Thesis ID: CBB001562285

Tuberculosis, the Navajos, and Western Healthcare Providers, 1920--1960 (2003)

unapi

MacMahon, Sandra Varney (Author)


University of New Mexico
Szasz, Margaret Connell


Publication Date: 2003
Edition Details: Advisor: Szasz, Margaret Connell
Physical Details: 357 pp.
Language: English

Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in the United States in 1900. By the 1920s mortality rates in the general population were decreasing significantly, a decline that had begun around 1850. This study explores the presence of tuberculosis among the Navajos between 1920 and 1960. It describes and analyzes the ineffective communication between the Navajos and Western healthcare providers and the underestimation by Federal officials of the importance of traditional culture in Dine lives. It argues that 1930s livestock reduction ordered by Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier contributed significantly to the mental anguish and malnutrition among the population and had a negative impact on the tribe's subsistence economy. The poverty ensuing from herd reduction resulted in an increased susceptibility to tuberculosis and other diseases. These events occurred in an era when tuberculosis morbidity rates in New Mexico and Arizona were the highest in the country and when the Navajos, who had not been disease-free, were experiencing increased contact with off-reservation inhabitants. Crowding, wretched diets, and inadequate healthcare at boarding schools also led many Navajo children to contract the disease. Physicians sent children with tuberculosis home, which spread the infection to their families. During the 1930s, communications improved between the Navajos and more culturally sensitive physicians, resulting in increased Navajo acceptance of care. However, health care availability and mutual respect declined precipitously during World War II. Progress nearly ceased in tuberculosis efforts. By 1953 tuberculosis was epidemic among the Navajos. Cultural misunderstanding by health professionals, and Federal officials as well, contributed to the longevity of the tuberculosis issues within the tribe. A central tenet of Navajo belief is that everything in life is connected and to be well is to live in harmony. Navajos eagerly sought benefit of other cultures that could meld with their own, allowing them to maintain their traditions even as they utilized Western Health care. This study demonstrates that Indian Service officials believed tuberculosis was a disease that simply required a medical solution. Instead, it demanded social solutions and cultural respect, as well, of the Navajos and the medical community alike.

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Description Cited in Diss. Abstr. Int. A 64 (2003): 1044. UMI order no. 3085718.


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001562285/

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Authors & Contributors
David F. Myrick
Kristofic, Jim
Farina King
McPherson, Robert S.
Bernadett, Gabriella Maya
Braitberg, Victor
Concepts
Land transportation
American Indians; Native Americans; First Nations of the Americas
Railroads
Public health
Medicine
Navajo (Diné)
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
20th century, late
21st century
Places
United States
Arizona (U.S.)
New Mexico (U.S.)
Tucumcari, New Mexico
Oklahoma (U.S.)
Tennessee (U.S.)
Institutions
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
New Mexico Archaeological Council
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
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