How Canada Treated Children Like Animals

Note: post contains sensitive information on the medical experiments preformed on Indigenous children during the 1940s-1950s in residential schools.

Animal testing has been used to further medicine for centuries, with some of the earliest recorded instances being Greek physicians 400-300 BCE (Hajar 2011).The use and justification of animal testing has persisted to modern day where scientists could state that a small sacrifice of animals is necessary for the progress and “greater good” for humans (Vargas-Chaves 2025). Although this has been effective in general progress in the medical field, animals can not be fully applicable to human biology due to the physiological and genetic differences. 

During the 1940s, medical studies, particularly those interested in nutrition and the development of dietary supplements, was at the forefront of researchers’ minds (MacDonald et al. 2014). Due to the animal biology dilemma, Canadian scientists turned to the use of human experimentation to understand the limits of human malnutrition (Mosby 2013). Malnutrition was an issue following the war for many communities, however it disproportionately affected many Indigenous communities, particularly children who attended residential schools. Residential school attendants were viewed as the perfect opportunity for this experimentation since they would provide a baseline of malnutrition for controlled studies.

Figure 1 – Nurse taking a blood sample from Indigenous boy at Port Alberni residential school in BC, 1948. Blood samples were used in medical and dental surveys issued by the Department of National Health and Welfare (Government of Canada 2026).

The poor treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools was well documented where they were physically abused, forcefully assimilated, among other things, with one of the most prevalent issues being starvation (Simms et al. 2025). Through the lens of colonization, Indigenous peoples were othered and viewed as less than human,  and therefore in need of ‘fixing’. Residential schools not only removed traditional food practices, however also completely destroyed their relationship with food as a whole through cultural assimilation (Jones 2024). Indigenous students were provided very little in way of nutrition, only typically receiving a roll of bread with lard, broth, and tea to sustain them for an entire day (Mosby 2013).

Instead of researchers and the Canadian government recognizing this as an issue to be fixed, it was viewed as an opportunity to test developing theories on vitamins and the balanced diet needed for daily life (Mosby 2013). One such experiment conducted in 1942 was by Percy Moore, Dr. Cameron Corrigan, Dr. Frederick Tisdall and their research teams on Norway House and Cross Lake First Nations. 125 of 300 malnourished children were given various vitamins such as riboflavin, thiamine, and ascorbic acid to observe if their health increased. During these experiments permission from parents was not given, nor did experimentation cease when children passed (MacDonald et al. 2014). The results of these studies did not fully provide answers for the susceptibility to disease many Indigenous communities faced since vitamin deficiency was only one part of the overall issue of starvation (Mosby 2013).

These studies need to be viewed for what they are: not just the foundation for Canadian advancements in the field of nutrition, but the abhorrent consequences of colonization and gross negligence of Indigenous children in residential schools (Mosby 2013).The medical experiments and malnutrition Indigenous peoples endured in residential schools led to long-lasting poor relationships with food for generations to come (Howard 2014). Looking forward to Reconciliation, it is important to not only understand the struggles current Indigenous communities face, but also the root cause of how these issues started in order to develop helpful solutions. 

References

Government of Canada. 2026. “Nurse Takes Blood Sample from Boy at the Indian School, Port Alberni, B.C., during a Medical and Dental Survey Conducted by the Department of National Health and Welfare (1 Digital Object(s)) Archives / Collections and Fonds.” Accessed March 4, 2026. https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=fonandcol&idnumber=3604277&new=-8585888062503706205&ecopy=e002504649.

Hajar, Rachel. 2011. “Animal Testing and Medicine.” Heart Views : The Official Journal of the Gulf Heart Association 12 (1): 42. https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-705X.81548.

Howard, Heather A. 2014. “Canadian Residential Schools and Urban Indigenous Knowledge Production about Diabetes.” Medical Anthropology 33 (6): 529–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2013.828722.

Jones, Maggie E. C. 2024. “The Intergenerational Legacy of Indian Residential Schools.” Demography 61 (6): 1871–95. https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-11679677.

MacDonald, Noni E., Richard Stanwick, and Andrew Lynk. 2014. “Canada’s Shameful History of Nutrition Research on Residential School Children: The Need for Strong Medical Ethics in Aboriginal Health Research.” Paediatrics & Child Health 19 (2): 64. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/19.2.64.

Mosby, Ian. 2013. “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942–1952.” Histoire Sociale / Social History 46 (1): 145–72. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/his.2013.0015.

Simms, Chase, Sandra Juutilainen, Bonnie Freeman, et al. 2025. “Experiences of Food, Gardens and Farming While Attending Indian Residential Schools in Canada: A Scoping Review.” Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research 86 (4): 196–207. https://doi.org/10.3148/cjdpr-2025-014.

Vargas-Chaves, Iván. 2025. “The Scientific Imperative: Why Human-Centered Models Must Replace Animal Experimentation?” Brazilian Journal of Biology 85: e297936. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.297936.