TUBERCULOSIS AMONG CERTAIN INDIAN TRIBES 

 OF THE UNITED STATES 



By Ales Hrdlicka 



I. INTRODUCTION 



The increasino; prevalence of tuberculosis in all its forms among 

 the Indians in many parts of this country demands the special atten- 

 tion of the student of the subject and calls for vigorous attempts to 

 limit the spread of the infection. 



It is not positively known whether or not tuberculosis existed 

 among the natives of this continent before the advent of the whites. 

 That it was rare, if it did exist, may be judged from the following 

 indications: (1) No reference to the prevalence of this disease among 

 the Indians is made by the writers who reported on the period of 

 the earliest contact of the whites with the various tribes. (2) There 

 are to this day among the Indians a scarcity of remedies and a lack of 

 specialized forms of treatment for this disease. (3) In many tribes 

 the testimony of the old Indians is to the effect that diseases of the 

 kind were unknown or but seldom seen among them in their early 

 days, or in the still earlier times of which information had come 

 down to them. (4) The old men and women in many of the tribes 

 are remarkably free from signs of tuberculosis of the lymph nodes 

 and bones. (5) The whites who have been long in contact with 

 the Indians, particularly in the Southwest, all speak of the spread 

 of the disease within their memory, while the observations of ex- 

 plorers and men of science indicate a progressive decrease in most 

 localities as we recede into the past. (6) As yet no bones of un- 

 doubtedly pre-Columbian origin have been found that show tuber- 

 culous lesions, and such lesions are very rare in Indian bones 

 dating from the period of the earliest contact with the whites. 

 (7) The Indian presents everywhere a greater susceptibility to the 

 disease than the white man; this means a lesser immunization of 

 his system, indicating the more recent introduction of the infection 

 into his race. (8) It is to be assumed on purely logical grounds that 

 the disease must have been much less frequent among the Indians 

 in former times when they lived a more natural and active life, were 

 better inured to hardships, and, with exception of particular localities 

 and periods, were better provided with suitable food. 



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