49: White Medicine1
49
White Medicine
This image is on PB website
Nurses posed outside
the tuberculosis sanitarium at Walker.
Photograph Collection ca. 1938
Minnesota Historical Society
Location no. R2.2 r72
(21)I like to smoke. Smoking is a great thing, and smoking maybe is a good pastime to me, even though I hear so much about it. I just enjoy smoking, that's all. And ‘course I use judgment to it too. There are times when you smoke too much, sometime you don't smoke enough. So it can be either way.
I think I feel I want to stand back at about the center of habits--and it's pretty hard to do at times because I meet friends all over that offer me smoking. I've been watching these lumber camps and that's where you have to smoke tobacco.
I chewed tobacco too. I chewed small boxes of snuff down, bIndahkwan. I think they were “nickel boxes.” The “ten cent boxes” [were] a little bigger than a half dollar. Then the big ones came out and we just laughed at them. We called them "washtub boxes” of snuff. I chewed a box of them a day. I was about nineteen years old. Oh geeze, I chewed all day.
It was too much.
I cut out that [chewing] just by using my willpower. See? It takes willpower in life if you're going to quit this. It sets your mind, willpower. Your willpower helps; it helps you, your willpower. That's the deal there.
In life you have to keep your moral work in your system at all times. You have to eat a certain amount a day, enough to keep you up anyhow. You should not lose weight, not lose faith in life, and do a certain amount of work in your life. And when you do a certain amount of work, that is good for your body, and in life you have accomplished something. You feel you have gained something for the benefit of the people that's coming behind you in life.
[Sometimes] you try but they don't.
[But] People don’t, somepeople don't, look and listen to all. They think it is a lot of B.S., I feel. I feel that they think too much and [talk] too much. You just have to do a certain amount of talking, a certain amount of singing, and [a] certain amount of things in life. Too much is too much, and [if you overdo in any way]you're going to be out. Same way with religion. Same way with belief. You have to have a certain amount. It has to be equal. Everything has to be equal. You need balance, a balanced diet, balanced food.
But me, sometimes I didn't know the limit, because I was without eating at times too long. So I had to wake up; naturally, everybody does.
I've been without food a day. and [When you go without food, even for one day,] you get pretty hungry too because nature calls for it. Your mind is working and that calls for food. But you should take a little of something[, even if it’s water]. Now if you get too hungry, you take a lot of water; take water every now and then to help your system. I think it does a person a lot of good to slow down on a certain diet.
Now, if you eat grease food too much at warm weather, it isn't good for you. In cold weather it is all right, you resist that cold weather with grease food. There is heat in the oil and certain vitamins for [cold]weather conditions. And there are some vitamins, there is some food, that will decay quicker than the other.
(23) It's hard food--meat and stuff like that--where you labor, where you're exercising. A little wiiyahš, a little meat, wouldn't hurt at all. XxxIn the past I found that if you eat too much meat it's not good for you. You have to help your in-digest by balancing it with wild rice. Wild rice will balance that out. You'll starve if you eat too much meat. [And] wild rice will hurt you if you eat too much of it. Your brain will tell you what to eat or what went wrong. Take care of that stomach of yours and you'll be all right. What you drink and what you eat is a main part of life. XxxLike milk is a good thing … [dodošahbo]. It is easy even to in-digest. Milk is good for life.. Milk is nature brought up to people in the world.
XxxMy favorite food is giigõ, fish. It is natural. I like natural food and meat, wild game. My favorite is bread. Bread is given to me to eat. I feel that it's a good thing. But there's too much of richness, there's too much of everything. You have to balance it[what you eat]in your diet.
zzzWhen we were small we'd try anything. We'd take that pople tree and peel that bark off and eat that. Boy that was good; the juice would just run down during the certain time of the year. Zzz Little snacks[like that]are good; snacks mostly are good. They make you cheer up too.
And greens are good too. We used to go out into the waters to get them bulrushes when we were little boys. I think there’s something to that. We’d pull them bulrushes up and they're white on the bottom. Then we eat that tender part. We had good teeth. Oh boy, how good that was. Lots of them would sit out there and eat that stuff and paddle along. There's something to that too, you know. I believe it. Yes, it could be because we always went out, not to go out and just to eat them, but we'd play around them. We`d pull them up and get a good sized one[to eat]; boy that's good.
Yeah, it's good, those bulrushes. I think it's good for you. It draws the intestinal poison or something. I feel that it draws. So when you pass them, the excess in your body is gone. You have to keep your body regulated. That's the way I felt all the time. I would pay attention to regulations and take care of injuries. You should be careful not to fall down or something and wreck yourself.
(24)You have to look after your needs. You have to take care of yourself in life. You have to watch, and ask the older class what is good for you because you come to the balance of food all the time. Xxx The older class is supposed to be responsible for teaching the younger class how to get along in the area you're living in.
zzz They'll tell you that so much of this, too much of that, is the limit. When a limit comes then anything could happen. I believe it; I believe it's right.
So, that's the way I've lived in my times.
16A[1614]xxx I'm talking about what's right and good, what's bad, or what we are scared of. Everybody's scared of bad things.
In my past, in about 1939, I was going too strong and I was forgetting my people; I was forgetting. I was able. All I wanted is work. Work, work, work. And if I could grab a dollar, I'd grab it. [But] I did not use that dollar [right]. I didn't say “thank you” to my body that I'm able to work. So I took sick; I was very, very sick. I took[so] sick I could not raise my hand to feed myself. Zzz That was quite a while ago
I caught cold. I chased cattle through wet meadows, herding them for milk. I was chasing them to bring them in so I could milk 'em. We had six, seven cows. We played the Mississippi River bottoms. I came home and went to bed. Boy, I went to bed. Xxx Something began to react on me. zzz Talk about the fever I got! I took sick after I took a great fever. I caught cold. I had no resistance. I worked too hard. I had to walk in the cold and my clothes were always wet. Finally it caught up to me and I got run down. That was a hard life. But I'm happy. I lived a life. I found my sickness with the doctors.
zzz
(24)There was a time I broke down, in the 30's, like 36 or 37. We had doctors,m/\ški kii wInninii, Indian doctor[s], medicine man [men]. We also had test[s,] and clinics that would go to the Indians. [Andsome of the Indians would go to those clinics.] When , but I broke down in ‘37,’39, I went in the hospital for a checkup.Zzz Xxx Then I went to the university doctor in the thirties. zzzXxx It was just small hospital too, right around Walker. Xxx When I was in the hospital[there] they couldn’t--[it] seems [as] though they couldn’t--find [out]what's the matter.
Cottage C, State Sanatorium, Walker
Photographer: Charles J. Hibbard (-1924)
Photograph Collection 1913
Location no. MC3.5 p8
Minnesota Historical Society
Negative no. 4378-B
xxxThe older people were afraid to go to the hospital [them days] because they felt that it was more of a practice. Xxx[And in Indian they think of ] hospital as a "sickhouse," ahkoziiwighammIg. zzz Well, they also believe[pretty strong] in [their religion]. They went to Indian doctors because they knew that the Indian doctor will work with them. They felt that the white doctor didn't understand the nature of the Indian. They thought it[the hospital and the white doctors] might be alright for the white people. They weren't all together down on them, but one would tell another, "Well, it doesn't do me any good to go to that doctor."
You would find that in many cases, with any nationality. They'll say, "I went to that doctor; he didn't do me any good." Well that ends it right there. [To find out any different someone] He has to go and try it himself. And the doctors have to prove himself[themself] right there [in the hospital].
You always had privilege[s] years ago. If you didn't like the doctor, you could go to any of the doctors. Xxx The federal government[always]provided doctors, so the Indians went to the government doctors[if they wanted to]. Xxx About 1915 some people stopped usingthese things[Indian Medicine]. They went to the government doctors. We had government doctors [in]about 1915. That's when Dr. House[or Hause ? or ?] was around[Cass lake].zzz Dr. Housecame, I suppose, about 1906 or 1907. xxx He was jolly, happy. Ya. He married a breed. I don't know[her]! I forgot her name. She was from CassLake. He was a wonderful doctor. He wasn't[You weren’t]sick around him at all. He made you laugh. He talked to you. [And] when he was going to doctor you, you had to take the medicine!
We had some good doctors in this area--I'll tell you they were good. Zzzxxx[211] They weren't all experienced, but they took interest in the Indian. I know they did 'cause they helped [the Indians] along. [And] they had so many different diseases [and] different cases to take care of in them days. zzz
Doctor Dumas' office in CassLake.
Photograph Collection, Postcard ca. 1911
Minnesota Historical Society
Location no. MC3.9 CL3.1 r1
xxx[When I was a boy young, the doctors] didn't have the equipment[they had later on]. It seems though there[were] cases [where] they didn't have equipment and didn't have the tests. They only had medicine. They didn't have much equipment. See, they had the remedy, like aspirins, and xlaxes, and all that stuff. That's all the doctors that practice had in the olden days. xxxIt wasn't[And they didn’t always practice at] a clinic[them days]; they had to travel. They worked hard. They travelled through hard snows when they were called. [And] they didn't have [the] equipment[then]. Now you have to be well equipped [to practice]. Now they have offices, and they have everything to put you through. [And now they have]shots,m^šKiKii bahĵišKahwah--"medicine-pick-your-arm."
ZzzYou know, [We know] they came out [here] to practice. [AndBut] it seems to me that by practicing they got to be good doctors in surgery, or bandaging, or sewing, or when people skin themself. They prove lots. A lot of them went to school at that time and they've passed certain tests. [210] Well, when they pass certain tests to be a doctor, they[the government] send them out into the world. Then they have to practice--and practice makes perfect. A lot of practice of anything will make perfect. Without practice, you won't make perfect. You might have the tests, you might have the tests to answer [the questions about what’s bothering], and all that, but you have to practice. You might have the answer, but you have the practice to prove your answer. zzz
Main building from southwest, State Sanatorium near Walker.
Photographer: Charles J. Hibbard (-1924)
Photograph Collection ca. 1920
Location no. MC3.5 p27
Minnesota Historical Society
Negative no. 6468-B
Xxx[In ‘39]I was in the hospital institution. XxxI was in Walker, at the hospital. Zzz We had a health program[there]. They looked over me. They looked over me; Xray, Xray, Xray. Xxx Well, anyhow I was there about three or two months. zzz They could not find anything. Xxx So I finally didn't feel good, didn't improve.
"What's making me sick?"
I overheard somebody say, "They can not help you."
"They can't?"
"Well," he said, "your body has no nuri-ser-y; the food don't benefit you."
[1615] "Yes, I know that from away back. I know it don't benefit me. My body[food] don't benefit me because my body warned me."
"How did it warn you?" the doctor said. "We X-rayed you, we bloodtested you, we did everything, but we can see nothing."
So, I knew what I was sick about. I knew my ailment.
"Maybe you don't want to tell me?”
[He looked at me.]
“I'm glad you told me that,” [he said.]
“So Doc," I said at the Walker Indian Institution, "you took me in here as a TB test. We went over and over it and I'm negative. Why do I stay here? I've been here a long time: three, four months--five, six, seven months, and you have given me nothing that'll help me. You test me and I'm negative. I ain't positive. When you say ‘negative,’[that means]you're all right. I would stay here if [you knew the] something were[that was] bothering me. But I think I know I'm sick. So You X-rayed and X-rayed; you had blood tests and blood tests. I'm glad that you doctors looked through me with tests on the instruments that you have. You have the best doctors here; you have a bunch of doctors here that are supposed to be good doctors."
"Yes, yes."
I said, "Doc, will you do something for me?" I said, "If I don't help myself, and if you don't help me, I'm gonna make a request."
XxxThe doctor said, "Well,xxxxxx "What is it Mr. Buffalo? What is it you want?"
Start4A. They tried hard to work with me and I worked with them. I knew there was a specialist in the University. I knew they[the specialists] were up to the University, so I told one doctor, "Where is a specialist of this hospital at Walker? Have I got positive?"
"No. We just can't find what's the matter."
“Well, I want a specialist to go into me. Can you call a specialist in here? You have some at the University of Minneapolis. If the specialist can't find out what's wrong with me, I believe I know. Thanks."
xxxI kept myself up with certain remedies. I knew that[what] was wrong. If you can't move and are trying to sweat but can't sweat, [or if you sweat too much when you don’t want to,] it's in the blood. “My blood is poisoned[,” I thought].
He said to me, "In a few days there's going to be a specialist going through this hospital and when he's here I will bring him in."
Xxxzzz
Well, when the specialist come down--which happened, he came down, as certain specialists go around to different hospitals--So that specialist[he] went through the patients and read the charts on the patients[them]. XxxThe doctor came in [my room] and picked[up] the chart up. He came in my room, "What's this boy got? What's wrong with him?"
"We're checking on him. He's got developments.”
[Another one of them said,]"This gentleman here sweats. Once in a while he sweats and sweats hard; he's just wringing wet."
The nurse would stand there.
Xxx"How did he come in?"[that university specialist asked them.]
"He come in with rheumatism. He couldn't move. But now he's moving a little bit. We put him in hot water."
"Is that good? That helps you?"
"Ya, but I get them chills and sweat. I get an itch in the blood."
"Well, what are you giving him?"
And that nurse said, "Here's the big pink pills that he's getting."
"Uh, ah. Hmm. Did you try that other stuff?"
"No, this is all we give him."
The university doctor asked me, "Did you ever have any trouble [before]?"
"Yes, I did," I said. "I had high blood pressure, blood trouble and everything. And," I said, "I had trouble with my eyes too."
"Uh huh."
XXXThen he looked at my list; the doctor looked at how I've been acting. The Doctor read that list and said, "Open your mouth."