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Department of National Health and Welfare

When the Department of Indian Affairs was dismantled in 1936, responsibility for Aboriginal health services was taken over by the Northwest Territories and Yukon Branch of the Department of the Interior. In 1944, the Department of National Health and Welfare was created, with jurisdiction over health and social welfare functions. Its mandate involved the promotion and preservation of the health, social security and social welfare of the people of Canada, including those living in the North.

Like other federal government departments, National Health and Welfare commissioned photographers to document the activities and events in the North during annual Eastern Arctic Patrols. Covering the mid-1940s to the early 1960s, the images portray various medical subjects, as well as other day-to-day activities, as in these photographs taken during later Arctic expeditions.

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