Stature analysis of Perris Indian school students, 1894-99.

Abstract

Keller uses anthropometric measurement to examine the health of Native American children attending the Perris Indian School of Southern California during the last decade of the nineteenth century. She compares the mean stature of children at Perris with similar historical and contemporary populations and analyzes their nutrition and linear patterns which reflect on the health of given populations. In accordance with anthropometric research, the taller the population, the better the population's overall health. Keller shows that in comparison to other populations, the children attending Perris Indian School would be considered the "tallest in the world." Such a conclusion contradicts research in this volume by Trafzer and Hyer. Keller questions her findings. She argues that Native parents clearly privileged their children in terms of food, but that the methodology she employs does not take into consideration variables such as genetics, ethnicity, or culture. Administrators screened students attending the school to exclude those with illnesses or physical disabilities. The healthiest children attended Perris while the remainder of the Native population in the region was under stress due to government policies and poverty.