Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/55672 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 3740
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
The trend of the height of Indian scouts in the U.S. Army born between ca. 1825 and 1875 is analyzed. Their average height of ca. 170 cm (67 in.) confirms that natives were tall compared to Europeans but were nearly the shortest among the rural populations in the New World. The trend in their height describes a slightly inverted U shape with an increase between those born 1820-34 and 1835-39 of ca. 1.8 cm (0.7 in.) (p=0.000) and a subsequent slight decline after the Civil War. This implies that they were able to maintain and perhaps even improve their nutritional status through the Civil War, though harder times followed for those born thereafter. We also recalculate the heights of Native Americans in the Boas sample and find that the Plains Indians were shorter than most rural Americans. The trend in the height of Indians in the Boas sample is similar to that of the Scouts.
Subjects: 
Native Americans
Indians
anthropometric history
height
physical stature
biological standard of living
JEL: 
N00
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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