“When I came to the Lake Superior country in 1878, I found the Indians of Lac Courte Oreille Reservation and of Lac du Flambeau, living almost entirely in birch-bark wigwams, also in Bad River Reserve, near Ashland, Wis. In Courte Oreille, I counted about six log houses, mostly inhabited by French half-breeds. In Bad River Reserve (now Odanah) perhaps about the same number; in Lac du Flambeau also about six log houses. But as soon as the Indians got their pine-money and their allotments, they immediately began to build houses, many of which were large and commodious. Others were of hewn logs, rather small and low and very unhealthy on that account, as there was very little ventilation, and in the winter they would be huddled together, most of them sleeping on the floor in a blanket, or poor bedclothes. The stove was very hot until after the fire went out, when, of course, towards morning they would be shivering with the cold. Cooking, smoking, living, in such a small room would naturally cause colds, and consumption. This may be justly called the Indian’s Disease, as it is the most common sickness of which they die; they generally die of consumption, brought on by their total disregard of the laws of health. Sugar-making early in spring, when they used to gather the maple-sap in the woods, walking in the wet snow and cold water, shod with soft moccasins, made of deerskin, and not much better than common stockings; then went the whole day with wet feet—this no doubt laid for many, the seeds of future consumption. Then, gathering cranberries in swamps, wading in the water for hours and hours, was also highly unhealthy. Their cooking was also very poor. Bread, tea, and pork their principal food, the bread badly made, hard and heavy. The Indian’s natural home is the woods, like that of the deer; the white man’s natural home is the clearing, in open country. Civilization is coming on the Indian too fast—it effeminates and weakens him. The Indian woman is naturally industrious, the Indian man is lazy; that’s about the way to put it.
“The Franciscans in California solved the Indian problem in the best and most practical way: they first made Christians—and then civilized the people.”
Correspondent, Bayfield, Wis.
“Surrounded by wretched conditions, it is not surprising that the incidence of tuberculosis, trachoma, and other diseases is large among these Indians. Although tuberculosis can hardly be considered as prevalent here as among some of the other reservation tribes, it nevertheless occurs to an alarming extent. It appears to be more prevalent in some localities than in others, and, in some sections, seems to be on the increase. The home conditions of many of these Indians are such that, if a case of tuberculosis or other infectious disease occurs in a household, the probability is that the disease will, in time, go through the entire family.
“During my drive among the Cherokee full-bloods, probably forty families were visited, many of which either have, or have not, one or more cases of tuberculosis. In the vicinity of Barber, twenty miles from Talequah, there occurred three deaths from tuberculosis within three weeks of the time of my visit. Two of the cases, one a baby in the arms and the other a woman, the head of the family, were seen by me. The latter case was particularly pathetic and deserves special mention. The sick woman, dying of tuberculosis, was found in the one room of the house, which, though small, illy ventilated, and poorly lighted, was occupied by nine other people, including six small children. Being wholly ignorant of the dangerous and infectious nature of the disease, this condition continued until the death of the patient, which occurred two weeks later. Another family visited, had lost three members from tuberculosis within the past few years.
“When the housing conditions encountered here are taken into consideration, it seems remarkable that tuberculosis does not spread among the people even more rapidly than it does. This can be partially explained, however, by the fact that they are sometimes widely scattered, the houses, in many instances, being several miles apart.
NATIONAL INDIAN ASSOCIATION HOSPITAL AT INDIAN WELLS, ARIZONA
“In another family near the little village of Eucha, a girl fourteen or fifteen years of age was seen to wipe her trachomatous eyes with the end of a shawl, worn about her mother’s head. The mother held a young baby in her arms, and it would seem that a failure to infect the baby’s eyes with the contaminated shawl would be nothing short of marvelous.
“The civilizing influences that surround these people are far from good. The class of people that are frequently found as neighbors are a shiftless, undesirable class. These Whites live amidst unsanitary, meagre surroundings. It is due to this class of citizens that the use of cocaine has of recent years assumed alarming proportions. This habit has become quite common among the full-bloods in some sections, and I heard of several deaths that were attributed directly to this cause.