Prevalence Of Abnormal Hemoglobins In American Indian Children

Blood samples from 338 American Indian children from Wyoming and Montana were studied for abnormal hemoglobins by paper electrophoresis. Two cases of hemoglobin D trait were discovered in one family. A further survey of their relatives revealed a total of five cases of hemoglobin D trait. Tribal records showed them to be 25/32 Shoshone and Ottawa Indian, but the hemoglobin D appeared to be transmitted through the father, who was 3/4 Ottawa Indian and 1/4 French Canadian. The presence of hemoglobin D is of interest since Indian ancestry has been reported in other families with hemoglobin D. The over-all low incidence of abnormal hemoglobins in these Indians of the western Rocky Mountains (primarily of the Shoshone and Arapaho tribes) confirms the previously reported low incidence of this trait in Indians of the southeastern and southwestern United States.