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Social History of Medicine Advance Access originally published online on February 21, 2006
Social History of Medicine 2006 19(1):87-106; doi:10.1093/shm/hkj006
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for the Social History of Medicine. All rights reserved

‘Why Don't they Get It?’ Talk of Medicine as Science. St Luke's Hospital, Panniqtuuq, Baffin Island

Frank James Tester* and Paule McNicoll*

* School of Social Work and Family Studies, University of British Columbia, 2080 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z2. E-mail: ftester{at}interchange.ubc.ca, E-mail: paule.mcnicoll{at}ubc.ca

Using diaries, clinical notes and other sources, this contribution explores interactions between Dr J. A. Bildfell and Inuit at Panniqtuuq, Baffin Island, in 1933 and 1934. The article comprises a record of conflict, with two cultures colliding over the provision of health care. Scientific and technological advances in medicine were perceived by Bildfell as possessing the potential to address many of the problems diagnosed among Inuit. However, there was strong resistance to his practices. Bildfell was therefore caught between the promise and potential of his profession and a suppressed admiration for local belief-systems. The paper highlights Inuit resistance, particularly in relation to childbirth. In addition, Bildfell's writings are used to reveal how the construction of the ‘other’ can be understood as a heuristic device to explain antipathy to the introduction of western medicine. In the longer term, the latter imbedded itself into Qallunaat (non-Inuit)–Inuit relations. The paper also shows that colonial styles of rule are relevant to an appreciation of the foundation of post-colonial challenges to medical science and the consciousness that continues to follow professionals working in cross-cultural settings.

Keywords: Canadian Arctic history; Inuit; medicine; colonisation; resistance; hospital; childbirth


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