 | Death Stalks the Yakama: Epidemiological Transitions and Mortality on the Yakama Indian Reservation, 1888-1964 Subjects: Yakama Indians -- Mortality -- Statistics; Yakama children -- Mortality -- Statistics; Yakama children -- Diseases -- Statistics; Yakama children -- Nutrition -- Statistics; Yakama Indian Reservation (Wash.) -- Statistics Vital; Clifford Trafzer's disturbing new work, Death Stalks the Yakama , examines life, death, and the shockingly high mortality rates that have persisted among the fourteen tribes and bands living on the Yakama Reservation in the state of Washington. The work contains a valuable discussion of Indian beliefs about spirits, traditional causes of death, mourning ceremonies, and memorials. More significant, however, is Trafzer's research into heretofore unused parturition and death records from 1888-1964. In these documents, he discovers critical evidence to demonstrate how and why many reservation people died in "epidemics" of pneumonia, tuberculosis, and heart disease. Trafzer is Director of American Indian Studies at University of California, Riverside. Before joining the faculty of the University of California, Riverside in 1991, Trafzer taught at Diné College (Navajo Community College), Washington State University and San Diego State University. Trafzer's research focuses on Native American history and culture. |
