BEST LEFT AS INDIANS
189
N.W.M.P. Inspector Z. Wood of Dawson authorized immediate distribution of
food to alleviate the crisis, only applying for official permission after the fact.
The government insisted that "whenever possible the Indians should be required
to perform labour or supply game, skins or other commodities in return for the
provisions issued to them."43 In the short term, however, police officers were
enjoined to "provide against anything like destitution."44
From 1900 onward, the government provided parsimonious relief assistance
to those truly in need. Few took up the offer, however limiting the welfare
rolls to a small number of widowed, aged or infirm natives. 45 The relief system
was occasionally required to respond to more widespread destitution, as
occurred in 1905 near McQuesten and 1912 in the southern Yukon, when game
stocks unexpectedly proved insufficient. 46 While few came forward to claim
these fruits of the government's munificence, the police officials in charge of
the program before 1914 believed that the availability of relief rendered the
Indians graceless supplicants. As the Commanding Officer of the Whitehorse
Detachment commented in 1908, "It is evident that the government assistance
given to sick and destitute Indians at Whitehorse is most injurious to the well
being and morale of the Indians." He then proceeded to ascribe alcohol abuse,
prostitution and general laziness to the "pernicious effect" of relief. 47 As
a counter-measure, the police imposed controlling mechanisms to protect against
abuse. Inspector Horrigan noted in 1912 that "young husky Indians asking for
provisions were asked to split some stove wood. Needless to say in every case
they found that after all they did not require provisions. This plan has worked
admirably in weeding out the undeserving cases. "48 Those in need found
assistance from the government but, self-righteously convinced that the Indians
were inveterate malingerers, police officers closely regulated their disbursements.
Under Hawksley, the relief program expanded considerably. The new Indian
Agent relied on his former missionary colleagues to assist him, also allowing
police officers and even fur traders to allocate supplies when deemed neces-
sary. 49 Even with the expanded networks, there are no indications that the
natives found the relief system desirable. Facing the rigorous government
strictures on assistance, only the truly destitute applied for aid. The Indians
were hardly different from those few whites whose sustenance depended upon
wild game. When resources played out or grubstakes dwindled, white trappers
and prospectors similarly fell back on meager government handouts. Sustained
by a viable, remunerative hunting and trapping economy and facing little
pressure to abandon their nomadic pursuits, the Indians found little attraction
in eking out a marginal existence on the social and physical fringes of white
communities. The relief system did provide an important safety net for times
when other means of support had failed. In offering such aid, the government
hardly assumed a great responsibility; they did, nonetheless, recognize their
obligation to compensate those who suffered through white incursions. This
willingness to assist the Indians was not a declared national objective. Instead,
as with much of the government activity on behalf of the natives, federal
authorities responded to local exigencies. In these administrative areas, as with
broader policy concerns, regional realities conditioned the scope and the sub-
190
KEN COATES
stance of federal Indian programming.
While few natives appear to have suffered significant economic distress,
many more felt the ravages of European diseases (easily a majority of those on
relief accepted aid due to illness). Through a desire to compensate Indians for
the depredations of white society, the government provided a surprisingly
comprehensive medical care program. N.W.M.P. surgeons offered assistance to
natives whenever medical needs dictated. By 1906, the government had replaced
the ad hoc reliance on police personnel with a more permanent system. The
Department of Indian Affairs placed four doctors on permanent retainer. The
doctors then made their services available to Indians as required. When
authorized by the appropriate government official, Indians could visit the
doctor, receive free medication and other aids, and even be hospitalized without
charge. 50
The federal government's commitment to medical care became particularly
evident during outbreaks of epidemic disease. From the 1840's virgin soil epi-
demics (illnesses to which the natives had no natural immunity) 51 had
repeatedly struck the Yukon Indians. Recognizing these diseases as white
imports, the government moved swiftly to prevent or limit the devastation
typically associated with the attacks. As with most government programs for the
Indians, other considerations conditioned government response. 'Diseases carried
by the nomadic Indians threatened the sedentary white population, and it
served everyone's interest to prevent the dispersal of illness. Containing the
epidemics in the Indian camps functioned as an important form of preventive
medicine for the rest of the territory. Though motives may have been mixed,
the government did respond quickly to each appearance of a potential epidemic.
Quarantines served to limit the spread of the disease and grants of food rations
and medical care assisted those under surveillance. This system, imposed
repeatedly throughout the territory, worked in combination with regular
medical attendance to provide the Yukon Indians with a surprisingly compre-
hensive medical care system. 52 These relief and medical care provisions deviated
from the central tenets of government Indian policy. They were designed
primarily as compensation, as repayment for damages inflicted by white expan-
sion, and did not represent an attempt to "improve" the Indians.
Education stood in stark contrast to these ad hoc measures, offering a
seemingly deliberate attempt to reshape and undermine native culture. Recent
studies of native education in the Canada and the United States have defined
church and government schooling as mediums of "cultural imperialism"
(Carnoy, 1974; Altbach and Kelly, 1978). More than any other branch of
government programming, education was designed to eliminate remaining
vestiges of tribalism, paganism and backwardness. It was through education that
governments in Canada, the United States and elsewhere undertook to transform
indigenous, colonized societies into copies of the European model. The appear-
ance in southern Canada of industrial and boarding schools, plus a widespread
network of reserve day schools, suggests that the government used this
potentially powerful institution as an organ of assimilation. The emphasis on
Christianity (schools were run by missionaries), industrial skills, work discipline,