SMALLPOX USED THEM UP - REFERENCES TO EPIDEMIC DISEASE IN NORTHERN PLAINS WINTER COUNTS

Northern Plains Indian winter counts (chronologies) provide a record o f epidemic disease in the area from 1682 to 1920. These indicate that epidemics occurred on average every 5.7 years for the area and every 9 .7-15.8 years for individual groups. Disease outbreaks tended to follo w episodes of famine or disease and tended to be followed by episodes of abundance of game when human mortality had been high. Epidemics pre ceded sustained contact with non-natives. The groups keeping winter co unts recognized that epidemic diseases were spread through intergroup contact. Recorded reactions to epidemics include population dispersal, attempts to identify effective medicines, avoidance of outsiders, and changes in religious practices. The winter count data confirm models of disease etiology and provide a Native American perspective on the f requency and severity of epidemics during the contact era.