Native American disease history: past, present and future directions

Infectious disease introduction in the Americas has been approached in historical, not biological, terms. We believe that this historical focus has limited scholarly understanding of Native American disease experience, past and present. Our goal is to link disease contact and contemporary Native Ame...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:World archaeology 2003-10, Vol.35 (2), p.241-257
Main Author: Ramenofsky, Ann
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Americas
Amerindians
ancient DNA
Archaeology
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Disease
Disease models
Diseases
DNA
Epidemiology
Evolution
Genetics
History
Human paleontology
Indigenous populations
Infections
infectious disease evolution
Infectious diseases
Mankind origin and evolution
Methodology and general studies
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Native Americans
Native North Americans
Pathogens
Prehistory and protohistory
Tuberculosis
U.S.A
United States history
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Summary:Infectious disease introduction in the Americas has been approached in historical, not biological, terms. We believe that this historical focus has limited scholarly understanding of Native American disease experience, past and present. Our goal is to link disease contact and contemporary Native American biology. We review the historical debates, and argue that advances in evolutionary theory and molecular genetics should be incorporated into models and descriptions of Native American disease history. Our discussion highlights the model of infectious disease evolution and host-pathogen interactions in terms of the classic division between host, parasite and environment. We reference specific infectious diseases throughout and examine the question of New World tuberculosis in detail. We are hopeful that our discussion will result in new directions for investigation of disease history in the Americas.
ISSN:0043-8243
1470-1375
DOI:10.1080/0043824032000111407