Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-05
INDIANS WHO HIBERNATE
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

alternating Indians. but in the cases
where it has been accomplished, ex-
traordinary conditions have been found.
The fire in the stove only smolders.
The air Is fetid, for there Is no ventila-
ton save what creeps through the
chinks, and every effort is made to ex-
clude this. Men, women and children
are curied under blankets and NANCY
buffalo robes. They sleep practically
all of the time, 20 to % hours day.
When 1t Is necessary for them to move,
the utmost economy in motion Is OBJ
served. Experience and training and
instinct have taught them how to con-
serve every ounce Of strength they pos
sess, for they know that their vitality
must carry them through until Spring.
They almost never speak; too great an
expenditure of strength Is involved
Emergencies have been noted in a
few cases. A family which has stored
less food than usual for some reason
will find starvation approaching too
near. Then, before his strength Is ut
terly exhausted, the buck Of the FAM
pony and kill it. The meat will be
dragged into the house, and as the
Indian is naturally hospitable and
neiR1borly. some will be taken to the
nearer cabins. This is the exception;
normally there is no emergence what
ever for at least two months.
Conditions Are PitifuI.
The ponies obviously. are themselves
more than half starved by Midwinter.
They survive on what dry grass or moss
they can find by nosing under the snow
blanket. The meat they provide is not
of the highest quality.
Years ago there were cattle on this
reservation, but they have long been
U for
| insufficient. No hogs are kept: none
wanted The Sioux of Pine Ridge,
however. keep an amazing number of
dogs. How they survive the Winter Is
one Of the deep mysteries of the Indian
I Service Many of them are killed by
the Indians for food. but there are so
many left in the Spring that the per-
centage Of such slaughter cannot be
! high.
Government agents have suggested
that the Indians keep hogs instead of
1 dogs. The Indians have demurred, with
/ the explanation that pigs cannot run
I fast enough or long enough to keep up
( with their wagons when they trek over
/ the plains The Indian always wants
to be escorted wherever he goes. Dogs
are ideal for this service. Serving the
1 Indians pomp well enough, 1t Is difh-
cult to find their economic purpose in
Z the SCneIle -OI I6SSENdLlOIl llle. ZIG"
sumably there Is none.
/ Obviously there is a great deal Of
I disease engendered by such an ex-
/ istence. A survey made, for example,
4 revealed that 35 out of so cabins visited
showed one or more inmates suffering
I from tuberculosis. This was due to
combination of bad air and malnutri-
| ton. 1t was found that children
| threatened with tuberculosis threw on
the disease when fed properly. Sani-
/ tation in the cabins during the hiberna-
ton period is wholly unknown. 1t Is
/ subject which does not interest the
Indian. Rheumatism aff1icts the older
members of the tribe, taking the most
terrible forms. An old Indian will be
found bent into the most grotesque
shapes and stoically suffering. Under
| this stress some take leave Of their
| wits
These are descendants of the Sioux
braves, who, under Sitting Bull, wiped
Custer and his entire command OF the
face of the earth at the Little Bighorn
! not so very long ago.