This map shows the regions and distribution of fifty-eight distinct Native
American languages.  It was commissioned in 1891 by John W. Powell, an
anthropologist from the Smithsonian Institution.  Powell studied the
Indians extensively and was the first person to establish a scientific
way to classify their languages.  As part of the U.S. Geological Survey,
he led expeditions that studied the archaeology and geography of the
Native Americans, in the years just before most Indians moved onto
reservations.  He served as director of the Survey from 1881 to 1894.