“无药可治,无人幸免!”——加拿大原住民斯道罗人的天花瘟疫书写研究

“No Cure, No Escape! ”: On the Smallpox Writing of the Stó:l? People in Canada

住在弗雷泽河下游的斯道罗人是加拿大第一民族(印第安人)的一支,其民族文化独特,在与欧洲人接触前,斯道罗人平静地生活在北美洲的土地上,1782年由欧洲人传入的天花瘟疫重创斯道罗社会,人口骤减2/3,无数的定居点被遗弃,传统习俗(如“口述”传统等)难以为继,民族文化濒临崩溃的边缘。瘟疫过后,斯道罗人以祖先为鉴,进行人口迁移,部落合并,以顽强的毅力夹缝求生,民族文化得以传承和延续。瘟疫不仅丰富了斯道罗人的民族阅历,也对其信仰、民俗及社会结构产生了深远的影响。

The Stó:löpeople living along the lower Fraser River is a branch of Indians,Canada’s first people.Before the arrival of Europeans,the Stó:löpeople lived peacefully with a distinctive culture in North America.The smallpox of 1782 introduced by the Europeans devastated the Stó:lösociety with their population reduced by two thirds,countless settlements abandoned and traditional customs(such as oral tradition)unsustainable.After the plague,the Stó:löpeople learned from their ancestors and survived with tenacious perseverance through population migration and tribe merging so that their national culture was inherited and continued.The plague not only enriched their national experience,but also had a profound impact on their beliefs,folk customs and social structure.