Native Americans may have had very different ideas about who belonged in the civilized world and who belonged in the primitive world when the Mayflower arrived in Plymouth in the early 17th century. Unlike the natives who were proud of their hygienic practices, the colonists hardly took a bath every day. And everyone is aware of what happened after the Thanksgiving meal when pilgrims not only gave the locals food but also a wide range of diseases. On the other hand, were Native Americans' hands truly and symbolically cleaned as popular history would have you think, or did they also have some unwashed clothes? We are investigating the hygienic habits of Native Americans in pre-colonial periods today.