Bringing Healing and Closure for Tuberculosis (TB) Sanatorium Survivors
by SeeChange InitiativeTuesday, 25 July 2023 from 5:30 PM (ADT) to 9:30 PM (ADT)Art Gallery of Hamilton 123 King Street West, Hamilton, ON L8P 4S8Ticket Information
Ticket sales for this event are now closed.
Overview
Join us for an event at the Art Gallery of Hamilton to learn more about the little-known history of Inuit TB sanatorium survivors, including a reception with Inuit elders and the Mayor of Hamilton, a film screening followed by a closing circle and a display of the art created by Inuit who were treated at the sanatorium.
Admission to the film screening and reception is by donation. All donations will be used to support Inuit TB sanatorium survivors.
5:00 pm: Doors open
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm: Reception with Inuit Elders and Mayor Andrea Horwath & Viewing of Chedoke Artworks Exhibition
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm: Screening of "The Necessities of Life" Movie Followed by Closing Circle
Details
Fifteen Inuit elders who survived physical and psychological abuse in tuberculosis sanatoriums in the 1950s-70s, accompanied by five Inuit youth, will visit the site of the former TB sanatorium in Hamilton from July 24 to 26, 2023. The visit, the first of its kind in Canada, is organized by Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and SeeChange at the request of the elders and is part of the Tuberculosis Sanatorium Survivor Healing and Closure Initiative, which addresses the underlying trauma and stigma surrounding TB in Inuit communities.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Canadian government ships such as the ice breaker CD Howe sailed the Arctic, screening Inuit for TB and taking several thousand children and adults who tested positive for treatment to sanatoriums in southern Canada. About 1,200 Inuit were sent to Hamilton's Sanatorium on the Mountain. The evacuation split families, sometimes for years, leaving many people wondering about their loved one’s fate. Some died and were buried without their families’ knowledge. The experience has resulted in intergenerational trauma and stigma around TB in Inuit communities.
The initiative aims to bring survivors of the sanatoriums closure and support healing from the trauma they experienced, help Inuit youth understand the history of TB sanatoriums to start healing intergenerational trauma and raise public awareness about this little-known part of Inuit history. All these elements play a key role in supporting the elimination of TB in the Canadian Arctic. Inuit today are nearly 300 times more likely to get TB than any Canadian-born, non-indigenous person.
During their visit to Hamilton, Inuit elders and youth will visit the site of the former TB sanatorium, the cemetery where Inuit who died while at the TB sanatorium were buried, and participate in healing circles and workshops with trauma counselors and religious leaders.