The Aboriginal groups in remote reserves “were hungry, beggared by a combination of the collapsing fur trade and declining government support.” These people were already suffering yet the anthropologists conducting the research decided to take advantage of the vulnerable aboriginal population and make them test subjects on malnutrition instead of providing them the help and support they needed. I believe that researchers should have enough freedom to learn about different cultures through experiments and fieldwork as long as they do not upset the natural balance of that culture. Anthropologists are supposed to support and appreciate other cultures while attempting to help them, as long as they do not intrude on that culture’s way of life. It was unfair of these anthropologists to take advantage of these unsuspecting people without their informed consent or knowledge about the procedures. The Canadian bureaucrats should have known better than to encourage the suffering of the Aboriginal people, rather than offering to protect their welfare. It is because of these circumstances throughout history involving harmful anthropological research that has made it necessary to have Research Ethics Boards that monitor research consistently throughout the procedure. I truly believe that without these policies protecting the population, some anthropologists would take advantage of these unsuspecting participants by disregarding their consent, endangering them and making them subject to unethical research. Promoting the need for informed consent and assuring that the benefits of the research outweighed the risk could have prevented both of the previous studies’ detrimental outcomes and lives
The Aboriginal groups in remote reserves “were hungry, beggared by a combination of the collapsing fur trade and declining government support.” These people were already suffering yet the anthropologists conducting the research decided to take advantage of the vulnerable aboriginal population and make them test subjects on malnutrition instead of providing them the help and support they needed. I believe that researchers should have enough freedom to learn about different cultures through experiments and fieldwork as long as they do not upset the natural balance of that culture. Anthropologists are supposed to support and appreciate other cultures while attempting to help them, as long as they do not intrude on that culture’s way of life. It was unfair of these anthropologists to take advantage of these unsuspecting people without their informed consent or knowledge about the procedures. The Canadian bureaucrats should have known better than to encourage the suffering of the Aboriginal people, rather than offering to protect their welfare. It is because of these circumstances throughout history involving harmful anthropological research that has made it necessary to have Research Ethics Boards that monitor research consistently throughout the procedure. I truly believe that without these policies protecting the population, some anthropologists would take advantage of these unsuspecting participants by disregarding their consent, endangering them and making them subject to unethical research. Promoting the need for informed consent and assuring that the benefits of the research outweighed the risk could have prevented both of the previous studies’ detrimental outcomes and lives