A Long Way from Home: The Tuberculosis Epidemic among the Inuit

270 Pages·1997·14.192 MB·English

by  Pat Sandiford Grygier

A Long Way from Home
McGill-Queen's/Hannah Institute Studies in the
History of Medicine, Health, and Society
Series Editors: S.O. Freedman and J.T.H. Connor
Volumes in this series have been supported by
the Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine.
1 Home Medicine: The Newfoundland Experience
John K. Crellin
2 A Long Way from Home
The Tuberculosis Epidemic among the Inuit
Put Sandiford Grygier
A Long Way
from Home
The Tuberculosis
Epidemic among
the Inuit
PAT SANDIFORD GRYGIER
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo
© McGill-Queen's University Press 1994
ISBN 0-7735-1216-0
Legal deposit third quarter 1994
Bibliotheque Rationale du Quebec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
This book has been published with the help of grants
from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities,
using funds provided by the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada, and
Multiculturalism Canada.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Grygier, Pal Sandiford, 1922-
A long way from home: the tuberculosis epidemic
among the Inuit
(McGill-Queen's/Hannah Institute Studies in the
history of medicine, health, and society; 2)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-1216-0
1. Inuit - Canada - Health and hygiene - History.
2. Tuberculosis - Canada - History. I. Title. 11. Series.
RC314.23..\6G79 1994 6i6.g'9,'oo8997i cg4-9Oo6i7-3
Typeset in Pa latino 10/12
by Caractera production graphique inc., Quebec City
This book is dedicated to my friend Margery
Henson; to the beautiful lady in Clyde River
who came to tell me her story, and to all those
who suffered through the epidemic; and to the
many workers who tried to help them through
this difficult period.
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Contents
Tables ix
Figures and Maps xi
Place Names xiii
Abbreviations xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction xxi
Illustrations following xxiv
PART ONE SETTING THE SCENE
\ A Brief History of Tuberculosis in
Canada 3
2 The Inuit People and the Arctic 16
3 Other Players: The Hudson's Bay Company
and the Missionaries 29
4 Other Players: The Government and the
KCMP 40
PART TWO THE EVENTS
5 Emergence of the Problem 55
6 The Assault 66
7 The Eastern Arctic Patrol 86
8 Life in the San. 104
viii Contents
9 After the Hospital: Going Home, or a
Southern Grave 117
10 The 19603: New Measures in the Northwest
Territories 133
11 Distinct but Similar: The Epidemic in
Quebec and Newfoundland 152
PART THREE CONCLUSIONS
12 The Balance Sheet: One Person's Point of
View 175
APPENDICES
1 Arctic Administration and Principal Events,
1870-1970 189
2 Interviews 193
3 Hospitals to which Inuit Were Sent, 19405
to 19603 195
4 NANR "Standard Eskimo Discharge
Kit" 198
Notes 201
A Note on Sources 221
Credits 223
Index 225
Tables
1 Tuberculosis Morbidity and Mortality,
1938-65 5
2 Tuberculosis Morbidity and Mortality,
1966-90 (Rates per 100,000 Population) 6
3 International Tuberculosis Death Rates for
1959 (Rates per 100,000 Population) 14
4 Diamond Jenness's Summary of "Medical
Services, Schools, and Relief for Eskimo
Territory for the Year 1939-40" 38
5 Diamond Jenness's Estimate of
'Approximate Expenditures in 1939 on
Eskimo Education, Health, and Welfare,
and on Police Posts in Eskimo
Territory" 39
6 Early Inuit X-ray Survey and
Hospitalization Figures 71
7 Record of Inuit in Hospital, 1950-53 77
8 Inuit Tuberculosis Morbidity, 1953-62 (Rates
per 100,000 Population) 83
9 Inuit Tuberculosis Mortality by Certified
Number of Deaths, 1950-60 84
10 Inuit Tuberculosis Mortality Rates, 1950-60
(Rates per 100,000 Population) 84
n Population by Ethnic Origin (Inuit) Canada
in Census Years 1951-81 85