'Indian Rehabilitation' and Rehabilitation Specialists at Manitoba Tuberculosis Sanatoriums, 1950-1970

“Indian Rehabilitation” became a distinct field of tuberculosis (TB) occupational and rehabilitation therapy in Manitoba in the 1950s and an integral part of many patients’ overall treatment program. It may be striking that the term “rehabilitation” was racialized.  But it is important to know how thoroughly medical knowledge and practice in twentieth century Manitoba was invested in concepts of race.  In the records I look (the Sanatorium Board of Manitoba archives), race is ever-present– there were “Indian TB Surveys,” conducted specifically at First Nations and under different conditions than other case-finding activities; there were three “Indian hospitals”  (Dynevor, Selkirk, Brandon Sanatorium and Clearwater Lake) and so in a way, it is not surprising that Rehabilitation too was organized by race.  “Indian Rehabilitation”, often called simply “habilitation”, focused heavily on “social” rather than physical disabilities, and social acceptance by mainstream society (including in work environments), rather than “the process of achieving maximum usefulness and thereby greatest personal satisfaction” was the objective of therapy. Using primarily the records of the Sanatorium Board of Manitoba, in this paper, I will explore the development and practice of “Indian Rehabilitation” in Manitoba and introduce some of the key practitioners, many of whom were women.  Their work primarily involved teaching elementary education to patients, developing programs of craftwork, however in some programs, rehabilitation specialists work involved social re-orientation and included supervising simulated living arrangements as “house mothers”, “counseling” rehabilitants on dress, hygiene, pleasing personalities, and work ethic and encouraging and assessing rehabilitants’ progress.