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Indian Stories – Cicero Newell

MANY of the white people say that Indians are nearer being the children of God than are the white people who have so sorely oppressed them.

In many instances we have adopted their customs.  Often when we wish to cure our sick we use some of the methods of the Indians; we go off into the mountains, build a hut or put up a tent, live on the ground, eat fruits that we gather on the mountain side, drink the pure water that flows from the springs, or drink from the mineral springs which we find in the hills or the valleys. Then too we go to the springs of hot mud that boil out of the earth and bury our bodies in this hot mud until the aches and pains have left us.

At other times we seek the seashore, where we can bathe in the salt water and let the sun come in contact with our bodies. We eat such animal food as we can gather near the shore of the ocean. There we remain until we are forced to return to our homes in the crowded cities and again live a "civilised’ life.

Many of us would give everything we have in the world if to-day we might have the health of the native American as he was when our fathers first came to this country.