Indian Linguistic Families of America, North of Mexico Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 1-142

"Indian Linguistic Families of America, North of Mexico" by John Wesley Powell is a scholarly investigation of the varied languages used by Native American tribes living north of Mexico, documenting their classifications. Aimed at readers with interests alongside language and anthropology , the book begins by discussing the challenges of studying Native American languages because of tribal interaction and also European influence—leading to the borrowing of specific language and the development of hybrid languages used between tribes. Powell addresses the ways researchers struggled because so many linguistic families exist, so the cultural exchanges were complicated. Powell wanted a more consistent vocabulary in order to successfully classify and study the languages, readying the reader for a walk through of language families and where they existed around North America.