Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal Health and Healing in British Columbia 1900-50

Marilyn Mardiros is an associate professor of health sciences at the
University of Ottawa.

The thesis of this balanced and clearly written book is that aboriginal
health and healing can be understood only within the context of
colonization. Part 1 discusses how colonization (including the role
played by residential schooling) affected aboriginal morbidity and
mortality, diet and nutrition, and sanitation and environment. Part 2
focuses on aboriginal healing from various perspectives: Native, federal
Indian Health Services, physicians, matrons who were nurses,
missionaries and laypersons, and hospitals.

Kelm provides a much-needed analysis and synthesis of historical
records from 1900 to 1950. She documents what is known of natural cycles
of abundance and diminishing resources, and of the impact of settlers on
local populations. She also describes the official policies and
procedures that contributed to the breakdown of aboriginal families (the
poor health that resulted from this breakdown continues to be witnessed
today). We learn how the notion of “Indian” was socially constructed
and perpetuated, how aboriginal people resisted their assimilation
throughout colonization, and how they incorporated Euro-Canadian
medicine in their healing practices.

Regrettably, there is no synthesis at the end of the book of the
preceding chapters as they relate to the present. Nevertheless,
Colonizing Bodies is a welcome addition to the literature on aboriginal
health. Recommended for those interested in Native studies and
especially for the general reader who wishes to understand the legacy of
the colonization of Canada’s indigenous people.