Journal of the Southwest

American Indian Medicine by Virgil J. VogelReview by: Harry H. AndersonArizona and the West, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Spring, 1972), pp. 86-87Published by: Journal of the SouthwestStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40168014 .

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AMERICAN INDIAN MEDICINE. By Virgil J. Vogel. Norman:

University of Oklahoma Press, 1970. 578 pp. $12.50.

86 ARIZONA and the WEST

At a time when there is an increased demand for recognition of the cultural and scientific achievements by minority groups within modern society, this volume

presents an impressive array of evidence concerning the knowledge of medicine and its practice by the American Indian. By definition, "medicine" refers to the traditional healing of disease or injury, and not to the mysterious, supernatural beliefs common to Indian life. Virgil J. Vogel's study focuses primarily on the native tribes in the United States and Canada, and gives less attention to the Indians in Mexico, Central and South America. This subject has not previously gone unnoticed, as evidenced by the number of items in the lengthy bibliography; but Vogel's is the most recent and available, and by far the most broadly conceived and comprehensive treatment.

From explorer's journals, travel narratives and other historical accounts, Vogel draws observations by whites on Indian medical methods which illustrate that numerous procedures used by American natives compared favorably, in certain circumstances, with many European practices during the Age of Discovery. (The most spectacular example probably being the performance of skull surgery, under anesthesia, by Peruvian Indians before the arrival of Columbus.) From the same sources, and more recent specialized studies, Vogel discusses therapeutic methods which illustrate how the Indians maintained a general level of good health, and even in isolated instances were able to develop treatments for new diseases acquired by white contact. (As this contact became more extensive, their

inability to resist, either by natural immunity or healing practices, the ravages of

smallpox, cholera, or measles proved disastrous for a number of tribes.) Appended to the book is a section of about one hundred fifty pages describing in detail several hundred drugs listed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia which were known and used by the Indians of North and South America. All this is not to imply that everything the Indian did to promote health and healing was effective, or even helpful. It does show that, contrary to the statements of some writers that non-white culture contributed little or nothing to medical science (and to the total disregard of Indian practices by others), the Indian role has to receive appropriate recognition in any meaningful study of the history of medicine.

As befitting a broad subject such as this, the research has been extensive, but apparently not exhaustive. Vogel appears more at home among the tribes east of the Mississippi than west, and has neglected to make use of some primary sources that would have corrected this imbalance. For the Upper Missouri country, for example, Francis A. Chardon's Fort Clark Journal would have provided eye- witness descriptions of the Mandans' pitiful attempts to cope with the smallpox epidemic of 1837, and Tabeaus Narrative of Loisel's Expedition contains useful observations on the Sioux and Arikara, including their medical practices, prior to Lewis and Clark. Among the minor errors is one that crops up repeatedly - the misidentification of Lieutenant John G. Bourke, Third Cavalry, as an

army doctor. While one might tend to question Vogel's judgment that "disease [among

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REVIEWS 87

the Indians] did more to clear the west for settlement than the cavalry," there is no doubt that his "resurrection of the forgotten story of American Indian contribu- tions to medicine" makes an important and useful book. It contributes to both the history of medicine and the American Indian, and reflects the historian's

response to social trends, by utilizing the tools of his profession to acknowledge the role all people played in the achievements of contemporary civilization.

Harry H. Anderson

Th reviewer is Executive Director of the Milwaukee County Historical Society, and a recog- nized authority on American Indian culture.

TROOPERS WEST: Military and Indian Affairs on the American Frontier. Edited by Ray Brandes. San Diego, California: Frontier Heritage Press, 1970. 206 pp. $25.00.

Troopers West is a beautifully bound and illustrated anthology of military and cultural conflict between Indian and white and among Indian tribes. Eleven essays and a Select Bibliography by Henry A. Shiley make up the book. The essays, on different though related subjects, provide the reader with refreshing changes of pace. Four of the essays are essentially biographical in nature, five are primarily military, and two, though dealing with warfare, emphasize cultural antagonisms.

"Mangas Coloradas" by Ray Brandes is an objective sketch of a towering personality who has left a permanent imprint on the history of his people and on the Southwest. Robert Weinstein's 'The Man Who Photographed Indians" is told largely through the photographs of that remarkable photographer, William Soule. Soule's work was equalled by few if any of his peers. His portraits are truly character studies and as a result are of lasting value and interest. William Reed's "DeGrazia" is a warm character study of the artist whose sensitive paint- ings and sketches so admirably illustrate and enhance the book. Reed's "Hazen" is a sympathetic yet mechanical review of the career of an army officer long associated with Indian affairs in the West.

Don Rickey, Jr.'s "All-Indian V Troop of the 6th U.S. Cavalry" is a well- researched and written narrative of an experiment with Brule Sioux in the cavalry. Rickey believes the experiment worked well. It is worth noting that military efforts to incorporate red men as well as black men into the service did succeed and yet were abandoned. How much in racial understanding and peace could have been handed down to the present generation of Americans, if these experiments had been carried to their logical conclusion? Dan Thrapp provides an interesting detective story in 'Where Was the Battle of Turret Peak Fought?" His object is to locate the exact site of one of the major clashes with Apaches in General George Crook's campaign of 187 1 to bring peace to the Arizona frontier. Eve Ball, from interviews with Ace Daklugie, presents the Indian viewpoint of

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