356 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[Boll. 196 



A few comments ^vill illuminate these figures. One man killed 

 another whom he beheved to have caused the death of his wife by- 

 witchcraft. A grandfather killed his infant grandchild on the ground 

 that this infant's birth had resulted in his daughter's death. The 

 other four murders all occurred in drunken brawls. Drunkenness 

 was also responsible for two deaths from an automobile accident, one 

 death by pneumonia (a man slept out of doors at freezing tempera- 

 tures), and four deaths from freezing while drunk. Finally, a mother 

 accidentally killed her infant son by falhng upon him while drunk 

 and a drunken man was killed when his horse fell upon him. "Acci- 

 dents" also include three boys who froze to death while running away 

 from school,^* eight deaths (all except two of youngsters) caused by 

 a horse, an infant struck by lightning, an infant who died of snake- 

 bite, an infant who died as a consequence of being bitten by red 

 ants, an infant who choked to death, and one case of drowning. 



Adair, Deuschle, and McDermott (1957) present the following 

 table (10) for causes of death among the Navaho in general. 



Table 10. — Ten leading causes of death among Navahos and comparative United 

 States general population rates, 1954^ 



1 Prepared by the Statistics and Analysis Section, U.S. Public Health Service, Albuquerque, N. Mex. 



Physiological observations by Gordon Allen, M.D., are summarized 

 by him (MS., 1957, p. 8) as follows: 



The Ramah Navaho have significantly lower systolic blood pressures than 

 Puerto Ricans or White industrial workers. Particularly striking is the virtual 

 absence of any blood pressure rise in older women. 



Blood pressure, pulse, cold pressor response and Schneider Physical Fitness 

 Score are all significantly related to age, as are weight and somatotype. Cardio- 

 vascular efficiency is significantly higher in older individuals, and in the most 



IS Five children died while away at school, 

 cause of death was known. 



These have not been included In the tabulation even where 



