HRDLicKA] TUBERCULOSIS AMONG CERTAIN INDIAN TRIBES 7 



number of its people make it impossible as yet to obtain exact data. 

 Still, there are many indications that in this tribe the proportion of 

 tuberculous cases is veiy small where contact with the whites is 

 restricted. An exception is found among the Navalio on the Hopi 

 reservation, who already show infection to about the same extent 

 as the Hopi themselves. 



III. SCOPE OF INVESTIGATIONS 



The investigations on which this report is based were pursued in 

 five of the tribes, shown in the above-mentioned data to be most 

 afflicted with tuberculosis, and in one of the large nonreservation 

 schools. The tribes in question are the Menommee in northeastern 

 Wisconsin; the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota; the Quinaielt on 

 the seacoast and along the river of the same name in northwestern 

 Washington; the Hupa in northwestern California; and the Mohave, 

 on the Colorado river between Needles, Cal., and Yuma, Ariz. 

 These tribes were selected not only because of the prevalence among 

 them of tuberculosis, but also because they live under widely differing 

 conditions of climate, environment, civilization, and contact with 

 the whites. The school visited is the one at Phoenix, Ariz. The 

 investigation was carried on during the two months of midsummer 

 when people everywhere are most free from the various bronchial and 

 pulmonary affections that might complicate a diagnosis. 



On account of the short time available, and the extensive ground 

 to be covered, the study had to be limited to what was most essential 

 toward obtaining reliable statistics. In the smaller tribes, as the 

 Hupa and the Mohave, nearly all the dwellings were visited, and all 

 the members of the tribe who were not far distant were studied. In 

 the larger tribes, as the Menominee and the Oglala, the exam- 

 inations were limited to one hundred families. Among the Oglala, 

 these one hundred families included only full-bloods, who in this 

 tribe suffer more from tuberculosis than do the half-breeds. 



The actual work consisted in visiting the dwellings consecutively 

 and making a personal examination of each member of every family, 

 healthy or not healthy. In many families absent members were 

 brought from many miles away by the Indians themselves for exam- 

 ination. This examination embraced the lungs, heart, glands of the 

 neck, and skeleton, and was supplemented by inquiries. Wlienever 

 a case was encountered in which the presence of phthisis seemed 

 probable, an effort was made to secure a sample of the sputum. 

 This was sent back to the bacteriologist, who had meanwhile estab- 

 lished himself in a convenient place at the agency. A satisfactory 

 sample of sputum was not always obtainable, however, and it was 

 seldom possilile to secure more than one specimen from the same 

 subject. Tuberculin tests and opsonic determinations, though very 



