this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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Did Europeans intentionally infect North American Natives with smallpox/disease? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by rab@lemmy.ca to c/history@lemmy.world
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https://haidagwaiipledge.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Final-Draft-HG-Visitor-Orientation.pdf

I'm reading the haida gwaii visitor orientation, under section 2.b.i., Disease and Decimation

"Our oral records of the intentional introduction of smallpox have been reaffirmed in Tom Swankey’s recent publications, including work that has been vetted by the Haida Nation. Through evidence found in captains' logs and journals of government officials such as Francis Poole and James Douglas, this disease outbreak has been confirmed as an act of biological warfare."

My understanding was always that back then, disease wasn't well understood, and that the first european explorers especially to haida gwaii did not realize they carried disease and by the time they made contact it the damage was already done. Both parties were merely interested in trading, and disease inadvertently spread, at least that is what I thought.

I tried finding the captains logs they mention but my search came up empty.

Can any experts here weigh in?

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[–] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 16 points 10 months ago

It's at least plausible. A decade before Haida Gwaii was first seen by European explorers there was the 1763 Siege of Fort Pitt. During the siege the British famously attempted to infect the natives with smallpox by giving them blankets that had been used by smallpox patients. Whether it worked or not is a subject of debate, but the Europeans clearly had the idea that they could intentionally spread a disease to harm a population.