Doctor Aids Indians
San Diego Doctor Aids Mexican Indians
HOBBY SPARKS CHARITY

San Diego Evening Tribune, 9 Dec. 1963
By NAOMI BARER

A San Diegan’s hobby of photography has led to a medical project to aid primitive Tarahumara Indians, living in caves or crude huts in a remote area of Mexico.
It also has led to building up the San Diego Museum of Man’s collection of Tarahumara objects and films of the life of the people.
Dr. John Steelquist, a museum board member, is back from one of several aerial trips to the rugged Tarahumara country in Southwestern Chihuahua. His first trip in 1959 was to make aerial photographs of the terrain.

Hospital, Mission

On a later trip, he visited a small hospital in the village of Sisoguichi, where a mission had been established in the early 1600s by the Jesuits.
In the hospital, he met Dr. Jesus Diego Clouthier, who gave up a practice in Mexico to become a lay brother of the order and to devote his life to aiding the Tarahumaras, who suffer from malnutrition. Steelquist interested fellow physicians and other friends here in obtaining medical supplies for the hospital. Pharmaceutical firms also donated supplies.

‘Remarkable Job’

“The little doctor down there is old now and has had to retire,” Steelquist said. “He did a remarkable job with only the assistance of a few nuns.”
Steelquist said Richard Shea, a local banker, plans to set up a fundraising organization here to aid the hospital. The Sisoguichi mission hopes to set up two more hospitals in remote areas, and donated x-ray machines and other equipment and supplies will be taken from here.
Sister Mary Eucharia, executive head of Mercy Hospital has assisted in the humanitarian project. Funds for it are donated to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

‘Almost Impassable’

Dean Holt of San Diego donates his time for the aerial trips. ‘I use a World War II ambulance to drive in the almost impassable country,” Steelquist said. “But even it couldn’t make the trip into the Barranca de Cobra. To reach the Tarahumara country, we had to ride mules. ‘The Indians are not stone age people. They use wooden, ploughs, drawn by oxen, to till their small fields. They are primarily agricultural, b u t the soil is so poor that their food is scarce. Sometimes they will scratch out a little field on a canyon side and carry animal fertilizer miles from their houses.

Peaceful, But Shy

“They are peaceful, butt very shy. Some of them ran when they saw us. Our guide, who spoke their language, said they never had seen a North American.”
Steelquist said some of the men wear only breech clouts, with an apron in the back, and native-made sanda1s, even in the coldest weather. Some wear jeans and shirts, made by the women. They buy the material in the village. Every man has a woven blanket which he uses to sleep on, and sometimes to wind around him. The women wear blouses and long cotton skirts.
The houses are of lumber hewn from the pine forests. They have dirt floors, and food is cooked over an indoor fire.

Religious Festivals

Some primitive rites are incorporated into their Christian religious festivals. Holy Week, is the major festival. Special costumes are worn for the dances and festivals. One of the Easter rites is a battle between Roman soldiers and the Pharisees, impersonated by men with white painted faces and bodies and wearing feathered hats.
Steelquist has made thousands of feet of film, including some of the Easter festivals.
He said that on one of his visits to the mission, he was greeted in English by a brother in training. He was Benjamin Moreno, who was born in Mercy Hospital here and is a graduate of St. Augustine High School. He is now in this country for ordainment. Then he will return to devote his time to the Tarahumaras.

Home       Top      Genealogy       Biographies       Diaries      Histories      Photos      Recipes      Websites