Tansi Nîtôtemtik,
First Baron Jeffery Amherst. Photo retrieved from: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/amherst_jeffery_4E.html.
Today’s post explores letters written between colonial officials in 1763 that offer evidence that smallpox blankets were used as instruments of biological warfare against Indigenous peoples. The letters are not only illustrative of the acts that were sanctioned, but also of the disturbing colonial attitudes towards Indigenous peoples at the time.
Prior to European arrival, infectious diseases such as smallpox, yellow fever, and measles did not exist in present-day North America. [1] As such, Indigenous nations did not possess the antibodies to ward off infection, and diseases had a particularly crippling effect on their respective populations. In fact, some scholars estimate that, by about 1990, Indigenous populations had decreased by upwards of 93 percent. [2] This statistic is partially attributable to factors such as war and dispossession; however, scholars contend that disease was the most significant contributory cause of the decline. [3]
The letter exchanges between Jeffery Amherst, a British military field marshal, and Henry Bouquet, a colonel, are particularly revealing. In the first exchange, the mercenary suggests to Amherst that smallpox-infected blankets could be given out to “inoculate the Indians.” [4] Amherst’s reply reads:
You will do well to try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets, as well as to try every other method that can serve to extricate this execrable race. I should be very glad your scheme for hunting them down by dogs could take effect, but England is at too great a distance to think of that at present. [5]
These letters were written in light of the Indigenous-led resistance movement against British rule lead by Odawa chief Obwandiyag (also known as Pontiac). As such, they seem to posit a direct tactic of biological warfare.
Some historians are skeptical, noting that there is no evidence that Bouquet or any of his men actually carried out the act. [6] However, in the same year, a trader at Fort Pitt (present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), wrote of a meeting with two members of the Delaware Nation, “[w]e gave them two blankets and a handkerchief out of the [smallpox] hospital. I hope it will have the desired effect.” [7] Taken together with the letters, despite conclusive proof that acts of biological warfare were carried out, both writings nonetheless point to disturbing colonial attitudes at the time. Indigenous peoples are conceptually painted as less than human and means of eradication are discussed as though simple means of state policy.
Next week, ReconciliAction YEG will cover topics on violence and racism against Indigenous peoples in Canada. We thank you for reading.
Until next time,
Team ReconciliAction YEG
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[1] “Epidemic: European Contact with Aboriginal Peoples”, The Canadian Encyclopedia (23 July 2015), online: <https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/epidemic>.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Jordan Gill, “‘Extirpate this execrable race’” The dark history of Jeffery Amherst”, CBC (29 April 2017), online: < https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/jeffery-amherst-history-complex-1.4089019>
[5] Ibid.
[6] Supra note 1.
[7] Ibid.
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