1. Smallpox Destroyed the Lives of
the Native Americans
By Regina Ball
A drawing of a Native
American hunting a buffalo
before smallpox killed off
the elderly Native
Americans that would teach
the younger ones to hunt.
Lewy Guenter. “Were American
Indians the Victims of Genocide?”
History News Network. September
2004. Accessed April 12, 2015.
http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/7
302.

2. Native Americans Were not Prepared for
Smallpox
 1. Native Americans depended on natural remedies and regarded sickness as a result of supernatural forces
 2. The Europeans did not help the afflicted Native Americans until many tribes had been exterminated.
 3. Native Americans had never encountered smallpox prior to exposure thus they had no immunity.
Native American Sweat
lodge used to rid
The Native Americans
of negative energy.
"The Native American Sweatlodge, A
Spiritual Tradition." The Native American
Sweatlodge, A Spiritual Tradition.
Accessed April 12, 2015.
http://www.barefootsworld.net/sweatlodge
.html

3. Smallpox Terminated Tribes
 1. There were no cures for smallpox .
 2. Extremely contagious and could not be contained.
These circle graphs demonstrate how detrimental smallpox
was to the Native American population in the 1800s.
"Chapter4 - Four
Directions of Native
American History." Four
Directions of Native
American History.
Accessed April 12, 2015.
http://www.fourdir.com/ch
apter_4_native_american_
history.htm

4. Smallpox Stole the Independence of the
Native Americans
 1. Smallpox made the remaining Native American
tribes completely dependent on the fur trade
with the Americans.
 2. Many tribes, such as the Mandan, Arikara,
and Hidatsa, had to merge in order to survive.
Museum Collection, 1911: Buffalo
Robe. 2006. Arts of the Americans,
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY.
Accessed April 12, 2015.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/openc
ollection/objects/130400/Buffalo_Robe
Buffalo robe the Native Americans
created for the Americans to prevent
starvation. They created them in mass
production.

5. Conclusion
 Smallpox had a negatively profound
effect on the Native Americans in the United States.
 They were unprepared for the disease,
smallpox decimated entire tribes,
and it robbed the of their independence
and much of their culture.
Photo by Neil
Howe, Courtesy of
the Three
Affiliated Tribes
Museum.
Chief Four Bears of the Mandan. He was a friend of
the Europeans until smallpox ravaged his body and
finally killed him.

6. Suggested Readings
 Robertson, R. G. Rotting Face. Idaho: Caxton Press, 2001. Print. This book is very informative as to how smallpox
damaged the lives of the Native Americans in every aspect, such as their trading system and their population.
 Chardon, Francis A. Chardon’s Journal at Fort Clark, 1834-1839, Edited by Annie Abel. Nebraska: Bison Books, 1997.
Print. This primary source is written by a trading post commander and he explains how smallpox ruined the Mandan tribe
forever.
 Halverson, Melissa. (2007). “Native American Beliefs and Medical Treatments during the Smallpox Epidemics: An
Evolution.” Archiving Early America. Accessed March 3, 2015.
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2007_summer_fall/native-americans-smallpox.html
This journal article provides information regarding the treatments Native Americans used to cure their various ailments,
especially during smallpox. The reader can see why their methods of treatment failed.