“Ordering the Bath: Children, Health, and Hygiene in Northern Canadian Communities, 1900-1970.” – Myra Rutherdale.
This article by Myra Rutherdale, was captivating as it went into detail about how the tension between the Aboriginal community and the European Canadians, continued to build and forms of assimilation were used. With Aboriginal communities being exposed to illness when the Europeans first came over, the issue of health was always prevalent. Rutherdale uses common health practices that were seen in both cultures, and provided evidence that displays the struggle of differences. She talks about childbirth, dressing, bathing, and having children on schedules. These areas are of importance of the world of health and hygiene as a positive outcome of these practices was crucial for good health.
There was a heavy sense of importance placed on the health of children, as they were in schools, so the practice of bathing was becoming increasingly important but unheard of by the Aboriginal children and was a breathtaking shock, according to the evidence. This was an interesting concept to read about, as for someone who grew up as a “white Canadian”, reading that bathing was something other than a normal practice.
There was a large presence of the church and missionaries, in residential schools but as well in the community and this new focus on health was pushed everywhere. It was suggested that nurses who did house calls had a better opportunity of providing information around the importance of health and hygiene.
In the community, there was a large interest in how aboriginal women experienced childbirth. Some wanted to change the traditional practices of Aboriginal women, but others only wanted to provide new technologies that might make their traditional practices easier, but not alter them in anyway. There were differing opinions as to what was to be done immediately after the child was born, but these changed as the years went on and more information was gathered.
Another major theme that was discusses in Rutherdale’s article was having children on schedules and how it was supposed to significantly improve development. She provided evidence supporting that children did better with routines and a consistent schedule.
All of these hygiene and health practices were growing increasingly important and Rutherdale was successful in exploring this area of interest and was able to add to the knowledge and information already collected. This widened the understanding of how challenging It would have been for the Aboriginal community to continue with their traditional practices when the White Canadian’s way of dealing with health was so prominent and pushed on them.
This article can be discussed with the Mona Gleason article, “Race, Class, and Health: School Medical Inspection and “Healthy” Children in British Columbia, 1890-1930”, as the focus of both of these article is on the assimilation of immigrants and any other culture that did not have the same health practices as the White Canadians.
“Race, Class, and Health: School Medical Inspection and “Healthy” Children in British Columbia, 1890-1930.” – Mona Gleason.
Mona Gleason focuses on the Chinese immigrants, and the Native children in classrooms, and she emphasizes the evidence that supports the hygiene of these students. This article looked into what took place in schools and how teachers played a major role in the maintenance of health and hygiene of the students. Assimilation techniques that are displayed in this article are to ensure that the amount of illness decreases and all of society
Teachers were put in charge of examining children and determining whether they had an illness, and then needed to suggest treatment for the child. This seems like a burden that teachers should not have carried, the lack of training these teachers had to make these determinations. These teachers were considered “medical officers”[1] and were implementing the assimilation methods, with the children of society.
It was desired that every student had the same health practices to limit the amount of illness and disease. It was stated, ““Health lessons are necessarily very elemental when one remembers that most of the children have previously never seen a tooth brush, a bath tub was unheard of, and a balanced diet beyond the limits of imagination…. Surely our chief aim in this special branch of our work is to help develop the Indian into a healthy, respectable, self-supporting citizen.”” (287)[2] This quote stood out, as it suggests how culturally different these students were, the lack of hygiene seemed to be a struggle. As immigration became more popular, and the more integration that took place, increased the concern of everyone practicing the same hygiene traditions. It is suggested in this quote that it was desired to have all children practicing the same form of hygiene to ensure everyone stays healthy.
This article can be connected to the Myra Rutherdale article “Ordering the Bath: Children, Health, and Hygiene in Northern Canadian Communities, 1900-1970” as both of these articles discuss the fear of there being another culture that considers health issues differently. The forms of assimilation that continue in different areas of the Aboriginals lives, took a toll on their cultural traditions.
Bibliography
Gleason Mona, “School Medical Inspection and ‘Healthy’ Children in British Columbia, 1890-1930,” in Krasnick Warsh and Strong-Boag (Eds.), Children’s Health Issues in Historical Perspective, Waterloo, WLU Press, 2005: 287-304.
Rutherdale Myra, “Children, Health, and Hygiene in Norther Canadian Communities,” in Krasnick Warsh and Strong-Boag (Eds.), Children’s Health Issues in Historical Perspective, Waterloo, WLU Press, 2005: 305-32.
[1] Mona Gleason, “School Medical Inspection and ‘Healthy’ Children in British Columbia, 1890-1930,” in Krasnick Warsh and Strong-Boag (Eds.), Children’s Health Issues in Historical Perspective, Waterloo, WLU Press, 2005: 287-304.
[2] Gleason, “School Medical Inspection and ‘Healthy’ Children in British Columbia, 1890-1930,”, 287.