The Comforting Power of Christianity. Genevieve Aupidlak’s correspondance with Father A. Thibert (omi) in Brandon sanatorium (1954-1957)

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Laugrand, Frédéric
• Other Authors: UCL - SSH/INCA - Institut des civilisations, arts et lettres
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2017
• Subjects: inuit; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/220917; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247417000584

In 2010, after many interviews by the Qikiqtani Truth Commission (QTC), the Qikiqtani Inuit Association released a report to help the public understand the impact of tuberculosis on the Inuit and thereby promote reconciliation, a goal shared by this study. In this paper, I discuss a corpus of about 28 letters by an Inuit patient named Genevieve Aupidlak who was treated at the Brandon Sanatorium from 1954 to 1957. The letters have been transcribed from old syllabics and translated. Aupidlak's story shows not only the suffering of Inuit in southern sanatoria but also the role of Christianity and that of some missionaries—such as Father Thibert—in supporting Inuit resilience. Aupidlak's letters illustrate how Inuit used their Christian faith to survive and how they ascribed healing power to Christian prayer and confession, in keeping with a much older shamanic pattern.