American Indian Health: Innovations in Health Care, Promotion, and Policy

American Indian Health: Innovations in Health Care, Promotion, and Policy. Everett R. Rhoades. M.D., ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. xxiii. 459 pp.     

Native Alternatives for Non-Native Turfgrasses in Central Florida: Germination and Responses to Cultural Treatments

Little information exists about the establishment of native longleaf pine flatwoods species for use in restoration efforts and as buffers around natural areas in the southeastern United States. Composition of groundcover in these systems is dominated by perennial graminoid species. Vegetation in current buffers is generally non‐native turfgrass that can escape into natural areas, often reducing establishment and survival of native species. Where management objectives involve actively restoring native groundcover or reducing the probability of invasion by these non‐native turfgrasses, identification of native species and restoration methods is needed. We investigated seed germination and establishment of four species native to longleaf pine flatwoods in central Florida and one species native to the adjacent wetland communities. Paspalum setaceum, Panicum anceps, Eustachys petraea, and Eragrostis refracta were directly seeded, and P. distichum was planted as sprigs into three former P. notatum pastures. Irrigation, fertilization, weed control, and mowing treatments were assessed in terms of cover development of the sown species. Paspalum distichum developed the highest percent cover—over 80% in wet areas after 1 year. Mowing had mixed impacts depending on the species, and fertilization never significantly increased cover. Directly seeded species developed sparse cover (0–40%), probably as a result of drought conditions. However, E. petraea and E. refracta appeared more promising for use on rights‐of‐way when using high sowing rates. A second experiment conducted on a roadside included these two species and sprigged P. distichum. Both E. petraea and P. distichum developed more than 45% cover on the roadside. Establishment of these natives from seed or sprigs was significantly enhanced when site preparation effectively reduced the seedbank of other species present in the soil.     

Subarctic Indian trappers and band society: The economics of male mobility

The spatial organization of economic production in contemporary subarctic Indian society is illustrated by an analysis of geographical mobility and commercial fur trapping among the English River Chipewyan of Patuanak, Saskatchewan. Quantitative comparison reveals the positive linear relationship between selected performance variables (numbers of animals captured and cash income) and locational variables (trapping area size, distances traveled between settlements and bush camps, and distances between neighboring trappers) for a population of 76 male trappers. At present, trapping performance varies positively with trapping area size and linear distance from the largest settlement. Variable social adaptations in the trapping work force are in part the result of complex compromises and adjustments between traditional familycamp organizations and emerging all-male partnerships. However, the relationship between size and structure of trapping teams, degree of team interaction, and economic efficiency requires further investigation. Finally, the formal analysis of productivity is reappraised in terms of community definitions of trapping success.The field research upon which this article is based was conducted between August 1971 and July 1972 and was supported by a National Institute of General Medical Sciences doctoral fellowship (GMO1164) administered by the Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota.     

A Unique Teaching Experience: Medical Student Care of Northern Isolated Native Communities

To explore the benefits that students may derive from assuming responsibility for the medical care of people in isolated communities under a minimum of supervision, two volunteer third-year medical students spent the summer of 1964 caring for 1600 Indians and Metis at Wabasca, Alberta. They worked closely with the local public health nurse and a Catholic nursing sister who maintained a small hospital. Considerable experience was gained in preventive medicine and in the diagnosis and management of a wide variety of illnesses, using basic clinical skills and minimal laboratory facilities. The pressure of responsibility was particularly beneficial. It provided a potent impetus to learn and perfect skills in clinical medicine and basic therapeutics. Visits by an interested clinician every two to three weeks provided the optimum combination of responsibility and supervision. The existence of some local health organization was considered helpful.     

Folk Phytotherapy in Paediatric Health Care in Central and Southern Italy: a Review

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) consists of systems and practices used to prevent or treat illness, and/or promote health and wellbeing, generally with herbal remedies. In recent decades, ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological surveys have received increased attention among populations in central and southern Italy traditionally highly conservative regarding knowledge of folk medicine. This review highlights the use of wild and cultivated plants in paediatric health care. From a search of articles published between 1978 and 2017 we found a total of 34 containing reports of medicinal plants specifically used for treating children’s diseases, listing 83 taxa belonging to 37 families in 116 recorded cases of medicinal plant use. Tuscany has the highest number of plant use reports and the highest number of species used in a single region, followed by Campania and Sicily. Allium sativum is the most widely reported species, cited in eight regions. We identified eight ailment categories. Plants used as anthelmintics and for gastro-intestinal and skin diseases are widely used.     

Cultural History in the Native Northeast

Native People of Southern New England, 1500-1650, Kathleen J. Bragdon. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. 301 pp.
Historic Contact: Indian People and Colonists in Today's Northeastern United States in the Sixteenth through the Eighteenth Centuries. Robert S. Grumet. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. 514 pp.     

The Health of Native Americans: Towards a Biocultural Epidemiology and Aboriginal Health in Canada: Historical, Cultural, and Epidemiological Perspectives

The Health of Native Americans: Towards a Biocultural Epidemiology. T. Kue Young. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994 (cloth), ix + 275 pp.
Aboriginal Health in Canada: Historical, Cultural, and Epidemiological Perspectives. James B. Waldram, D. Ann Herring, and T. Kue Young. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995 (cloth and paper), xii + 334 pp.     

Health care and health care seeking strategies among Puyallup Indians

This study replicated Kleinman's research on family-based popular health care in Taiwan among the Puyallup Indians of Washington. Standardized interviews were conducted among 80 Puyallup families to determine family health practices and beliefs, and the patterns of referral to professional practitioners. Comparisons are made between the Puyallup and Taiwanese family health care practices and health care seeking processes. The author concludes that the relative absence of folk medicine and the availability of free medical care among the Puyallup are the most important factors causing the variance between the rates of family treatment and the patterns of health care seeking behaviors between the Puyallup and the Taiwanese.