Wilful Neglect: The Federal Response to Tuberculosis among First Nations, 1867-1945

Tuberculosis, once a leading cause of death in Europe and North America, was understood to be preventable and even curable by the early twentieth century. Yet despite growing knowledge about the disease and interventions that would slow its spread, tuberculosis deaths among First Nations in Canada remained staggeringly high. Government policies rooted in colonialism exacerbated a tuberculosis epidemic.

Wilful Neglect explores the devastating consequences of the Department of Indian Affairs’ ...