SICKNESS AND TREATMENT 
The philosophy of sickness and treatment at Sia, as well as at other 
Keresan pueblos, is not complete, comprehensive, and explicit by any 
means. Conceptions of illness and of means of treating it appear to 
range from the almost wholly nonsupernatural, at one end of a spec- 
trum, to the wholly supernatural at the other end. Sometimes 
people “just get sick, maybe from something they ate.’”? But illness 
caused by witches is, of course, a wholly supernaturalistic affair. 
Minor illnesses may not be attributed to supernaturalistic causation, 
at least explicitly. But the entire life of the Sias is so permeated by 
supernaturalism that one may well doubt that it is ever wholly absent. 
If a minor illness, such as a cough or a stomach disorder, stubbornly 
persists, it is very likely to be interpreted as due to supernatural 
causes. 
CLASSES OF ILLNESS 
The Sias distinguish classes of ailments for each of which they 
recognize proper methods of treatment. And, in general, ‘‘a sickness 
or a disease tests your strength; if you [are treated and] get well you 
will be stronger afterwards.”’ The following classes are distinguished. 
MATTER OF FACT 
As we have just noted, some illnesses and deaths are not attrib- 
uted to supernatural causes and supernatural means are not required 
to treat the illnesses. It is recognized and accepted that people are 
subject to ailments of various kinds, and, it is believed, the use of 
various materials will effectively treat, or cure, these ailments. 
Thus, to treat trachoma, or sore eyes in general, one bathes the eyes 
in water in which obsidian (h‘a-pi) and the root of a plant that has a 
star-shaped flower and is called cckip4 (star) wawa (medicine), both 
ground fine, have been soaked. A tea made of mint (tsctfsi; Mentha 
canadensis) is drunk to cure fevers. An unidentified plant called 
DAip", by the Sias, pagé, by their Spanish American neighbors at 
San Ysidro, is used to treat stomach disorders (a specimen of this 
plant was deposited in the Museum of Anthropology, University of 
Michigan, cat. No. 23894). A medicine made of the root of the bush 
morning-glory (Ipomoea leptophylla), gacace, is used to promote the 
fertility of horses and the growth of colts; it is ground and mixed 
with their drinking water. Women drink juniper tea after child- 
birth, as we have seen (p. 200). 
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