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Trachoma on the Stillwater Indian Reservation
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During March 1910, Superintendent Creel of the Pyramid Lake
Indian Reservation warned surrounding area populations not to employ Native
American women to do the family laundry. This warning was the result of the
spread of trachoma among the Native American reservations of Western
Nevada.
The population of the Stillwater Indian Reservation, located
near Fallon, Nevada, was not immune to the effects of
this disease and many tribal members became infected. Attempting to contain
this disease to the reservations and prevent its spread to the white
population, an article in the Churchill County Eagle warned local white
residents that Paiute tribe members should be kept at a distance and should not
be employed as domestics unless they had been examined by a physician and found
to be free of the malady.
Trachoma, one of the oldest infectious diseases known to
mankind, is a disease that affects the eye. It usually begins during childhood
as a simple infection in the eye. After years of repeated infections, the
inside of the eyelids may be scarred so severely that the eyelid turns inwards,
with the eyelashes rubbing on the eyeball. Trachoma is most prevalent among
people of underdeveloped areas that have poor sanitary conditions and lack
proper hygiene. Unfortunately, these conditions existed on many American Indian
reservations of the day. The disease is transmitted by contact with infected
eye secretions, most usually by the fingers, handkerchiefs, towels, and
washcloths, used, or handled by, an infected person. Treated successfully today
with oral antibiotics, trachoma on the American Indian reservations of the 1800s
and early 1900s often led to blindness.
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Suggested Reading:
Pam Nelson, "Across the Road: Fallon Indian Day School and the Baptist Indian Mission" Focus (Churchill County Museum Association)14, No. 1 (2000–2001). Pam Nelson Last Updated: 2007-11-01 09:22:03
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