Madonna Swan

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Madonna Mary Swan-Abdalla (September 12, 1928 – 1993) was a

Head Start teacher,[4]
marry, raise a child, and be named Native American Woman of the Year. Madonna Swan became an inspiration to both Native and non-Native women.

In the autobiographical narrative Madonna Swan: A Lakota Woman's Story as told through the author Mark St. Pierre,[5] Madonna Swan relates the stories of her life.

Early life

Swan was born on the Cheyenne River Reservation to

warts
with the rubbing of a raw potato on them, applied by her father.

Boarding school and disease

Madonna attended Immaculate Conception

hemorrhaging. Several girls died from what was termed quick consumption
. Madonna herself manifested the symptoms of TB.

Tuberculosis and life at the Indian sanatorium

Her brother Kermit, who had introduced her to the man who she later married, was wounded in

quarantined
, and a red tag was attached to them. The tag was later removed when the person with TB died or went to the sanatorium.

The treatment for tuberculosis during this time was isolation (hence the sanatoria) and artificial pneumothorax or lung compression. In December 1944 Madonna Swan was taken to the Sioux Sanatorium in Rapid City. During her many years at the San, as it was referred to, Madonna was treated for her TB by the placement of bean bags on her chest while lying flat on the back for hours on end. This was the way that pneumothorax or lung compression was accomplished. The thought being that the collapsing of the lung would kill the mycobacterium tuberculosis by eliminating the air which the bacterium needed to grow, an idea supported by observations by the Italian physician Carlo Forlanini. This treatment did not however provide a cure for Madonna Swan.

Another important part of the treatment regime for TB was enforced rest, together with a proper diet and a well-regulated hospital life, these were not, unfortunately, available to those at Indian sanatoria. The living conditions at Indian sanatoria were not favorable to recovery. The food was unvaried and substandard and infested with rodents and their droppings according to Madonna Swan's telling.

Even though the drug streptomycin had been developed and shown to kill mycobacterium tuberculosis, this medicine was not available to Indians who were patients at Indian sanatoria, at the time of Madonna Swan's confinement. Both the poor living conditions and the lack of medicine were common, as health care for the American Indian was substandard due to discrimination.

In the sixth year of her confinement in the sanatorium Madonna's younger brother Orby, who also had tuberculosis, died. He had begged his sister to have their parents take him home from the sanatorium so that he could die at home. He was taken home and died later the same day. After being denied the opportunity to attend her brother's funeral, and the thought of dying in the sanatorium added to Madonna's desire to leave, which she did without permission and returned to her family home. Facing the threat of quarantine her father refused to return Madonna to the Indian sanatorium. Instead, he wrote to an old school friend, Henry Standing Bear, who advised them to see a doctor in Pierre and gain admittance to the "white" TB sanatorium, Sanator at Custer, South Dakota. This was not simple, again due to discrimination because they were Indians the authorities denied her admittance to Sanator, telling them that they had to go back to the Sioux San. Madonna's father James Hart Swan would not accept this denial and he gained an audience with the governor of South Dakota, Judge Sigurd Anderson. James Swam explained their situation and the governor, who considered himself somewhat of a pioneer for human rights, understood that American Indians were not treated fairly, arranged for Madonna to be admitted to Sanator.

Sanator

Madonna was admitted to Sanator—the South Dakota Tuberculosis Sanatorium, in the community of

phrenic
which would permanently collapse her infected lung, again it failed to kill the TB.

After attending a conference on tuberculosis, Dr. Meyers learned of a procedure that was new in the United States. This operation required the removal of ribs and the upper lobe of her more infected lung, followed by another operation to remove the rest of the lung. Madonna Swan was one of the first patients to undergo this new procedure and much was learned about the treatment of TB from her experiences. Following the successful removal of lung and ribs, they were able to treat her remaining lung with an antibiotic designed to kill the TB bacteria (INH, Isoniazid).

With the removal of all of her ribs on one side, Madonna was paralyzed from her neck through her left arm and was unable to sit up. Battling depression, fitted with a brace to provide support, Madonna made a long and arduous recovery, gradually regaining sensation. While recovering she learned from reading and practice in the Sanator classroom how to repair jewelry. She received certification in

horology
(watch/clock repair).

Life after tuberculosis

In 1953, after ten years from first onset of symptoms of TB, Madonna is finally cured. She worked at Sanator as a receptionist and later left to work at repairing jewelry, watches and clocks. Her father died in 1953.

In 1956, she married Jay Abdalla, who was an army friend of her brother Kermit. Together, Madonna and Jay raised Austin Paul, the son of her sister. Madonna became an aide in the

GED
) in 1967. Although she completed 136 credit hours at the college level, Madonna was never able to earn her undergraduate degree due to her frail health. She took great pride in the accomplishments of her "son" Austin Paul, who graduated from college in 1979.

Madonna Swan-Abdalla was selected as the North American Indian Woman of the Year by her tribal sisters at Cheyenne River in 1983.

Legacy

Madonna Swan is known through her story as she related it to the author Mark St. Pierre. She serves as a symbol of courage, perseverance, and strength to all her read her story.

Notes

  1. ^ "Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe: Four Bands of the Lakota Nation". Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. January 24, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  2. PMID 2511601
    .
  3. ^ "Rapid City Indian School and Sioux Sanatorium". South Dakota State Archives. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  4. ^ "Administration for Children & Families". United States Department of Health and Human Services. Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  5. ^ St. Pierre, Mark (1991). Madonna Swan: A Lakota Woman's Story. University of Oklahoma Press.
  6. ^ "Chilocco Indian School (Oklahoma) Collection". Texas Tech University. Texas Archival Resources Online. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  7. ^ "School History". Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence Kansas. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  8. ^ "Welcome to Highmore: History of Stephen". City of Highmore. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  9. ^ "Oleothorax, by W. L. Meyer M.D., F.C.C.P." American College of Chest Physicians. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2008.

References

  • Ross, Luana. Reviewed Work(s). "Madonna Swan: A Lakota Woman's Story by Mark St. Pierre", American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 4. (Autumn 1995), pp. 561–565
  • Schulte, Steve. Reviewed Work(s). "Madonna Swan: A Lakota Woman's Story by Mark St. Pierre",
    The Western Historical Quarterly
    , Vol. 26, No. 1. (Spring 1995), pp. 91–92
  • St. Pierre, Mark. Madonna Swan: A Lakota Woman’s Story, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991
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