The area between the Great Lakes and Lake Winnipeg, bounded on the
north by the Hudson Bay lowlands, is sometimes known as the "Petit
Nord." Providing a link between the cities of eastern Canada and
the western interior, the Petit Nord was a critical communication
and transportation hub for the North American fur trade for over
200 years. Although new diseases had first arrived in the New World
in the 16th century, by the end of the 17th century shorter
transoceanic travel time meant that a far greater number of
diseases survived the journey from Europe and were still able to
infect new communities. These acute, directly transmitted
infectious diseases - including smallpox, influenza, and measles -
would be responsible for a monumental loss of life and would
forever transform North American Aboriginal communities. Historical
geographer Paul Hackett meticulously traces the diffusion of these
diseases from Europe through central Canada to the West.
Significant trading gatherings at Sault Ste. Marie, the trade
carried throughout the Petit Nord by Hudson Bay Company ships, and
the travel nexus at the Red River Settlement, all provided prime
breeding ground for the introduction, incubation and transmission
of acute disease. Hackett's analysis of evidence in fur-trade
journals and oral history, combined with his study of the diffusion
behaviour and characteristics of specific diseases, yields a
comprehensive picture of where, when, and how the staggering impact
of these epidemics was felt.
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