216 BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. 19 



into a boat. The dreamer and his assistant rowed out into the lake some 

 distance and threw the clothing and tobacco into the water as an offering 

 to the water spirit. The informant added that this is rarely done because 

 most people believe the water spirit to be an evil one. 



This completes the battery of native methods the Chippewa have devised 

 to combat sickness. With the gradual loss of the old culture there has been 

 a decline in the belief in the primitive etiologies of disease, and in the use 

 of primitive curative techniques, with an increasing patronage of the modern 

 hospital. The surprising thing, however, is not the lessened use of all the 

 old native curative techniques, but the fact that they have survived through- 

 out three hundred years of white contact. 



The Modern Hospital 



Previous to 1931 the Chippewa at Lac Court Oreilles depended largely 

 upon Government Field Physicians and Nurses for medical care. More serious 

 cases were transported to the Government hospital at Tomah. A Govern- 

 ment nurse was stationed on the Reservation for ten years as a health in- 

 spector. She treated minor ailments, and arranged for the hospitalization 

 of the more serious cases. 



In 1931 a Government hospital was erected near the town of Hayward. 

 It is a modern brick building (Fig. 13) housing 45 beds and 10 bassinets. 

 Service is provided free for any Indian living on the Reservation, but some 

 of the people object to the fact that the hospital was not built on the 

 Reservation, and a journey of from 15 to 25 miles is necessary. Transporta- 

 tion, however, is supplied for the more urgent cases by either the Indian 

 Agent or by a field car sent from the hospital. The normal staff quota 

 should consist of a Medical Officer in charge, a field physician, a field 

 nurse, six nurses, and one head nurse. In 1947, however, there was no 

 field physician, and only four nurses and one head nurse. At one time they 

 also had on the staff a dentist and an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist. At 

 the present time a field dentist comes to the Reservation about once a year. 

 The former Field Physician, assisted by a Field Nurse, had an office in 

 Hayward and was on call at any home on the Reservation. He also examined 

 the school children once every year and arranged for clinics at which vac- 

 cinations and innoculations were given, and occasionally x-rays were taken. 

 At that time there was also a health education program consisting of movies 

 on such subjects as tuberculosis and post-natal care of children. 



