The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence: Introduced Infectious Diseases and Population Decline Among Northwest Coast Indians, 1774-1874
- ISBN-10
- 0295978376
- ISBN-13
- 9780295978376
- Category
- Epidemics
- Pages
- 403
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1999
- Publisher
- University of Washington Press
- Author
- Robert Thomas Boyd
Description
In the late 1700s, when Euro-Americans began to visit the Northwest Coast, they reported the presence of vigorous, diverse cultures--among them the Tlingit, Haida, Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), Coast Salish, and Chinookans--with a population conservatively estimated at over 180,000. A century later only about 35,000 were left. The change was brought about by the introduction of diseases that had originated in the Eastern Hemisphere, such as smallpox, malaria, measles, and influenza. The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence examines the introduction of infectious diseases among the Indians of the Northwest Coast culture area (present-day Oregon and Washington west of the Cascade Mountains, British Columbia west of the Coast Range, and southeast Alaska) in the first century of contact and the effects of these new diseases on Native American population size, structure, interactions, and viability. The emphasis is on epidemic diseases and specific epidemic episodes. In most parts of the Americas, disease transfer and depopulation occurred early and are poorly documented. Because of the lateness of Euro-American contact in the Pacific Northwest, however, records are relatively complete, and it is possible to reconstruct in some detail the processes of disease transfer and the progress of specific epidemics, compute their demographic impact, and discern connections between these processes and culture change. Boyd provides a thorough compilation, analysis, and comparison of information gleaned from many published and archival sources, both Euro-American (trading-company, mission, and doctors' records; ships' logs; diaries; and Hudson's Bay Company and government censuses) and Native American (oral traditions and informant testimony). The many quotations from contemporary sources underscore the magnitude of the human suffering. The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence is a definitive study of introduced diseases in the Pacific Northwest. For more information on the author go to http: //roberttboyd.com/
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2021-02-28
- 428 pages
- Paperback
- University of Washington Press
-
- 2001-01-01
- 448 pages
- Paperback
- UBC Press
-
- 1999
- 430 pages
- Paperback
- UBC Press
Similar books
-
Patient Zero: Clip Undertaking #2
By Todd HarraClip needs to find out what's going on before half his city (and his loved ones) end up dead.It all started with those two John Does. He has to figure out which one is Patient Zero.
-
Epidemics
By William K. Beatty, Geoffrey MarksNellie J. Kerling , “ St. Bartholomew's and Epidemics in the City of London , ” St. Bartholomew's Hospital Journal LXXV ( 1971 ) : 120–21 . 15. Duffy , “ Social Impact of Disease in the Late Nineteenth Century , ” pp . 802—3 . 16.
-
Slow Burn: Zero Day
By Bobby AdairA new flu strain has been spreading across Africa, Europe, and Asia.
-
X-men: The Legacy Quest Trilogy
By Steve LyonsThe X-Men brave the power of the Hellfire Club and its leader, Sebastian Shaw, to rescue their friend Moira McTaggart, the only human infected with the dread Legacy Virus, from the clutches of Shaw and his mysterious partner, who have set ...
-
Surviving the Evacuation: Unsafe haven. Book four
By Frank TayellOther books in the near future, post-apocalyptic series Surviving The Evacuation: 0.5: Zombies vs The Living Dead. 1: London. 2: Wasteland. 3: Family. 4: Unsafe Haven. 5: Reunion
-
Thinning of the Herd
By Yvonne FarrisIn the year 2039 the world's population has become too large for the planet.
-
The Patron Saint of Plagues
By Barth AndersonIn a turbulent world of the near future, an outbreak of a deadly plague virus threatens to destroy precarious peace negotiations in Mexico, as well as the fate of the entire population of North and South America, as a team from the American ...
-
Eyam and the Plague: A Guide to the Village
By Carolyn Fooks, Nick McCannEyam and the Plague: A Guide to the Village
-
Disposable People
By Marshall Goldberg, Kenneth KayDisposable People
-
City of the Dead
By S. D. PerryA rookie cop and a resourceful young woman in search of her brother venture into Raccoon City on the very night that a horrifying viral outbreak has transformed every man, woman, and child into one of the living dead.