﻿mpokey] 
  BLEEDING, 
  RUBBING, 
  BATHING. 
  333 
  

  

  while 
  the 
  mothers 
  have 
  their 
  infants 
  laid 
  away 
  under 
  the 
  bushes 
  

   with 
  only 
  a 
  shawl 
  between 
  them 
  and 
  the 
  cold 
  ground. 
  In 
  their 
  ball 
  

   plays 
  also 
  each 
  young 
  man, 
  before 
  going 
  into 
  the 
  game, 
  is 
  subjected 
  

   to 
  an 
  ordeal 
  of 
  dancing, 
  bleeding, 
  and 
  cold 
  plunge 
  baths, 
  without 
  

   food 
  or 
  sleep, 
  which 
  must 
  unquestionably 
  waste 
  his 
  physical 
  energy. 
  

   In 
  the 
  old 
  days 
  when 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  was 
  the 
  lord 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  coun- 
  

   try 
  from 
  the 
  Savannah 
  to 
  the 
  Ohio, 
  well 
  fed 
  and 
  warmly 
  clad 
  and 
  

   leading 
  an 
  active 
  life 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  air, 
  he 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  maintain 
  a 
  con- 
  

   dition 
  of 
  robust 
  health 
  notwithstanding 
  the 
  incorrectness 
  of 
  his 
  

   medical 
  ideas 
  and 
  his 
  general 
  disregard 
  of 
  sanitary 
  regulations. 
  

   But 
  with 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  man 
  and 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  the 
  

   game 
  all 
  this 
  was 
  changed. 
  The 
  East 
  Cherokee 
  of 
  to-day 
  is 
  a 
  de- 
  

   jected 
  being; 
  poorly 
  fed, 
  and 
  worse 
  clothed, 
  rarely 
  tasting 
  meat, 
  cut 
  

   off 
  from 
  the 
  old 
  free 
  life, 
  and 
  with 
  no 
  incentive 
  to 
  a, 
  better, 
  and 
  con- 
  

   stantly 
  bowed 
  down 
  by 
  a 
  sense 
  of 
  helpless 
  degradation 
  in 
  the 
  pres- 
  

   ence 
  of 
  his 
  conqueror. 
  Considering 
  all 
  the 
  circumstances, 
  it 
  may 
  

   seem 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  surprise 
  that 
  any 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  still 
  in 
  existence. 
  

   As 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  fact, 
  the 
  best 
  information 
  that 
  could 
  be 
  obtained 
  in 
  

   the 
  absence 
  of 
  any 
  official 
  statistics 
  indicated 
  a 
  slow 
  but 
  steady 
  

   decrease 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  five 
  years. 
  Only 
  the 
  constitutional 
  vigor, 
  

   inherited 
  from 
  their 
  warrior 
  ancestors, 
  has 
  enabled 
  them 
  to 
  sustain 
  

   the 
  shock 
  of 
  the 
  changed 
  conditions 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  half 
  century. 
  The 
  

   uniform 
  good 
  health 
  of 
  the 
  children 
  in 
  the 
  training 
  school 
  shows 
  

   that 
  the 
  case 
  is 
  not 
  hopeless, 
  however, 
  and 
  that 
  under 
  favorable 
  con- 
  

   ditions, 
  with 
  a 
  proper 
  food 
  supply 
  and 
  a 
  regular 
  mode 
  of 
  living, 
  the 
  

   Cherokee 
  can 
  hold 
  his 
  own 
  with 
  the 
  white 
  man. 
  

  

  THE 
  SWEAT 
  BATH— 
  BLEEDING 
  — 
  RUBBING 
  — 
  BATHING. 
  

  

  In 
  addition 
  to 
  their 
  herb 
  treatment 
  the 
  Cherokees 
  frequently 
  resort 
  to 
  

   sweat 
  baths, 
  bleeding, 
  rubbing, 
  and 
  cold 
  baths 
  in 
  the 
  running 
  stream, 
  

   to 
  say 
  nothing 
  of 
  the 
  beads 
  and 
  other 
  conjuring 
  paraphernalia 
  gen- 
  

   erally 
  used 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  ceremony. 
  The 
  sweat 
  bath 
  was 
  

   in 
  common 
  use 
  among 
  almost 
  all 
  the 
  tribes 
  north 
  of 
  Mexico 
  except- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  central 
  and 
  eastern 
  Eskimo, 
  and 
  was 
  considered 
  the 
  great 
  

   cure-all 
  in 
  sickness 
  and 
  invigorant 
  in 
  health. 
  Among 
  many 
  tribes 
  

   it 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  ceremonial 
  observance, 
  but 
  the 
  

   Cherokees 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  looked 
  upon 
  it 
  simply 
  as 
  a 
  medical 
  applica- 
  

   tion, 
  while 
  the 
  ceremonial 
  part 
  was 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  plunge 
  

   bath. 
  The 
  person 
  wishing 
  to 
  make 
  trial 
  of 
  the 
  virtues 
  of 
  the 
  sweat 
  

   bath 
  entered 
  the 
  a'sl. 
  a 
  small 
  earth-covered 
  log 
  house 
  only 
  high 
  

   enough 
  to 
  allow 
  of 
  sitting 
  down. 
  After 
  divesting 
  himself 
  of 
  his 
  

   clothing, 
  some 
  large 
  bowlders, 
  previously 
  heated 
  in 
  a 
  fire, 
  were 
  

   placed 
  near 
  him, 
  and 
  over 
  them 
  was 
  poured 
  a 
  decoction 
  of 
  the 
  beaten 
  

   roots 
  of 
  the 
  wild 
  parsnip. 
  The 
  door 
  was 
  closed 
  so 
  that 
  no 
  air 
  could 
  

   enter 
  from 
  the 
  outside, 
  and 
  the 
  patient 
  sat 
  in 
  the 
  sweltering 
  steam 
  

  

  