The Health status of the Registered Indian population of Saskatchewan : 1959-1978
Date
1981
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
The goal of this study is to evaluate the health status of the
Registered Indian population of Saskatchewan. For this purpose, a
comparative and historical analysis of the health status of Saskatchewan's
Registered Indian and non-Indian populations is provided over the twenty
year time period from 1959 to 1978.
The study commences by formally defining the major terms, and
discussing the methodological issues involved in the study of health
status. Central to the discussion is the sociological assessment of
health status through the use of mortality data.
Attention is then focused on the two main theoretical frameworks
employed in the explanation of Indian health status. Structural-functional
theories of health behavior and ethnic relations are briefly
reviewed. It is noted that these theoretical perspectives have received
extensive criticism. The internal colonial theoretical model is chosen
for use in the present study. This approach to the development of
capitalism in Canada indicates that Saskatchewan's Registered Indians
constitute a problem population within the proletarian class. It is
further indicated that Registered Indians are maintained and perpetuated
as a problem population due to the establishment of a colonial relationship
between the Indians (colonized) and the dominant society (colonizers).
This in turn leads to a descriptive discussion of the socioeconomic
status of Saskatchewan's Registered Indians. This is necessary in order
to provide a more comprehensive picture of their specific class position.
The indicators employed for this purpose tend to show that Saskatchewan's
Registered Indians have an extremely low socioeconomic status.
The discussion then turns to a review of studies documenting the
relationship between socioeconomic status and mortality in order to
provide an indication of the significance of low socioeconomic status in
relation to mortality. The review studies provide substantial evidence
that the highest infant and general mortality rates occur among the
lowest socioeconomic group. This finding tends to strongly suggest
that Saskatchewan's Registered Indians would suffer the associated
relatively higher infant and general mortality rates, as indicators tend
to show that they have an extremely low socioeconomic status.
A discussion of several environmental aspects of Saskatchewan
reserves is provided. This includes an overview of the demographic
characteristics of Saskatchewan's Registered Indians, and a discussion
of the relationship between reserve housing and sanitation and the prevalence
and propagation of disease. It is suggested that heightened
mortality and morbidity among Saskatchewan's Registered Indians is strongly
influenced by the environmental conditions on Saskatchewan reserves.
The mortality data used in the evaluation and analysis of the
health status of Saskatchewan's Registered Indians is presented. This
includes tables showing the overall crude and standardized mortality rates
for the Registered Indian and non-Indian populations from 1959 to 1978.
In addition, cause specific mortality tables for the leading causes of
death among Registered Indians, compared to non-Indians, is provided.
Further, the average ranked leading causes of death among the Registered
Indian population is compared with the same for the non-Indian Saskatchewan
population.
Based on the empirical mortality data presented in this study,
it is generally concluded that the Registered Indian population of
Saskatchewan have a substantially lower ranked health status than the
non-Indian Saskatchewan population. It is also concluded that the
Registered Indian population suffers from distinctly different leading
causes of death, as well as experiencing mortality from these different
causes and other leading causes at a differing magnitude from that
endured by the non-Indian Saskatchewan population.
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Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Sociology
Program
Sociology