The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-05-20
Two States Must Agree.
L0, THE CLEAN INDIAN
His Shampoo-His Turkish Bath
His Unaldermanic Figure.

The vanity of white men gets some
hard raps from George Wharton James
In Good Health 1t is somewhat sur
prislng to have the Indian held UP as
a pattern of cleanliness, but that is
what Mr.. James does.
Most city men. he says. regard the
shampoo as a modern luxury. Yet II Is
more common with some Indians than
with US
THE Indians wife macerates the
root OF the amole and beats 1t UP and
down In a bowl of water till a soft
lather comes. Then her husband stoops
over the bowl and she shampoos his
long hair with vlgor, neatness. skill
and dispatch.
Another so-called luxury of our CIV
ilization is an everyday matter with
the Indians Of the Southwest That Is
the Russo-Turkish bath. The first time
/ enjoyed this luxury with the In
dians was on one OF my visits to the
Hayasupai tribe.
THE bathhouse consisted OF a small
willow frame some six or eight feet In
diameter, which, at the time OF using,
is covered with Navajo blankets, etc,
to make II heat and steam proof.
bed OF clean willows was spread out
for the sweater to sit upon and place
left vacant for the red-hot rocks
GAS soon as all was prepared l was
invited to take my seat; ono Indian
followed on one side and the medicine
man on the other, Then one Of the
outer Indians handed In six or eight
red hot bricks and the flap OF the cover
was let down and the bath was fairly
on. Directly the shaman began TO sing
a sacred song which recited the fact
that Tohoiwoh was a gift of the good
god Tochopa, and was for the pur-
pose Of purifying the body of all evil
h.. 1a1
sweating freely. but when the flap was
opened It was to receive more hot
rocks, AS we sang a second song the
heat grew more and more penetrating
by this time sweat was pouring
from our bodies. but the flap was
opened only to receive more rocks. At
the third time a bowl OF water was
handed to my companion, which l was
reaching for In order to enjoy drink,
when, to my horror and surprise, he
sprinloled the water over the red hot
rocks. The result was an instantane-
Gus cloud OF steam which seemed to
choke me.
Yet the two Indians began another
song, so l determined to stick II out In
q few moments the Intense heat Of the
steam was lost and l was able to join
in the song. The steaming was re-
peated; then 1 sprang out and dived
into the cool-not cold-water of the
Havasu. where 1 swan about for q
long time.
Then, after a rub down with clean.
clear clayey mud and another plunge,
l lay In the sun on a bed OF Willows.
listening to the Indians tell stories.
and / can truthfully say l never felt
30 clean In my life"
Mr. James says that fully one-half
the white people seen on city streets
have aldermanic figures. This would
not be the case OF we taught ourselves.
the Indian does, to draw In the alb
domen and at the same time breathe
long and deeply.
while there are times OF feasting
when most Indians will gorge to reple-
tion," says Mr.. James, 1--WE can learn
from them that whenever they have
hard work to do, they eat little, and
they eat that little long. In other
words. they masticate we'll enough to
please Horace Fletcher,
with few handsful of parched
corn they will start of on q weeks
hard Journey and n little corn, chewed
for hours. gives them sufficient nour-
ishment to keep their bodies In perfect
order for hunting, for war. or for the
fatigue of long and arduous JOURNEYS
either on foot or horseback