Episode One: A Forgotten Place

Manufactured Death - Episode One: A Forgotten Place Show Notes

In case you missed it, here is a link to episode 1 of “Manufactured Death”:

In this episode….

In our introductory episode, we begin our story by situating Cabot Square as a microcosm within Canada’s broader history and ongoing legacy of colonialism and white supremacy. Namely, we answer the question: how did Cabot Square come to be a gathering space for urban Indigenous people in Montreal? How was the site of resistance coopted by non-Indigenous people and turned into a site of violence and exploitation? 

Timestamps….

• 00:35: Introduction to the series

• 16:01: History of Cabot Square as a gathering place for urban Indigenous folks

• 21:55: Colonization of Inuit and forced displacement to Montreal in order to access health care

• 26:24: “Evacuation policy” and Inuit mothers

• 33:27: Inuit and tuberculosis sanatoriums

• 45:27: An introduction to the women of Cabot Square and historical reports on unhoused Indigenous women in Montreal

Resources…

1. Take some time to learn about Qavvivik Inuit Family and Community Health Centre: https://www.qavvivik.ca and the Indigenous Health Centre of Tiohtià:ke at: https://www.ihct.ca/. Both are community created and led heath services for urban Inuit and First Nations communities and work to undo decades of harm by the colonial medical system through offering hoslitic, Indigenous health care services. If you can, please make a donation to either or both organizations who are directly serving Indigenous women and girls in and around Cabot Square.

2. The second call to action is to read the Final Report of the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, “Reclaiming Power and Place”. In particular, take some time to read the Supplemental Report on Quebec: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/

3. Learn more about the impact of “evacuation policies” on Inuit women by visiting Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada’s website: https://pauktuutit.ca/midwifery/

4. National Inquiry on MMIWG2S+: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/

5. Quebec Family Information Liaison Unit: https://www.quebec.ca/en/gouvernement/ministeres-organismes/secretariat-premieres-nations-inuit-srpni/mission-mandats/qfilu

6. Nanilavut Initiative: https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1552059698863/1552059725063

References…

• Batshaw History Conservation Project. (n.d.). The history of Ville Marie Social Services. https://batshawcentreshistory.ca/ville_marie_social_services.html

• Baxter, J. D. (2006). Historical overview of the McGill Baffin program, 1964–1997. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 65(1), 91–95. https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v65i1.17875

• Bell, J. (1997, September 12). Baffin House to stay open for now. Nunatsiaq News. https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/baffin_house_to_stay_open_for_now/

• Breitkreutz, S. (2014). Stories of place: Urban community and contested space in Montreal’s Cabot Square (Master’s thesis). Concordia University. https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/979037/1/Breitkreutz_MA_F2014.pdf

• Bronstein, T. (2013). Bringing birth home: An analysis of Inuit birthing practices and policies. The McGill Journal of Global Health. https://mghjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/bringing-birth-home-an-analysis-of-inuit-birthing-practices-and-policies.pdf

• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (2016). Straight Talk: Crack (Pamphlet; ISBN 9780888689818). Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/guides-and-publications/straight-talk-crack

• Devine, C. (2017, September 22). “Our people were experimented on”: Indigenous sanatorium survivors recall medical tests. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/indigenous-sanatorium-suvivors-medical-experiments-1.4301131 (CBC News)

• Fanelli, L. N. (2021). ᐅᑎᕈᒪᔪᖓ Utirumajunga (I Want to Return): A look at situations of homelessness among Inuit women in Montreal (Master’s thesis). Concordia University. https://assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sf/project/archive/theses/fanelli_ma_s2022s.pdf

• Guimont Marceau, S., Buckell, J., Drouin‑Gagné, M.‑È., Léonard, N., & Ainsley Vincent, R. (2023). Settler urbanization and Indigenous resistance: Uncovering an ongoing palimpsest in Montreal’s Cabot Square. Urban History Review, 51(2), 310–333. https://doi.org/10.3138/uhr‑2022‑0035 

• Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. (n.d.). The child welfare system and the Sixties Scoop. University of British Columbia. https://irshdc.ubc.ca/learn/the-child-welfare-system-and-the-sixties-scoop/

• Larga Baffin Ltd. (n.d.). What we do. https://largabaffin.ca/what-we-do/

• Montreal Children’s Hospital. (n.d.). History. Montreal Children’s Hospital. https://montrealchildrenshospital.ca/history/

• National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming power and place: The final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (Vol. 1a). Privy Council Office, Government of Canada. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Final_Report_Vol_1a-1.pdf

• National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). A legal analysis of genocide: Supplementary report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Privy Council Office, Government of Canada. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Supplementary-Report_Genocide.pdf

• National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Supplementary report – Quebec (Final Report, Volume 2). Government of Canada. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Final_Report_Vol_2_Quebec_Report-1.pdf

• Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services. (2011, March 2). Press release: The Northern Québec Module (MNQ) is moving to the YMCA’s Y Residence in April (Press release). https://nrbhss.ca/sites/default/files/11_2011-03-02%20Press_Release_English%20MNQ%20RELOCATION%20IN%20YMCA.pdf

• Olofsson, E., Holton, T. L., & Partridge, I. (2008). Negotiating identities: Inuit tuberculosis evacuees in the 1940s–1950s. Études/Inuit/Studies, 32(2), 127–149. https://doi.org/10.7202/038219ar

• Parks Canada. (n.d.). Montréal Forum National Historic Site of Canada. Government of Canada. https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1817&i=71653

• Pauktuutit Inuit Women’s Association. (2006). The Inuit way: A guide to Inuit culture (PDF). https://www.relations-inuit.chaire.ulaval.ca/sites/relations-inuit.chaire.ulaval.ca/files/InuitWay_e.pdf

• Rogers, S. (2010, February 16). Notorious Montreal Nunavik House to move soon. Nunatsiaq News. https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/98678_notorious_montreal_nunavik_house_to_move_soon/

• Ross, A. D. (1982). The lost and the lonely: Homeless women in Montreal. Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice. https://atlantisjournal.ca/atlantis/en/article/view/4551/3789

• Ross, S. (2017, October 16). Branded: How Inuit women in Montreal end up on the street — or dead. Canada’s National Observer. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/10/16/news/branded-how-inuit-women-montreal-end-street-or-dead

• Roy, É., Arruda, N., Vaillancourt, É., Boivin, J.-F., Morissette, C., Leclerc, P., Alary, M., & Bourgois, P. (2011). Drug use patterns in the presence of crack in downtown Montréal.Drug and Alcohol Review, 31(1), 72–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-3362.2011.00299.x

• Sistovaris, M., Sansone, G., Fallon, B., & Miller, S. (2022). The efficacy of birth alerts: Fact sheet. Policy Bench, Fraser Mustard Institute of Human Development, University of Toronto. https://socialwork.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Fact-Sheet-Birth-Alerts-Jan13.pdf

• The Montreal Gazette. (1957, June 13). Montreal Gazette, p. 8. https://books.google.ca/books?id=zTgjAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8&dq=CABOT+SQUARE+MONTREAL&article_id=3844,2647616&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipjr6wh8aRAxWqN2IAHVXKKC4Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=CABOT%20SQUARE%20MONTREAL&f=false

• West Coast Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF). (2022). The power of language: What do “family policing” and “child and family well-being” mean? West Coast LEAF. https://westcoastleaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/11-8-2022-Family-policing-resource-final.pdf

• Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network. (2025, February 10). Statement: Why young women experiencing homelessness are dying in Toronto. https://womenshomelessness.ca/torontodeaths/

• Zambrowsky, S. C. (1987). Needs assessment on the Native women who are or may be in conflict with the law in the region of Montreal (Report No. 1987‑27). Solicitor General Canada. https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/e%2098.w8%20z3%201987‑eng.pdf