1953} RITZENTHALER, CHIPPEWA HEALTH 225 



estimated at $30,000 in exchange for medical knowledge in the Midewiwm, 

 indicates that this interest had not diminished. 



Whether the problem was resolved by acquired immunity, effective 

 application of preventive medicine, or a combination of the two, the fact 

 remains that by 1900, smallpox had ceased to be a serious problem of the 

 Chippewa. By this time, however, a new threat to their health had arisen 

 in the form of tuberculosis, which became and remains the most serious 

 health problem of modern times. The rise in tuberculosis incidence was, to 

 a considerable extent, an accompanying feature of the acculturational process. 

 The increasing acceptance of western culture produced conditions amenable 

 to the spread of the disease. While the Chippewa had been exposed to, and 

 had incorporated many items of western civilization into their culture during 

 early times, the period of intensive acculturation begins with their settle- 

 ment on reservations in 1854. Traditionally the Chippewa had lived in 

 small, widely scattered, semi-sedentar)? bands. The reservation system froze 

 them in their locales, resulting in reduced mobility and a greater concentra- 

 tion of population. The trend toward a more settled way of life was 

 furthered by the gradual breakdown of the old economic system. Under the 

 old system the group was almost constantly on the move. In the fall they 

 moved to the wild rice fields for a period of a month or more. In winter 

 they moved to the hunting grounds; spring found them in the sugar-bush; 

 and in summer they returned to the village to fish, gather berries, and tend 

 their gardens. The change from a food-gathering economy to a money- 

 gathering economy began during the latter half of the Nineteenth Centur}' 

 when lumber interests invaded the area and many of the men took jobs in 

 the lumber camps. Today, a combination of the two is in operation, but the 

 emphasis is on a money economy with the major income from seasonal 

 pursuits such as cutting pulpwood, guiding, and harvesting crops for the 

 nearby farmers and cranberry growers. Elements of the old economic cycle 

 are still in evidence, but the only thing approaching mass migration occurs 

 in the fall when many families move to the wild rice fields. Only a few 

 families still collect maple-syrup in the spring, and while there is con- 

 siderable hunting and fishing done throughout the year it is now done with 

 the permanent home as a base of activities. This economic trend has had 

 two results bearing on our problem: a more sedentary life with much more 

 time spent in a fixed abode, and a change in the foodways. 



The abandonment of the wigwam for a more permanent dwelling intro- 

 duced some unfortunate aspects. The majority of the houses today are one- or 



