Leprosy in New Brunswick

[00:00:00] I am Mark, the New Brunswick Traveler and here we talk about New Brunswick stuff.

[00:00:11] There's so many great wonderful treasures and natural resources here that we can experience

[00:00:17] from the Bay of Fundy to Mount Carlton to all of the various things that are in between.

[00:00:24] So for now, let's get started.

[00:00:29] Last week I read one of the murder mystery stories from Steve Vernon's book Maritime

[00:00:35] Murder, Deadly Crimes from the Buried Past.

[00:00:40] As I was looking through some of the other New Brunswick stories in the book, I came

[00:00:44] across one that was about a man that began to show symptoms of leprosy in the 1860s.

[00:00:51] While I was familiar with the cholera and typhoid epidemics that plagued the province

[00:00:57] in the 19th century, the information about leprosy was somewhat of a surprise.

[00:01:03] I think of it as a far off disease in India, certainly not a Canadian problem.

[00:01:10] So I decided to take a deeper look at the history of the disease in New Brunswick

[00:01:15] and what I learned was that the very first case of leprosy in Canada was found

[00:01:22] right here in New Brunswick.

[00:01:25] The actual source of leprosy in New Brunswick remains a mystery.

[00:01:30] Some historians believe that the organism may have been carried by Acadian exiles returning

[00:01:36] from Louisiana.

[00:01:38] Alternately it may have originated in Norway.

[00:01:43] Canada's first documented case of leprosy was in 1815 when Ursula and Joseph Benedict

[00:01:50] contracted the disease and later died after two Norwegian sailors covered in sores spent

[00:01:58] the winter in their home.

[00:02:01] There was an Acadian woman living in eastern New Brunswick that showed symptoms of leprosy

[00:02:06] in 1817, dying of the illness in 1828.

[00:02:12] By 1842 only 40 cases had ever been identified and this was in a population area of 10

[00:02:21] or 22,000 people.

[00:02:23] Not significant enough to cause alarm or panic.

[00:02:28] But communities and governments sometimes make bad decisions anyway when faced with

[00:02:37] enough pressure created by unwarranted fear.

[00:02:42] This is what happened in 1844 after a provincial medical commission decreed that all weapons

[00:02:50] suppers, some as young as eight, be rounded up and forced to live at the old cholera

[00:02:58] quarantine station on Sheldrek Island which was located at the mouth of the Miramichi

[00:03:06] River approximately 80 kilometers from the homes of these individuals that were forced

[00:03:14] to go there.

[00:03:16] Unfortunately for those Acadians the New Brunswick government was under intense pressure

[00:03:23] to confine the leopards and they were left to decay in their medieval style sheds on

[00:03:30] the 32 acre island.

[00:03:33] General apprehension drowned the more moderate medical voices.

[00:03:40] After the quarantine was abandoned the leopards were to live out the remainders of their

[00:03:44] lives there on the island.

[00:03:46] The quarantine sheds that they were to live in were airless, dark, cold and dirty.

[00:03:54] Medical care was nonexistent.

[00:03:56] Doctors refused to go to the island to check on them.

[00:04:00] The less crippled were expected to care for the more mutilated.

[00:04:05] They even had to ding their own well to have water.

[00:04:09] Up to 44 different individuals were banished there with little food or shelter and of

[00:04:15] that number 15 died and are buried right there on the island.

[00:04:24] To make sure that they didn't leave the island there were guards that were stationed

[00:04:28] there.

[00:04:29] From time to time some of the patients would escape but were always caught and

[00:04:36] brought back to the island.

[00:04:39] In 1849 a Canadian physician Dr. Robert Bayard wrote that the

[00:04:46] crime-less sufferer has been condemned by the legislator of his country to perpetual

[00:04:57] imprisonment.

[00:04:59] Dr. Bayard maintained that the disease was not transmissible.

[00:05:07] Dr. Bayard said that the medicine doesn't agree with that position totally but only

[00:05:12] about 1% of those exposed will ever develop full-blown leprosy.

[00:05:18] A leper colony mandated by the New Brunswick government was an overreaction to a health

[00:05:25] issue that could be easily controlled without segregation.

[00:05:32] There was significant outrage over the situation of those on the island fueled by

[00:05:37] Acadian resentment that conjured up memories of their 18th century deportation.

[00:05:45] This resentment led to the relocation of the patients in 1949 to a new

[00:05:52] facility near their families in Trikati.

[00:05:58] Only 14 were remained alive at that time.

[00:06:04] The real improvement though occurred in 1868 when seven Montreal sisters of St. Joseph

[00:06:11] arrived in the colony to help.

[00:06:15] The last Acadian patient admitted to the leprosarian was in 1937 and the

[00:06:23] facility closed in 1965.

[00:06:26] In total, 367 leprosy patients were treated there over its existence.

[00:06:35] Today the disease is referred to as Hansen's disease after Armar Hansen, a Norwegian

[00:06:44] who discovered the causative bacteria in 1873.

[00:06:50] It is quite rare but does still occur in Canada from time to time.

[00:06:56] Most individuals have natural immunity to it and only 5% of the population are truly

[00:07:03] vulnerable to it.

[00:07:06] Perhaps 15 individuals dying on Sheldrake Island abandoned and alone seems like a

[00:07:13] small insignificant number and for a time their names were even forgotten.

[00:07:20] Through the efforts of the Sheldrake Commemorative Committee, the names were

[00:07:25] discovered and a fitting memorial to the 15 was installed in Trikati in

[00:07:32] September 2017.

[00:07:36] A beautiful documentary of the journey of discovery gives honor to the 15 and

[00:07:42] more history of their experience on the island.

[00:07:46] A link to the video is in the show notes.

[00:07:49] I hope that you will take the time to watch it.

[00:07:53] The project that produced the documentary also developed a set of lesson plans and

[00:07:59] historical documents that encourage critical thinking about the history that

[00:08:04] is literally all around us.

[00:08:08] Teachers and students consider why some stories from the Canadian past have

[00:08:14] been commemorated through historical markers such as monuments while other

[00:08:19] stories have been ignored.

[00:08:23] Those lesson plans can also be found at the link in the show notes.

[00:08:30] Trikati is a vibrant Acadian community located along Highway 11 in

[00:08:37] northeastern New Brunswick, about halfway between Miramichi and the

[00:08:42] Acadian Peninsula.

[00:08:45] It is known for its warm hospitality and seaside location making it a

[00:08:52] popular tourist destination.

[00:08:55] When you visit there please make sure that you visit the area where the

[00:09:00] monuments are to the 15 Sheldrake deceased.

[00:09:06] In closing, I just want to emphasize again that communities and governments

[00:09:11] sometimes make unwise decisions from the pressures of fear, ignorance,

[00:09:19] or hidden agendas.

[00:09:22] Unfortunately those that are affected often do not have voices that can

[00:09:29] speak back sufficiently.

[00:09:33] It's up to the rest of us to be the voice for those that communities and

[00:09:38] governments have placed away to be forgotten if possible.

[00:09:50] It's been a real joy being with you today.

[00:09:52] I appreciate you taking the time to listen to the podcast.

[00:09:56] If you go to my website, MBTraveler.com, you can leave a comment.

[00:10:02] You can come to do a rating.

[00:10:04] I look forward to seeing you back here again next week.

[00:10:08] Oh, by the way, you can also buy me a coffee there on that website if you

[00:10:13] care to.

[00:10:15] Have a great day and a wonderful week.