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by Keith T. Carlson The effects of epidemics on aboriginal people were not restricted to loss of life. West Coast culture was based upon a social structure in which certain people fulfilled certain roles. For instance, there were community and family leaders, (referred to as "Tyee" or "Sie'm" (pronounced "see yam") by the Salish groups), doctors or healers, carvers, historians, storytellers, etc., each involving information and ritual unknown to persons in any of the other positions. Thus when the small pox struck a community and destroyed 33% to 75% of the population there were great social ramifications. Conceivably a chief's entire family might be killed. In societies based upon hereditary leadership this must have caused serious problems of leadership succession. Similarly, if the doctor or healer was killed before he could teach his successor the incantations and remedies to assist people in times of trouble, an entire community could suffer emotionally as well as physically. If the community storyteller were killed by disease people could lose all knowledge of their past, for without writing, all aboriginal history was passed on orally. Similar scenarios can be imagined for other specialized positions within aboriginal communities. Scholars have surmised that under certain circumstances such epidemics could well have resulted in "general social breakdown". To better understand the ramifications implied above one might imagine the effect of all the local police officers, doctors, teachers or priests, (along with a large proportion of the rest of the population) of a small town suddenly being killed by a strange disease, and there being no one left with the training or knowledge to replace them, and no possibility of any outside assistance. On the other hand, social problems could also have resulted even if the community leaders and specialists had survived an epidemic. It is likely that aboriginal doctors and healers would have lost some respect and authority among their people when their medicines proved ineffective in curing Western sickness. Also, aboriginal leaders who were once powerful in relation to their neighbours often found themselves militarily vulnerable if too many men succumbed to epidemic. Likewise, the indirect effects of an epidemic could have consequences almost as devastating as the disease itself. For example, a typical response to the detection of illness in aboriginal communities was for visitors to immediately leave for their home village. This aided in spreading the disease to all neighbouring communities. Secondly, if the indigenous peoples attempted to use traditional health care procedures they often worsened the situation. For instance, the infirm person was often placed in a sweat house and then plunged into cold water - a procedure which hastened the death of small pox victims. Another common practice involved the entire village gathering around the sick individual and trying to assist them through praying or singing. Such behaviour ensured no one escaped infections, for as mentioned, small pox is communicated through casual contact. It also meant that everyone would reach the most dangerous period of the sickness simultaneously, leaving no one healthy enough to care for the infirm. Finally, epidemics that hit during subsistence activities would result in the diseases impact being compounded by malnutrition and even starvation i.e., if the small pox struck during fishing or berry-gathering seasons. Source: Boyd, Robert. The Introduction of Infectious Diseases Among the Indians of the Pacific North West. (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation.) University of Washington. Seattle, Washington. Digitized with permission from:
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