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The physical well-being of Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest: Anthropometric evidence from British Columbia’s jails, 1864–1913

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  • Inwood, Kris
  • Keay, Ian

Abstract

This paper documents the height of Indigenous men from the Pacific Northwest who were incarcerated in British Columbia’s jails during a period of colonization and increasing market access. The average height of adults from a given community reflects the standard of living in that community at the time the adults were growing to maturity. After correcting for the impact of sample selection arising from prisoners’ personal attributes, their home communities’ access to market opportunities, and unobserved height determinants associated with exposure to the colonial criminal justice system, we find that Indigenous men were positively selected into incarceration based on their height. Moreover, the tendency for the tallest men to be incarcerated became stronger over our period of study. Our results suggest that Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest were at a severe bioeconomic disadvantage during the nineteenth century, and their well-being did not improve as market access and colonial institutions spread through the region.

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  • Inwood, Kris & Keay, Ian, 2024. "The physical well-being of Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest: Anthropometric evidence from British Columbia’s jails, 1864–1913," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:55:y:2024:i:c:s1570677x24000947
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101442
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Indigenous standards of living; Prisoner heights; Colonization; Market access; Pacific Northwest;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N41 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development

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