Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Jan 16, 2009, at 7:14 AM, Robert Walton wrote:

> Indians, Native Americans must have had ways to protect themselves.
> Probably also the smarts to not get into chiggers.

How often do you suppose they bathed, used soaps and shampoos? If I  
were planning to go out half naked into the woods to get a deer I  
would likely slather some smooshed jewelweed and mud on me. Hide the  
human odor, an attractant to bloodsuckers worldwide and certainly a  
deer repellent.

And I'm betting those smoky teepees and wigwams were inhospitable to  
insects.

Gene GeRue
www.RURALIZE.com