Causes of mortality in a subarctic settlement (York Factory, Man.), 1714-1946

A 250-year retrospective mortality study of York Factory, on the shores of Hudson Bay, was undertaken. The daily journals of the Hudson's Bay Company and the records of the Anglican Church of Canada were the principal sources examined. From 1714 to 1801 the death rate among the Europeans was 0.015 per year, about 10 times today's level but in line with American figures of the period. The high mobility of the population during the 19th century precluded statistical assessment. In the first half of the 20th century the Europeans left; among the Cree Indians who stayed 316 out of 401 deaths were caused by infection. As in the preceding eras, tuberculosis and influenza, sometimes in epidemic form, were the most commonly diagnosed diseases. The settlement's overall mortality rate in those last 45 years was 0.03 per year, triple that for the rest of Canada in 1932.