ORDLicKAl PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL OBSEllVATIONS 17 



Personal necessities arc everywhere attended to in any convenient 

 place, such as the yard, the rear of the dwellin^ij, and even, as amon<^ 

 the Hopi and the Zuni, in the streets of the villages. No such thing 

 as a closet, a cesspool, or a sewer is known. Here the dry air and the 

 wind and rain perform a great service for the Indian. House refuse is 

 deposited in heaps at a convenient distance from the dwellings. ' 



Among all but the more civilized tribes, blankets and clothing are 

 very seldom washed. Many of the Indians have no spare clotliing 

 for use while one set is being cleansed. Except among the lowest 

 classes of Indians a struggle against vermin is carried on to about the 

 same extent and witli about as much success as among their white 

 neighbors of the lower classes. 



Household animals comprise frequently several dogs, occasionally 

 a cat, and more often chickens. Other useful or pet animals and 

 birds are scarce. The dogs, from nearly constant hunger, are efficient 

 scavengers. Horses, cows, and sheep, if there are any, generally run 

 at large, consequently no manure is present, in which insects, par- 

 ticularly flies, would otherwise breed near the houses. 



Occupations 



A prime factor in the physical welfare of individuals as well as of 

 groups of people is found in the prevalent occupations. The pursuits 

 of the Indians in the Southwest and in northern Mexico, excepting 

 those of the Yaqui and perhaps the Otomi, do not vary greatly. 

 Agriculture, though in places restricted, is still the most important 

 industry." On account of the diminished supply of game, hunting 

 (except among a few of the mountain tribes, as the Tarahumare, 

 Huichol, and Cora) is of secondary importance; but fishing, car- 

 ried on by interesting primitive methods, is more general (except 

 among the Apache, Navaho, and Pueblos, who eat no fish), and on 

 the whole yields greater returns. Native manufactures comprise 

 the weaving of blankets, sliirts, sashes, pouches, and hatbands, made 

 mostly, though not entirely, by the women; hat making, chiefly tlie 

 work of men, but occasionally, as among the Yaqui, of women; 

 basket making, developed to the highest degree among the Pima, 

 Hopi, Havasupai, Apache, and Walapai, entirely the work of women, 

 and the making of pottery, which has reached a high state of 

 development among most of the Pueblos in the north, almost wholly 

 the work of women. In the south, as among the Otomi, pottery for 

 sale is made largely by the men. Farm work is performed mainly 

 by the men, although the women lend their aid.^ The care of cliildren, 



a In many localities throughout the region \mder consideration the most desirable lands at present are 

 owned and occupied, or exploited, by the whites, but the actual work is still performed by Indians, 

 who are hired by the owners. 



b They may even help to pull a primitive plow, as the writer has seen among the White Mountain 

 Apache, but they do this of their own free will and to no excess. 



34.52— Bull. 34—08 2 



