Differences in the Experience of the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic at Norway House and Fisher River, Manitoba

Abstract

This thesis discusses the impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic at Norway House and Fisher River, Manitoba. Despite sharing similar overall mortality rates during the pandemic, the two communities showed substantial differences when the distribution of deaths are examined at the family level. Reconstituted family data show that deaths were more tightly clustered within a small number of families at Norway House, while at Fisher River they were distributed amongst more families. Adults perished more often at Norway House than Fisher River. Historical documentation suggests, moreover, that the day-to-day functioning of Norway House was more severely disrupted than was the case for Fisher River. I argue that the differences in the family distribution of mortality at the two communities is linked to differences in social organization and, specifically, to the presence or absence of the Hudson's Bay Company. To test this hypotheses the data are examined using aggregate techniques, reconstituted family data and a technique outlined in Scott and Duncan's 2001 work.