THE INDIAN AND SOME LUXURIES
Most city men regard a shampoo as a city luxury of modern times,
except, of course, for the rich, who could always have what they
desire. Yet the shampoo is more common with some Indians than with
us, and they enjoy it oftener than we do. The Indian’s wife takes the
root of the _amole_, macerates it, and then beats it up and down in
a bowl of water until a most delicious and soft lather results, and
then her liege lord stoops over the bowl and she shampoos his long
hair and scalp with vigor, neatness, skill, and dispatch. I have been
operated upon by the best adepts in London, Paris, and New York, and
I truthfully affirm that a white man has much to learn in the way of
skillful manipulation, effective rubbing of the scalp, and delicious
silkiness of the hair, if he knows no other than such shampooing as I
received.
Another so-called luxury of our civilization is an every-day matter
with the Indians of the Southwest. That is the Russo-Turkish bath. The
first time I enjoyed this luxury with the Indians was on one of my
visits to the Havasupai tribe. I had been received into membership in
the tribe several years before, but had always felt a delicacy about
asking to be invited to participate in this function. But one day I
said to the old Medicine Man, as he was going down to _toholwoh_, “How
is it you have never invited me to go into _toholwoh_ with you?” My
question surprised him. He quickly answered, “Why should I invite you
to your own? The sweat-bath is as much yours as it is mine.” “Then,”
said I, “I will go with you now.”
The “bath-house” consisted of a small willow frame, some six or eight
feet in diameter, which, at the time of using, is covered over with
Navaho blankets, etc., to make it heat and steam proof. A bed of clean
willows was spread out for the “sweaters” to sit upon, and a place left
vacant for the red-hot rocks. As soon as all was prepared I was invited
to take my seat; one 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 rocks, 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 Toholwoh was a gift of the good god, Tochopa, and
was for the purpose of purifying the body from all evil.
As soon as the song ended, we were all sweating freely, but when the
flap was opened, it was not to let us out, but to receive more hot
rocks. As we sang a second song the heat grew more penetrating, so
that the words seemed to have real meaning. Our petition was that
“the heat of Toholwoh might enter our eyes, our ears, our nostrils,
our mouths,” etc., each organ being named at the end of the line of
petition. The song comprised a great long string of organs, some of
which I had never heard of before. By this time sweat was pouring off
from our bodies, but the flap was opened only to receive more rocks.
At the third time a bowl of water was handed in to my companion, which
I was reaching for in order to enjoy a drink, when, to my horror and
surprise, he sprinkled the water over the red-hot rocks. The result
was an instantaneous cloud of steam, which seemed to set my lips and
nostrils on fire and absolutely to choke me and prevent my breathing.
Yet the two Indians began another song, so I determined to stick it
out and stand it as long as I could. Of course, in a few moments the
intense heat of the steam was lost, and then I was able to join in the
song. At its close the same process of steaming was repeated, and then
I sprang out and dived headlong into the cool (not cold) waters of the
flowing Havasu, where for a long time I swam and enjoyed the delicious
sensations with which my body was filled. Then, after a rub down with
clean, clear, clayey mud, and another plunge, I lay in the sun on a bed
of willows, listening to the Indians tell stories, and I can truthfully
say I never felt so clean in my life.
[Illustration: A MOHAVE INDIAN WRAPPED UP IN HIS RABBIT SKIN BLANKET.]
This bath is taken by thousands of the Southwest Indians once a week
as a matter of religion, so that, as a fact, while their clothes are
ragged and dirty, and they themselves appear to be dirty, they are
really clean. It must be confessed, on the other hand, that too many
Americans value the appearance of cleanliness more than the reality.
They would far rather appear clean even if they were not than _be_
clean and appear dirty. It is better to combine both reality and
appearance, but, for my own sake, if I had to choose between the two, I
believe I would rather _be_ clean than only _appear_ clean.
Civilized man, for centuries, has used hot baths of various kinds
for remedial and healing purposes. Throughout the world, wherever
hot springs are found, men and women congregate in large numbers,
palatial hotels are built, bath-houses established, and an army of
hotel-keepers, physicians, nurses, masseurs, and bath operators
organized. Some go to the baths just as they do any other fashionable
thing, or in order to mingle with the gay and fashionable throng.
Other idlers go purely for the pleasure they gain from such
associations, while still others go for the health they long for,--the
strength and vigor they have lost. And there can be no question that
they often gain it. In spite of the fashionable doctors who care less
for the health of their patients than they do for their own fame and
pockets; in spite of the physical ills that come from the altogether
inappropriate diet of the hotel dining-rooms; in spite of the
excitement of balls and parties, receptions and routs, common at such
places; and in spite of the injurious influences of the gaming tables
too often maintained, the use of the waters is often beneficial to a
number of the patients. Were they to use the waters rationally, live
hygienically, avoid all stimulating foods and drinks, and religiously
refrain from all unnatural excitements, there is no question but that
the use of the hot waters, the hot mud packs, and the like, would give
health to many thousands who now derive but little benefit from them.
From whom did the white race learn the use of the hot bath, the mud
bath, and the like? He learned it from the Indian, and if he would
study the present methods of the Indians he would find many details
connected with these baths that he might learn to his great advantage.
When the Indian goes to the bath he makes of it an almost religious
ceremony. In one of the illustrations an old Indian Shaman is telling
to the younger ones the things they should heed before going into the
_toholwoh_, or sweat bath, the frame of which (as yet uncovered) is
close at hand. The hot waters that bubble out from the interior of the
earth he regards as the special gifts of the gods. He prays that he
may not use these gifts unworthily. Just as the Mohammedan believes
that the desert is the “Garden of Allah” and that no one must walk in
it who is sinful until he has first asked for forgiveness, so does the
Indian believe that the waters of healing will turn to his injury if he
does not use them in the right spirit. Would it not be well if we--the
superior race--approached this good gift of God in like manner?
[Illustration: THE SHAMAN TELLING THE STORY OF THE FIRST TOHOLWOH.]
The natural simplicity of the Indian at the baths also offers a good
lesson to us. Instead of seeking for gaiety, frivolity, fashion, and
the means of pampering his appetite, he goes to the baths of nature
resolved upon quiet and restfulness as far as possible. He seeks to
prepare his mind beforehand, that the physical means used will be
beneficial. In other words, though he is a rude, untutored savage,--so
we say,--he has a clearer conception of the effect the mind has upon
the body in real, practical healing, than has a large part of his
civilized brothers and sisters. As a rule, we go to a physician, or to
a sanitarium, or to baths--I mean those of us who are sick and desire
health first of all--without any other thoughts than “I am sick. To go
here may do me good. I hope it will.” Instead of preparing our minds
beforehand by thoughtfulness, getting ourselves into the proper mental
attitude to be helped, we leave it to chance, to the surroundings,
to the doctor, and thus often fail to get the benefit we might have
received. We carry our business cares, our family worries, our
money-getting, with us and thus defeat the end for which we go.
Nor is that all! When we get there we want “all the comforts of a
home.” In other words, we must be assured that we have a bedroom
which we can lock up at night, a bedstead with a mattress as soft and
unhealthy as the one we regularly sleep on, stuffy closets where we can
hang our clothes,--and the rest.
The Indian finds his bedroom under the stars. He puts the invalid flat
on the ground,--a sheepskin, perhaps, between him and the earth, but
that is all. When will the superior white race learn that rejuvenation
of the body comes quicker to those who “shed” their civilization,
forswear their home comforts, quit their indulgence in fixed-up dishes,
refrain from social frivolities (commonly called duties), and first
and foremost,--after throwing away all the cares and worries that come
of being so highly civilized,--get to a place where it is possible to
sleep out of doors _on the hard ground_, protected, of course, as the
Indians are. Get into the woods, on to the hills, down in the canyons,
out on the deserts. Take a roll of blankets along, and no matter what
the weather, learn to sleep on the bosom of Mother-Earth, out of doors.
And if the region is one near hot springs or mud baths, all the better.
Make it for the time being your home.
Ah! how wise is the Indian in his choice of a home. I have before
referred to this, but I cannot help writing of it again. Home! It is
not a place of unrest to him, where it requires the labor of wife and
daughter, or a host of servants, to keep it in order; where polished
furniture, polished floors, polished doors, polished mirrors, keep
one forever with wiping-cloth in hand, removing the marks of careless
fingers; where bric-a-brac is accumulated and piled everywhere to the
shattering of nerves if the children get near it, or careless visitors
happen to call; where “social demands” are so great that children
are relegated to the care of servants; where brothers and sisters
scarce have time to know each other, and husbands and wives meet
semi-occasionally--no, it is not a home of this kind. To most Indians
“everywhere” is home provided there is a little shade, water, and grass
for his burro or pony. In the mountains, where he can shelter under
an overhanging rock, or in the forest where he has a roof of emerald,
supported by great pillars of pine or cottonwood or sycamore,--there
is home. In the desert, where the roof is millions of miles high,
decorated with suns and moons and stars and comets and meteors and
Milky Way and countless nebulæ, and the walls are bounded on the east
by the rising sun, and on the west by the setting sun, and God’s own
laboratories make new, fresh, pure air every moment--there is home.
The San Francisco disaster taught thousands of people the healthfulness
of the outdoor life. People who had been ailing for years, puny
children, anæmic youths and maidens, dyspeptic parents, all “picked
up” appetite and health when compelled to live in the parks and on the
streets.
Let us heed the lesson. Let us follow the example of the Indian and
be more simple, more natural. Let us relegate to the museum the
collecting of curios and bric-a-brac and the thousand and one things
that so crowd our houses as to make museums rather than homes of them.
[Illustration: A MOHAVE WOMAN WHOSE HAIR HAS BEEN “DRESSED” IN MUD.]
I do not suppose it is necessary that I should say that in our
civilization we cannot _literally_ do as the Indian does in this
matter. That is not my thought. What I would urge is that we live more
simply, and that, like the Indian, we get out of doors more, instead of
housing ourselves the more as we become more “civilized.” And that, in
the arrangements and accumulations of our home we make personal health,
comfort and happiness the most important considerations, rather than
display, and to win the approval or envy of our neighbors.
But to return to the hot springs. The Indian has always used them. He
also learned and bequeathed to us the knowledge that mud is a useful
therapeutic agent. The Yumas, Mohaves, and others who live near the
banks of the Colorado River are in the habit of regularly plastering
down their hair and scalp with thick, black mud. They go where it is
clean and fresh,--washed down by the rushing waters of the mighty
Colorado through the great canyons--and, rubbing it well into their
hair, they cover it over with a cloth tied over the scalp and go on
about their daily work. They keep the hair thus covered with mud for
a day or two, and then wash it off and give the scalp a thorough
cleansing. What is the result? Whether the fact be a result from the
use of the mud or not, it is a fact that these river Indians have
long, glossy black hair free from all disease, and their scalps are
as healthy as the hair. They have no dandruff, no falling out of the
hair, and do not need any hair tonic or dye. The mud contains enough
of the finely ground sand commingled with the softer silt to make a
healthful mixture for gently exciting the scalp when the rubbing off
and cleansing process takes place. And covering the hair as well as
the scalp with the mud and allowing it to dry on demands that the
hair shall be well rubbed as well as the skin. The effect is to clean
the hair thoroughly, and who knows but that the excitement generated
by thus rubbing the hair as well as the scalp has something to do
in promoting the healthful flow of the elements required for hair
nutrition? Be that as it may, I know the fact, which is that these
Indians, men as well as women, have hair, long, black, glossy, reaching
down to their waists, and they attribute its healthfulness to the
regular use of the mud-pack and rub.
Now, while we may not care to pack the hair in mud, we can certainly
utilize the idea. I have done so for years. I often give my scalp
and hair a mud bath, and it is both agreeable and exhilarating, and
I had the assurance a few months ago from one of the leading scalp
specialists of the East that my scalp was in an absolutely healthful
condition--one of the very few found in such condition in the large
eastern metropolis.
[Illustration: A MOHAVE INDIAN WHOSE HAIR AND SCALP HAVE BEEN CLEANED
WITH MUD.]
The Indian also uses mud--and by this I mean the clear, pure,
uncontaminated earth and sandy mixtures found in the rivers of the
desert west--for wounds. There is little doubt but that he learned
this from the animals. Who has not seen a dog, after a fight in which
he got worsted, run and throw himself into a mud puddle? Many years
ago--about twenty--I read an account of a battle between a wildcat and
a dog, and the writer, who saw the conflict, told how the dog went
and bathed himself in mud thereafter. The brief sketch made such an
impression on me that I knew just where to find it, and I have hunted
it up, and am now going to copy it for the benefit of my readers. It
will help explain why the Indian does the same thing. He has observed
the animals bathing in the mud, when wounded, as this dog did.
“The dog has won the battle; but he has got some ugly scars along his
sides and flank. Observe, that overheated as he is, he does not rush
into that clear stream. He takes his bath in that shallow spring with
a soft mud bottom. Note how he plasters himself, laying the wounded
side underneath, and then sitting down on his haunches, buries all the
wounded parts in the ooze. That mud has medicinal properties. The dog
knows it. No physician could make so good a poultice for the wounds of
a cat’s claws as this dog has found for himself. Pray, if you had been
clawed in that way by either feline or feminine, would you have found
anything at the bottom of your book philosophy so remedial as this dog
has found?”
The Indian’s use of mud, therefore, is seen to be an inheritance as the
result of his observation of the animals. Since the time I heard of the
dog and wildcat fight I have had occasion to watch the Indians many
times. I have used the mud with them, and always with good results. And
if, when some four and a half years ago I was bitten on the thumb by a
rattlesnake, and for a week was supposed to be hovering between life
and death, I had thought enough to have done as the Indians do,--gone
and put my hand and arm in a mud bath at the side of a stream or at the
bottom of a shallow spring, I should have fared as well as I did (and
perhaps better), though I had two skilled physicians, an accomplished
professor, and a devoted nurse to care for me.
And when I was supposed to be well again,--months afterward,--I found
that the deadly poison had in some way lodged in the lining of the
stomach, so that, at times, it would cause a nervous and muscular
disturbance that made me suffer intense agony. I then recalled the use
of mud by my Indian friends, and I hied me away as speedily as I could
to the hot mud baths of Paso Robles, in California. There the sulphur
water at a temperature of over 110° Fahrenheit comes bubbling into a
great wooden tank filled with the soft, velvety mud, black as ink, of
the tule marsh. Into this tank I stepped, and gradually worked my way
into the mud, lying down in it, and wriggling and working my body until
I was as near covered as I could be. I brought great armfuls of the
hot, soft, and soothing nature poultice over my stomach and body, and
then lay there as long as it was wise to do so. What mattered it that I
was blacker than a negro when I came out. Two minutes with a bucket and
a hose and I was cleaner than ever. One week of these baths and I lost
the poison, never again to return. I never think of Paso Robles and the
mud baths there without a deep sense of gratitude that some of us at
least have learned how to utilize some good things that the Indian has
taught us.