246 BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. 19 



SUMMARY 



This report has attempted to pose and substantiate the following six 

 points: 



1. That there exists among the Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin exag- 



gerated health anxieties. 



2. That, while a deep concern for health existed as a traditional atti- 



tude among the Chippewa, it has been substantially intensified in 

 modern times as a result of very real and serious health problems. 



3. That this attitude seems likely to persist for some time in the light 



of the fact that the health problems of the present are, to a consider- 

 able extent, due to poor economic circumstances, the immediate 

 improvement of which seems unlikely. While an aggressive health- 

 education program would be helpful in the present plight of the 

 American Indian, such a program cannot be of the blanket variety, 

 but must be geared to the individual tribes in terms of their own 

 particular psychological and cultural patterns. 



4. That health anxieties are present among other North American 



Indian tribes, particularly among the Navaho. 



5. That health attitudes are correlated to some extent with type of 



economy among North American Indians. That the individualistic 

 hunting tribes tend to concentrate upon individual contact with 

 the supernatural with considerable attention being paid to health 

 and healing in contrast to the agricultural tribes emphasizing com- 

 munal religious ceremonies concentrating on planting, harvesting, 

 and fertility themes. 



6. That such a study as this highlights the fact that in terms of human 



behavior the attitude of a primitive people toward disease is more 

 influential than the disease itself. 



