Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T23:23:13.989Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Escape from Catastrophe: The Saami’s Experience with Smallpox in Eighteenth- and Early-Nineteenth-Century Sweden

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

Peter Sköld
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This article, which deals with the Saami’s experience with smallpox in the three northern Swedish parishes of Jokkmokk, Gällivare, and Enontekis during the latter half of the eighteenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth century, focuses on these epidemiologic questions: (1) Why were the Saami—a native people living in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia—not affected by smallpox until this period? (2) What happened once smallpox was introduced into the area? (3) Did the Saami’s experience with smallpox differ from that of the rest of the Swedish population? (4) If so, what were the most important differences? (5) And how are they to be explained? Finding the answers to these questions requires considering whether smallpox inevitably resulted from the number of susceptible people and whether the disease affected other aspects of demography besides mortality (Figure 1).

Type
Special Section
Information
Social Science History , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , Spring 1997 , pp. 1 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Social Science History Association 1997 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Åman, N. (1769) “Berättelse om en expedition i medicínska ärender till Wester Norr-lands landshöfdingedöme, lämnad af Nils Åman M. D. och frofessor wid anatomien i Sockholm.” [sic!], in Berättelser till riksens höglofl. stander rörande medicinal werkets tilstånd i riket. Stockholm: Edman: 441-51.Google Scholar
Arell, N. (1977) Arbete och liv i Vittangi-Karesuando-området: Om markanvändning och näringsmässiga relationer under äldre och nyare tid. Umeå: Umeå University.Google Scholar
Arell, N. (1979) Koloniseringen av lappmarken. Lund: Scandinavian University Books.Google Scholar
Aronsson, K-Å. (1991) Forest Reindeer Herding A.D. 1-1800. Umeå: Umeå University.Google Scholar
Basu, R. N., Z., Ježek, and Ward, N. A. (1979) The Eradication of Smallpox from India. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Baxby, D. (1981) Jenner’s Smallpox Vaccine: The Riddle of Vaccinia Virus and its Origin. London: Heinemann Educational Books.Google Scholar
Bebehani, A. M. (1983) “The smallpox story: Life and death of an old disease.” Microbiological Reviews 47: 455–509.Google Scholar
Bergling, R. (1964) Kyrkstaden i övre Norrland: Kyrkliga, merkantila och judiciella funktioner under 1600- och 1700-talen. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.Google Scholar
Brooks, F. J. (1993) “Revising the conquest of Mexico: Smallpox, sources and populations.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 24: 1–29.Google Scholar
Cartwright, F. F. (1977) A Social History of Medicine. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Conrad, L. (1992) “Epidemic disease in early islamic society,” in Ranger, T. and Slack, P. (eds.) Epidemics and ideas: Essays on the Historical Perception of Pestilence. New York: Cambridge University Press: 79–95.Google Scholar
Deutsch, H. (1805) “Annual report to Collegium Medicum, 26 March 1801.” Läkaren och Naturforskaren 14: 223-27.Google Scholar
Dixon, C. W. (1962) Smallpox. London: Churchill.Google Scholar
Drake, S. (1918) Västerbottenslapparna under förra hälften av 1800-talet. Uppsala: Wahlström & Widstrand.Google Scholar
Duncan, S. R., Scott, S., and Duncan, C. J. (1993a) “An hypothesis for the periodicity of smallpox epidemics as revealed by time series analysis.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 160: 231-48.Google Scholar
Duncan, S. R., Scott, S., and Duncan, C. J. (1993b) “The dynamics of smallpox epidemics in Britain, 1550-1800.” Demography 30: 405-23.Google Scholar
Ekelund, J. M. (1804) “Annual report to the Medical Board, 14 October 1796,” Läkaren och Naturforskaren 14: 3–7.Google Scholar
Ekvall, S. (1940) “On the history and conditions of the West Bothnian nomad Lapps, their food and health conditions.” Acta Medica Scandinavia CV 4: 329-59.Google Scholar
Engström, P. (1769) “Annual report to Collegium Medicum, 3 April 1769,” in Berättelser til riksens höglofl: Ständer rörande medicinal werkets tilstånd i riket. Stockholm: Edman: 299–308.Google Scholar
Fenner, F., Henderson, D. A., Arita, I., Ježek, Z., and Ladnyi, I. D. (1988) The Eradication of Smallpox. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Fjellström, P. (1985) “Sacrifices, burial gifts, and buried treasures: Function and material,” in Backman, L. and Hultkrantz, Å. (eds.) Saami Pre-Christian Religion: Studies on the Oldest Traces of Religion among the Saamis. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International: 43–60.Google Scholar
Foege, W H., Millar, J. D., and Lane, J. M. (1975) “Smallpox eradication in West and Central Africa.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 52: 209-22.Google Scholar
Fridlizius, G. (1984) “The mortality decline in the first phase of the demographic transition: Swedish experiences,” in Bengtsson, T., Fridlizius, G., and Ohlsson, R. (eds.) Pre-Industriai Population Change: The Mortality Decline and Short-Term Population Movements. Lund: Almqvist & Wiksell: 71–109.Google Scholar
Fuhr, G. (1992) “Saami lenapes meet Swedish colonizers in the seventeenth century,” in Kvist, R. (ed.) Readings in Saami History, Culture and Language III. Umeå1: Center for Arctic Cultural Research: 41–62.Google Scholar
Gissler, N. (1761) “Annual report to Collegium Medicum, 18 May 1761,” in Provincial-doktorernes til Kongl. Collegium Medicum inlämnade berättelser, rörande deras ämbetsfórrättningar, desse señare åren, i synnerhet sedan siste riksdag. Stockholm: Nyström & Stolpe: 56–68.Google Scholar
Gordon, J. E. (1976) “Synergism and malnutrition and infectious disease,” in Beaton, G. H. and Bengoa, J. M. (eds.) Nutrition in Preventive Medicine. Geneva: World Health Organization: 93–209.Google Scholar
Grape, E. (1803) “Utkast til en beskrifning öfver Enontekis sokn i Tornea lappmark.” Kongl. Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar 24: 197–226.Google Scholar
Hardy, A. (1993) The Epidemic Streets: Infectious Disease and the Rise of Preventive Medicine, 1850-1900. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar
Högström, P. (1980 [1747]) Beskrifning ofwer Sweriges lapmarker. Umeå: Två Förläggare Bokförlag.Google Scholar
Holmberg, U. (1987[1915]) Lapparnas Religion. Uppsala: Uppsala University.Google Scholar
Hopkins, D. (1983) Princes and Peasants: Smallpox in History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Hopkins, J. W. (1989) The Eradication of Smallpox: Organizational Learning and Innovation in International Health. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Hülphers, A. (1922) Samlingar til en beskrifning. Samlingar til en beskrifning öfwer Norrland. Femte samlingen. 3 bandet om lappmarken. Stockholm: P. A. Norstedt & Söner.Google Scholar
Hultkrantz, Å. (1987) “Non-shamanic guardian-spirits among the Saamis,” in Ahlbäck, T. (ed.) Saami Religion. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell: 110-23.Google Scholar
Hultkrantz, Å. (1988) “The shaman and medical care: The case of the saami noaidi.” Arctic Medical Research 47: (suppl. 1) 290-95.Google Scholar
Ježek, Z., Al Aghbari, M., Hatfield, R., and Deria, A. (1981) “Smallpox eradication in Somalia,” in Tulloch, J. (ed.) Smallpox Eradication in Somalia. Alexandria: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Johansson, S. R. (1994) “Food for thought: Rhetoric and reality in modern mortality history.” Historical Methods 27: 101-25.Google Scholar
Kongl. Collegii Medici underrättelse, huru de bland menige man och fattiga här i residence-staden och landsorterna, nu gångbara koppor, näst Guds hielp, böra förekommas och botas (1752). Stockholm: Lars Salvius.Google Scholar
Kvist, R. (1989) Rennomadismens dilemma: Det rennomadiska samhällets förändring i Turpon och Sirkas 1760-1860. Umeå: Umeå University.Google Scholar
Kvist, R. (1992) “Nomadic Saami and alcohol: Jokkmokk parish, 1760-1910.” Canadian Journal of Native Studies 12: 185–201.Google Scholar
Linnaeus, C. (1995 [1889]) Lappländsk resa 1732. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.Google Scholar
Magner, L. N. (1992) A History of Medicine. New York: Marcel Dekker.Google Scholar
McCaa, R. (1995) “Spanish and Nahuatl views on smallpox and demographic catastrophe in Mexico.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 25: 397–431.Google Scholar
McGrew, R. (1985) The Encyclopedia of Medical History. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
McKeown, T. (1976) The Modern Rise of Population. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
McNeill, W. H. (1979) The Human Condition: An Ecological and Historical View. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
McNeill, W. H. (1984 [1976]) Farsoterna i historien. Malmo, Denmark: Gidlunds.Google Scholar
Mielke, J., Jorde, L., Trapp, G., Anderton, D., Pitänen, K., and Eriksson, A. (1984) “Historical epidemiology of smallpox in Aland, Finland: 1751-1890.” Demography 21: 271-95.Google Scholar
Miller, G. (1957) The Adaption of Inoculation for Smallpox in England and France. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Naezéen, D. (1788) “Utdrag af bref från prov. medicus D:r Naezéen till assesoren Ribben, Umeå den 14 Junii 1788.” Läkaren och Naturforskaren 9: 386-91.Google Scholar
Newson, L. (1993) “The demographic collapse ornative peoples of the Americas, 1492-1650.” Proceedings of the British Academy 81: 247-88.Google Scholar
Nilsdotter-Jåub, U. (1993) Parish Records: Nineteenth Century Ecclesiastical Registers. Umeå: Demographic Database, Umeå University.Google Scholar
Petersen, J. (1896) Kopper og koppeindpodning. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag.Google Scholar
Pettersson, A. (1912) “Smittkoppsdòdligheten i Sverige under åren 1776-1875.” Hygienisk Tidskrift 5:1–17.Google Scholar
Rahtje, L. (1991) “Notes on Saami folk medicine,” in Kvist, R. (ed.) Readings in Saami History, Culture and Language II. Umeå: Center for Arctic Cultural Research: 93–110.Google Scholar
Rank, G. (1985) “The north-Eurasian background of the Ruto-cult,” in Bäckman, L. and Hultkrantz, Å. (eds.) Saami Pre-Christian Religion: Studies on the Oldest Traces of Religion among the Saamis. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell: 169-78.Google Scholar
Rao, A. R., Prahlad, I., and Swaminathan, M. (1960) “A study of 1,000 cases of smallpox.” Journal of the Indian Medical Association 35: 296–307.Google Scholar
Razzell, P. (1977) The Conquest of Smallpox: The Impact of Inoculation in Eighteenth Century Britain. Firle, U.K.: Caliban Books.Google Scholar
Rhen, S. (1983 [1673]) “En kortt relation om lapparnes lefwarne och sedher, wijd-skiepellser, sampt i många stycken grofwa wildfarelser,” in Berättelser om samema i 1600-talets Sverige. Umeå: Skytteanska Samfundet: 37–71.Google Scholar
Roberts, K. B. (1979) Smallpox: An Historic Disease. St. Johns, NF: University of New Foundland Press.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, C. E. (1992) Explaining Epidemics and Other Studies in the History of Medicine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rotberg, R. I., and Rabb, T. K., eds. (1985) “The relationship of nutrition, disease, and social conditions,” in Hunger and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 305-8.Google Scholar
Rutten, W. (1993) “Smallpox, subfecundity, and sterility: A case study from a nineteenth-century Dutch municipality.” Social History of Medicine 6: 85–100.Google Scholar
Rydving, H. (1993) The End of Drum-time: Religious Change among the Lule Saami, 1670s-1740s. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.Google Scholar
Sarkar, J. K., and Mitra, A. C. (1968) “A search for the causes of severity in smallpox.” Journal of the Indian Medical Association 51: 272-74.Google Scholar
Shyrock, R. H. (1979) The Development of Modern Medicine: An Interpretation of the Social and Scientific Factors Involved. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Sköld, P. (1992) Samisk bosättning i Gällivare 1550-1750. Umeå: Center for Arctic Cultural Research, Umeå University.Google Scholar
Sköld, P. (1994) “Från fruktad farsot till sällsynt sjukdom-smittkopporna i Sverige 1750-1900,” in Nordisk Medicinhistorisk Årsbok 1994. Södertälje, Stockholm: Museum of Medical History.Google Scholar
Sköld, P. (1996) The Two Faces of Smallpox: A Disease and Its Prevention in Eighteenth-and Nineteenth-Century Sweden. Umeå: Umeå University.Google Scholar
Sköld, P., and Hägglund, C. (1993) “Smittkopporna och fertiliteten: Ny studie ur gammalt material.” Läkartidningen 90: 4116-18.Google Scholar
Smith, J. R. (1987) The Speckled Monster: Smallpox in England, 1670-1970, with Particular Reference to Essex. Chelmsford: Essex Record Office.Google Scholar
Steffensen, J. (1977) “Smallpox in Iceland,” in Nordisk Medicinhistorisk Årsbok 1977. Södertälje, Stockholm: Museum of Medical History.Google Scholar
Szreter, S. (1988) “The importance of social intervention in Britain’s mortality decline c. 1850-1914.” Social History of Medicine 1: 1–38.Google Scholar
Ten Have, H. (1990) “Knowledge and practise in European medicine: The case of infectious diseases,” in Ten Have, H., Klimsma, G., and Spicker, S. (eds.) The Growth of Medical Knowledge. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Luuwer Academic Publishers: 15–40.Google Scholar
Thornton, R. (1990) American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History since 1492. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.Google Scholar
Utterström, G. (1954) “Some population problems in pre-industrial Sweden.” Scandinavian Economic History Review 2: 103-65.Google Scholar
Wahlund, S. (1932) Demographic Studies in the Nomadic and Settled Population of Northern Lapland. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T. (1992) Disease and Death in Early Colonial Mexico: Simulating American Depopulation. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Widen, L. (1975) “Mortality and causes of death in Sweden during the eighteenth century.” Statistisk Tidskrift 13: 93–104.Google Scholar
Wrigley, T., and Schofield, R. (1981) The Population History of England: A Reconstruction. London: Arnold.Google Scholar