Bitter Harvest: Canada's Secret Nutritional Experiments on Indigenous Children

A Dark Chapter in a Polite Nation's History

Canada often projects an image of politeness, tolerance, and peacekeeping. But beneath this veneer lies a history filled with dark chapters of systemic abuse against its Indigenous peoples. One of the most shocking examples came to light in 2013, when historian Ian Mosby uncovered evidence of a series of cruel, government-sanctioned nutritional experiments conducted on over 1,300 First Nations people, at least 1,000 of whom were children, between 1942 and 1952.

A Crisis Turned into a Laboratory

In the 1940s, malnutrition was rampant in Indigenous communities and residential schools across Canada. This was not a natural disaster, but a direct result of decades of government underfunding, forced relocation, and policies designed to destroy traditional food systems. Instead of treating this as a humanitarian crisis, a team of Canada’s leading medical researchers—including Dr. Percy Moore and Dr. Frederick Tisdall—saw a scientific opportunity. They viewed these malnourished communities as a ready-made laboratory to study the effects of vitamins and dietary supplements.

The Architecture of Cruelty

The experiments were methodical and calculated. The researchers targeted isolated communities and residential schools where they could control the subjects' entire diet. They established baseline data by observing the effects of malnutrition, then divided the subjects into groups without their knowledge or consent.

• At the St. Mary’s Residential School in Kenora, Ontario, students were given a vitamin-B2 supplement to see if it would improve their health, while a control group received no supplement.
• In the Cree community of Attawapiskat, one group was given vitamin C supplements to see if it improved their trapping yields, while another was denied it.
• Perhaps most horrifically, at the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School in Nova Scotia, children were denied essential dental care, even when in pain, so researchers could study the development of gingivitis and the effects of a special vitamin-infused toothpaste on a separate group.

For these children, hunger was a constant state. They were treated not as human beings, but as test subjects. Blood samples were taken, physical examinations were conducted, and in some cases, X-rays were performed, all without informed consent from the children or their families.

"They were seen as bodies"

The ethical violations were profound. The researchers operated on the assumption that because these children were wards of the state, their bodies were available for scientific study. As historian Ian Mosby, who unearthed these experiments, stated, the colonial mindset of the era was a key factor.

“For the researchers, the chaos and misery of the residential school system... represented a unique 'opportunity' that would allow them to test their theories on a 'captive' population. These people were not seen as individuals. They were seen as bodies that could be used to answer a scientific question.”

The results of these studies were eventually used to inform national public health policies, such as the fortification of flour with vitamins—a standard that exists to this day. But the human cost was buried in scientific journals and government archives for over 60 years.

Legacy of Mistrust

Mosby's 2013 paper, “Administering Colonial Science,” sent shockwaves across Canada. It added a new layer of horror to the already grim legacy of the residential school system and confirmed the deep-seated medical mistrust that many Indigenous communities feel towards the Canadian government. The experiments are a stark reminder that the atrocities of the residential school system were not just about cultural assimilation, but also involved physical and scientific exploitation. While the government has since apologized, this history underscores the long and difficult path towards truth and reconciliation.

Sources

• Wikipedia: First Nations nutrition experiments
• Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942–1952 (Ian Mosby)
• CBC News: A history of residential schools in Canada
• The Canadian Encyclopedia: Nutrition Experiments on Indigenous Peoples