Clinton Hart Merriam, who signed his name C. Hart Merriam was a naturalist who spent part of his professional life studying California Indians. He worked assiduously with native informants. For Merriam's background, which was that of a biologist and not ananthropologist, the reader is referred to a following section written by Alfred L. Kroeber, "C. Hart Merriam as Anthropologist." Although Merriam had a formal tie with the Smithsonian Institution which held a bequest known as the E.H. Harriman Fund, he was not a member of the Smithsonian staff. He had, in brief, an institutional connection, but he did not work under the direction of that institution.

Merriam's lists are published here exactly as he recorded them. No changes have been made in conformity with the agreement made with his heirs when the Merriam Collection was accepted by the Department of Anthropology at Berkeley. Merriam's phonetic system can be found at the end of this section.