Figures of Yesteryear

Around Christmas time 1921, when Mary Jane and her little daughter of Glasgow were visiting Mary Jane’s parents in Malta the two came down with the measles. The little girl had black dots over her entire body.

Mary Jane wanted a bath for at least her baby but her mother, a Chippewa Indian, told her in her native language, “Dear girl, you must not give her a bath as she will get very sick.”

In retrospect, Mary Jane said, “The older people are so very wise.” This is what did it – the baby became terribly ill.

Dr. Curry was called in. He prescribed medicine to be given every four hours. At another visit, the doctor begged Mary Jane to give her daughter up after he tried her reflexes in her hand – no reaction to pin pricks. Nor could the child walk. All knew with dread that polio had struck.

The child did not want anyone to lift her up nor touch her. The mother and grandmother concluded that the white man’s medicine in this case was nearly worthless, only giving sleep to the child but no noticeable improvement otherwise.

The grandfather left the house to search for a plant whose leaves made good Indian medicine. With the snow on the ground, the search was futile. Dauntless, the devoted grandfather braved the cold and walked to Malta’s Cemetery, where on the grave of the loving grandmother was the much sought plant. The grandmother had died only a few months previous.

Teas were made from the leaves for the child to drink. Compresses were saturated in the tea as hot as the child could tolerate. When the compresses cooled, the procedure was repeated. It took three people to care for the little girl around the clock. Massaging the limbs were faithfully followed.

Mary Louise Gunn, the little girl, survived without any after effects, later married and raised a family of eight.