In 1930, the Arctic Mission of the Missionary Society of the Church of England established St. Luke’s Hospital in Pangnirtung, Baffin Island. Immediately after graduating in 1933 from Winnipeg’s Manitoba Medical College, a young doctor, Jon A. Bildfell, took a position at the hospital as his first medical posting.

Although the hospital was established by the Church, the medical staff were employees of the Canadian government. Bildfell’s reports back to his superiors talked of the Inuit attitude toward the doctor, the hospital, Inuit living conditions, and disease.

A YOUNG CANADIAN DOCTOR WORKS IN PANGNIRTUNG AND COLLECTS INUIT SCULPTURES, 1930S-1940s >>