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Show HRDLICKA] TUBEBCULOSIS AMONG CEBTAIN INDIAN TBIBES 19 in the ground, by a certain process, and stored in great coiled baskets. They are cooked whole, or are ground and made into heavy, but sweet, nourishing bread. Meat is scarce. There is a native butcher from whom they purchase fresh or jerked beef when they have money. Cattle and even horses which have died from disease are eaten. Only one family keeps cows. Chickens are seen around every dwelling, but they are as poor and sickly a lot as could be found anywhere. Every family keeps several poor dogs, sometimes eight or ten, one of which is occasionally eaten. In common with the chickens the dogs act the useful part of scavengers. The old people on the reservation receive limited rations every two weeks froip. the agency. All things considered, poverty and want are more frequently witnessed in this tribe than in any of the others that were visited, with the exception of the Sioux. Their food supply is irregular; while some meals that the writer saw were tasty, nourishing, and plentiful, in many other cases meals were insufficient for proper nourishment. The natives best oflF in this respect are those who live at a distance from the agency, on clearings near the river. In their habits the Mohave are domestic, though they are fond of traveling and visiting. They are mild- natured and approachable, and not averse to work, though under the present circumstances there is considerable idleness among the men. They are generally ignorant of hygiene, and in their homes there is frequently more or less squalor. Bedding and heavy articles of clothing are never washed. Food in general, especially meat that is being dried, is much exposed to flies. Personal cleanliness is imperfect. However, the boys are fond of bathing in the muddy river, and the girls like to wash their heads in the seepage water from the shallow wells. The sick and the aged are often neglected, and the rations which the latter receive are to a large extent consumed by their relatives. Drunkenness is infrequent, owing to scarcity of liquor. In the following pages are tabulated, for ready reference, the principal data concerning the five tribes studied. |