270 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196 



Opinions about Indian doctors vary somewhat. Some, although 

 they do patronize Indian practitioners, feel that they do not know as 

 much now as the "old people" did. Others hold that Indian doctors 

 can cure cancer and diabetes, as well as other ailments. Some native 

 healers are, of course, considered better than others. The feeling is 

 strong that all of them can "conjure" against somebody, but the 

 doctors generally deny this. How widespread the feeling is that 

 Indian doctors know when a person is going to die has not been deter- 

 mined, but this subject has been mentioned by a few informants. 



Most adults who make use of Indian doctors know some herbal 

 remedies and use them much as others might use patent medicines; 

 indeed, some of them use patent medicines, too. Usually these people 

 do not know the ceremonial language which accompanies the formula 

 for curing. For example, OUie, a middle-aged informant, said that 

 one of her grandchildren had something wrong with him, so she made 

 some medicine and rubbed it on. "He quit that sliding around 

 [itching]." Her brother, Julius, "learned medicine" for cuts and 

 toothaches from his grandfather, Ducksoup. However, he doctors 

 only himself. 



To summarize, these are the patterns which most of the Con- 

 servatives foUow when coping with illness. If allowed to make a 

 choice, some people, admittedly few in number, avoid contact with 

 White physicians. However, school health activities preclude com- 

 plete reliance on Indian doctors. Thus, many Conservatives use 

 both types of medical practitioners at the same time. 



Others employ both Indian and White doctors, but on different 

 occasions. One variable here is diagnosis. If the natm^e of the 

 affliction is known, help is solicited from an Indian doctor. In the 

 event that it is unknown, a trip to the hospital is made for a shot, for 

 these people have impUcit faith in the efficiency of shots. Evidence 

 suggests that in circumstances where the White physician does not 

 tell the patient what is wrong with him and does not give him an 

 injection, the patient feels that the doctor is no good. Associated 

 with this point of view is the tendency to turn to an Indian doctor 

 if the therapy or diagnosis does not accord with the Indian's idea of 

 proper treatment. We suggest that for the greater number of these 

 people, the two types of medical assistance are not antithetical. 

 In their view, the two systems are complementary. Choosing be- 

 tween them does not produce ambivalence. Given the notion that 

 Indian doctors know more about pediatrics than White doctors, one 

 readily selects a native doctor, but if the malady does not respond 

 to this therapy, a shot is probably required. Correspondingly, in 

 ailments in which injections form part of the treatment, the people 

 are fairly faithful. The diabetic patients are regular in their adminis- 



