SURVIVING INDIAN GROUPS—GILBERT 
stay-at-homes, frequently the con- 
servative, more Indian-like and older 
people; and (2) the migrants, often 
younger persons, who settle in cities 
or industrial areas. ‘The members of 
the first section continue to exist as a 
caste apart with their own racial 
schools, and often their own churches, 
clubs, and stores. They continue to 
confuse the selective service on racial 
classification although many go as 
white, and they continue to have a 
rather high birth rate. This latter 
feature casts doubt on the prediction 
that these groups will soon disappear. 
The migrants, on the other hand, 
who go to northern and western 
cities are absorbed partly by the white 
and partly by the colored commu- 
nities. 
The fertility of these Indian mixed 
groups is a matter worthy of some 
emphasis. In this respect the Indian 
mixed-bloods of the United States 
resemble the Caboclos (mainly 
Indian-white crosses) of Brazil who 
show a relatively greater reproduction 
rate than other elements of the 
population. According to a study by 
Roland M. Harper, the Croatan 
birth rate in 1933 was 35.4 per 
thousand as compared with 22.3 for 
the whites and 24.5 for the Negroes. 
Similar rapid rates of increase are to 
be found, to all appearances, among 
the Houma, Wesorts, Guineas, and 
other such groups. This increase, if 
continued, means that the Indian 
mixed-blood groups will play an 
important part in the future popu- 
lation make-up of their respective 
States and may also influence future 
State politics. 
Certain hereditary physical pecu- 
liarities are exhibited occasionally 
by the inbred eastern Indian mixed- 
bloods. The occurrence of albinos 
has been noticed among the Wesorts 
and the Jackson Whites. A similar 
occurrence of albinism was noted 
by Hrdlitka for the inbred Hopi 
and Zuni of the Southwest. Among 
the Wesorts, cases of microdontism 
431 
or short teeth run in certain families, 
while among the Nanticoke Weslager 
reports a thickened condition of the 
upper eyelid which results in droopy 
eyes (ptosis) in some families. Heredi- 
tary deformities in the joints are 
reported as occurring among the 
West Virginia Guineas. Hereditary 
diseases of the nervous system such 
as congenital deafness and blindness, 
and speech defects are reported among 
the Wesorts. 
Some writers have associated dysgen- 
ic qualities generally with certain 
of the mixed-blood Indian groups of 
the eastern States. Whether these 
alleged traits are due to inbreeding 
or not is difficult to establish. Many 
of these mixed-bloods have lived 
under social conditions that are not 
calculated to bring out their more 
admirable traits. The South Carolina 
mixed-bloods are spoken of as hyper- 
sensitive, shy, furtive, self-conscious, 
hypercritical, and obviously suffering 
from an inferiority complex. 
Where it is strongly established, 
the attitude of negativism on the 
part of Indian mixed-bloods is shared 
by the neighboring whites with the 
result that the whole subject of 
race relations is taboo. Any at- 
tempt by outsiders to investigate the 
situation often meets with silence 
or even violent response. Brewton 
Berry notes that mixed-bloods in 
South Carolina are virtually never 
the subject of conversation in white 
society and are not mentioned in 
newspapers and histories. ‘These out- 
castes have no written history, no 
family genealogies reposing in State 
historical archives, no part in the 
social register, and so on. In this 
respect they resemble preliterate so- 
cieties and offer a fertile field for 
anthropological research. 
The Indians of the eastern States 
represent today the results of the 
solution of the Indian problem by 
the individual States with a minimum 
of Federal interference. With the 
partial exception of the various Iro- 
