The guide describes fifty-four diverse federal programs and activities which are potential sources of financial and other assistance to those interested in various aspects of folklife. Potential users are folk artists; folklorists; researchers in linguistics, anthropology, and ethnology; members of ethnic or regional groups involved in presenting or preserving aspects of their cultural heritage; or American people generally. The efforts of John Wesley Powell, John Collier, Holger Cahill, the Archive of American Folk Song, the Bureau of American Ethnology, and other people and institutions are noted in a short introductory section describing 200 years of contradictory federal response to American folklife, culminating in the 1976 American Folklife Preservation Act. The programs described are organized by sponsoring federal agency, and are numbered sequentially for indexing purposes. The one-to-two page descriptions note what assistance is available, for whom it is intended, and whom to contact for more information. Examples are given of assistance previously granted under some programs. There is a briefly annotated bibliography of six publications dating from 1975 which contain detailed information of the federal government and its programs. (SB)