Madonna Swan
Encyclopedia
Madonna Mary Swan-Abdalla (September 12, 1928–1993) was an American Indian woman Lakota. Born on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota
, Madonna Swan prevailed over extreme difficulties including the Native American tuberculosis
epidemic of the 20th century to lead a fulfilled life. She overcame the terrible conditions of socio-economic deprivation, restricted education, poor health care, and confinement to the Indian tuberculosis sanatorium and the reservation, to attend college, become a Head Start teacher, marry, raise a child, and be named Native American Woman of the Year. Madonna Swan become an inspiration to both Indian and non-Indian women.
In the autobiographical narrative Madonna Swan: A Lakota Woman’s Story as told through the author Mark St. Pierre, Madonna Swan relates the stories of her life.
parents in 1928. She was the fifth child of ten, of which only five survived to adulthood. Makoka Winge’ Win (Goes Around The World Woman) was her Indian name given to her by her father. Her parents, James Hart Swan and Lucy Josephine High Pine-Swan were born around the turn of the 20th century. Madonna’s father James completed education at both Chilocco Indian Agricultural School
, an Indian school in Oklahoma
, where he would have been taught a skilledtrade
geared toward agriculture
, and two years at Haskell Indian College
, which was the equivalent to a junior college
. For the first five years of her life the Swan family lived with Madonna’s paternal great-uncle, known as Grandpa Puts On His Shoes, or Grandpa Puts for short. American Indian elder
s of the age cohort of Grandpa Puts (born before 1900) were alive during the nomadic days before the Indian victory and defeat of Custer at Little Big Horn
and the subsequent final Indian confinement on indian reservations. Madonna Swan’s childhood was filled with beliefs and customs of the traditional Indian lifestyle. She relates a story of being cured of warts with the rubbing of a raw potato on them, applied by her father.
. She expressed great pleasure in attending school and participated on the basketball team. It was at this school in the fall of 1943 were Madonna first learned that some of her classmates have tuberculosis. She becomes aware of the disease as does the school staff after several girls developed coughs and chest pain, weight loss, and hemorrhaging. Several girls died from what was termed quick consumption
. Madonna herself manifested the symptoms of TB.
and had also contracted malaria
. Kermit died in the spring of 1944. Misfortune followed Madonna as she returned to Immaculate Conception in the fall of 1944 and received the official diagnosis of tuberculosis (chanhu sica – bad lung in the Lakota language). TB was a huge stigma
in this time period. The Indians considered TB akin to a social disease. Indian homes that had a person with TB living in them were 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, SD. 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, SD. 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.
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).
In 1956 Madonna 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 Head Start program and later a teacher. Madonna earned her Graduate Equivalency Diploma (General Educational Development - 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.
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, Madonna Swan prevailed over extreme difficulties including the Native American tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
epidemic of the 20th century to lead a fulfilled life. She overcame the terrible conditions of socio-economic deprivation, restricted education, poor health care, and confinement to the Indian tuberculosis sanatorium and the reservation, to attend college, become a Head Start teacher, marry, raise a child, and be named Native American Woman of the Year. Madonna Swan become an inspiration to both Indian and non-Indian women.
In the autobiographical narrative Madonna Swan: A Lakota Woman’s Story as told through the author Mark St. Pierre, Madonna Swan relates the stories of her life.
Early life
Swan was born on the Cheyenne River Reservation to Lakota, Western SiouxSioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
parents in 1928. She was the fifth child of ten, of which only five survived to adulthood. Makoka Winge’ Win (Goes Around The World Woman) was her Indian name given to her by her father. Her parents, James Hart Swan and Lucy Josephine High Pine-Swan were born around the turn of the 20th century. Madonna’s father James completed education at both Chilocco Indian Agricultural School
Chilocco Indian Agricultural School
Chilocco Indian School was an agricultural school for Native Americans located in north-central Oklahoma from 1884 to 1980. It was located approximately 20 miles north of Ponca City, Oklahoma and seven miles north of Newkirk, Oklahoma, near the Kansas border....
, an Indian school in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, where he would have been taught a skilledtrade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
geared toward agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, and two years at Haskell Indian College
Haskell Indian Nations University
Haskell Indian Nations University is a tribal university located in Lawrence, Kansas, for members of federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States...
, which was the equivalent to a junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
. For the first five years of her life the Swan family lived with Madonna’s paternal great-uncle, known as Grandpa Puts On His Shoes, or Grandpa Puts for short. American Indian elder
American Indian elder
In American Indian education, within each tribe elders, "are repositories of cultural and philosophical knowledge and are the transmitters of such information," including, "basic beliefs and teachings, encouraging...faith in the Great Spirit, the Creator"...
s of the age cohort of Grandpa Puts (born before 1900) were alive during the nomadic days before the Indian victory and defeat of Custer at Little Big Horn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
and the subsequent final Indian confinement on indian reservations. Madonna Swan’s childhood was filled with beliefs and customs of the traditional Indian lifestyle. She relates a story of being cured of warts with the rubbing of a raw potato on them, applied by her father.
Boarding school and disease
Madonna attended Immaculate Conception a Catholic boarding school in Stephan, South DakotaSouth Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. She expressed great pleasure in attending school and participated on the basketball team. It was at this school in the fall of 1943 were Madonna first learned that some of her classmates have tuberculosis. She becomes aware of the disease as does the school staff after several girls developed coughs and chest pain, weight loss, and hemorrhaging. Several girls died from what was termed quick consumption
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. Madonna herself manifested the symptoms of TB.
Tuberculosis and life at the Indian sanatorium
Her brother Kermit, who had introduced Madonna to the man whom she would later marry, was wounded in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and had also contracted malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
. Kermit died in the spring of 1944. Misfortune followed Madonna as she returned to Immaculate Conception in the fall of 1944 and received the official diagnosis of tuberculosis (chanhu sica – bad lung in the Lakota language). TB was a huge stigma
Social stigma
Social stigma is the severe disapproval of or discontent with a person on the grounds of characteristics that distinguish them from other members of a society.Almost all stigma is based on a person differing from social or cultural norms...
in this time period. The Indians considered TB akin to a social disease. Indian homes that had a person with TB living in them were 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
Pneumothorax
Pneumothorax is a collection of air or gas in the pleural cavity of the chest between the lung and the chest wall. It may occur spontaneously in people without chronic lung conditions as well as in those with lung disease , and many pneumothoraces occur after physical trauma to the chest, blast...
or lung compression. In December 1944 Madonna Swan was taken to the Sioux Sanatorium in Rapid City, SD. 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
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogenic bacterial species in the genus Mycobacterium and the causative agent of most cases of tuberculosis . First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, M...
by eliminating the air which the bacterium needed to grow, an idea supported by observations by the Italian physician Carlo Forlanini
Carlo Forlanini
Carlo Forlanini was an Italian physician.In 1870 he earned his medical degree from the University of Pavia, where he studied as an alumnus of Borromeo College, and afterwards joined the staff of the Ospedale Maggiore in Milan...
. 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
Streptomycin
Streptomycin is an antibiotic drug, the first of a class of drugs called aminoglycosides to be discovered, and was the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis. It is derived from the actinobacterium Streptomyces griseus. Streptomycin is a bactericidal antibiotic. Streptomycin cannot be given...
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
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
.
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, SD. 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
Sigurd Anderson
Sigurd Anderson was the 19th Governor of South Dakota. Anderson, a Republican from Webster, South Dakota, served in that office from 1951 to 1955.-Background:...
. 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 in September 1950. She found this hospital very different from the Indian San. The grounds around the building were landscaped with trees and flowers, and patients were allowed to wear their own clothing and walk around the grounds. Her doctor, Dr. W. L. Meyers vowed to Madonna’s parents that he would do everything in his power to help their daughter. The initial treatment was to pump air into the abdomen, and after that proved to be unsuccessful, they tried pumping air into her back to collapse the bad lung, which also failed. They next tried an operation called a 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
Antibiotic
An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
designed to kill the TB bacteria (INH, Isoniazid
Isoniazid
Isoniazid , also known as isonicotinylhydrazine , is an organic compound that is the first-line antituberculosis medication in prevention and treatment. It was first discovered in 1912, and later in 1951 it was found to be effective against tuberculosis by inhibiting its mycolic acid...
).
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
Horology
Horology is the art or science of measuring time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, clepsydras, timers, time recorders and marine chronometers are all examples of instruments used to measure time.People interested in horology are called horologists...
(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. Madonna’s father died in 1953.In 1956 Madonna 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 Head Start program and later a teacher. Madonna earned her Graduate Equivalency Diploma (General Educational Development - GED
GED
General Educational Development tests are a group of five subject tests which, when passed, certify that the taker has American or Canadian high school-level academic skills...
) 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.