Chloe Duke
10/10/15
Ak Studies
My memory of the Spanish Influenza Epidemic in Alaska is very vivid in my mind. I remember hearing about it first happening in the lower 48. To be more specific in Boston and then how it spread the flu to Philadelphia all spreading from shipyard to shipyard, boat to boat, person to person. On September 17, a ship docked at the Puget Sound Naval Station, which is near Seattle, Washington, where longshoremen loaded steamships that happened to be bound for Alaska. By this time most states were affected by the influenza. In mid-October, ships had docked in Juneau and other towns in Southeast Alaska. Only slight coughing was heard by the people, which seemed to be just a common cold. A few days had passed and …show more content…
In the Haines area, about 95 percent of its 150 inhabitants are wiped out. In Juneau, citizens were instructed to “keep as much to yourself as possible.” Fairbanks established quarantine stations, also guarded by marshals. Citizens were checked periodically for flu and given armbands reading “OK Fairbanks Health Department.” An experimental vaccine was imported from Seattle and distributed throughout the area in the hopes that it would prevent the spread of the disease. Sadly, it did not work out. In the Eskimo villages, shamans resorted to more traditional practices. They planted some “medicine trees” and widely believed they would protect people against the influenza. Despite these precautions, the illness kept on spreading throughout the region throughout the late fall. Half of Nome’s white population had already fallen …show more content…
When western doctors attempted to move Eskimos to makeshift hospitals, many Eskimos reacted with alarm, viewing these as death houses. Many of the patients who were scared and wanted to leave resulted in committing suicide. The nature of traditions of the Alaskan life made this unacceptable to many Eskimos. Many people continued to gather in public and the disease spread quickly throughout many Native Alaskan communities. In some areas, influenza decimated whole villages. A schoolteacher reported that in her immediate area “three [villages were] wiped out entirely, others average 85% deaths...Total number of deaths reported 750, probably 25% [of] this number froze to death before help arrived.”
Rescuers from Nome finally reached Wales three weeks after the flu struck the village. They found orphaned babies suckling their dead mothers. Three families were entirely wiped out. Five babies born around the time of the epidemic died. The flu orphaned more than 40 children. About 120 people survived. Wales was no longer, and never would be again, one of the largest Eskimo
10/10/15
Ak Studies
My memory of the Spanish Influenza Epidemic in Alaska is very vivid in my mind. I remember hearing about it first happening in the lower 48. To be more specific in Boston and then how it spread the flu to Philadelphia all spreading from shipyard to shipyard, boat to boat, person to person. On September 17, a ship docked at the Puget Sound Naval Station, which is near Seattle, Washington, where longshoremen loaded steamships that happened to be bound for Alaska. By this time most states were affected by the influenza. In mid-October, ships had docked in Juneau and other towns in Southeast Alaska. Only slight coughing was heard by the people, which seemed to be just a common cold. A few days had passed and …show more content…
In the Haines area, about 95 percent of its 150 inhabitants are wiped out. In Juneau, citizens were instructed to “keep as much to yourself as possible.” Fairbanks established quarantine stations, also guarded by marshals. Citizens were checked periodically for flu and given armbands reading “OK Fairbanks Health Department.” An experimental vaccine was imported from Seattle and distributed throughout the area in the hopes that it would prevent the spread of the disease. Sadly, it did not work out. In the Eskimo villages, shamans resorted to more traditional practices. They planted some “medicine trees” and widely believed they would protect people against the influenza. Despite these precautions, the illness kept on spreading throughout the region throughout the late fall. Half of Nome’s white population had already fallen …show more content…
When western doctors attempted to move Eskimos to makeshift hospitals, many Eskimos reacted with alarm, viewing these as death houses. Many of the patients who were scared and wanted to leave resulted in committing suicide. The nature of traditions of the Alaskan life made this unacceptable to many Eskimos. Many people continued to gather in public and the disease spread quickly throughout many Native Alaskan communities. In some areas, influenza decimated whole villages. A schoolteacher reported that in her immediate area “three [villages were] wiped out entirely, others average 85% deaths...Total number of deaths reported 750, probably 25% [of] this number froze to death before help arrived.”
Rescuers from Nome finally reached Wales three weeks after the flu struck the village. They found orphaned babies suckling their dead mothers. Three families were entirely wiped out. Five babies born around the time of the epidemic died. The flu orphaned more than 40 children. About 120 people survived. Wales was no longer, and never would be again, one of the largest Eskimo