Unpacking histories: the decolonization of Indigenous health data on Manitoulin Island between the years of 1869-1940

Abstract

This study presents a critical perspective of historical accounts regarding settler and Indigenous population health on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, between the years 1869-1940. Early literature, including Jesuit missionary accounts and local historical records are re-examined through a contemporary decolonial lens to reframe Indigenous health transitions in a colonial setting, and from an under-represented viewpoint. This study utilizes qualitative research design, critical historical analysis, and literature informed by contemporary postcolonial theory to contextualize historic and present day health data and help facilitate a new, more inclusive health narrative. Throughout this research, diet, accidental deaths, and infectious disease narratives will be addressed and critiqued as a way to distance health realities from early historical accounts published by colonial forces. In conclusion, this research addresses how historical data records Indigenous health, and demonstrates that forces of colonialism contributed to settler-dominated health narratives in the historical record.