7 страница. Our problem involved the location and study of groups of the original stock, if such were to be found

Our problem involved the location and study of groups of the original stock, if such were to be found, who were living in accordance with the tradition of their race and as little affected as might be possible by the influence of the white man. At first thought it might seem impossible that such groups can exist, but as a matter of fact there are still great areas of the American continent inhabited by the original stock living in areas still unexplored. In order to find Indians as little changed as possible by reason of their contact with the white man, particularly with the white man's foods, I went to northern Canada to the region inside the Rocky Mountain range to study the Indians of Northern British Columbia and the Yukon territory. Since an aeroplane could not be used, owing to the lack of a base of supplies for fuel for the return trip; and since the MacKenzie water route was impracticable (an expedition could not go up the waterways through Canada on the MacKenzie River and its branches and return the same season), the route selected was that which enters that territory from Alaska on the large waterway of the Stikine River. This river has cut its channel through the Coast and Cascade Ranges of mountains and has its origin in the high western watershed of the Rockies. It was particularly desirable to reach a group of Indians who could not obtain the animal life of the sea, not even the running salmon. These fish do not enter the waterways draining to the Arctic. We used a high-powered river transport specially designed for going up rapids on the Stikine River to the end of navigation at Telegraph Creek. At this point large quantities of modern foods are stored during the short open navigation season of the summer to be exchanged for furs during the long winter. A Hudson Bay Post has been established at this point. Here a truck was chartered which took us over a trail across the Rocky Mountain Divide to the headwaters of the rivers flowing north to the Arctic. At this outpost two guides were engaged and a high powered scow chartered to make the trip down the waterways toward the Arctic on the Diese and Liard Rivers. This made it possible, in the summer of 1933, to make contact with large bands of Indians who had come out of the Pelly mountain country to exchange their catch of furs at the last outpost of the Hudson Bay Company. Most of the Indians of Canada are under treaty with the Canadian Government whereby that government gives them an annual per capita bounty. This arrangement induces the Indians in the interior to come out to the designated centers to obtain the bounty. Since it is based on the number in the family, all of the children are brought. This treaty, however, was never signed by the Indians of the British Columbia and Yukon Territory. And, accordingly, they have remained as nomadic wandering tribes following the moose and caribou herds in the necessary search to obtain their foods.

The rigorous winters reach seventy degrees below zero. This precludes the possibility of maintaining dairy animals or growing seed cereals or fruits. The diet of these Indians is almost entirely limited to the wild animals of the chase. This made a study of them exceedingly important. The wisdom of these people regarding Nature's laws, and their skill in adapting themselves to the rigorous climate and very limited variety of foods, and these often very hard to obtain, have developed a skill in the art of living comfortably with rugged Nature that has been approached by few other tribes in the world. The sense of honor among these tribes is so strong that practically all cabins, temporarily unoccupied due to the absence of the Indians on their hunting trip, were entirely unprotected by locks; and the valuables belonging to the Indians were left in plain sight. The people were remarkably hospitable, and where they had not been taken advantage of were very kind. Many of the women had never seen a white woman until they saw Mrs. Price. Their knowledge of woodcraft as expressed in skill in building their cabins so that they would be kept comfortably warm and protected from the sub-zero weather was remarkable. Their planning ahead for storing provisions and firewood strongly emphasized their community spirit. When an Indian and his family moved to a camp site on a lake or river, they always girdled a few more trees than they would use for firewood so that there would be a plentiful supply of dry standing timber for future visitors to the camp.

They lived in a country in which grizzly bears were common. Their pelts were highly prized and they captured many of them with baited pitfalls. Their knowledge of the use of different organs and tissues of the animals for providing a defense against certain of the affections of the body which we speak of as degenerative diseases was surprising. When I asked an old Indian, through an interpreter, why the Indians did not get scurvy he replied promptly that that was a white man's disease. I asked whether it was possible for the Indians to get scurvy. He replied that it was, but said that the Indians know how to prevent it and the white man does not. When asked why he did not tell the white man how, his reply was that the white man knew too much to ask the Indian anything. I then asked him if he would tell me. He said he would if the chief said he might. He went to see the chief and returned in about an hour, saying that the chief said he could tell me because I was a friend of the Indians and had come to tell the Indians not to eat the food in the white man's store. He took me by the hand and led me to a log where we both sat down. He then described how when the Indian kills a moose he opens it up and at the back of the moose just above the kidney there are what he described as two small balls in the fat. These he said the Indian would take and cut up into as many pieces as there were little and big Indians in the family and each one would eat his piece. They would eat also the walls of the second stomach. By eating these parts of the animal the Indians would keep free from scurvy, which is due to the lack of vitamin C. The Indians were getting vitamin C from the adrenal glands and organs. Modern science has very recently discovered that the adrenal glands are the richest sources of vitamin C in all animal or plant tissues. We found these Indians most cooperative in aiding us. We, of course, had taken presents that we thought would be appreciated by them, and we had no difficulty in making measurements and photographs, nor, indeed, in making a detailed study of the condition of each tooth in the dental arches. I obtained samples of saliva, and of their foods for chemical analysis. A typical Indian family in the big timber forests in shown in Fig. 15.

FIG. 15. This typical family of forest Indians of Northern Canada presents a picture of superb health. They live amidst an abundance of food in the form of wild animal life in the shelter of the big timber.

The condition of the teeth, and the shape of the dental arches and the facial form, were superb. Indeed, in several groups examined not a single tooth was found that had ever been attacked by tooth decay. In an examination of eighty-seven individuals having 2,464 teeth only four teeth were found that had ever been attacked by dental caries. This is equivalent to 0.16 per cent. As we came back to civilization and studied, successively, different groups with increasing amounts of contact with modern civilization, we found dental caries increased progressively, reaching 25.5 per cent of all of the teeth examined at Telegraph Creek, the point of contact with the white man's foods. As we came down the Stikine River to the Alaskan frontier towns, the dental caries problem increased to 40 per cent of all of the teeth.

Careful inquiry regarding the presence of arthritis was made in the more isolated groups. We neither saw nor heard of a case in the isolated groups. However, at the point of contact with the foods of modern civilization many cases were found including ten bed-ridden cripples in a series of about twenty Indian homes. Some other affections made their appearance here, particularly tuberculosis which was taking a very severe toll of the children who had been born at this center. In Fig. 16 are seen two typical cases of tubercular involvement of glands of the neck. The suffering from tooth decay was tragic. There were no dentists, no doctors available within hundreds of miles to relieve suffering.

FIG. 16. At the point of modernization including the use of the foods of modern commerce, the health problem of the Indians is very different. These modernized Indian children are dying of tuberculosis which seldom kills the primitives.

The physiques of the Indians of the far north who are still living in their isolated locations and in accordance with their accumulated wisdom were superb. There were practically no irregular teeth, including no impacted third molars, as evidenced by the fact that all individuals old enough to have the molars erupted had them standing in position and functioning normally for mastication. The excellence of the dental arches is shown in Fig. 17. Where the Indians were using the white man's food tooth decay was very severe, as shown in Fig. 18. In the new generation, after meeting the white civilization and using his foods, many developed crooked teeth, so-called, with deformed dental arches, as seen in Fig. 19.

FIG. 17. Wherever the Indians were living on their native foods, chiefly moose and caribou meat, their physical development including facial and dental arch form was superb with nearly complete immunity to dental caries. These two women and two girls are typical.

FIG. 18. Wherever the Indians had access to the modern foods of commerce the dental conditions were extremely bad. These four individuals are typical.

FIG. 19. The blight of the white man's commerce is seen everywhere in the distorted countenances of even the first generation after the adoption by the parents of the foods of modern commerce. These young people with their deformed dental arches are typical. Note the faulty development of the facial bones as evidenced by the narrow nostrils and crowded teeth.

Contact was also made with representatives of relatively isolated primitive Indian stocks in the district south of Hudson Bay. These groups were reached by a newly projected railroad extending eastward and northward from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and we were thus brought into contact with the Indians that had come out of the waterways draining the Hudson Bay and from as far north as James Bay. They had come down to dispose of their furs in exchange for ammunition, blankets, etc. Since this contact was made only once or twice a year, it was quite impossible for the Indians to carry back a sufficient quantity of the foods of the white man to have great influence on their total diet for the year. They still lived on the wild animal game of the land. As in the northern country just reviewed, their principal large animal was the moose. These are treaty Indians, and many of them come out to this frontier to obtain the government bounty and, accordingly, were obliged to bring their families. The bounty here amounted to five dollars per head, a considerable income in exchange for blankets and other equipment. Some of these contact points were at the height of the land dividing the waters running north and east to James Bay and Hudson Bay, or south to Lake Superior. This was historic country that had been the meeting ground of the tribes of the northern waters with the tribes of the Great Lakes district. Many battles had been fought there. For comparison with these more primitive groups from the Hudson and James Bay watershed, I had the opportunity here of studying families that had taken up residence along the railroad or in its vicinity in order that they might have the advantage of exchanging furs for the modern white man's foods. This gave us an excellent opportunity to study the effects of the modern dietary, of which an example is shown in Fig. 20. This Indian and his wife had built their bodies before the contact with the white man. He is about six feet tall. Both the parents had splendid dental arches and well formed faces. His teeth are shown in Fig. 20 (upper, left). Their two children shown in the photograph were born after the adoption of the white man's foods brought in by the railroad. Both are mouth-breathers and both have narrow dental arches and marked underdevelopment of the middle third of the face. The older girl has tuberculosis. Another adult man is shown in Fig. 20 (upper, right). He, like the generation he represents, has exceptionally fine dental arches and well developed face.

FIG. 20. These primitive Indians are in central Canada. The three parents were developed before their district was reached by modern civilization. Note their good physical and facial form in contrast with the pinched nostrils of the two children. The oldest girl has tuberculosis. They are the product of civilization's contact with their primitive parents.

At this point we again found many of the younger generation ill with tuberculosis or crippled with arthritis. Two of these are shown in Fig. 21.

FIG. 21. These are typical cripples met at the point of contact of our modern civilization with the primitive Indians. The boy at the left has arthritis in nearly all of his joints. He has several abscessed teeth. The boy at the right has tubercul sis of the spine.

For further comparison of the more isolated and more highly modernized groups a study was made of the Indians in the largest single Indian Reservation in Canada, which is located at Brantford, Ontario. In this group there are about 4,700 Indians living under highly modernized conditions provided by the Canadian Government. They live on very fertile land and in close proximity to a modern Canadian city. Each head of a family is provided with a tract of land from which he usually has an income sufficient to permit him to have an automobile. They were able to buy not only necessities and comforts according to the modern standards of the white man, but many of the luxuries as well. The government provides a well administered hospital and staff. When I asked the Director of this hospital, Dr. Davis, what the principal use of the hospital was at that time (1933), he said that the demand for beds had completely changed in the twenty-eight years he had been there. The principal services requested at the hospital in 1933 related to the problems of maternity. He stated that in his period of contact he had seen three generations of mothers. The grandmothers of the present generation would take a shawl and either alone or accompanied by one member of their family retire to the bush and give birth to the baby and return with it to the cabin. A problem of little difficulty or concern, it seemed. He stated that today the young mothers of this last generation are brought to his hospital sometimes after they have been in labor for days. They are entirely different from their grandmothers or even mothers in their capacity and efficiency in the matter of reproduction. He stated that that morning he had had two cases in which surgical interference was necessary in order to make birth possible.

We had an opportunity here to study the effects of modernization. Indians are great lovers of sports, particularly of their own national game which is lacrosse. We were able to witness one of these contests with a team from another reservation. Indian families came in modern automobiles dressed in modern clothes and purchased pop and candy and modern confections at typical confection stands. These were highly modernized Indians.

The group on this reservation, comprising approximately four thousand seven hundred Indians, belong to the following tribes: Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, Oneidas and Delawares making up the Six Nation or Iroquois group. A later addition to this group has been the Tuscaroras from the Carolinas. While there were many mixed bloods, there were also a goodly number of full-blooded Indian families, so that there was an opportunity to study comparatively the effects of intermingling of the Indians with the whites. As in previous investigations, a special effort was made to study the children from eight to sixteen years of age. Typical cases were selected from different environments. For example, boys and girls selected from a training school called Mohawk Institute, which was near the city of Brantford, represented one type of environment. There are approximately one hundred and sixty students under training here, and we were informed that they study half a day and work half a day. The boys are taught craftsmanship and farming, the girls, home economics and garment making, and such practical training as would prepare them for later home building. While most of the boys and girls come from that reservation, a few are accepted from other reservations. It is of interest that 77 per cent of the children in this Institution had suffered from earlier dental caries and that 17 per cent of all the teeth examined had already been attacked by dental caries. But this had occurred apparently before their entrance to the Institute, for we did not find a single case of active caries among those examined, and this is particularly important in connection with their excellent nutrition. The Institute maintained a fine dairy herd and provided fresh vegetables, whole wheat bread, and limited the sugar and white flour.

The children of this group were compared with children of approximately the same age in a public school of the reservation where it was found that 90 per cent had had dental caries, and that at present in 70 per cent of the cases the caries was apparently active. It is important to note that in this group 28.5 per cent of all the teeth examined had already been attacked by tooth decay.

A study was made of patients at the reservation hospital where free service of all kinds is provided. We found that 83 per cent had suffered from dental caries, and that 23.2 per cent of all teeth had already been attacked by caries.

We were particularly interested in the conditions obtaining in the homes, especially with the mothers. A typical young mother had approximately half her teeth attacked by dental caries, as had also her son, aged seven. The middle third of his face was underdeveloped and all of his upper anterior teeth were decayed to the gum line.

A study was made of an Indian reservation in New York State for comparison and for making an estimate of typical modern American Indian life with regard to dental caries and nutrition. For this study a band of 450 in the Tuscarora Reservation northeast of Niagara Falls was visited. Here again we were fortunate to see the people in holiday mood since the study was made on Decoration Day and events of the year had been scheduled, a lacrosse match and a baseball game, between the Indians' teams and white teams from adjacent towns. Several hundred Indians were congregated to exhibit their best in wearing apparel, transportation equipment, and physical prowess. There was evidence of a similarity of features in the older Indians who had not been highly modernized, and a striking deficiency in the facial development of many of the moderns.

A typical mother was studied at her home. She had four children. Her teeth were ravaged by dental caries. She was strictly modern, for she had gold inlays in some of her teeth. The roots of the missing teeth had not been extracted. Twenty of her teeth had active dental caries. Her little girl, aged four, already had twelve very badly carious teeth. Another daughter aged eight had sixteen carious teeth, and her son aged ten had six. The husband was in bed from an acute lung involvement, doubtless tuberculosis. The children were eating their noon day meal when we arrived, which consisted of a white bread and some stewed vegetables. Milk was available for only the small baby in arms. In this Tuscarora group 83 per cent of those examined had dental caries and 38 per cent of all teeth had already been attacked by dental caries. Every one studied in this reservation was using white-flour products, none were using milk liberally, and only a few in even limited amounts. I was told that in both reservations a few years ago the Indians grew wheat and kept cows to provide a liberal supply of natural cereal and milk for their families, but of late this practice had been discontinued. They were now buying their wheat in the form of white flour and their vegetables largely put up in cans. In both reservations they were using commercial vegetable fats, jams and marmalades, sweetened goods, syrups and confections very liberally. It is remarkable how early the child life adopts modern civilization's confections.

In order to provide a further cross section of the modernized Indians of North America, I made a study in a reservation on Winnipeg Lake in Manitoba. This reservation lies north and east of Winnipeg and is quite highly modernized.

These people were reached with much difficulty because of the natural protection provided by the location of their reservation at the mouth of Brokenhead River. They had been provided with fertile lands and taught modern methods of farming. Their proximity to a great body of water fairly well-stocked with fish gave them an opportunity to secure fish, if they were disposed to make the effort to do so, as their ancestors had done through previous centuries. Their homes were found to be in a dilapidated condition, and while their lands were stocked with cattle and horses, such as we found were in poor condition, and limited in number. The people had been provided with a government school and a government agent to assist in providing for their needs and in giving material assistance when needed. They were within fairly easy distance of hospitals, and had available modern medical service. Notwithstanding all these advantages, their physical condition was very poor. Dental caries was so wide-spread that 39.1 per cent of all teeth studied were found to be affected. They were living almost entirely on modern foods, imported white flours, jams, canned vegetables and liberal quantities of sugar. Over 90 per cent of the individuals had rampant dental caries. Their physical condition and their supply of necessities was very much lower than was that of either of the two preceding groups. Distress was evident even in late summer.

The Indians so far reported were living inland with access to inland foods only. The Pacific Coast Indians were examined to determine the effect of sea foods. To find evidence relating to the physical, and particularly to the dental condition of the Indians who inhabited the Pacific slope a thousand or more years ago, a visit was made to the Vancouver Museum at Vancouver which fortunately possesses splendidly preserved specimens of prehistoric periods. Some of these skulls were uncovered while cutting through a hill for a street extension in the city of Vancouver. Above was a virgin forest of large size green firs and underneath them in the soil there were preserved fallen trunks of other large trees. Several feet below these, burials were uncovered containing skeletons of an early Indian race. This collection contains also skulls from several places and from prehistoric periods. The teeth are all splendidly formed and free from dental caries. The arches are very symmetrical and the teeth in normal and regular position.

It was important to study the conditions of their successors living in the same general community. Accordingly, we examined the teeth and general physical condition of the Indians in a reservation in North Vancouver, so situated that they have the modern conveniences and modern foods. In this group of children between eight and fifteen years of age, 36.9 per cent of all the teeth examined had already been attacked by dental caries. No people were found in this group who were living largely on native foods.

Vancouver Island with its salubrious climate is one of the most favored places of residence on the Pacific Coast. It was of particular interest to study the Indians near Victoria on this island in the Craigflower Indian Reservation. Indeed, the city of Victoria has been partly built on the original Craigflower Indian Reservation. As the need became acute for the territory reserved for them, an arrangement was consummated whereby the Indians were induced to exchange that land for new land in an adjoining district in which a new house was built free for each family. Besides a house, an allotment of land and a sum of money, reported to be ten thousand dollars, was given to each family. This allowed them to become very modern, and, accordingly, many of them owned automobiles and other modern luxuries. The physical effects of the use of food luxuries, resulting from ample funds for purchasing any foods that they might desire, was marked. They were in close proximity to skilled dental service and had practical training in oral prophylaxis. Notwithstanding this, 48.5 per cent of all teeth examined had already been attacked by dental caries. Every individual examined was suffering from tooth decay. The original diet of the Indians of the Pacific Coast was, as we shall see, very largely sea foods, which are probably as abundant today as ever before. It would require a real urge to go to catch the fish since they can now be purchased canned in the open market. Like most modern people, they were living on white-flour products, sweet foods and pastries.

Probably few cities of the Pacific Coast have had a greater abundance and variety of edible sea foods, particularly the various kinds of salmon, than Ketchikan. It is beautifully located on an island, and is the most southerly city in Alaska. Among the many fish that are abundant along this part of the Pacific Coast is the oolachan or candle fish. It is a small fish, but very rich in oil; so much so that it gets its name from being burned as a candle for light. This oil is collected in large quantities and used as a dressing for many of their sea foods. It is also traded with the Indians of the interior for furs and other products. An Indian settlement in this city was studied and it was found that 46.6 per cent of all teeth examined had already been attacked by tooth decay. In many of the homes individuals were ill with tuberculosis or arthritis. Tuberculosis had robbed many of the homes of one or more of its children.

At Juneau, the capital of Alaska, two groups were studied; one in the government hospital, and the other in an Indian settlement. In the hospital were both Indians and Eskimos, chiefly the former. Seventy-five per cent of the patients were reported to have been brought because they had tuberculosis, and some who had come because of accident and other conditions were reported to have tuberculosis also. Approximately 50 per cent of the total hospital enrollment was under 21 years of age. The dental conditions were bad, for 39.1 per cent of all the teeth examined had been attacked by tooth decay.

In the Indian settlement, a group of elderly primitives was found, every one of whom had complete dentitions in normal arrangement of the arches and without dental caries. In a settlement of modern Indians living principally on modern foods 40 per cent of all teeth had been attacked by tooth decay.

At Sitka, the former capital, two important groups were studied. Located here is the Sheldon Jackson School for Eskimos and Indian boys and girls, chiefly Indians. They have come from widely scatterd territory throughout Alaska, and represent the finest physical specimens that can readily be secured for giving the advantages of an education. Of necessity they came very largely from the modernized districts. In this group 53.7 per cent of all the teeth examined had already been attacked by tooth decay. This gives an indication of the dental conditions in the large number of modernized districts which they represented.

In a settlement at Sitka, a group of Indians of various ages were studied, and it was found that 35.6 per cent of all their teeth had already been attacked by dental caries. A well preserved native Indian, seventy years of age, was found who had come into town from another district. He stated that his diet had consisted chiefly of fish, fish eggs, seaweed and deer. His teeth were of very high excellence and were entirely free from past or present dental caries. He is a splendid example of the product of the native dietary provided for the Pacific Coast people of any period or stage of civilization.

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