176 BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. 19 



Steadily declined until by 1900 it had reached a low of 200,000. Since then 

 it has been steadily gaining until at the present time there are some 360,000 

 Indians in the United States. What the causes were for this rebound within 

 the last fifty years are not within the scope of this paper, but factors such as 

 the cessation of warfare, both intertribal and with the United States, acquired 

 immunities to some diseases, racial intermixture, and improved medical care 

 were undoubtedly involved. This paper will be concerned with an analysis 

 of the contact results on the major cause of populational fluctuation, health, 

 of one band of Chippewa Indians now living in northwestern Wisconsin. 



One of the striking things encountered during a nine-month field study 

 of the Wisconsin Chippewa was the inordinate amount of attention given 

 to health and healing. Of course, man's interest in preserving his health is 

 universal, and in all societies, both primitive and complex, a generous share 

 of the culture consists of ways and means of dealing with that problem. In 

 our own culture the knowledge and techniques of curing, ranging from "old 

 wives" remedies to medical science, are legion. The hyper-consciousness of 

 the Chippewa regarding health and curing seemed well beyond a normal 

 interest and raised three primary questions. First, is this situation purely 

 cultural, or does it have a biological basis .' In other words are the Chippewa 

 merely expressing a cultural interest, or are they actually in a state of poor 

 health .-* Secondly, is this preoccupation with health a fresh condition, or 

 has it been evinced in their earlier history? Thirdly, what was the effect of 

 the impact of Western Civilization upon the cultural and biolog^ical situa- 

 tion? And, finally, to attempt to determine whether or not exaggerated health 

 anxieties are unique for the Chippewa among North American Indian 

 tribes, and to what extent, if any, health anxieties are correlated with type of 

 economic life. My procedure will be, first, to make an analysis of various 

 phases of culture in which this intense interest in health is reflected to show 

 that it does exist; secondly, to seek the solution to the above problems on 

 the basis of field observations, modern hospital records, and source material 

 provided by ethnological and historical accounts. 



2. THE PEOPLE 



The Lac Court Oreilles band of Chippewa consists of some 1700 people 

 sporadically scattered over a reservation of 45,000 acres in Sawyer County 

 in northwestern Wisconsin. The people, traditionally food gatherers with 



