Annual Reports, Eugenic Economics, and Tuberculosis in Nova Scotia: Mi’Kmaw Health in the Twentieth Century

Courtney Mrazek, Mount Allison University

This paper will present findings from data derived from 70 years’ worth of Nova Scotia Sanatorium, Department of Indian Affairs, and Indian Health Services annual reports. They show how a powerful eugenics discourse – specifically its economic arguments – shaped both medical policy and Indigenous peoples’ experiences in Nova Scotia in the twentieth century. It will explore how the provincially-run Nova Scotia Sanatorium (1904-1975) served the Mi’kmaq and embraced the practice of what I suggest is “eugenic economics.” Essentially, this occurred when governing bodies used a eugenics discourse resulting in economic benefits. Eugenics was part of a modernizing discourse that allowed social reformers to address perceived problems in what appeared to be a ‘modern’ and scientifically-objective way. In the Nova Scotian context, these eugenic discourses focused on tuberculosis. Tuberculosis generated a pervasive social fear in Canada, and was largely connected to First Nation peoples. The Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) played a large role in administering eugenic economics. The DIA, a federal government department, was founded in 1880 and governed most aspects of First Nations lives in Canada – especially their health services. The department was supported by the Indian Act (1876), and aimed to assimilate First Nations people into larger western society. This research is in conversation with American historians Wendy Kline, Alexandra Minna Stern, and Paul Lombardo, with their focus on insidious positive eugenics and state authority, and Canadian historians Mary-Ellen Kelm and Maureen Lux, with their investigations of state interactions with Indigenous medical care.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 212. Impact of Public Health Measures in the Twentieth Century