First nations patiences waning

DogOnPorch · February 25, 2013

TB, polio, variola, flu...these diseases were suffered by all. Not just Native Indians.

jacee · February 25, 2013

TB, polio, variola, flu...these diseases were suffered by all. Not just Native Indians.

You missed this:

Among the general population, people with TB were quarantined ... since 1900, but not in the 'Indian' residential schools even decades later.

More ...

Full text of "The story of a national crime : being an appeal for justice to the Indians of Canada ;...

Thus we find a sum of only $10.000 has been annually placed in the estimates to control tuberculosis amongst 105,000 Indians scattered over Canada in over 300 bands, while the City of Ottawa, with about the same population and having three general hospitals spent thereon $342,860.54 in 1919 of which $33,364.70 is devoted to tuberculous patients alone. The many difficulties of our problem amongst the Indians have been frequently pointed out, but the means to cope with these have also been made plain. It can only be said that any cruder or weaker arguments by a Prime Minister holding the position of responsibility to these treaty wards of Canada could hardly be conceived, and such recall the satirical jibe of Voltaire, regarding the Treaty of Shackmaxoii be-tween Wm. Penn and the Indians, which he describes as " the only known treaty between savages and Christians that was never sworn to and never broken. "

The degree and extent of this criminal disregard for the treaty pledges to guard the welfare of the Indian wards of the nation may be guaged from the facts once more brought out at the meet-ing of the National Tuberculosis Association at its annual meeting held in Ottawa on March 17th, 1922. The superintendent of the Qu'Appelle Sanatorium, Sask., gave there the results of a special study of 1575 children of school age in which advantage was taken of the most modern scientific methods. Of these 175 were Indian children, and it is very remarkable that the fact given that some 93 per cent, of these showed evidence of tuberculous infection coincides completely with the work done by Dr. Lafferty and the writer in the Alberta Indian schools in 1909.

It is indeed pitiable that during the thirteen years since then this trail of disease and death has gone on almost unchecked by any serious efforts on the part of the Department of Indian Affairs, placed by the B. N. A. Act especially in charge of our Indian population, and that a Provincial Tuberculosis Commission now considers it to be its duty to publish the facts regarding these children ...

Edited February 25, 2013 by jacee

DogOnPorch · February 25, 2013

Sure they did....

I guess you aren't old enough to recall TB testing vans and such. There was a time when TB and polio in particular stalked the Canadian landscape. But, sure, let's pretend these horrors only affected the Native population.

jacee · February 25, 2013

Sure they did....

I guess you aren't old enough to recall TB testing vans and such. There was a time when TB and polio in particular stalked the Canadian landscape. But, sure, let's pretend these horrors only affected the Native population.

Not saying that.

Just saying many more of them were allowed to die for lack of proper treatment.

In particular, Indigenous children were crowded together in the residential schools, while quarantine of sick children should have been implemented as recommended by medical officers.

Edited February 25, 2013 by jacee

DogOnPorch · February 25, 2013

Allowed to die? How dramatic. Are you suggesting Native Indians are not capable of making correct choices re: health? We're all captains of our own ships in this world. As far as crowded, my classes in the 1960s-70s often held upward of 50 students...including Native Indians. Baby Boom, yah know?

http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/dimensions/issue3/polio.html

Edited February 25, 2013 by DogOnPorch

jacee · February 25, 2013

Allowed to die? How dramatic. Are you suggesting Native Indians are not capable of making correct choices re: health? We're all captains of our own ships in this world. As far as crowded, my classes in the 1960s-70s often held upward of 50 students...including Native Indians. Baby Boom, yah know?

http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/dimensions/issue3/polio.html

Why is it so important to you to pretend that Indigenous children did not die from disease, particularly TB, in residential schools in greater numbers due to poor care, DoP?

It's a pretty well established fact.

natives-died-in-droves-as-ottawa-ignored-warnings

A Globe and Mail examination of documents in the National Archives reveals that children continued to die from tuberculosis at alarming rates for at least four decades after a senior official at the Department of Indian Affairs initially warned in 1907 that schools were making no effort to separate healthy children from those sick with the highly contagious disease.

Edited February 25, 2013 by jacee

Fletch 27 · February 25, 2013

^{It Was Your Silly comment that the Children were "allowed to Die"..}

jacee · February 25, 2013

^{It Was Your Silly comment that the Children were "allowed to Die"..}

Well they were ... for at least four decades. Read the quote above. Edited February 25, 2013 by jacee

PIK · February 25, 2013

Gotta love those liberal policies that put them in that position.

jacee · February 25, 2013

Gotta love those liberal policies that put them in that position.

Was Duncan Campbell Scott a Liberal?

Peanutbutter · February 25, 2013

And a sum of money is going to make it all better? I wasn't alive in 1907 so I don't see why I need to pay for this. I didn't do it. The FN people are perpetual victims, it's now in the way they are brought up as kids. They are taught by their parents that they are victims. It's sad that their parents aren't giving them a chance to succeed in life before they even start.

DogOnPorch · February 25, 2013

Why is it so important to you to pretend that Indigenous children did not die from disease, particularly TB, in residential schools in greater numbers due to poor care, DoP?

It's a pretty well established fact.

natives-died-in-droves-as-ottawa-ignored-warnings

A Globe and Mail examination of documents in the National Archives reveals that children continued to die from tuberculosis at alarming rates for at least four decades after a senior official at the Department of Indian Affairs initially warned in 1907 that schools were making no effort to separate healthy children from those sick with the highly contagious disease.

Everybody's a victim. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

DogOnPorch · February 25, 2013

And a sum of money is going to make it all better? I wasn't alive in 1907 so I don't see why I need to pay for this. I didn't do it. The FN people are perpetual victims, it's now in the way they are brought up as kids. They are taught by their parents that they are victims. It's sad that their parents aren't giving them a chance to succeed in life before they even start.

Touche'

jacee · February 25, 2013

And a sum of money is going to make it all better? I wasn't alive in 1907 so I don't see why I need to pay for this. I didn't do it. The FN people are perpetual victims, it's now in the way they are brought up as kids. They are taught by their parents that they are victims. It's sad that their parents aren't giving them a chance to succeed in life before they even start.

It's just about telling the truth.

DogOnPorch · February 25, 2013

It's just about telling the truth.

To the exclusion of everybody else affected by sickness or who suffered under the Canadian government. After all, only the suffering of Native Indians is an issue. Even the comments in that CBC article reflects this attitude...both for and against.

WIP · February 25, 2013

TB, polio, variola, flu...these diseases were suffered by all. Not just Native Indians.

Can't help noticing that your responses to all incidents of injustice suffered by non-whites are stupid, racist and/or just plain irrelevant!

Peanutbutter · February 25, 2013

Can't help noticing that your responses to all incidents of injustice suffered by non-whites are stupid, racist and/or just plain irrelevant!

It's racist to point out that non natives died from terrible diseases as well? How so?

jacee · February 25, 2013

Everybody's a victim. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Answer the question DoP:

Why do you not want to acknowledge the truth of children's deaths in the 'Indian' Residential Schools?

Mocking isn't a very informed or informative approach.

WIP · February 25, 2013

Not saying that.

Just saying many more of them were allowed to die for lack of proper treatment.

In particular, Indigenous children were crowded together in the residential schools, while quarantine of sick children should have been implemented as recommended by medical officers.

One thing the haters can't buy a clue on is that the main goal of residential schooling was to destroy family life and culture of indigenous societies whose children were forced into the residential schooling system. As with many things, once it's broken, it's very hard to fix afterwards!

Right now, as we observe a warming and overcrowded world, and sit staring into an abyss of our own making because of our over-exploitation of nature inspired by the sheer hubris of enlightenment ideology, it would be nice to hear the alternative perspective of more people who still considered nature to be sacred and had a duty to refrain from unbridled exploitation of the environment........but we didn't listen to those old, antiquated ways and tried to reprogram their children to forget the old ways and tried to force them to adapt to consumer capitalism or in most cases, be left sitting on the margins of our society without enough unspoiled land and water to live by tradition even if they do try to recover past knowledge.

sonny45 · February 25, 2013

First nations must move beyond the expectation of continuing government support, to active participation in Canadian society and self reliance economically. More than enough time has passed to allow for cultural adjustment to modern society. It is not generous to leave these people to a dependent state, with no requirement for self responsibility. A welfare mentality is destroying these once proud and self sufficient peoples.

g_bambino · February 25, 2013

t would be nice to hear the alternative perspective of more people who still considered nature to be sacred and had a duty to refrain from unbridled exploitation of the environment........but we didn't listen to those old, antiquated ways and tried to reprogram their children to forget the old ways and tried to force them to adapt to consumer capitalism or in most cases, be left sitting on the margins of our society without enough unspoiled land and water to live by tradition even if they do try to recover past knowledge.

Ah, yes; the romanticism of the noble savage.

Peanutbutter · February 25, 2013

The purpose of residential schools was to educate the savages(so to speak). Until we came along they were still living as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. The white man was trying to bring them into the current century. In some cases it didn't work out to well but that's life, it doesn't always work out the way you planned.

jacee · February 25, 2013

It's racist to point out that non natives died from terrible diseases as well? How so?

PB, I suggest you read the quotes and links.

Non-natives with TB were quarantined to avoid spreading it.

Native children were crowded together despite warnings to the government from medical officers ... for over four decades.

jacee · February 25, 2013

The purpose of residential schools was to educate the savages(so to speak). Until we came along they were still living as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. The white man was trying to bring them into the current century. In some cases it didn't work out to well but that's life, it doesn't always work out the way you planned.

I find your comment disgusting.

You need to educate yourself.

Peanutbutter · February 25, 2013

I find your comment disgusting.

You need to educate yourself.

it's a truthful statement. They FN were living as savages, as the Europeans saw it, and they wanted to rid them of that. I don't see what's disgusting about a true statement. I am quite educated, thank you.