Choosing my Document

I chose the document “The Story of a National Crime: Record of the Health Conditions of the Indians of Canada from 1904-1921” by Dr. Bryce for several reasons. It fit perfectly within the time frame I chose to research (1900-1950) and it was a very controversial document for its time which I found extremely interesting. This document covered the concerns of a doctor who was sent to residential schools to inform the government of the health concerns and conditions of these schools which the government ultimately ignored. This article directly relates to my research paper as it shows the neglect of the government regarding the health of students in these schools which in turn directly impacts the experience of the children who attended, some of them losing their lives, classmates and friends. I will use this document in my research paper to argue how the inadequate health conditions of these schools impacted students psychological state not only while they were present at residential school but long after they left. Although this document proves biased, I believe it is an adequate representation of residential school conditions as Dr. Bryce had seen these conditions first hand. This document made me excited for further research and more interested in my topic as it is an intriguing read I suggest for anyone interested in residential schools and health!

My Document Analysis:

The primary source, “The Story of a National Crime: Record of the Health Conditions of the Indians of Canada from 1904-1921” is an official document from Dr. Bryce, the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian Department in the 1920’s. This document, I argue, allows historians to gain an understanding of the government and its intentions concerning Indigenous children’s health in residential schools. After analysis, this document proves the government knowingly disregarded several doctors concerns about the conditions of residential schools and the Indigenous children attending them while simultaneously providing care for white students facing similar health issues. This outlines the neglect and racism the government showed towards the Indigenous children in residential schools as a result of their intentions of assimilating and eliminating the First Nations culture all together.

As stated in the document, Dr. Bryce inspected thirty-five Indian schools in three prairie provinces explaining their sanitary conditions and the health of the students, but none of these findings were released to the public. I analyse, this is due in part to the devastating death rates reported by Dr. Bryce, stating that twenty four percent of all students who attended residential school in these areas were dead. This suggests that the findings of Dr. Bryce revealed data the government did not want to provide assistance, so therefore they ignored them, “no action was taken by the Department to give effect to the recommendations made”. This document also states that several inspectors went through various schools in attempt to examine the students health conditions, all reporting back that the conditions of the children were unhealthy with high rates of tuberculosis. Many recommendations were made to adjust these conditions such as suggesting an increase in federal control so that these schools could be better managed and funded, but these inspectors only received emails in return stating the government will consider these recommendations at its earliest convenience, which rarely happened. This suggests that although the government was aware of these conditions, they did not have any intention to attempt to improve the conditions of these schools, as that would require money, time and attention of government officials. This is supported by Dr. Bryce when he stated that one of his initial recommendations was, “That the government undertake the complete maintenance and control of the schools, since it had promised by treaty to insure such”, insinuating that the government had not placed the resources needed and promised within treaty to maintain these schools to begin with.

One important aspect of this document is the letter Duncan Scott sent to Dr. Bryce when Dr. Bryce asked to receive the reports from other inspectors in order to release a report to the public on the health concerns of these children. This letter urges Dr. Bryce that he is not the correct person to prepare a report of the residential schools to release to the public. I argue, this was in part due to the fact that the government did not want to publish any reports on the conditions of these schools. They knew how high the death rates were and they did not want to provide the means necessary to solve this problem as they have proven, through not taking action on Doctor recommendations. Due to the negative data in Dr. Bryce’s reports, the government knew that he would release a statement with a negative connotation towards the residential schools that would force them to take action. I argue, the release of this information is the opposite of what the government wanted, as they did not want to take action and therefore they denied him these statistics.

The letter he received from McLean, the Assistant Deputy and Secretary also provides proof of the government’s neglect of the Indigenous population in these schools. He states that the government does not have any recent data on how or why there was an increase in the amount of deaths within these Indigenous communities, only the percentage of death rates. This infers that the government was not trying to lower these death rates, as they were not even finding it necessary to record why these populations are dying at a larger rate than the rest of colonial Canada. This can also be argued on page eleven, when he explains how white settlers were able to reduce their populations deaths from tuberculosis by seventy-five percent while Aboriginal communities remained to suffer losing one in every seven people. This indicates that the government was actively attempting to treat the tuberculosis in white settlers but not in Aboriginal citizens. This argument is also supported when the Minister of the Interior stated that they were not convinced tuberculosis was increasing in the Indigenous population but it was not decreasing either. This statement provides society with a vague response to a vast problem. It stated that the problem was not decreasing, attributed to the fact that the government was not attempting to solve this problem. These statistics were so significant due to the government not taking action and allowing for the constant infection of students and Indigenous communities. It may also be observed that there was not showing an increase in infection because these doctors concluded that out of one hundred and seventy-five children, ninety three percent were infected, ultimately showing that most of the population was already infected, leaving little room for an increase. I argue this statement to the public was an ambiguous response to ensure the public does not raise much concern about tuberculosis in residential schools and an attempt to water down the horrific conditions present.

Although Bryce may be particularly bias towards the Canadian government because as he states, they relieved him of his duties, I argue his reports are accurate. He provides evidence of other doctors discovering the same results as him and has fifteen years of experience as a Chief Medical Officer for the Canadian government, supporting his credibility. He also accurately represents the governments true intentions with the Indigenous population which was to attempt full assimilation of the Indigenous population using these residential schools, despite how many deaths have to occur in the process.  I argue his bitterness towards the government acted only as fuel to the fire to provide these First Nations students with the justice and assistance they deserved from the government. Bryce uses this document to provide society with the truth about these schools in order to achieve a general awareness in hopes it would be enough to force the government to act. This goal however, was not achieved as residential schools remained open and under similar conditions until much after this book was published in 1922.

The ability of the government to be able to ignore these requests from doctors shows unequal power structure within the Canadian government and society regarding First Nations peoples. This document begins with Dr. Bryce’s report to the government, and the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, stating that there is “urgent necessity for the appointment of a medical inspector to represent the Department of the Interior and Department of Indian Affairs” insinuating that the government was aware of the poor health conditions and living conditions throughout First Nations communities and requested someone to examine these schools. This quote, is the government’s description of what Dr. Bryce’s duties were, insinuating that he must record any health concerns regarding Indigenous children in these schools. Dr. Bryce, like many other doctors, discovered the unsafe health conditions and reported them with suggestions to help these children as the government stated they wanted. This however, as I have argued, was not their true intention. The government placed concern in these official documents to provide the public with the notion that these residential schools were necessary for the benefit of these children, while they only benefited the government’s intentions of assimilation. The government saw these reports and pushed them aside, as their political power allowed them to do so. Hiding this information from the public was an attempt to maintain a decent public image of these residential schools and therefore, allowing these schools to continue.

This document highlights the government and its intentions concerning Indigenous children’s health and conditions in residential schools. This document proves the government knowingly disregarded doctors concerns about the conditions of these schools and the children attending them, while attempting to withhold the horrid conditions from the public to ensure these schools remain open, allowing the First Nations peoples assimilation to continue. This outlines the extent the government was willing reach in order to achieve cultural and social unity within colonial Canadian society.

                                                                                       Bibliography

Bryce, Peter Henderson. 1922. “The Story of a National Crime: Record of the Health

Conditions of the Indians of Canada from 1904-1921” James Hope and Sons,

Limited : 3-18.