Arlena Bateman
T00554734
History 4250
Tracy Penny Light
Reading Log #2
January 22, 2018
Ian Mosby’s article, “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942- 1952” examines the research that was conducted on Aboriginal communities and the Indian Residential Schools to gain statistics on their nutritional status. The studies revealed how malnourished this culture was and provided some causes, such as food shortages and lack of provisions on the both the reserves and in the schools. Although, the focus of the research was on nutrition and Aboriginals health, no change or improvement became of their lengthy studies. Contrarily, this article reveals that the researchers themselves benefited and essentially the Aboriginals were once again subjected to being used as “experimental materials.”[1] The article shines light on the unethical practices the researchers carried out during these studies in order to support their theories. For example, using control groups of children in certain residential schools by not providing any provisions or proper nutrition in order to compare and gain results. The justification in these practices reiterates the views towards aboriginals in the statement, “useless bodies were rendered useful by being made usable in the national project of regeneration.”[2] Although, it appeared that the intention of some researchers such as Moore, was to show the relation of malnutrition to the “’Indian problems’ of susceptibility to disease and economic dependency.”[3] The James Bay Survey wanted to change how food was rationed to see if they could fix the problems, however, in both cases nothing changed and no improvements were implemented for the Aboriginal people. Essentially any gains made by the information gleaned from the studies, such as the benefits of supplements and diet did not affect or help the people who were subjected to the studies. Not to mention at what cost? The author draws a parallel between the exploitation of the Aboriginals in these studies to the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment done on African men to show how marginalized groups were inhumanely treated.[4] That is the biggest issue that resonates throughout Mosby’s article that the studies were done on vulnerable, marginalized groups using unethical practices and furthering the way Aboriginals are perceived as being less worthy than non-Aboriginals.
Maureen K. Lux’s article, “Care for the ‘Racially Careless’: Indian Hospitals in the Canadian West, 1920-1950s” examines the lack of resources and medical help for the Aboriginal culture who were deemed “a menace to their neighbours and a danger to the Nation.”[5] The Aboriginals were seen in such a negative light throughout all three articles and by “marking Aboriginal bodies as fundamentally weak and diseased”[6] was the means of justification by the White Canadians when segregation was implemented. This negative connotation put upon the Aboriginals is examined by the lack of access and treatment for tuberculosis in comparison to the white population. The author focuses on the political forces behind the policies and the implications and lack of treatment for the Aboriginals. These inequalities further marginalized the Aboriginal people and perpetuated and indifference towards their health and wellness. For example, “Modern hospitals with the state’s aid produced and reproduced racialized lines of exclusion; it became normal and natural that effective healthcare was reserved for white citizens.”[7] This reiterates how colonization dictated who could receive proper treatment and the author shows that hospitals built for the Aboriginals were to protect non-Aboriginals from further spread of the disease. Similarly, to Kelm and Mosby’s article, shows the disparity in treatment of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people that perpetuated the way in which people viewed them.
Mary Ellen Kelm’s Chapter, “The Impact of Colonization on Aboriginal Health in British Columbia” in Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal Health and Healing in British Columbia, 1900-1950, examines the health of Aboriginals compared to non-Aboriginal people through statistics, tables and graphs. Number and statistics do not tell the whole story but does provide unbiased information that was collected to show the imbalance of care and concern towards the Aboriginal population. The author also provides first-hand accounts to show how much the Aboriginals suffered from disease and death as a result of the negative and “grim portrait of Aboriginal bodies”[8] who denied them access to adequate resources and medical help. As a result the loss of life was staggering among the Aboriginal people and yet the government officials perpetuated the “careless Indians” and how they “were naturally or inevitably diseased.”[9] Similar to the other articles, the justification of actions by the officials to exclude and segregate Aboriginals is examined here as well. The irony that the Aboriginal people’s large decline in population was a result of contact with the colonizers was never admitted by the officials during this time. Instead, blame was placed on them for any diseases they incurred and then spread. The authors are quick to point out that with minimal access to food, water, and medical assistance, how could the Aboriginal people improve their health conditions?
The article by Mary V. Seeman, “Improving Outcomes for Patients with Schizophrenia: New Hope for an Old Illness” gives grave detail on important aspects of schizophrenia in such a short article. The author’s informative approach gives the reader a good understanding of the disease and the challenges in treating it. For example, Seeman brings to light the benefits and detriments between treating with old versus new medication. Although there are positives and negatives attached to both the deciding factors are which offers less side effects or a more efficient medication. These challenges to find a balance in treatment is shown throughout this article, as well as the issues around diagnosing especially when onset can occur in adolescence. The many obstacles faced with an illness like schizophrenia such as diagnosis and medications are examined thoroughly and how to treat individual patients appropriately based on how they react to the medication. As well treatment may include institutionalization which provides other difficulties as the patient is segregated from family and friends. The purpose of the article is to shed light on the issues and underlying problems and to look for solutions in treating this complicated disease.
Bibliography:
Kelm, Mary Ellen, “The Impact of Colonization on Aboriginal Health in British Columbia” in Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal Health and Healing in British Columbia, 1900-1950, Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998: 6-18.
Lux, Maureen K., “Care for the ‘Racially Careless’: Indian Hospitals in the Canadian West, 1920-1950s” Canadian Historical Review, 91, 3 (2010): 407-434.
Mosby, Ian, “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942-1952” Histoire Sociale/ Social History, XLVI, No. 91 (Mai/May 2013), 145-172.
Seeman, Mary V., “Improving Outcomes for Patients with Schizophrenia: New Hope for an Old Illness” Canadian Medical Association, 160, 6 (1999): 826-828.
http://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/160/6/826.full.pdf.
Endnotes:
[1] Ian Mosby. “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942-1952” Histoire Sociale/ Social History, XLVI, No. 91 (Mai/May 2013), 148.
[2] Ibid, 167.
[3] Ibid, 148.
[4] Ibid, 165.
[5] Maureen K. Lux. “Care for the ‘Racially Careless’: Indian Hospitals in the Canadian West, 1920-1950s” Canadian Historical Review, 91, 3 (2010), 407.
[6] Ibid, 409.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Mary Ellen Kelm. “The Impact of Colonization on Aboriginal Health in British Columbia” in Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal Health and Healing in British Columbia, 1900-1950, (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998), 6.
[9] Ibid, 17.
