San Diego Doctor Aids Mexican Indians HOBBY SPARKS CHARITY San Diego Evening Tribune, 9 Dec. 1963 By NAOMI BARER |
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A San Diegans 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.
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. 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. 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 couldnt 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. 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.
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