Physiological and medical observations among the Indians of southwestern United States and northern Mexico / by Ales Hrdlicka.

  • Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943.
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Physiological and medical observations among the Indians of southwestern United States and northern Mexico / by Ales Hrdlicka. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    the tattooing, practised most among the Mohave, Yuma, and. Pima, is undoubtedly attended with physical inconveniences and dangers as among the whites. Tlahuiltec women color their hair with the juice of a plant known locally as shok-il-it. This turns the ordi- narily black hair at first greenish and then reddish yellow. It is difficult to judge of the effect of this treatment on growth or vitality of the hair, but a head of good hair among these women is uncommon. Dwellings The character, degree of segregation, and especially the site of a dwelling and its cleanliness, are aU items of much hygienic importance. The dwellings of the Indians of the region under consideration may be divided into permanent and temporary structures. The first include dwellings built more or less after the style of those of the neighboring whites, of the aggregate pueblo structures (pi. ii, h), and various brush, reed, and earth dwellings (pis. ii to xii); the second comprise shelters and brush structures of varying forms, and tipis or tents (pis. viii, IX, c, XI, d). AU except the modern Indian dwellings possess certain points in common. With the exception of some pueblo dwellings, the native houses are windowless and are provided with only a small opening for entrance and exit, which, when the dwelling is occupied, is usually kept closed with a blanket. The only additional aperture is a smoke- vent in the roof or at the apex. Owing chiefly to the absence of larger openings in the waUs, the inside of the dwelling is much dark- ened, but possesses the merit of being warmer in winter and cooler in hot weather than the outer air. Ventilation is good in only the less substantial structures, particularly those made of brush. In the earth-covered hogans (pis. ii, a, vi, a), in the hemispherical Pima mud dwellings, in some of the adobe houses, and especially in the pueblo communal rooms or kivas, ventilation is poor even when aided^by fire. Over night, or when a large number of Indians congregate in such a dweUing, as they often do for social meetings or for gambling, the air becomes foul and deleterious to health. The smoke, also, is annoying and irritates the eyes. Dampness of the dwellings, even of the more massive structures, is unknown during the dry season, but in rainy weather humidity can not be avoided, and houses of all kinds generally become less comfortable and healthful. In the arrangement of Indian dwellings two opposite tendencies are noticeable, one apparently the result of long-continued habit, due to necessity, the other arising from social impulses. Every Indian family (with exceptions among the Pueblos) builds its dwelling iso- lated, yet at the same time there is an inclination toward congrega- tion. The common outcome of these opposed motives is a scattered village. In a typical Indian village, the pueblo excepted, the cluster