Indigenous Health

Materials on Indigenous health, healthcare, and traditional medicines can be found throughout our collections. There is a variety of information to be found on these subjects, including within books, newspaper articles, and other textual records found within the Whyte Museum Archives and Special Collections.

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LIBRARY

In our newsfile section there are files with newspaper clippings on health from several different nations, including Stoney-Iyârhe Nakoda Health, Blood-Kainai Health & Social Issues, Cree Health, Tsuut'ina Health, and Indigenous Health Canada. There are textual records pertaining to Îethka (Stoney Nakoda) health that can be found under the Stoney Indian Band fonds. Another place to look for information on Indigenous health is in the books in our library, including Medicine that walks: disease, medicine and Canadian Plains Native people, 1880-1940, Clearing the Plains: disease, politics of starvation, and the loss of Indigenous life and American Indian medicine.

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We have several books in our library on the uses of plants and flora by Indigenous Nations, including their medicinal uses and practices. Many of these books focus on the nations of the Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy) - here are some examples: Uses of native plants by the Blackfoot Indians, Plants and the Blackfoot and Ethnobotany of the Blackfoot Indians.

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OTHER RESOURCES

Another area where information on Indigenous health can be found is within books and publications on residential schools. There were records kept on children’s health at these institutions and there has been recorded documentation of health and nutritional experiments done on children who have attended residential schools across Canada. See our Residential Schools page for more information and resources. 

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Try searching our online database for more information on Indigenous health. Go to How To & FAQ  to see how to narrow your search to Indigenous content and Research Tips for more search help.