Indian Hospitals: Modern Healthcare and the Colonial Experience in Canada
HIST 119
Subject & Catalog Number
Course Information
Description
Twentieth century health care history in Canada is dominated by two prominent narratives. One is the celebrated progressive story of the road to Medicare, or universal health care. The other is the story of intransigent health disparities and medical racism experienced by First Nations, Inuit and Metis people. Centring on the experience of Indian Hospitals, the course will explore the dynamics of medical research, surveillance, hospitalization, and rehabilitation designed for First Nations and Inuit people. Themes may include but not be limited to: ‘bricks and mortar’ Indian hospital structures; transportation for treatment; funding; Indian education in Indian hospitals; Indigenous health and Canadian media; personnel and labour; research and experimentation and missing patients and unmarked burials. In examining these themes, we will learn some of the contours of Indigenous history in Canada and repeated patterns in Indigenous-state relations while making important observations about the rise of universal healthcare in Canada its impact on the founding and continuing history of Indigenous people.
Course Notes
This course can be used to meet either the "North America" History Concentration requirement or the seminar requirement, but not both.
Available for Harvard Cross Registration
