The Smallpox Chiefs: Bioterrorism and the Exercise of Power in the Pacific Northwest.

This article examines the use of bluff threats to spread smallpox as a deliberate strategy of bioterrorism employed by European traders and settlers in the Pacific Northwest between 1811 and 1864. Although these threats were hollow—none of the perpetrators had the means to intentionally release smallpox—the threats were credible and effective due to Indigenous cosmologies that understood illness as a form of spirit sickness caused by malevolent intent, as well as the devastating history of smallpox epidemics in the region. The bluff threats served multiple purposes, including securing trader safety, coercing trade, and punishing Indigenous behavior, and were occasionally used by Indigenous individuals as well. These tactics contributed to Indigenous fear, undermined Indigenous sovereignty, and facilitated settler colonial expansion, while also shaping enduring Indigenous and settler perceptions that some smallpox epidemics were deliberately introduced. The article highlights the importance of recognizing bluff threat bioterrorism as a significant, though often overlooked, aspect of colonial power dynamics in the Pacific Northwest.