1953} RITZENTHALER. CHIPPEWA HEALTH 235 



and to a broader problem we next deal with the possible correlation between 

 an emphasis on curative rites and type of economic life. 



The hypothesis to be tested in the following pages is this: that among 

 the American Indians north of Mexico there existed by Columbian times a 

 cultural complex emphasizing hunting, shamans superimportant over priests, 

 weak development of religious rites, and strong development of curative 

 practices; that this was a northern tradition emanating from and essentially 

 limited to the northern area (northern United States and Canada) geo- 

 graphically; that tribes moving south encountered a different complex pre- 



fsumably emanating from Central America; that this Southern Tradition was 

 based economically on agriculture (particularly the raising of corn, beans, 



[and squash) and had a strong priesthood with priests more powerful than 

 shamans, well-developed religious ceremonies with an accent on fertilit)', 

 and planting and harv^esting rites (particularly maize ceremonies) rather than 

 curative. Type tribes for this tradition would be the Hopi in the Southwest, 

 and any of the Muskogean-speaking peoples of the Southeast. Type tribes 

 for the Northern Tradition would be such groups as the Chippewa and 

 Naskapi of the Woodland area and Kutchin and Tanaina in the Mac- 

 Kenzie area. 



The kernel of this complex of interest to us is the hunting economy 

 associated with an emphasis on curative practices on the one hand as against 

 the agricultural economy associated with a concentration on planting, harvest- 

 ing, and fertility rites. If the former correlation can be definitely established 

 we might seek for the reasons for the greater concern for health among 

 hunting peoples in terms of the greater physical dangers involved in the hunt 

 and the great dependence for sustenance and even group survival upon the 

 physical well-being of the hunter. In the following areal analysis, regions 

 without hunting or agriculture as dominant economies such as the North- 

 west Coast, Plateau, and California will not be considered. In this analysis 

 Wissler's (p. 199) distinction between priest and shaman will be used. 

 "A large number of tribes have distinct names for each and their cultures 

 )give them distinct and sometimes antagonistic functions. It is the shaman 

 / rather than the priest who is called upon to treat the sick, to foretell the 

 future, etc. The priest is essentially the keeper and demonstrator of rituals, 

 his right to do so arising chiefly from his mere knowledge of the subject, 

 but the native conception of the shaman is one who works directly by virtue 



