Contested Bodies: Affliction and Power in Heiltsuk Culture and History

Author(s): Michael Harkin

Source: American Ethnologist, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Aug., 1994), pp. 586-605
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
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contested bodies: afflictionand power in Heiltsuk
culture and history

HARKIN-Universityof Wyoming
MICHAEL

introduction: the body as locus of power

The body is the phenomenalfield in which the contestof culturesis most immediatelyand
powerfullyenacted. Domination,resistance,and transformationare played out in bodily
practices,beliefs,representations,andwaysof being.Justas individualbodiesmediatebetween
selfandother,so on the levelof culture,the meaningfulandempoweredbodymediatescultural
alterity.Forthis reason,the body constitutesa highlycontestedculturaldomain. In colonial
encounters,the non-Westernbody is the epitome of savagery;for victims of contact, it is,
literally,the embodimentof theirthreatenedlifeworld.
As anthropologists turnincreasinglyto historicalstudies,we musttakeaccountof the central
importance of the body and discourseson the body in ethnohistoricalcontexts.Inany cultural
"borderland," as a diaspora,the body is obviouslyan importantarenaof contestation,of
such
the forgingor transmutingof identity.Butthis is even morethe case in the processeslinkedto
Europeanconquestandcolonialism,especiallyinthe AmericasandAustralia.Twofactorsmake
thisso. Mostobviousis the phenomenonof "virginsoil"epidemicsthatgreatlyreducedoreven
annihilatedaboriginalpopulations,sometimesin advanceof directcontact. Lessobvious,but
also significant,is the coincidenceof the high tide of colonialismwiththe Europeandevelop-
mentof discoursesand technologiesof the body: makingbodily practicesa consciousobject
of colonial and missionarypolicy.
Theonslaughtof pandemicdiseasehas been perhapsthe mostsignificantset of eventsin the
historyof contactbetweenthe colonizingWestandthe colonized rest.Themostpotentweapon
in the armoryof "ecological imperialism,"pathogens defeated armies, opened land for
resettlement,and abetted imperialistfantasiesand schemes that were dependent upon a
"disappearing savage"(Berkhofer1978:29;Crosby1986).
The biomedicalmodel of disease makesit seem "natural" to view illnessas an impersonal
force.ThisWesternmodelessentiallymasksthe underlyingpowerrelations,of boththe disease
itself and of therapeuticand hygienic interventions.Indigenousmodels, however, more
frequentlyemphasizethe personalisticaspectsof illness. Narrativesof illness based on these
modelshavea moraldimensionthatrecapturesthe powerrelationsof the originaldiseaseevent

Thebody is a primarydomainof contestationin colonial encounters.Theindige-

nous responseto virginsoil epidemicsprovidesan opening for colonial agents,
especiallymissionaries.Methodistmissionariesamong the Heiltsukof the North-
west Coastimposed a hegemonicconceptionof the body, involvingthe central
practice of discipline. Hegemonyand resistancehave been enacted in bodily
beliefs,practices,and discourses.A focuson the meaningfulbody as a mediating
category reveals importantdimensionsof processes of culture change. [body,
colonialism,missionaries,ethnohistory,NorthwestCoast]

American Ethnologist21(3):586-605. Copyright ? 1994, American Anthropological Association.

586 american ethnologist

(Harkin1990b). I arguethatthis perspectiveis in the finalanalysisthe morevalid,and thatthe
colonial historyof the Heiltsukand other aboriginalgroups can be understoodonly with
referenceto power as rootedin bodilyexperience.
Euro-Canadians are seen as active agents in the spreadof illness,throughmagicalmalevo-
lence. Indeed,we knowthatin some cases Euro-Canadians did intentionallyspreaddisease by
distributing infected blankets among uninfected Indians (an action that would be glossed as
"witchcraft" in virtuallyall aboriginalconceptualsystems).What is more,the initialimpactof
disease is preludeto the impositionof a new powerrelationshipbasedon systematicprinciples
of disciplineand controlof the body-principles thatare idealizedand internalizedand thus
become hegemonic.1In NorthAmerica,recent researchsuggestsmortalityratesfrom intro-
duced disease were much higherthan previouslythought,with deathsin the millions.2Robert
T. Boyd(1985) has examinedthis issue for the NorthwestCoast,with equally strikingresults.
My own data suggestthatthe Heiltsukpopulationwas reducedby 80 percentor more in the
mid-19thcentury,primarilybecauseof severaloutbreaksof smallpox.
In humanterms,sufferingand death at this level are apocalyptic.They are also crucially
importantevents in the ethnohistoriesof groups,as they forcefullychallenge the aboriginal
cognitivesystem,layingthe groundforradicalchange (Wallace1970:189).Theexistentialand
culturaldimensionsneed notbe keptanalyticallyseparate.The body mediatesbetweenthe self
andthe worldandphenomenallygroundsprocessesof change(ComaroffandComaroff1992a).
Power is the key term in this equation. Power is not simply coercion, but also involves
cultural schemata of authority,efficacy, energy, purity,and so forth. Schemataof power
are not uniformcross-culturallybut do, I have argued,share a "familyresemblance"in the
Wittgensteiniansense (Harkin1992; see Fogelson and Adams 1977). What is at stake in
the corporealdialogue between colonizer and colonized is never simply the dynamics of
raw force but the deployment and finally the imposition of structuresthat presuppose
asymmetric relations of production, reproduction, legitimacy, and symbolization (see
Comaroffand Comaroff1992b).
Michel Foucaulthas taughtus to see the exercise of power in the domain of the body,
even in the most ordinaryof bodily practices. In one of his rareprogrammaticstatements,
he suggests five criteriaupon which an analysis of power must be based: "the system of
differences,""the types of objectives pursued"by those in power, "the means of bringing
power relations into being," "formsof institutionalization,"and, finally, "the degrees of
rationalization"of power relations(Foucault1983:223). While such a complete analysis of
an ethnohistoricalsituationwould requirefar more space than is available here, FoucauIt's
criteria will guide my examination of Heiltsuk ethnohistory.The study of 19th-century
colonialism is especially amenable to such an approach;then we find the technologies of
power fully fledged. The institutionsthat Foucault has studied-the clinic, the prison,
sexuality-are productsof the modern age that reached a peak of efficiency at precisely
the moment that Euro-Americansbegan to colonize, ratherthan simply trade with, the
natives of the Northwest Coast (see Loo 1992). For the Heiltsuk, this fearfulefficiency,
operating under the sign of humanitarianism,overwhelmed a cultural system that was
always open to the outside (see Harkin1988).
Europeansdeployed a three-partstrategyof subjugationin the wake of pandemicdisease.
The threeconstituentswere the biomedicalclinic, the Protestanttheology of discipline, and
the carceral institutions,includingthe jail and the residentialschool. Each leg reinforces
and augmentsthe other. The theology of discipline is spiritually"hygienic"and is enforced
by the carceralinstitutions(see Harkin1993). Theclinic deploys quasi-theologicalconcepts
such as purity,filth, and redemption.Indeed, the three are homologous; each pursues a
strategyof isolation and control that in its final stage is self-imposed.

contested bodies 587

the Heiltsuk in ethnohistorical context

The Heiltsuk-formerly called Bella Bella and "Northern Kwakiutl"-are a native group of
the central coast of BritishColumbia. In historical times, they have lived mainly in and around
the village of Bella Bella (now called Waglisla), although their traditional territoryextended
over much of the central coast.3 The Heiltsuk can be subdivided into regionally distinct tribal
groups, of which the contemporary Bella Bella Heiltsuk recognize four: Uyalitxw ("Outside
People"), Uw'ft'litxw ("People of the Inlet," i.e., Roscoe Inlet), 'QWuqwayaft6w ("Calm Water
People"), and Isdait,w ("People of isdai"). These groups aggregated in the late 19th century in
the trading and mission village of Bella Bella.
The Heiltsuk had perhaps the richest ritual culture of any Northwest Coast group, including
the Kwakiutl,during most of the 19th century. The famous haimc'a, or "cannibal dance," was
Heiltsuk in origin; so perhaps was the entire idea of a winter dance series involving a struggle
between forces of chaos and cosmos (Boas 1966:258, 402). The basic relationship expressed
was between an external, nonhuman donor and a human, socially situated recipient of power.
Power (niwalakw) resided especially in material tokens, such as masks and other carved items
(also called nawalakW).This underlying ethnologic of power is extremely significant as a
mediating structure of change.
The rapid transformationof the Heiltsuk during the 1870s and 1880s from a group with the
reputationfor "incorrigibility"to the model of "civilized" Indianson the Northwest Coast-cited
as a paragon of the Victorian virtues of progress, cleanliness, and prosperity-has always
appeared problematic. An examination of the corporeal dimensions of this transformationwill
shed light on this specific ethnohistorical problem, as well as on the role of the category of the
body in hegemonic structuresgenerally.

disease events in Heiltsuk history

I heardaboutthis-what happenedyearsago, beforemy time-what they called smallpox,whateverit

was, in those days. Peopleused to live in DennyIslandthere.... Theywere dyingjust like.... I don't
knowhow manydeathswerethere.Andone old fellow,to get awayfromthere,climbeda mountainto
go rightstraightacrossto Hauyet.... Andthat'sa reserve,because it's a salmonbrook,you see. They
used to go over thereand dry fish,you know.... Theycouldn'ttell how manypeople had died. Some
women laydown dead, andthe littlebabywas stillsuckingtheirtits,andshe'd be dead. They'dtell me
thatstory.[Harkin1986]

Thus, a Heiltsuk historical narrativedescribes the smallpox pandemic of 1862, which resulted
in a mortality rate of 69 percent (Boyd 1990). The loss of population over 30 years was even
more extreme. Approximately 1,500 people inhabited the area around the Hudson's Bay
Company's Fort McLoughlin in 1835; the population was 200 or less in the 1880s (Tolmie
1963:320; see also Canada 1889; R. G. Large 1968:5; Methodist Church of Canada
1889-90:96).4 Indians returning from Victoria brought the disease to the central coast (R. W.
Large 1904). Even today, this holocaust is remembered with considerable emotion.
The narrative stresses the lack of continuity the smallpox entailed. Thus, most dramatically,
dead mothers cannot provide breast milk for their doomed infants. Equally important, the
survivors could not even count the dead. This fact suggests not only the proportions of the
disaster, but also symbolizes, as well, an absolute breach between the living and the dead. The
most important responsibility of a Heiltsuk person was, and remains, to provide proper
commemoration for kin after death (see Kan 1989:1 72). Here, the dead not only cannot be
commemorated, but they also cannot be named. They cannot even be counted! Another
consultant stresses the point that the dead were not buried, but simply placed on the beach
rolled up in a blanket (see Storie and Gould 1973:75-76). One tradition holds that canoes full
of people set off from Vancouver, but before long would have to stop from time to time to lay

588 american ethnologist

a corpseon the beach. By the end of the journey,only one personwas left alive, to infectthe
village.
TheHeiltsukuniverseis foundedon a continuityfromgenerationto generationandexchange
betweenhumansocietyand nonhumanrealms,as explicitlyseen in mortuarypractices,notions
of reincarnation, andthe WinterCeremonial(Harkin1990a).Theentireset of relationsinvolved
in social and biologicalreproductionwas thusthreatenedby the smallpoxepidemic.Thedirect
causal effect of the smallpoxon other historicaldevelopments,such as the consolidationof
tribalgroupsaroundthe village of Bella Bellaand the loss of esotericculturalknowledge,is
clear (Olson1935, 5:52).
Significantly,the narratorinterjectsinto this narrativean explicitcommunalclaim to land
("Andthat'sa reserve").5 Clearly,the devastationof smallpoxis associatedin his mind with
Euro-Canadian threatsto Heiltsukland. Indeed,he is not merelytelling Heiltsukhistory,he is
commentingon it. He presentsthe narrativeas one who heardit longago-hence the narrative
bracketing-and providesboth a retellingand a commentary.This indigenousaccount,with
its superficiallycuriousjuxtapositionof disease and economic resources,providesa telling
insightintothe historicalprocessesof colonialismin BritishColumbia,in which the healthof
aboriginalpeoples-rooted in, but not limitedto, individualbodilystates-and the appropria-
tion of economic resourceswere inverselyrelated.

disease and health in Heiltsuk culture

Epidemicand pandemicoutbreaksof diseasewere recurrentamongthe Heiltsukin the 19th

and early 20th centuries. Like a series of aftershocks,fatal outbreaksof measles (1882),
tuberculosis(recurrent),smallpox(recurrent), whoopingcough (recurrent: especially1891 and
1905), and influenza (1919) devastatedthe Heiltsuk(G. Darby 1920; Hopkins 1892:87;
CarolineTate1883).Accordingto a contemporaryconsultant,influenzakilledsome 47 people
in Bella.Everynightsomeone died; sometimestwo per night.No medicinewas effective;the
strongeryou were the fasterit killedyou. Again,there is the sense of helplessnessand of some
essentialbreachin the Heiltsukworld order.The particularinversionof influenzawas that it
seemed to kill primarilythe young and healthy(G. Darby1920).
Forthe Heiltsuk,disease is relatedto the largermoralstateof the world. Afflictionis "the
dislocationof self and context,"in which a breachof the cosmic orderis bothcause and result
(Comaroff1980:644-645). Such a breach can be consideredas either passive or active, an
unwittingviolationor a positivemalevolence,producingminorand seriousaffliction,respec-
tively. In the formercase, the transgressioninvolves an unintentionalor careless failureto
dischargea responsibilitynecessaryfor the smoothfunctioningof the world,that is, relations
between the humanworldand the worldsof the dead, of supernatural beings, and of natural
species. Forexample,carelessnessin huntingor mistreatment of game animalsthatresultedin
theirsufferinginevitablyled to illnessand was considereda majorcause thereof(R.W. Large
1905:115; see Hallowell 1976:419). In the case of seriousaffliction,witchcraftor sorceryis
implicated(R.W. Large1905:115).
Two factorsseparatedthese pandemicsand epidemicsfromnormalafflictionevents. First,
the diseases were of unprecedentedvirulence.Second, in the case of smallpox,the disease
struckthe entire society. The virulence of the illness produced the view that an active
malevolencewas behind it. Becauseit struckvirtuallyall Heiltsukpeople, the malefactorwas
locatedoutsidesociety;in thiscase, itwas the Euro-Canadian. Smallpoxwas called, in English,
the "WhiteMan'sSick,"andwas viewed as the productof witchcraftby hostileEuro-Canadians
(R.W. Large1904:130).One narrative,recordedin the 1960s, expressesthis view:
AndtheWhitePeoplegettiredof the Indiansgoingoverthere[Victoria]
andtheytryto chasethemaway.
Well, sometimesthey sneakaround,and they havesome diseasewith them,thissmallpoxdisease. The

contested bodies 589

 Indianssee themputsomethingin the bow (ofa canoe)andputit, putitway in. So whentheyareagainst
the wind it blows rightto the sternand everybodywill catch it (Storieand Gould1973:75).
This idea of Euro-Canadian culpabilityexpressesthe realitythatthe cause of the disease was
external,that it originatedwith non-Indiansin Victoria.Moreover,Euro-Canadians livingin
Victoriaindeed objectedto the largenumberof Indianslivingin settlementsaroundthe city,
includingthe Songheesreserve,which had been allocatedto a local groupof Salish in 1850
(Kew1990:162). Inthis sense, pathogensclearlyabettedthe interestsof colonists.6
The modus operandi,secretingthe disease in a box, reflectsHeiltsuknotionsof corporeal
causality.Witchcraft(dasgiu)is usuallyperformedby collecting bodily disjecta,or an object
thathas been in contactwiththe body,and hidingit in a box (Olson1949(6):49).Manipulation
of the contentsof the box can introducea foreignobject intothe victim'sbody, causingillness
or death(R.W. Large1903a:232).Interestingly, the modusoperandiin the case of smallpoxis
a combinationof Heiltsukand Westernetiologies;the notionof an airbornesubstanceflying
intothe bodiesof the afflictedreflectsthe biomedicalperceptionof bacterialand viraldisease.
Accusationsof witchcraftwere commonthroughoutthe late 19th and early20th centuries,
reflectingmassivesocial and culturaldislocation(R.W. Large1903a:232; see also G. Darby
1922; Fougner1931). Further,the Heiltsukbelievedthatthe death of a child was alwaysthe
resultof witchcraft(Boas1923:284). Not surprisingly, the most seriousinternalaccusationsof
witchcraftoccurredaroundthe time of the influenzaepidemic, 1919 to 1920.

affliction as bodily transformation

Forthe Heiltsuk,witchcraftis a marked,personalizedformof disease in general.Itinvolves

transformation of the body accordingto certaingeneral principles,includingthe body as a
container,incorporation,penetrationand drawingout, secret and public, and the efficacyof
analogy.Such corporealtransformation has significancebeyond the healthor sicknessof the
individual,implicatingthe largerworldsof villageand nativesociety, and theirrelationshipto
outsideforces.
Thebody is the primaryfocusof the culturallyconstitutedlifeworld,particularlythe symbolic
organizationof space. It is not, however,a simplespatialor symbolicmatrix.Rather,the body
creates(andrecreates)the spatialand symboliccategoriesof a culture,which are expressedin
other symbolic series (Ellen1977:354-355). The body is a "corpspropre,"or lived-inbody
(Merleau-Ponty1945:119, 173). It actualizes the categories of the lifeworldthroughthe
anchoringof temporaland spatialhorizons.Itprovidesan immediateinstantiationor "embodi-
ment"of these categories,and an existentialspace and time in which they can operateand be
reproduced(Bourdieu1977:218; Merleau-Ponty1945:119, 281). These categoriesare repre-
sented in the body of the person and the "body"of the society. Thus, the constitutionand
differentiationof social unitsare implicatedin the symbolicconstructionof the body (Comaroff
1981:368;Ellen1977:357).
The most fundamentalcategoricalprincipleforthe Heiltsukis the notionof containedness
(see Fleisher1981; Seguin 1982; Walens 1981). The essentialsocial container,the house, is
modeled on the humanbody. TraditionalHeiltsukhouses had "mouths"throughwhich one
passed to enter. The interiorwas organizedinto a "head"and "sides."Forthe Heiltsuk,the
primaryreferentof the notion of rightand left sides, as a measureof rankand value, is the
human body (see Hertz 1960). The feast positionon the rightside of the house, fromthe
perspectiveof the head, facing outward,is rankedabove and receives beforethe left(Olson
1935(5):20).Otherhouse-bodyassociationsincludethe smokeholeas orificeand the Cannibal
Pole as penis.
Likethe house,which containsits members,the body is thoughtof as containingthe soul or
lifeforce. Boasrecordsforthe Kwakiutlthatthe body is the "houseof the soul"(1921:724).For

590 american ethnologist

the Heiltsuk,the soul is an entitythat is housed in the body but can leave it (Boas1923:18,
264). When the soul does leave the boundariesof the body, it is potentiallyin dangerfrom
manipulationby shamans. Similarly,hostile forces threaten a member of a house when
venturingabroad,especiallyoutsidethe territoryof the lineage. Heiltsuknarrativesstressthe
dangers involved in leaving the structuredspace of the house, especially to hunt (Boas
1928:48-64).
Alternatively,outsideforcescan penetratethe container,placingthe victimin gravedanger.
Thus,shamanskilland inflictillnessby projectingan object intothe body (Olson1935, 2:79).
Or, they can obtainsynecdochicitemsand retotalizethem by placingthem in a new, natural,
or artificialcontainer(G. Darby1933; Olson 1949, 6:49). The itemscan then be manipulated.
One such methodwas to makea modelof a head with such itemsand then to pierce it with a
sharpobjectsuch as a fishbone.Again,the notionof penetrationof the bodyorcorporealobject
is central(R.W. Large1904:135).
Healing,on the otherhand,consistedof extractingobjectsfromthe body (G. Darby1933;
R.W. Large1908).Thepowerof shamaniccuringis calledgigeltkWili, "lengtheningof powers."
The shamandevelops powersthat can extend throughbodily boundaries.Withoutthe aid of
shamans,one may extractor expel foreignobjects by "purifying" the body throughbathing,
steambaths,and emetics (G. Darby1933).
Special pools and hot springswere favoredfor the drawingout of foreignobjects.Young
women particularlywere in need of such purification;commonlya frogwould appear,as the
materialformof the impurity.Frogswere associatedwith illnessand curingon the Northwest
Coast;theirqualityof boundarycrossing,as neitherterrestrialnoraquaticcreature,is perhaps
relatedto this (Levi-Strauss 1982:120-122). Frogsare greedy, an attributeassociated with
impurity (Boas 1932:4). Frogsare also, for the Heiltsuk,associatedwith humanfertilityand
pregnancy.Pregnant women wore buttonblanketsembroideredwitha frogdesign.Itwas taboo
for youngwomen to killfrogs(Boas1923:281).The associationof femininefertility,pollution,
and disease is clear in the symbolof the frog.These notions all involveviolationor breaking
down of the bodilyboundary.
Thebodilyboundaryisthe epitomeof othertypesof boundariesandmargins(Douglas1966).
The complex of practicesassociatedwith bodily purification(daiwasila)clearly shows this.
Purificationwas practicedparticularlyin anticipationof hunting,thatis, venturingout beyond
the boundariesof society intoa nonhumanrealm.Sexualand food abstinenceand the use of
saltwateremetics servedto close and fortifythe boundariesof the body,to eject any internal
foreignobjects, includinganimal meat, and then to close off the orificesand strengthenthe
marginsof the body.Thisallowedthe hunterto functionpurelyas a humanin the animalrealm
and thus to engage in the fundamentalexchange between humansand animalspecies in an
unambiguousway, and notto appearas a marginalbeing.Thus,the appearanceof those in an
inherentlymarginalstate-especially menstruation,pregnancy,and bereavement-in a food
resourceareadepletedthe supplyof thatfood species, becausethe basictermsof the exchange
were destroyed(see Harkin1990a).
The bodily condition associated with liminalityreflects this lack of clear boundaries.
Menstruating and pregnantwomen are not closed off and continent,but open to the outside.
Widows and those in mourningopen theirbodies up to the outsideby weeping and self-muti-
lation(Boas1889:839-840).
Theliminalsubjectis in a dangerousandvulnerablestatethathasconsequencesfortheentire
social group.It is thus necessary,afterthe firststagesof pollutionand opennessto the outside,
to contain and controlthis danger.This is achieved by a regimencalled h'ikeli, consistingin
the radicalrestrictionof the subject. H'ikelaapplies to widows and widowers,as well as to
menstruatingand pregnantwomen. A contemporarynativegloss is "totake care of, to keep
away from danger."H'ikela involves the isolation of the subject, who is forbiddenfrom

contested bodies 591

participatingin anydailyactivitiesof the household.Interestingly, a specifictabooexistson the
handlingof sharpobjects,suchas knives,thatis, instruments capableof penetratingandopening
up the containerof the body and used in the productionand preparationof food. The subject
is enjoinedto stayas stillandquietas possible,awayfromthe othersin the house,andcertainly
apartfromoutsiders.Hisor herneedsareprovidedforby membersof the household(see Harkin
1990a).
The body clearlyrevealsthe contradictionswithinthe culturalorder,such as thatbetween
productionand reproduction,social controland creativeanarchy.Thus,the body in statesof
afflictionconstitutesa crisis in the culturalorganizationof these contradictions.The Heiltsuk
focus on witchcraftin cases of illness called into questionthe categoryof the personas an
integraland empoweredbeing. In such a crisis of basic categories,the episode of affliction
createsthe possibilityforculturalchange by foregroundingthese normallyimplicitcategories
and the essentialcontradictionstheyentail. Itis againstthis backgroundof crisisthatWestern
categoriesand technologiesof the body appear.

affliction biomedicine and corporeal reform in Heiltsuk ethnohistory

the early contact period, 1800-40 Heiltsukperceptionsof sickness7reston the relationship

betweenoutsidesourcesand internalformsof power.As in the WinterCeremonial,the wielder
of power-to harmor heal-depends uponhis relationshipwitha nonhumanor sociologically
distantdonor.Fromthe therapeuticperspective,the primaryetiologicalmaneuveris to specify
this relationshipin particularcases;thiswas the job of healingshamans.The initialappearance
of the Euro-Canadian on the scene radicallyalteredboth the internaland externalworlds.He
appearedprimarilyin the role of malefactor,secondarilyas potentialhealer.
One manifestation of the Euro-Canadian's poweris the rifle.The rifleis iconic of the Heiltsuk
notionof corporealcausality.The rifleacts by penetrationof the bodilycontainer;it acts from
afarand is connected with externalsources of power. It providesa visible symptomatology
exactly fittingwith the Heiltsukconcept of sickness.The requiredinterventionis clearlythe
removalfrom the sufferer'sbody of an embedded foreignobject.8Moreover,the invisible
etiology remainedintact;accidentalshootingscame to be seen as one possibleoutcomeof a
particularwitchcrafttechnique(R.W. Large1903a:229).
Fromthe beginningof the furtrade,the riflewas an importanttradeitem,becomingeven a
generalizedmediumof exchange.Shootings,bothaccidentaland intentional,becamecommon
occurrences,afterthe establishmentof the Hudson'sBayCompanyFortMcLoughlinin 1833.
The tradersof the Hudson'sBayCompanywere not above using their superiorfirepowerto
furthertheir perceived interests;in one skirmish,several Heiltsukwere killed or injuredby
gunfire.9
Thearrivalof the riflecoincidedwiththatof biomedicine.WilliamFraserTolmie,a Hudson's
BayCompanydoctorpostedat FortMcLoughlin, providedlimitedmedicaltreatment,including
the treatmentof gunshotwounds.Thisevincedtwo aspectsof the Euro-Canadian power:being
able bothto injureand to heal by essentiallythe same techniqueof penetration,analogousto,
but qualitativelydifferentfrom,the practiceof shamansand witches. Tolmie'sserviceswere
given sparingly,on the belief thathe would be held responsibleby kinsmenshouldhe fail to
treatthe sufferer'scomplaintsuccessfully(Tolmie1963:301, 308). Thisresistanceon the part
of the potentialbenefactoraccordedwith the Heiltsukperspectivethatthe Euro-Canadian, at
leastthose with esotericknowledge,were the possessorsof a potentsupernaturalpower(see
Harkin1988).
Thiswithholdingof a sourceof powermade it all the moreattractiveto the Heiltsuk,on the
principlethatthe moredifficulta typeof powerwas to obtain,the greateritspotencyandvalue.
Further,the Heiltsukincreasinglyexperienceda need for this aspect of the Euro-Canadian's

592 american ethnologist

power.The introductionof the rifleand alcohol,as the two maintradeitems,greatlyincreased
the frequencyand devastationof incidentsof intra-and interethnicviolence.10
The second, far more devastatingscourgeof this periodwas, of course, the epidemic and
pandemic diseases, in particularthe first smallpox epidemic of 1836 to 1838, which
reduced the northernHeiltsuk populationby 34 percent (Boyd 1985).11 If these plagues
were manifestationsof Euro-Canadian power,thenthe possibilityof healingalso laywiththe Euro-
Canadian-an equation implied in the Heiltsukconcept of sickness. Cause and cure were
simplydifferentmodalitiesof the same power. Indeed,in 1837, the Hudson'sBayCompany
sent cowpox vaccine to FortMcLoughlinto treatthe local populations,apparentlywith some
success (McLoughlin1941:217;Tod, n.d.).
Forthe Heiltsuk,the functionof the healerwas to articulatethe external-internal
relationship
implicatedin the particularsickness and to providethe mediationbetween suffererand the
largerworld.Or,asthe HeiItsukmetaphorsuccinctlyputsit,healing(hailikila)isexactly"setting
things right."However,this "settingright"requiredthe incorporationof Euro-Canadian forms
of power and the addressingof the discontinuitiesbetween the Heiltsukand whatcame to be
seen as a separatehumansociety,ratherthan(primarilyas)a new manifestationof supernatural
beings.

the missionary period, 1860-1920 In the 1860s and later,the Heiltsukwere increasingly
living among the whites, non-Indians,and other Indians,in the canneries that had been
establishedin theirown territory,and in the city of Victoria.Thisprovidedaccess to manifest
formsof power within Euro-Canadian society, in particular,those of the organizedchurches.
Among the most approachable of these was the Methodistchurch,which took as its primary
responsibilitythe "lowerorders"of BritishColumbiasociety:dockworkers,sailors,day laborers,
and, of course, Indians(C. M. Tate 1929:12;see Grant1984:133). I treatthe developmentof
missionsin greaterdetailelsewhere,but it is importantto bringout severalrelevantpointshere
(see Harkin1993).
The second smallpox pandemic began around 1862 and spread up the coast of British
ColumbiafromVictoria.In 1868 the MethodistmissionaryThomasCrosby,althoughwithout
benefit of medical training,proceeded up the coast administeringsmallpox vaccinations
(Stephenson1925:152-153). Thereare no figuresto indicatethe scope of thisvaccination,nor
itseffect.The merefact of Crosby'sactionwas certainlyimportant.His experiencesimpressed
him with the need for medical missionsto be sponsoredby the Methodistchurch(Stephenson
1925:152-1 53). Fromthe pointof viewof the Heiltsuk,the formthistreatmenttookwas familiar,
ifthe directionwas reversedfromthe usual.Thehypodermicneedleeffectsa bodilypenetration,
usuallydenotingthe introductionof a dangerousforeignbody. However,this could have been
interpretedas a formof counterirritation, a traditionalmedical practiceinvolvingthe cutting
and puncturingof the skin in orderto allow the escape of the malignantsubstance(G. Darby
1933).
This combinationof a state of "dis-ease,"as an inabilityto mediatean unknownexternal
forceandthusto "setright"the Heiltsukworld,andthe increasingpresenceof a new, exogenous
form of power manifestedin the personof the Methodistmissionary,led to an attemptto
revitalizesociety by incorporatingthis new power (Grant1984:245).12
This same situationpresenteditselfto other BritishColumbiaIndiangroups,an immediate
resultof which were the beginningsof a religious"revival"in Victoriain 1870. Thismovement
began from a rented barroomand was significantlyled, in part,by Native preachers.The
culminationcame in 1873 at a camp meetingin Chilliwackon the lower mainland,at which
many northernIndians, including some Heiltsuk,were present (Goodfellow, n.d.; Grant
1984:133).

contested bodies 593

 The messagewas takenback to Bella Bella and proclaimedby two nativeconverts.After
initialresistance,a missionary,CharlesTate,an Englishmanwith six years'experience,was
askedforandprovidedto the community(C.M.Tate1929).Althoughitwas notatfirsta medical
mission,an importantfocus fromthe startwas the physicalhealthof the Indians.Tatevisited
the sick, even in outlyingresourceareas(C.M. Tate 1929). He possessedsome basic medical
supplies but no medicaltraining.Partlyfor this reason,but more importantlyfor ideological
reasons,the thrustof the missionary'sconcernforthe bodilystateof his parishionerswas bodily
reform.Physicalwell-beingand appearancewere taken as symbolsof one's spiritualstate.
"Cleanlinessis nextto Godliness"is a particularlyMethodistmaxim.Notionsof dirt,disease,
sexual license, "heathenism," and racialinferiorityare condensed in the imageof "darkness,"
employed frequentlyand for decades by the missionaries,possessingmultiplereferents:not
merely skin color and "unenlightened"souls, but a range of culturalpractices such as
face-painting,and even the lack of light in traditionalhouses (G. Darby 1922; see Grant
1984:229).Forexample,duringTate'svisitto BellaCoola in 1881, he states:"Thesepeople are
verydark.Itseemedhardto makethemunderstandanything.Andthe filthystateof theirhouse,
theirclothingandtheirpersonis beyondexpression"(C.M. Tate1881).One of the firstactions
of Tateas a missionaryhad been to teach the Nativesto makebroomsout of cedar branches
(C.M. Tate1929). ThomasCrosby,recallinga visit in the early 1870s to the Heiltsukvillageof
'QWuqwaf, comparedthe MethodistGospelto a cleansingflood tide. He told a resistantchief:
"Youcan'tstopthe tide;itwill come up all aroundyourvillagehereandwash away all the dirt
and bad intothe greatsea"(Crosby1914:142).
This rhetorichas its root in the peculiar sacrificial,quasi-eroticimageryof the English
Methodistsof the 18th century,in which Christ'sblood is the divine but corporealpurifying
agentand sole legitimateobjectof desire(Thompson1980[1968]:408-410).The natureof this
tide is to cleanse the savedby separatingout those elementsand personswho rejectsalvation.
Thus,in a too-perfectexampleof poetic justice,the resistantchief is soon afterwarddrowned
while on his way to a potlatch.Interestingly, the Heiltsukconsidereddrowning,along with
deathby gunshot,to be the productof witchcraft(R.W. Large1903a:229).Forthe missionaries,
this was a means for "openingthe Gospel"among the Heiltsuk,as the Heiltsukthemselves
generallyconsideredit a judgmentagainstthe chief (Crosby1914:142).
The relationshipbetweenthe body and a stateof grace was centraland explicit.Although
the Heiltsukpracticedfrequentritualbathing,for the missionariessuch a "pagan"practicein
no way amelioratedtheirstateof dirtanddarkness.Themissionarieswereespeciallyconcerned
withbodilyadornmentinthisconnection.A widelycirculatedstoryconcerningthe firstHeiltsuk
convertsholds thatthey were rebuffedby the local chiefs, who "commandedthe men to put
on their blankets,paint their faces and returnto the customs of the tribe" (Stephenson
1925:173-1 74).
Clotheswerethoughtof as an indexof civilization,which was directlyrelatedto the question
of grace;one could not existwithoutthe other(Grant1984:223).ThenativemissionaryW. H.
Piercemakesan interesting commentin his memoirsto the effectthatthe immediateand visible
resultof his missionaryactivityin Bella Bella was the forswearingof traditionalcedar bark
clothes and the takingup, within a matterof weeks, of Europeanclothing(Pierce1933:42).
Judgingby the Hudson'sBayCompanyrecords,the change was neitherso sudden nor did it
occur afterthe arrivalof the mission. Rather,the purchaseof Europeanclothes increased
incrementallyfrom the mid-1870s onward (Hudson'sBay Company 1876-77, 1877-80).
Nevertheless,the change was indeed fairlysudden, with the increasein the importationof
Europeanclothingand otheritemsincreasingroughlygeometricallyforseveralyears.Pierce's
recollectionmay not be literallycorrectbut is true in the mannerof an epitomizingevent, in
which long-termprocessesare condensed into a single recalledor narratedevent (Fogelson
1984).

594 american ethnologist

 Clothingmarked,forthe Heiltsuk,somethingapproachingits meaningforthe missionaries,
an extensionof an innerspiritual/bodily state.Markedformsof apparel,such as the cedarbark
ringsused in the WinterCeremonial,expressedand to some degreeextendedpower. Further-
more, clothingwas an extension of the internalpersonalessence of an individual.To wear
another'sclothes, as occurredonly in the case of a mourningspouse, was to be incorporated
by the clothing'sowner(Harkin1990a).Cedarbarkclothes (asopposedbothto buttonblankets
and European-style clothing)containedthe bodilyessence of the makerand wearer.The bark
was chewed (by eitherthe weareror a female house member)to be made supple (Hudson's
Bay Company1834). Likewise,the wearer'sperspirationwas absorbedin the fiber.As they
were permeatedwiththis bodilysubstance,bitsof clothing-even Europeanclothing,to some
degree-were potentialobjectsfor witchcraft(R.W. Large1910:918).
Almost as powerfulan index of "heathenism"as clothes, facial paintingwas used in all
importantritualcontexts,such as mortuaryritesandthe WinterCeremonial.Inparticular,black
("dark")paint was used on ritualoccasions (Boas 1923:10). Forthe Heiltsuk,facial paint
representedan extraordinary spiritualstatecharacteristicof liminality.Forthe missionaries,it
likewise representeda spiritualstate, althougha negativelyvaluedone. Althoughtemporary
and thus eminentlyreformable,facial paint was to the missionariesa markof Satan.The
missionaryobjectionto facialpaintthusepitomizedoppositionto ceremonialculturegenerally.
Itwas, in theirview, a diacriticof savagery.'3
Heiltsukmortuarypracticeswere a primaryfocus of the missionary'shorrorin the 19th
century(Crosby1914:191;C. Tate 1883). One incidentis particularly telling:a small girlwas
an
dying during epidemic of measles. The medicallyuntrained wife of the missionaryvisited
the girl but left because she believed nothingcould be done to save the child's life. The
missionary'swife returnedseveral hours later to find the female relativesof the child in
mourning,havingprepareda coffin and placed blanketsand other items in it, along with the
child, who was stillbreathing.The woman reactedwith horrorand literallystruggledover the
body of the childwiththe otherwomen. Finally,she took the child backto the missionhouse,
wherethe girlpromptlydied (C.Tate1883). Thewoman's"horror" at the proceedingswas due
not to a disagreementbetween herselfand the Heiltsukwomen on the imminenceof death.
Death itself,especiallythe death of children,was actuallywelcomed by the missionary,as a
"touchingbut triumphant" end. The missionaryreporteddeaths in the village in the same
contentedtermsas conversion;the two were morallyequated(Calvert1887).14
The conflictwas over the relationshipbetweenoutwardbodilysignsandthe inwardstateof
vitalityof the soul (see Harkin1990a). Itwas also overthe detailsof burial:"Ihad some of them
preparea coffinwhichwas veryrudelyconstructed,as they haveno ideahow to makeanything
of the kind,theircustombeingto puta corpse intoa deep box and in a sittingposition"(C.Tate
1883). Thatone methodof burial-flexed, in a squarebox-could be consideredso inferiorto
proneburialinanoblongboxdemonstratesthe close identificationinthe mindof the missionary
betweenthe possibilityof salvationand bodily practices.Thepointis not simplythatan entire
rangeof culturalvaluesand practiceswere intermixedand imposedon the Heiltsukin the guise
of Christianbelief,butratherthatthe body itselfwas viewed, at leastby the missionaries,as the
objectivefieldof strugglebetween opposingpowers:of "savagery" versus"civilization."
The missionary'sspecial horrorat these particularpracticeswas thereforeowing to the fact
thatthey had as theirmainreferencethe body itself,which becomesthe objectifiedformof the
spiritualstate.Thusthe missionaryto the Heiltsuk,W. B. Cuyler,writesin 1884: "Agreatwork
has been done forthese poor people. They show upon theirarmsscarswhere in formerdays
mouthfulsof flesh were tornoff; and, comparingthe pastwith the present,we conclude that
the formerdayswere notbetterthanthese"(Crosby1914:191).Unlikeclothingand face paint,
such bodily markswere indelible signs of "heathenism"and thus, by contrast,of progress.
Indeed,this scarringwas an icon of originalsin. Justas each individualstruggledto overcome

contested bodies 595

the stateof childhooddepravity,withthe help of sterndisciplinarianparentsand teachers,so
the racial childhood representedby the Indianmay be overcome but never forgotten(see
Thompson1980[1968]:414).
Scarswere a reminderof the dangersof the body leftto itsown devices. Missionariesknew
the bitingof the hamac'ato be the ecstaticculminationof a religiousfestival,which bore a
two-fold resemblanceto the Methodist'sown catharticrites.The horrorat the "heathenish"
practiceof anthropophagyderivesat leastin partfromitssimilarityto Methodistand Christian
notionsof the body of Christ;it was close enough to be considereda fiendishinversionof the
latter(see Thompson1980[1968]:408-410). Moreover,the tempo and psychodynamicsof the
Methodistchapel meetingswere, to theirmind, mockedby the "heathen"rites.The climactic
emotionalismof each-for the Methodistsa guilty secret that mustbe hidden in the hyper-
disciplineof everydaylife-suggested a commensurability of the two systems.Missionariesand
natives recognized in each other's practicesfamiliarforms, which constituteda basis for
communication.
The maintopic of thiscommunicationwas discipline.Bodilydisciplinewas the cornerstone
of missionarypractice;19th-centurymissionariesperceivedthe Heiltsukway of lifeas a whole,
includingitsmodeof production,as intolerablelibertinism(UCABC1924; see Grant1984:225;
Weber 1976:157-160). The temporaldimension was especially stressed.The Methodists,
missionaries,and converts,began the day at 4:00 a.m. and studiedscripturefor severalhours
beforetakingbreakfastand beginningwork-ideally, physicallydemandingand tediouswork
(C. M. Tate 1929; Thompson1967:87-88; see Weber 1976:160-161). The Methodistworker
became "hisown slave driver"(Thompson1980[1968]:393).All aspectsof corporeallifewere
subjectto the structuresof Methodistdiscipline.One photographfromthe 1890s showsseveral
converted Heiltsuk,who had formedan "EpworthLeague,"dressed in constrainingblack
uniforms;here, the Methodistvirtuesof uniformityand physicaldiscomfortare combined in
the body covering.15
The missionarycontrolover bodily practicesextended beyond productivelabor.Practices
associatedwithfemalesexualitywereespeciallytargeted.Thetraditionalinstitutionof arranged
adolescentbetrothalwas considereda majorperil.The missionimmediatelybegan takingin
young girls faced with this prospect,in orderto "save"them (C. Tate 1881). The practices
associatedwithh'ikela,or ritualseclusionat menarche,quicklybecame a pointof contention.
The concernon the partof parentsthatthe younggirlsmaintainaspectsof ritualseclusionand
inactivitywas branded"superstition" and not in keepingwith Methodistdiscipline(C. Tate
1881). For the Methodist,physical inactivity,even for the purpose of religiousstudy or
meditation,was morallyinferiorto organized,disciplinedlabor(Weber1976:158).
To thisend, women were organizedintoa "LadiesAid Society"to furnishand maintainthe
interiorof the churchand school;this worktook the formof organizedsewing sessions,with
the productsold for the profitof the church.These were combinedwith scripturalstudyand
lessons,underthe directionof the missionary'swife (Kissack1903; I. Large1905:592).Thegoal
was to "teachthe Indiansto be systematic"; to accomplishthingsin a disciplinedratherthana
"spasmodic" fashion(R. W. Large 1910:518; see Thompson1967).
Missionariesconcernedthemselveswithconsumption,as well as productionand reproduc-
tion. One of the mostseriousthreatsto corporealdisciplinewas seen to be the use of alcohol.
Amongotherthings,alcoholismwas seen to be a basic cause of intermittent workrhythms(R.
W. Large1900; Thompson1967:76).A temperancesociety was established,aimedprimarily
at Indianmen (C.M. Tate 1881). Missionariesthoughtliquorto be not only a sourceof moral
backsliding,butalso a directcause of infectiousdisease(G.Darby1919:53).Dr.RichardLarge,
medical missionaryfrom1898 to 1911, imposed"public-health" ordinancesagainstalcohol,
as well as againstbehaviorsuch as public spitting,in orderto stem tuberculosisand other

596 american ethnologist

infectiousdiseases. He broughthome his point in frequentpublic lectures,with the aid of a
chartshowing"theeffectsof alcohol on the body"(Stephenson1925:201).
Food, as well as alcohol, was contested. Many traditionalfoods were disfavoredby the
missionaries,to the pointthat they nearlydisappearedfromthe diet. Culinaryethnocentrism
explainspartof the missionaryresistanceto exotic foods, such as oolichangrease,a fermented
fishoil. However,the logicwas perfectlyconsistent:ratherthandropeverythingandgo to some
outlyingcampto collecta seasonallyabundantresource,whichthenmightneedto be preserved
by smoking, drying,or fermentation,it was preferableto maintaina steady work pattern
involvingwage laborand the collection of resourcescloserto home (I.Large1905:591-592).
Thiswas a moretemporallyandphysicallydisciplinedpattern,inwhichthefood one consumed
and the workone did remainedmoreuniformover the courseof a year. Itwas also preferable
that women especiallyremainedunderthe watchfuleyes of the missionary,his wife, and the
communityof the faithful.
Reformoperatedon the body of the individualand the "body"of society, throughthe
eradicationof "backward" formsof social relationshipand practices(see Foucault1975:33).
RichardLarge,writinghis annualreportin 1904, observed,"Wefind it difficultto maketwo
distinctreports-one spiritualandthe othermedical.Theworkdone is medicaland missionary,
and our ideal shouldbe, we believe, to makea perfectblendingof both."Spiritualprogressis
markedin termsof corporealstatesand signs.Thus,Largegoes on to give a positiveassessment
of the year'ssuccessbycitingthe marked"industriousness" of the people in buildingnew houses
and facilities(MethodistChurchof Canada1903-04:51-52).
The problemsof healthand hygiene,spiritualas well as physical,were seen as beingin direct
correspondenceto the materialconditionof the village, in particular,the houses. Traditional
housing was condemned from the firstas being unhealthy,cold, damp, and-surprisingly,
coming fromworldlyascetics-uncomfortable(C. M. Tate 1929). Largenotes the "unsanitary
conditions"of "old time Indianhouses"in which one found "crowdsof men, women and
childrenwith theirportablepropertyaboutthem"(R.W. Large1904:131).Thiscontrastswith
the ideal house,wherein"everythingis scrupulouslyclean, wherethereare blindsand curtains
on the windows, paper on the walls, oilcloth on the floor, a well-polishedstove, and neat
furniturein the room"(I. Large1905:591).
Althoughthe metaphoris one of hygiene,the objectiveconditionof "cleanliness"is in fact
one of orderand discipline,in particular,underthe authorityof the missionary-doctor and his
wife (Foucault1980:175). "Neat furniture"is contrastedwith "portableproperty"placed
higgedly-piggedly.'6 The formeris doublya sign of grace;"neatness"and "furniture" are both
condensed formsof systematiclaborand, thus, of bodilydiscipline.The new European-style
houses provideda livingspace suitablypartitionedfor inhabitationby a single nuclearfamily,
thus encouragingthe social unitto become (fromthe missionarypoint of view) moreorderly
anddisciplinedas welI(R.W. Large1909:8-10).17Theorganizationof the nuclearfamily,unlike
traditionalsocial organization,was transparent to the missionaryand thus moresusceptibleto
control.18The family itself became the object of medical and moralcontrol,with the focus
particularlyon the children,who held a privilegedpositionin the considerationof both the
doctor and the minister,although for ratherdifferentreasons (E. Darby 1922; Foucault
1980:172; Thompson198011968]:412).19The house, as the primaryextension of symbolic
space, became an expressionof new principlesof spatialand social organizationbasedon the
overarchingprinciplesof disciplineand moralauthority.
Ifthe house was a space relativelysusceptibleto the authoritarian disciplineof the medical
the
missionary, hospital was its embodiment. The firstBella Bella hospitalwas completed in
1902, the of
product organized, free Native labor (Methodist Church of Canada1901-02:39-
40). The hospital is the privilegedspace of disease and thus of medical control (Foucault
1980:176). A patient is circumscribedby what Foucaultcalls a "tertiaryspatialization":a

contested bodies 597

controlledspace markedoff by the gaze of the physician,in which the patientis transformed
into a pureobject(Foucault1975:16).
Thisgaze hereresemblesthe divinegaze of Judgment,insofaras itwas an assessmentof the
moralas well as physicalconditionof the patient.Thus, if a patientwere found to harbora'
residual"heathenism," especially in the formof lingering"superstitions" concerningsickness
and healing, he was made to feel "ashamed"(R. W. Large1903a:229).The time spent in
convalescence,while lost to the possibilityof physicallabor,could be fruitfullyemployed in
the edifyingtaskof religiousstudy. Nursesprovidedpatientswith Bibles,discussedreligious
matterswiththem,and reportednumeroussickbedconversions.
Not surprisingly,the medicalauthoritieshad some difficultyattractingNativepatientsto the
hospital and keeping them once they were there. RichardLargecomplains of the "many
disadvantages"involved in home treatment,where the patientwas outside the immediate
authorityof the doctor(MethodistChurchof Canada1903-04). Likewise,patientsoften leftthe
hospitalof their own volition for a varietyof reasons relatedto the treatment(R. W. Large
1903a:228; MethodistChurchof Canada1903-04). Often, the patientwould then turnto a
Native healeror attemptto treathimself,with a techniquesuch as emesis or bathing(R.W.
Large1903b:416).
Thereexistedamongthe Heiltsuka subtlerebellionagainstmedicalauthority,continuingto
the present,even as theirdependenceon it became greater.Thiswas manifestedin disagree-
mentswith certainmedicaltechniquesand a preferencefor traditionalmethods.One telling
example is a Heiltsukoral traditionstatingthat a certainwise woman startedusingoolichan
grease to treat influenza,as the postwarepidemic reached its peak. She administeredtwo
tablespoonsto patients,who then recovered.Accordingto thisaccount,Dr. Darby,a long-ten-
uredmedicalmissionaryto the Heiltsuk,himselfthen beganto administerit, andeven ordered
40 four-galloncans of it fromthe Nass River,to be sent to Vancouver.Dr. Darby,in his own
reminiscences,nevermentionsthe use of oolichangrease,butrecallsusingbeef tea to similar,
if more muted,effect(G. Darby1959; McKervill1964:87).
TheHeiltsukaccountis castpartlyintermsof a traditionalnarrative describingthe acquisition
and use of supernatural power. Thus, the ritualnumber four describes the quantityof grease,
which is broughtin fromthe outsidein containers.Thispower,once internalized,is projected
outwardto Vancouver,which standsfor Euro-Canadian society in general(see Harkin1988).
As well, the narrativeincludesnew elements. In particular,the methodof administeringthe
greasehasa quasi-medicalquality:it is administeredinequalquantities(thatis,doses)measured
in tablespoons,to everyonewho is ill. The parallelswith Darby'sstoryare also interesting;
Darby,inthe faceof an untreatableillness,revertsto the para-scientific levelof Anglo-Protestant
ethnomethodological "common sense."
The Heiltsukaccountrepresentsan attemptto maintainand assertcontrolover the process
of bodilyreform,as againstthe increasinghegemonyof the Euro-Canadian medical-missionary
discourse.Likethe incidentsof "optingout"of the Euro-Canadian medicalsystemby self-treat-
ment,this representsan assertionof some aspect of the Heiltsukconceptof the body. Whatis
more, the narrativeassertsthatthe Euro-Canadian medical systemin fact borrowedfromthe
Heiltsuk;this claim is echoed by several consultants.These attemptsto reassertHeiltsuk
categorieswere noted by the Euro-Canadian authorityand toleratedto a certaindegree. The
and
missionaryauthorityattempted probably succeeded, at leastin the confinesof the village
of BellaBella,to circumscribethemwith the overarchingmonologueof authority.
The model forthiscircumscribeddialogue is the relationshipof parentand child. Imagesof
childishnesspermeatethe missionarydiscourse.Thus,Nativesaredescribedin turnas foolish,
willful, amusinglysententious,naive, disobedient, and slovenly, but ultimatelyeducable.
Missionaryhistoryis a protractedracialchildhood.Thisprovideda pseudo-natural, body-based
metaphorfor their projectof reform.In this respect, the most telling aspect of missionary

598 american ethnologist

discourseis the concept of shame.Thus,all seriousattemptsto asserta dialogicalor reciprocal
relationship-forexample,an attemptto includesome Heiltsuksongs in a Christmasprogram-
were dismissedas examplesof willfuldisobediencethatinevitablyled to shameand reconcili-
ationto the parental-authority figure(R.W. Large1901).
Thisfocuson shamesuggeststhe primaryobjectof authorityto be the body, specificallythe
guilt-associatedareasthatconstitutethe foci of stagesof development(Freud1924:329-347).
Thus,the earlyand continuingconcern on the partof the missionarieswith sanitationreflects
an authoritarian interestin organizingexcretion,whichwas traditionallyperformedin the open
(see Thompson1980[1968]:414).Likewise,the attentionto the questionof the "discipline"of
children, especially girls, had as its sometimes explicit object the preventionof juvenile
sexuality.Indianparents,it was thought,could not provideproperdisciplinefortheirchildren,
and so the lattershould be taken out of the home (E. Darby 1922). How, afterall, could
"children" disciplinechildren?
Forthe goal was indeed to impose a parentaldiscipline on the Heiltsuk,which meant
primarilya corporealdiscipline. I have shown how most aspects of missionaryreformhad a
corporealcomponent.Bythe end of the periodI am considering,the Methodistconceptionof
the body was in ascendance,althoughnot uncontestedly.Indeed,occasionallyopen conflicts
arose.One such incidentoccurredin the 1930s. Dr. Darbybroughtbackfromthe River'sInlet
hospitalthe corpse of a Heiltsukman and refusedto releaseit to the kin, allowingthem only
five minutesalone with the body, in orderto prevent"heathenish"mortuaryrites.The kin
acquiescedin the matterand let Dr. Darbydo as he wished. Theythen returnedto the grave
site, retrievedthe body, and performedthe necessarymourning(Olson 1949(4):35).Thisgrim
tale providesa fittingsymbolof Heiltsukresistanceto colonial hegemony.
Elsewhere,I considerthe Methodistconceptionof the soul in detail (Harkin1993). Here, I
would simplypointout its relevanceto corporealdiscipline.The soul itselfis the productof a
body over which power has been exercised: it is "born... out of methodsof punishment,
supervisionand constraint"(Foucault1979:29).The soul inhabitsthe subjectedpersonas an
internalization of the powerof authority,as discipline;thatis why the Methodistbecomes "his
own slave-driver." Bodilydisciplinereleasesthissoulandgives it itsown being:workwill make
you free.As Foucault states,"thesoul is the prisonof the body"(1979:30).Theprocessof bodily
reformof the Heiltsukcan be seen in this sense as a constructionproject,in which structures
of powerare establishedand maintained.

conclusion: power and resistance

I have arguedthat the body is the primaryfield of transformation and contestationin the
Heiltsukexperience of colonialism.Older models of culturaland religiouschange, such as
"revitalization"and syncretism,emphasize only the ideologicalaspects of the two (or more)
systems in conflict (Wallace 1969; Worsley 1968). The Heiltsukcase has illustratedthe
centralityof corporealpractices,beliefs,and ways of being,alliedwith hegemonicideologies,
in the experienceof and responseto colonialism.
Corporealpower, therapeuticin its positiveform,constitutingwitchcraftin its malevolent
deployment,is a basicfactof social life.Thevalue,status,andsurvivalof individualsandgroups
depend upon it. Potlatches,for instance,are at one level a contestof such powers.
Duringthe colonial period, the Heiltsuk,as individualsand as a group,were placed in a
marginalposition,becomingopen to the operationsof a superiorpower. Heiltsuksociety was
in a positionformallyidenticalto the victimof witchcraft.Narrativesthatexplain pandemics
as productsof witchcrafthave metaphoricalas well as literalmeanings.That is, the specific
diseaseepisodesepitomizedlargerprocessesof subjugationin which the "body"of societywas
broughtunder the control of a total ideology focused on the body of the individual.The

contested bodies 599

"encapsulation"of Heiltsuksociety withinthe Canadianstate was achieved simultaneously
with the subjugationof the body.
Thepostcontactperiodwas highlytraumaticforthe Heiltsuk,as itwas forall otherindigenous
groups.The initialdisease shockswere replacedby a "humanitarian" regimethat demanded
nothingless thantotalsubmissionto an externalpoliticaland culturalorder.Justas the victim
of witchcraftis atthe mercynotonlyof histormentorbutalso of hisdoctor,the Heiltsuksuffered
profoundlyfromboththe sicknessand the cure. PandemicdiseaseandWesterntheoriesof the
body, includingbiomedicine,were elements in a hegemonicstrategy.
Colonial agents were successful, but their success was never total. Resistanceto the
disciplinaryregimenwas always present.The "counter-texts" of Heiltsukhistoricalnarrative
suggestways inwhichthisresistancewas carriedout, andarethemselvesinstancesof resistance
against a hegemonic history.The concept of resistancehas been used loosely by romantic
anthropologists and historiansand runsthe riskof beingtrivialized.However,we see resistance
and the fruitsof resistanceon severallevelstoday.
Whilethe bodyis notthe contestedfieldthatitonce was, the displayof a distinctivelyHeiItsuk
body is an important elementin the assertionof collective identityandrights.The Heiltsukhave
maintaineda distinctive identity,as seen in languageand culturalpractices.Bodilydisplays
and practicesthatrecaptureor reinventHeiltsuktradition,such as dancesand therapies,are a
statementof a distinctivelyHeiltsukbodilyaestheticand ethic, which standsin contrastto that
of the Euro-Canadian. Thiscontrastisemblematicof the contrast,notthecollapsing,of HeiItsuk
and non-Heiltsukworlds.
On the level of "tacticalresistance,"as Trouillotcalls it, the Heiltsukhave taken up land
claims and other political-legaldefenses of their rights (see Trouillot1992). This is not
unconnectedwith bodilydisplay.In 1986, when Vancouverhosteda World'sFair,a groupof
young Heiltsukmen paddleda Native-built,traditionalwarcanoe the 300 miles betweenBella
Bellaandthe Expo'86 site. Indoing so, they emphasizedthe aboriginalclaimto the territories
throughwhich theypassed.The imageof healthybodies in nativedress,cooperativelyworking
toward a common goal, was centralto the semiotics of the event, televised and broadcast
nationally.Incontrastto the northwardcanoe journeythatspreadsmallpox,markingprogres-
sive death and suffering,thissouthwardjourneyrepresentsa stateof vitalityand power in the
largerworld.

notes

Iwishto thankthe followingpeoplefortheircommentson earlierdraftsof thisarticle:

Acknowledgments.
Raymond Fogelson, Jean Comaroff, Bruce Knauft,and American Ethnologist'sanonymous readers. I also
wish to thank the Heiltsuk Band Council and the Heiltsuk CulturalEducationCentre-to whom an advance
copy of this article was submitted-for their support of my field research.
1. The concept of hegemony is borrowed from the work of Antonio Gramsci (1971). An ideology imposed
by an elite is hegemonic if it acquires the appearance of "common sense."
2. Recent scholarly debate has centered on the question of precontact aboriginal population levels and
subsequent mortality rates. While disagreeing on methodology, most scholars agree that population levels
and mortality rates were both considerably higher than previously thought (see Dobyns 1966, 1983, 1989;
Henige 1986; Johansen and Horowitz 1986; Joralemon 1982; Thornton and Marsh-Thornton 1981;
Ubelaker 1988).
3. The contemporary Heiltsuk are in every legal, historical, and ethnographic sense the descendants and
inheritorsof the precontact Heiltsuk and so, in accordance with internationaland common law, entitled to
the traditionalterritory.The failure up to this point of the province of BritishColumbia to recognize this fact
is a cause for outrage.
4. The mortalityrate could be worse than even these figures indicate. Tolmie only records the population
of three tribalgroups;the isdaitxv moved from their inland home to join the people living around Bella Bella
aftersmallpoxdecimatedtheirpopulation(Olson 1935, 5:52).An 1889 census places the populationat
188, but this low figure is probably vitiated by a failure to count those away at resource camps and those
who were not baptized (Canada 1889). These early government census figures fluctuate somewhat;
however, this could perhaps be the true picture, in which case mortalitywould be nearly 85 percent.

600 american ethnologist

 5. The narratorrefersto land officially designated as Bella Bella Indian Reserve #8.
6. Colonists, as opposed to the older furtrade interests, had little use for natives, and less for their cultures.
While the Hudson's Bay Company depended upon relatively healthy and intact groups to produce and
consume commodities, the colonists-who gained political ascendancy in mid-century-were interested
in natives, if at all, only as a humbled and docile proletariat(Colonist 1860). Missionaries were often viewed
suspiciously, but their programs were supported by the more "progressive"colonists as the best means to
achieve that end. The colonial position is expressed most fervently and relentlessly by the bizarrely
self-named Amorde Cosmos, whose Victoria newspaper, The Colonist, explicitly equated pandemic disease
with colonial interests (Colonist 1861).
7. I follow Young's definition of sickness, as opposed to disease and illness, as the social process of
creating meaning out of corporeal signs and placing them in a healing context, that is, one in which these
symbols can be manipulated with respect to desired outcomes (Young 1982:270).
8. Gunshot wounds were a frequent complaint treated by the missionary hospital at Bella Bella. On more
than one occasion the Euro-Canadiandoctor found himself in competition with a native healer over the
removal of a bullet from a patient (G. Darby 191 5:406). Some healers were renowned for being able to suck
a large ball out of a patient (Boas 1923:18).
9. One event, in particular, is significant. On October 10, 1833, just several months after the estab-
lishment of the fort,one of the Hudson's Bay Company's indentured servants, a French Canadian, escaped.
The Hudson's Bay Company officers responded by accusing the local Indians of harboring him. The latter
denied any knowledge of the escape. The tradersrefused to believe this, and took Boston, the friendly chief
of a local village, hostage. He was put in irons and paraded about in view of the Indians outside the fort.
This led to an attempton the part of the local Heiltsuk to free him by attackingthe fort. Many of the Heiltsuk
had rifles. They were, however, repulsed, and many were felled by gunfire. At least one Heiltsuk was killed,
and dozens were injured. Peace was soon made, aided by payments of rum and tobacco. The Hudson's
Bay Company officers allowed the wounded to be treated by their physicians, Dr. W. F. Tolmie (Tolmie
1963:264; Wilson 1833).
10. Itseems very likely that the introduction of liquor was indeed related to the increase in violent death
and injury, but there is no direct evidence for this specifically for the Heiltsuk;this equation was, however,
important in the ideology both of the missionary and the anti-Indian colonial press (Colonist 1862; Fisher
1977:112; Gough 1984).
11. This was the firstdocumentedepidemic. Boyd (1985) suggests a smallpox epidemic of 1775, although
the extent of such a disease event, and whether it affected the Heiltsuk, is not known.
12. Of course the primary message of the Methodists was not their ability to overcome sickness-al-
though this notion was deeply embedded in their rhetoric-but ratherto overcome death itself: perhaps a
more potent message in this context.
13. Missionary attitudes toward the Heiltsuk oscillated between imputations of "savagery"-which,
especially for the earlier missionaries, implied the active presence of Satan-and the view that they were
simply childlike and thus guilty only of original sin. Missionary reformstherefore employed two modalities:
retributive and paternalistic.
14. Caroline Tate'saccount of this struggle between the forces of light and darkness is followed by several
accounts of children's "good deaths" in the same epidemic. "Holy Dying" was an important aspect of
Methodist belief, as death was the only worthy goal of a Christian;this was a genre of which the 19th-century
Methodist missionaries were particularly fond (Thompson 1980[1968]:409-410; see Weber 1976:141). It
reaches back to Chaucer's The Prioress's Tale and therefore into the Middle Ages. The contrast with the
native view of death cou d not be more extreme (see Harkin 1990a; Kan 1989).
15. "EpworthLeagues"were local organizations devoted to supporting Methodist missions. The use of
black in the uniforms corresponds to the Heiltsuk color symbolism, where black is associated with contact
with the supernatural.
16. Of course things were not really higgedly-piggedly in traditional houses; space was, in fact, highly
organized.
1 7. The average number of people inhabiting a house in Bella Bella in 191 4 was 4.3 (Fougner 1914-1 5).
18. Its very existence was at the discretion of the missionary, who had sole legal power to marry.
19. The doctor was concerned with children as the main victims of epidemic diseases; the missionary
was concerned with them because of what he believed to be their innate sinfulness. The two concerns were
united-as were the two roles before the FirstWorld War-in the technique of removing children from their
homes and placing them in "industrialschools" or "girls' homes." The need for these institutions in Bella
Bella was constantly harped upon by missionaries in reports home (Methodist Church of Canada 1905-
06:60-64).

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abbreviations

HBCA Hudson's Bay Company Archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba

PAC Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa
PABC Provincial Archives of BritishColumbia, Victoria
UCA United Church of Canada Archives, Toronto
UCABC United Church of Canada Archives, BritishColumbia Conference, Vancouver.

submitted June 21, 1990

revised version submitted October 27, 1992
accepted December 23, 1992

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