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MILLER BAY INDIAN HOSPITAL 1946-1971 First Nations and Tuberculosis - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
MILLER BAY INDIAN HOSPITAL 1946-1971 First Nations and Tuberculosis - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
MILLER BAY INDIAN HOSPITAL 1946-1971 First Nations and Tuberculosis in Northwest BC Started as RCAF hospital in 1944 though never used as such Tuberculosis and Canadas Indigenous Peoples Evidence of TB before European contact
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Tuberculosis and Canada’s Indigenous Peoples
- Evidence of TB before European contact
- Effects of colonization promoted spread
(overcrowding, starvation)
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Contrasts in Treatment and Prevalence
- f TB in Canada(BC), 20th century
- Tranquille sanitorium
- pened in 1906, closed in
1958
- By 1939, TB death rate
falling, “treatment was under control”
- Much support and publicity
from service clubs, volunteers, Canadian TB Association Aboriginal
- Miller Bay opened in 1946,
closed in 1971
- In 1939, death rate 5-10
times higher than for non- First Nations people.
- Only funding from Indian
Affairs (federal government) Non-aboriginal
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“Old Cahoose”
- Dr. Galbraith in Bella Coola
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Opening of “Indian Hospitals” in BC
Coqualeetza—Sardis (former residential school, destroyed by fire) 1941 Miller Bay—initially for both TB and VD (STI’s) 1946 Nanaimo 1946
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September 16, 1946
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Hospital Layout
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Treatments
Before TB drugs
- Bedrest
- Lung collapse
- Major chest surgery
After TB drugs appeared
- Combinations of
medications
- Rest depending on extent of
disease: Strict rest periods
- bserved
- Shorter hospitalization
needed
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Miller Bay Indian Day School
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Schooling at Miller Bay
Bedside teaching Classroom (later) Occupational therapy—handicrafts Music: Guitar, harmonica, choir Adult education On the job training
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“Irregular Discharges”
- Higher rate at Miller Bay than at other 2
- More women than men
- Younger age group (below 35 years)
- “Coercion” and “police methods” used in
early years
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Patient experiences in mid-1950s
- Patient and Staff survey 1954—Women’s ward
- Led to staff changes, Patient’s council,
newspaper produced by patients
- Dr. Fiddes—change in policy re mothers and
newborns
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Working at Miller Bay
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Accommodation
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Early 1960s
Educational and employment
- pportunities
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Recreation for Staff
- Recreation Hall moved from Seal Cove Airforce
Base to Miller Bay –later used by patients also
- Bus transportation to Prince Rupert
- Families of staff—children went to school in
Prince Rupert
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Phasing Out and Closure
- More diversified in 1960s—less TB
- Became extended care facility by late 1960s;
school phased out
- Final closing 1971; patients transferred
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1970-2015
- Used as fish farm, petting zoo, residence for
mill workers
- Fire destroyed buildings which were then
demolished
- Paintball site
- Gradually disappearing under the brush
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Then and Now
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REFERENCES
Kelm, M. (1998). Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal Health and Healing in British Columbia 1900-50. Vancouver: UBC Press. McCuaig, K. (2002). The Weariness, the Fever, and the Fret: The Campaign Against Tuberculosis in Canada, 1900-1950. Lux, M. (2001). Medicine That Walks: Disease, Medicine, and Canadian Plains Native People, 1880-1940. University of Toronto Press.
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