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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[Bull. 196 



economic background. Their health practices with regard to pre- 

 ventive measures and treatment of illness accord with middle class 

 standards at large. 



To conclude, the analysis of behavior in respect to the onset of 

 illness has suggested three types of people. However, the differences 

 between the three groups are not of the same order. The second and 

 third groups are both committed to modern medicine. The differ- 

 ence rests in the choice of doctor which is, in part, based upon the 

 ability to pay for private care. The basic distinction among the 

 people is clearly drawn between those who use aboriginal medicine 

 and those who do not. 



CONCLUSIONS 



Health habits and medical practices have been analyzed in terms 

 of four criteria: environmental sanitation and hygienic practices; 

 responses to clinical procedures ; responses to school health instruction ; 

 and behavior prompted by illness. 



Criterion I. Sanitary-hygienic environment. — Analysis of the 

 data on environmental sanitation and hygienic practices permitted 

 the construction of four categories of people. The first two categories 

 contain Conservatives, Rm'al Whites, and Generalized Indians. The 

 third and fourth categories include Rural Whites, Generalized Indians, 

 and the Middle Class. Table 7 demonstrates the distribution of 73 

 informants and their families according to this criterion. The data 

 presented in this table are valid only in terms of the cases selected 

 for observation. They illustrate the fact that there is a rough fit 

 between Thomas' four acculturative types of people and their sanitary 

 and hygienic practices. 



Table 7. — Distribution of selected Cherokee families by types of sanitary-hygienic 



environment (criterion I) 



• Three of the four are homes of single men. 



