Biomedical Ephemera, or: A Frog for Your Boils

Ho-chunk grounds. Near Black River Falls, WI. Brother and sister afflicted with smallpox, during the same outbreak as these two girls. Aside from nutritional deficiencies and living conditions, it was noted that there appeared to be a higher-than-average mortality rate among the American Indians of the Midwest from smallpox. I'm not sure how they would have eliminated the problems of diet and housing in the analysis, but perhaps they're comparing mortality to poor immigrant families in the big cities.

Wisconsin Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) woman cutting roots for traditional medicine on tribal grounds right outside Black River Falls.

Two girls from the Ho-Chunk nation afflicted with smallpox. One of them actually survived the disease, which was notable enough to be written on the back of the photograph...even though smallpox didn't kill off as many Native Americans during later years as when Europeans first arrived, they still had a lower survival rate than either Europeans or those of African descent.