Indian hospitals and Aboriginal nurses: Canada and Alaska
Abstract
Between 1945 and the early 1970s, both Indian Health Services in
Canada (IHS), and the Alaska Native Health Service (ANS) initiated programs
and activities aimed at recruiting and training nurses/nurses aides from Canadian
and Alaskan Native communities. In Alaska, the Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital
in Sitka acted as a training facility for Alaska Native nurses’ aides, while in
Canada, the Charles Camsell Hospital served a similar function. These initiatives
occurred prior to the devolution of health care to Aboriginal communities. The
histories of these two hospitals provide a comparative opportunity to reveal
themes related to the history of Aboriginal nurse training and Aboriginal health
policies in the north. The paper outlines the structure and function of two main
hospitals within the Indian Health and Alaska Native Health Services, discusses
the historic training, and role of Aboriginal nurses and caregivers within
those systems using both archival and oral history sources.