Essay Proposal: Primary Source Analysis and Annotated Bibliography
Title: Health on Indigenous Reserves: Mis-Twentieth Century Canada
Research Question: Why did Indigenous reserves in the 20th century offer a poor quality of life
despite being in a developed country?
Thesis Statement:
The social factors that led to health inequalities among Indigenous peoples in Canada during the
20th century, included unemployment, housing issues, and lack access to healthcare.
Primary Source Analysis:
Koozma J. Tarasoff wrote the article on March 27, 1967. The article explains a workshop
event held on White Bear reserve by Yong C. Kim and Wallace Lee. Yong C. Kim and Wallace
Lee provided technical knowledge about the workshop, while the local Indigenous community
expressed their concerns and provided some suggestions1. The Chief of the Band served as a
chairman nominal at the workshop2. His presence reflected the time of the 1960s when the role
of Indian agent was abolished and substituted with the Indian Band council. The article
illustrates the poor socioeconomic conditions of Indigenous people in the White Bear reserve,
such as unemployment, housing, transportation, education, abandoned children, and poor health.
Dr. Porth’s demonstration of tuberculosis exemplified the poor health of Indigenous people3.
1
Koozma J. Tarasoff, "Comments Concerning a two-day Workshop on Community Development and Public Health
on White Bear Indian Reserve," (2013), 1.
2
Tarasoff, "Comments Concerning a two-day Workshop on Community Development and Public Health on White
Bear Indian Reserve," 1
3
Tarasoff, 6
Moreover, it is connected to the poor social determinants of health. The article tackled Indian
social welfare and shed light on ideas that improve the lives of Indigenous people4. Also, it
presented a different approach to improving Indigenous life at reserves5. White bear reserve and
many of the other reserves in Canada were established under the Indian Act and are controlled by
the federal government. The article highlights the socioeconomic inequality Indigenous people
face compared to non-Indigenous Canadian such as low income, unemployment, poor housing,
low level of education, lack of transportation, etc6. The article also reveals the discrimination
imposed against native people by colonialism and its legacy.
4
Tarasoff, 8
Tarasoff, 10
6
Tarasoff, 5
5
Annotated Bibliography:
Koozma J. Tarasoff, "Comments Concerning a two-day Workshop on Community Development
and Public Health on White Bear Indian Reserve," March 1967, found in the Koozma J.
Tarasoff Fonds (F370) at the Saskatchewan Archives.
I will argue that unemployment, housing issues, and lack of access to healthcare were the main
factors that contributed to the ill health of Indigenous people. I will use this resource to help me
argue how Indigenous people’s quality of life deteriorated after being segregated on reserves,
such as the White Bear reserve. Health care in Indigenous reserves was under the control of the
Canadian government based on the Indian Act. The social determinants of health such as
housing, good income, and nutrition were inadequate in White Bear reserve. It made them live in
poverty and susceptible to disease.
McCallum, Mary Jane Logan. 2017. “Starvation, Experimentation, Segregation, and Trauma:
Words for Reading Indigenous Health History.” Canadian Historical Review 98 (1): 96–
113. https://doi.org/10.3138/chr.98.1.mccallum
The main argument is “how terms such as starvation, experimentation,’ segregation, and trauma.,
and the historians who use them, have sharpened the broader analytics of race and colonialism in
Canada as they operate in the field of Indigenous health history”. I will this resource to help me
argue that indigenous people are not naturally unhealthy, and that colonialism and its legacy are
the main causes of Indigenous ill health. These policies discriminated against indigenous people
and stigmatized them as a high-risk group neglecting the root causes. Also, Indigenous people
were deprived of their culture, language, and traditional healing that benefited them for
generations.
Optis, Michael, Karena Shaw, Peter Stephenson, and Peter Wild. "Mold Growth in On-reserve
Homes in Canada: The Need for Research, Education, Policy, and Funding." Journal of
Environmental Health 74, no. 6 (2012): 14-21.
The main argument is how mold growth in Indigenous reserve homes exists due to low level of
education, inappropriate construction, overcrowding, and increased moisture. I will this resource
to help me argue the causes of mold growth in Indigenous homes and how it negatively affected
their health. Firstly, mold growth helps to increase diseases, such as tuberculosis. Secondly,
overcrowded homes also lead to unsuitable living conditions. For example, it led to an increase
in the spread of disease among family members. Lastly, the government changed Indigenous
people home from traditional houses to European style houses. This change is negative because
indigenous people are not aware to properly take care of these homes.
Lamb, Danielle Kathryn. Topics in Canadian Aboriginal Earnings, Employment and Education:
An Empirical Analysis 74, no. 8 (2012).
The main argument is to show why the quality of life of people living off-reserve is better than
those living at reserves. I will use this resource to help me argue how the scarce opportunities on
reserves cause lower wages, unemployment, and higher dropout rates. These causes are related to
Indigenous ill health at reserves. Indigenous people at reserves are dependent on government
social welfare which is not a solution to their poverty. Also, it decreases their self-worth and
motivation to better their lives.
LUX, Maureen K. "Care for the 'Racially Careless': Indian Hospitals in the Canadian West,
1920-1950s." The Canadian Historical Review 91, no. 3 (2010): 407-34.
I will argue that the establishment of Indigenous hospitals to treat indigenous people with
tuberculosis was a discriminatory action to isolate and institutionalize aboriginal people. An
example of such hospital is Charles Casmell Indian Hospital in Edmonton in 1946. Indigenous
people were considered “the careless infected and a threat” to the Canadian community. The
real cause of aboriginal ill health is the sociocultural distribution and disposition. Instead of
treating the root cause of Indigenous health, the colonial government confined them and
worsened their health.