search engine by freefind |
advanced |
Receiving Congressional appropriations in 1899, the Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians was the second federal mental hospital and the first dedicated to American Indians. The first patient arrived in 1902, and through 1934, more than 370 patients –ages TWO to eighty, from fifty tribes nationwide – lived here. Patients did domestic and agricultural work onsite, were occasionally shown to paying visitors, and underwent treatment with methods later deemed outdated and dehumanizing. From 1929 to 1933, federal inspectors found intolerable conditions, inadequate staffing, several sane patients kept by force, and numerous other abuses. In 1933, John Collier, the newly appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, ordered the asylum closed. G. J. Moen, with the Canton Chamber of Commerce, filed an injunction to keep the asylum open, but it was overturned in federal court. Many patients were discharged and those who still needed care were sent to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, D.C. The major buildings used by the asylum have since been demolished. The Hiawatha Asylum cemetery, where at least 121 patients were buried in unmarked graves, is located between the 4th and 5th fairways of the Hiawatha Golf Club. In 1998, the cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.”
Descendants recall family members being committed to this asylum after caught participating in traditional ceremonies (outlawed until 1978) sharing that they would be taken away and sent there without notifying relatives. Age was no protection when it came to the possibility of forced commitment to the insane asylum. Dr. Harry Hummer admitted a six-year-old Caddo child named Amelia Moss to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians in June of 1922. - “…I take pleasure in acknowledging receipt of your communication of May 8, 1922, advising that you are able to admit Amelia Moss, a full blood Caddo Indian child six years of age, to your institution, and that you are also ready to send your matron to this agency for the purpose of escorting this child to your institution.” - Letter, from superintendent J. A. Buntin dated, May 22, 1922. It was located in Canton, South Dakota. 20 miles south of Sioux Falls, about 3 miles west of Inwood, IA near the Big Sioux River.
Remembering the dead
Listed below are the Native Americans who died at the Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians in Canton and the dates of their deaths:
Long Time Owl Woman, Aug. 25, 1908
Juanita Castildo, June 22, 1908
Mary Fairchild, April 22, 1907
Lucy Reed, April 19, 1907
Minnie LaCount, July 5, 1906
Sylvia Ridley, June 12, 1905
Edith Standing Bear, May 13, 1905
Chur Ah Tah E Kah, Jan. 2, 1905
Ollie House, July 19, 1904
Asai Tcher, Feb. 11, 1909
Alice Short, unknown
Enas Pah, Sept. 30, 1909
Baby Ruth Enas Pah, Oct. 14, 1909
Agnes Sloan, Feb. 14, 1910
E We Jar, Oct. 4, 1910
Kaygwaydaseqaik, Oct. 14, 1910
Chee, May 4, 1911
Emma Gregory, March 12, 1913
Magwon, March 23, 1912
Kay Ge Gay Aush Eak, March 12, 1913
Kay Zhe Ah Bow, June 22, 1912
Blue Sky, June 20, 1914
Louise McIntosh, unknown
Jane Burch, Feb. 1, 1916
Pasue, May 20, 1916
Maggie Snow, July 10, 1916
Lope Maria, Oct. 27, 1916
Lizzie Vipont, April 17, 1917
Mary Pierre, May 16, 1917
Nancy Chewie, Feb. 17, 1918
Ruth Chief On Top, May 15, 1918
Mary G. Buck, Dec. 14, 1918
Cecile Comes At Night, Aug. 12, 1919
Maud Magpie, April 24, 1920
Poke Ah Dah Ab, Dec. 26, 1920
Sits In It, Jan. 26, 1921
Josephine Wells, June 29, 1921
A.B. Blair, Aug. 6, 1921
Josephine Pajihatakana, unknown
Baby Caldwell, Jan. 31, 1921
Sallie Seabolt, July 12, 1922
Selina Picon, Oct. 14, 1922
Mrs. Twoteeth, Jan. 10, 1923
Kayzo, March, 27, 1923
Josephine DeCouteau, April 9, 1923
Jessie Hallock, June 12, 1923
Marie Pancho, Oct. 17, 1923
Ebe Sirowboy, Aug. 11, 1928
Kiger, July 2, 1929
Mary Bah, Aug. 25, 1930
Cynia Houle, Jan. 19, 1932
Drag Toes, Feb. 24, 1932
Charlie Brown, unknown
Jacob Hayes, Oct. 4, 1907
Toby, March 6, 1906
Trucha, Nov. 17, 1905
Hon Sah Sah Kah, Oct. 23, 1905
Big Day, July 3, 1905
Fred Takesup, Feb. 6, 1905
Peter Greenwood, Sept. 22, 1905
Robert Brings Plenty, May 20, 1903
Nadesooda, Feb. 8, 1908
Taistoto, unknown
James Chief Crow, Oct. 24, 1908
Yells At Night, Nov. 21, 1908
John Woodruff, May 15, 1909
George Beutiste, May 30, 1909
Baptiste Gringas, Dec. 19, 1909
Lowe War, Dec. 24, 1909
Silas Hawk, May 12, 1910
Red Cloud, Dec. 7, 1910
Howling Wolf, March 30, 1911
Frank Starr, April 28, 1913
Antone, April 4, 1912
Arch Wolf, July 2, 1912
Joseph Taylor, Sept. 20, 1913
Amos Brown, May 1, 1921
James Crow Lightening, March 8, 1921
John Martin, April 4, 1922
Red Crow, April 8, 1922
James Blackeye, May 6, 1922
Abraham Meachem, Nov. 10, 1922
Aloysious Moore, May 12, 1923
Tom Floodwood, Sept. 29, 1923
James Black Bull, Feb. 9, 1926
Benito Juan, March 24, 1926
Seymour Wauketch, June 1, 1926
Anselmo Lucas, Dec. 19, 1926
Chico Francisco, April 21, 1927
Roy Wolfe, March 31, 1928
Matt Smith, Nov. 30, 1928
Two Teeth, July 18, 1930
Pugay Beel, Sept. 14, 1931
Herbert Conley, March 17, 1933
Jack Root, Oct. 30, 1933
Charlie Clafflin, March 2, 1914
John Hall, May 27, 1914
Amos Deer, July 13, 1914
Ne Bow O Sah, Dec. 18, 1914
Thomas Chasing Bear, Feb. 2, 1915
Dan Ach Onginiwa, March 29, 1916
Joseph Bignawe, May 20, 1916
Walkkas, Jan. 21, 1917
Steve Simons, Oct. 8, 1917
James Two Crows, Nov. 26, 1917
F.C. Eagle, Sept. 5, 1918
Andrew Dancer, Nov. 21, 1918
Apolorio Moranda, Jan. 14, 1919
Harry Miller, April 25, 1919
Herbert Iron, May 20, 1919
Fred Collins, June 4, 1919
John Coal of Fire, June 20, 1919
Joseph D. Marshall, Nov. 21, 1919
Willie George, Nov. 23, 1919
James Hathorn, Nov. 29, 1919
Ira Girsteau, March 27, 1920
Edward Hedges, May 21, 1920
Omudis, June 5, 1920
Guy Crow Neck, July 29, 1920
John Big, Aug. 25, 1920
A. Kennedy, Feb. 19, 1921
Source: U.S. Department of Interior, National Parks Service, National Register of Historic Places, Canton Asylum Cemetery
Comments