114 • Marc A. Kelley 



efficacy of providing simple attendance to the ill — namely, 

 insuring bedrest, warmth, plenty of fluids and emotional 

 comfort. Edward Winslow's account (1841 ) of his treatment 

 of the nearly dead Sachem Massasoit in 1623 is enlightening. 

 The Sachem, in an advanced state of illness (suffering possi- 

 bly from an intestinal virus) had lost his sight, his tongue had 

 swollen, and he suffered from dehydration. Winslow admin- 

 istered some physick (which usually consisted of raisins, 

 currants or other fruit), he then scraped the Sachem's tongue 

 and was able to mix water with the physick. which Massasoit 

 readily consumed. Within a half hour or so, Massasoit was 

 improving, as was his vision. 



So here we see that a man on the brink of death was aided 

 by the simple administration of water and fruit, not by any 

 sophisticated medical technology. As Massasoit continued to 

 improve, Winslow graduated him to chicken broth, which 

 made him stronger still. The colonists realized the value of 

 fluids and the danger of fatty foods during recovery from 

 such illnesses, but unfortunately the Indians did not. During 

 his recovery, Massasoit nearly died a second time by gorging 

 himself on fatty duck meat. As we know, Massasoit did 

 survive and lived a long life, but thousands of other natives 

 lost their lives abruptly because of unattended simple needs 

 of the sick. 



With this in mind, let us once again examine passages 

 from Governor Bradford's journal concerning Indian suffer- 

 ing and lack of basic health care: 



And then being very sore, what with cold and other dis- 

 tempers, they die like rotten sheep. The condition of this 

 people was so lamentable and they fell down so generally 

 of this disease as they were in the end not able to help one 

 another, no not to make a fire nor to fetch a little water to 

 drink, nor any to bury the dead. But would strive as along 

 as they could, and when they could procure no other means 

 to make fire, they would bum the wooden trays and dishes 

 they ate their meat in. and their very bows and arrows. And 

 some would crawl out on all fours to get a little water, and 

 sometimes die by the way and not be able to get in again. 

 (1970:271, italics mine) 



This passage indicates that (1) a synergism existed be- 

 tween smallpox and other distempers, which inevitably led to 

 higher mortality rates than otherwise expected, (2) most 

 members of a tribe were sick simultaneously, and (3) basic 

 health needs went unattended. The English eventually took 

 pity on the suffering Indians and tried to help them, but by 

 then, one suspects, it was too late. One additional factor 

 would have contributed to the natives' downfall: the psycho- 

 logical despair and apathy associated with epidemic sick- 

 ness. For example. In the 2()th century, outbreaks of viruses 

 among remote South American tribes lead to a fatalistic out- 

 look among not only those affected, but the unaffected as 

 well. Had not the medical researchers intervened, mortality 

 levels would certainly have been high. 



The differences between European and Indian strategies 

 for health care are thus obvious, but can we attribute such 

 staggering mortality rates among the Indians simply to health 

 care differences? For example, it has been argued that the 

 Indians possessed greater genetic susceptibility to Old World 

 pathogens. While this may in small part be true, I believe it 

 has been greatly exaggerated by medical historians over the 

 last several decades. It is important to remember that, though 

 not so dramatically, smallpox, influenza, yellow fever, and 

 tuberculosis claimed a steady toll of colonists each year. 

 Such diseases were feared by both races. The possibility 

 exists that Indians lacked certain acquired immunities to Old 

 World pathogens. Viral infections such as measles and small- 

 pox confer lifelong immunity if the victim survives. Euro- 

 pean immigrants were much more likely to have been ex- 

 posed to such viruses in the high-density towns and cities of 

 Europe and thus be immune to subsequent outbreaks occur- 

 ring in the New World. 1 remain unconvinced that Europeans 

 possessed an inherent genetic resistance to these viruses. 

 Smallpox, for example, seems to have been imported from 

 Asia into Europe only a few centuries prior to exploration of 

 the New World. It would seem unlikely that any appreciable 

 natural selection could have occurred among Europeans dur- 

 ing that interval. 



In effect, the bulk of evidence would suggest that while a 

 certain amount of loss of life from imported disease was 

 unavoidable, the devastating epidemics suffered by Indians 

 were not necessarily inevitable. 



Case study: Life for mid- 17th century 

 Narragansetts after the viral epidemics 



The recent discovery and excavation of a Narragansett ceme- 

 tery dating between 1650 and the 1670s (see Robinson et al. 

 1985 for additional background) provide us with an ideal 

 opportunity to examine the biosocial context of the epi- 

 demiological transition to an endemic disease setting among 

 these natives. This cemetery was located only three miles 

 from where Richard Smith and Roger Williams had set up a 

 trading post in 1637 or 1638. There is little doubt that these 

 Indians experienced frequent and sustained interaction with 

 the English settlers. 



Aspects of Indian acculturation included employment by 

 the colonists to build stone walls (Gookin 1792), the tending 

 of livestock and use of English mills for maize from the 

 1640s onward (Cronan 1983; Lechford 1867; Williams 

 1874), and the widespread detrimental consumption of alco- 

 hol . This last factor was of suftlcicnt magnitude to prompt the 

 Rhode Island colonists to pass legislation prohibiting the sale 

 of liquor to the natives at least five times during the 1650s 

 (Bartlett 1856). The rich diversity of European goods buried 

 among the 56 members coupled with skeletal evidence of 

 certain chronic disease states provide further evidence of this 

 coexistence. 



Zagreb Paleopalholofiy Symp. I9S8 



