While practically nothing is known of the physiology of the Eskimo, with
the exception of their great capacity for animal food, recent
investigations have yielded definite information in this line regarding
the Indians. It has been supposed that in his physiologic functions the
Indian differs considerably from the white man, but the greater our
knowledge in this direction the fewer the differences appear; there is,
however, a certain lack of uniformity in this respect between the two
races.
The period of gestation of Indian women is
apparently the same as that of the whites, and the new-born child is in
every way comparable to the white infant. It begins to suckle as soon as
it is given the breast, generally shows excellent nutrition, and has
from the beginning a good voice. In 6 to 8 months the first teeth
appear; during the 7th or 8th month the child begins to sit up; at 1
year it stands alone, and soon after begins to walk; at the age of about
18 months it commences to talk, and when 4 years of age it has a good
command of language.
During its first year the Indian child spends as
much time in sleeping as does a healthy white child, and after the first
year is very playful. It cries, on the average, less than the white
child, but the principal reason for this seems to be the fact that it is
generally well nourished and not sickly. The infant is nursed usually
much later than among whites, not infrequently up to its 3d or 4th year,
but after its 6th to 9th month it also partakes of most of the foods of
its parents. Up to the 7th year incontinence of urine is quite frequent,
apparently without pathological cause, but this disappears spontaneously
thereafter.
As among whites, the period of puberty in the
Indian is earlier in the low and hot regions than in those that are
elevated or cold. In such very hot regions as the lower Colorado valley
many of the girls begin to menstruate between the ayes of 11 and 13;
while among tribes that live at a considerable altitude, as the Apache
of Arizona and the Indians farther N., this function begins usually
during the 13th or 14th year, and delays are more numerous; precise data
from many localities are as yet lacking.
The development of the breast
in the girl commences usually at about the 12th year, and except among
individuals there appears to be no great variation among the tribes of
which there is most knowledge. Full development of the breast is seldom
attained in the unmarried young woman before the 18th year. The time of
puberty in Indian boys differs apparently but little, if any, from that
in whites. Scanty growth of mustache is noticeable from about the 16th
year, sometimes much later.
Marriage is generally entered into earlier than among
American whites; only few girls of more than 18 years, and few young men
of more than 22 years, are unmarried. Now and then a girl is unmarried
at 14 or 15, and there is an instance of a Comanche girl of 11 years who
married a Kiowa. Among the latter tribe it is not exceptional for girls
to be married at 13. Indian women bear children early, and the infants
of even the youngest mothers seem in no way defective. The birth rate is
generally high, from 6 to 9 births in a family being usual. Twins are
not very uncommon, but triplets occur very rarely. One or more naturally
sterile women may be met in every large hand.
The adult life of the Indian offers nothing radically
different from that of ordinary whites. The supposed early aging of
Indian women is by no means general and is not characteristic of the
race; when it occurs, it is due to the conditions surrounding the life
of the individual. stray hairs in small numbers may occasionally be
found, as in brunette whites, even in children, but such occurrence is
without significance. Senile grayness does not commence earlier than
among healthy whites, and it advances more slowly, seldom, if ever,
reaching the degree of complete whiteness. Baldness not due to disease
is extremely rare.
A common phenomenon observed in the aged Indian is
pronounced wrinkling of the skin of the face and other parts. Little is
known as to the exact period of menopause in the women, for but few of
them know their actual age. Men remain potent, at least occasionally,
much beyond 50 years. The longevity of the Indian is very much like that
of a healthy white man. There are individuals who reach the age of 100
years and more, but they are exceptional. Among aged Indians there is
usually little decrepitude.
Aged women predominate somewhat in numbers
over aged men. Advanced senility is marked by general emaciation, marked
wrinkling of the skin, forward inclination of the body, and gradual
diminution of muscular power as well as of acuteness of the senses. The
teeth are often much worn down, or are lost mainly through the
absorption of the alveolar processes.
Among the more primitive tribes, who often pass
through periods of want, capacity for food is larger than in the average
white. Real excesses in eating are witnessed among such tribes, but
principally at feasts. On the reservations, and under ordinary
circumstances, the consumption of food by the Indian is usually
moderate. All Indians readily develop a strong inclination for and are
easily affected by alcoholic drinks.
The average Indian ordinarily
passes somewhat more time in sleep than the civilized white man; on the
other hand, he manifests considerable capability for enduring its loss,
Yawning, snoring, eructation, and flatus are about as common with
Indians as with whites. Sneezing, however, is rare, and hiccough even
more so. Dreams are frequent and variable. Illusions or hallucinations
in healthy individuals and under ordinary conditions have not been
observed. Left handedness occurs in every tribe, and with nearly the
same frequency as among whites (approximately 3 per cent).
The sight,
hearing, smell, and taste of the Indian, so far as can be judged from
unaided but extended observation, are in no way peculiar. In the
ordinary Indian with healthy eyes and ears, the sight and hearing are
generally very good, but in no way phenomenal. To those who receive
education above that of the common school, glasses are often necessary.
In the old, eyesight is generally weakened, and in some the hearing is
more or less blunted. The physical endurance of Indians on general
occasions probably exceeds that of the whites.
The Indian easily sustains long walking or running,
hunger and thirst, severe sweating, etc.; but he often tires readily
when subjected to steady work. His mental endurance, however, except
when he may be engaged in ceremonies or games, or on other occasions
which produce special mental excitement, is but moderate; an hour of
questioning almost invariably produces mental fatigue. Respiration and
temperature are nearly the same as in healthy whites, the latter perhaps
averaging slightly lower; but the pulse is somewhat slower, the general
average in adult men approximating 66.
Muscular force in the hands,
tested by the dynamometer, is somewhat lower than with whites in the
males and about equal in the females. The shoulder strength shows less
difference, and the strength, or at least the endurance, of the back and
lower limbs, judging from the work and other pursuits to which the
Indians are accustomed, probably exceeds that of the whites.
The mental functions of the Indian should be compared
with those of whites reared and living under approximately similar
circumstances. On closer observation the differences in the fundamental
psychical manifestations between the two races are found to be small. No
instincts not possessed by whites have developed in the Indian. His
proficiency in tracking and concealment, his sense of direction, etc.,
are accounted for by his special training and practice, and are not
found in the Indian youth who has not had such experience. The Indian
lacks much of the ambition known to the white man, yet he shows more or
less of the quality where his life affords a chance for it, as in war,
in his games, art, adornment, and many other activities.
The emotional life of the Indian is more moderate and
ordinarily more free from extremes of nearly every nature, than that of
the white person. The prevalent subjective state is that of content in
wellbeing, with inclination to humor. Pleasurable emotions predominate,
but seldom rise beyond the moderate; those of a painful nature are
occasionally very pronounced. Maternal love is strong, especially during
the earlier years of the child. Sexual love is rather simply organic,
not of so intellectual an order as among whites; but this seems to be
largely the result of views and customs governing sex relations and
marriage.
The social instinct and that of self-preservation are much
like those of white people. Emotions of anger and hatred are infrequent
and of normal character. Fear is rather easily aroused at all ages, in
groups of children occasionally reaching a panic; but this is likewise
due in large measure to peculiar beliefs and untrammeled imagination.
Modesty, morality, and the sense of right and justice
are as natural to the Indian as to the white man, but, as in other
respects, are modified in the former by prevalent views and conditions
of life. Transgressions of every character are less frequent in the
Indian. Memory (of sense impressions as well as of mental acts proper)
is generally fair. Where the faculty has been much exercised in one
direction, as in religion, it acquires remarkable capacity in that
particular. The young exhibit good memory for languages.
The faculty of
will is strongly developed. Intellectual activities proper are
comparable with those of ordinary healthy whites, though on the whole,
and excepting the sports, the mental processes are probably habitually
slightly slower. Among many tribes lack of thrift, improvidence, absence
of demonstrative manifestations, and the previously mentioned lack of
ambition are observable; but these peculiarities must be charged
largely, if not entirely, to differences in mental training and habits.
The reasoning of the Indian and his ideation, though modified by his
views, have often been shown to be excellent. His power of imitation,
and even of invention, are good, as is his aptitude in several higher
arts and in oratory. An Indian child reared under the care of whites,
educated in the schools of civilization, and without having acquired the
notions of its people, is habitually much like a white child trained in
a similar degree under similar conditions.
Consult Boteler, Peculiarities of the American Indian
from a Physiological and Pathological Standpoint, 1880-81; Mays,
Experimental Inquiry, 1887; Holder, Age of Puberty of Indian Girls,
1890; Currier, Study Relative to Functions of Reproductive Apparatus,
1891; Parker, Concerning American Indian Womanhood, 1891-92; Eleventh
Census, Rep. on Indians, 1894; Hrdlicka (1) Physical and Physiological
Observations on the Navaho, 1900, (2) Bull. 34, B. A. E., 1908. See also
the bibliographies under Anatomy and Health and Disease.
Handbook of American Indians, Frederick W. Hodge,1906
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/history/indianphysiology.htm
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