institution -- scientific staff, manuscript and pictures archives, library, and museum collections -- are unexcelled anywhere as a basis for this project.

Planning for the Encyclopedia has been completed, and a distinguished group of anthropologists and historians have been selected as volume editors. There will be contributions to the Encyclopedia by more than 500 individuals including Native Americans, and the volumes will contain more than a thousand articles plus several thousand biographical entries. More than four hundred manuscripts are completed and currently being edited.

IV. [[underline]]Sternwheeler Bertrand[[/underline]]

In the spring of 1865, the Sternwheeler Bertrand, bound for the Montana territory with a cargo of 75 tons of stores for pioneers working in the northwest, sank in the Missouri River. The cargo remained on board for over 100 years, protected under the silt of what is now part of the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge.

The Bertrand was rediscovered in 1968, with its cargo of historical artifacts virtually intact. Over the past five years, the Department of Interior (Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and the National Park Service) has excavated and taken initial steps to preserve the artifacts, which represent the largest collection ever found of cultural materials relating to America's westward expansion. The Smithsonian Institution, in cooperation with the Department of Interior, plans over the next several years to conduct a complete documentary inventory and photographic record for serious study and interpretation of this important find.