Prof. James Daschuk
About the Talk:
Within a generation of Canada’s acquisition of the prairies, the Indigenous population went from the tallest population in the world from the quality of their diet to one where disease was so entrenched it was seen as a characteristic of a race doomed to extinction. The gap in health outcomes between First Nations and settler communities has not diminished, even to the present. The writing of Clearing the Plains exposed some difficult truths about the founding of western Canada. Talking about the book since its publication has exposed a number of troubling insights about Canada today.
About the Speaker:
A graduate of Trent University (’84) and former member of Peter Robinson College, Jim Daschuk has an M.A. and Ph. D in Canadian History from the University of Manitoba. His research experience includes the fields of medicine, climate change and population health. He is currently a researcher with the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU) and is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina.
His book, Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation and the Loss of Aboriginal Life, published by the University of Regina Press (2013)won five Saskatchewan Book awards and three prizes from the Canadian Historical Association, including the Sir John A. Macdonald Prize for best scholarly book in Canadian history and is also be awarded the Governor General Award for Scholarly Achievement at the Annual Governor General History Awards in November 2014.
This free public event is presented by Canadian Studies & History Undergraduate Departments, the Frost Centre of Canadian Studies & Indigenous Studies, and Champlain College. The W.L. Morton Lecture is named in honour of W.L. Morton, the Canadian historian and former Master of Trent's Champlain College. All are welcome.