Category Archives: Indian tribes

More than 50 Indian tribes with different languages sent members to Canton Asylum for Insane Indians. The Five Civilized Tribes were eastern tribes, but most of Canton’s patients came from the West.

Canton’s Patients

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Canton Asylum with Swing Sets

Canton Asylum with Swing Sets

Few patient records from the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians are intact or complete. This is not unusual–many asylums destroyed their records over the years, since early administrators did not see any potentially historical value in them. The Canton Asylum’s records are especially problematic, though, since its superintendent, Dr. Harry Hummer, was faulted several times for a failure to even keep good records. What never existed cannot very well be found, in many cases. There are a few records that remain, and when patients were transferred to St. Elizabeths after the Canton Asylum closed, staff observed them for a period of time and then summarized the patient’s history and current behavior (see last post). Here is an example of their summation of a patient:

Nesba (Tribe – Navajo)

She was admitted to the Canton Asylum . . . at the request of the Superintendent of Southern Navajo Agency, Fort Defiance, Arizona. The medical certificate at the time stated, “The patient has been in present condition for past two years. Present symptoms, feeblemindedness, dementia.” The patient is a congenital defective suffering with cerebral palsies. . . . During her stay in the Canton Asylum she was infantile in her reaction, subject to tantrums during which she cried and yelled, sang, etc. These periods seemed to coincide with her menstrual periods. At one time during her stay there she was quite destructive to clothing . . . she mimicked people and seemed to delight in teasing other patients.

On her admission here the patient was passively cooperative but unable to stand alone due to her physical handicap. She is mute except for guttural noises which she makes in her throat. No definitive mental content can be elicited. She smiles at any attention received, is quite highly pleased at any effort of others to associate with her.

Other remarks continued to assess the patient’s physical condition and mental status, but staff said it was “impossible to determine whether she is oriented or if her memory is better.” She had been admitted to Canton Asylum in 1924 when she was about 20 years old, so would have been around 30 when she came to St. Elizabeths. Her physical condition probably brought her to and kept her in an asylum.

My next post will give one more patient history.

Group of Female Patients, Eastern Hospital for the Insane, courtesy National Institutes of Health

Group of Female Patients, Eastern Hospital for the Insane, courtesy National Institutes of Health

 

Acute Insanity as Cause of Death

Acute Insanity as Cause of Death

Patient Histories

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Many Physicians Believed Insanity Stemmed from Physical Causes

Many Physicians Believed Insanity Stemmed from Physical Causes

An important innovation in the treatment of the insane was to obtain a history of patients’ past life and behavior. This allowed doctors to see how much the patient was deviating from previous behavior that was “normal” for that person; it also allowed them to see if anything important might have happened to cause the patient’s decline in mental health. Illnesses, shocks, losses, and so on could be precipitating events, as could lifestyle practices such as alcohol or opiate use. All mental illness wasn’t connected to outside factors, of course, but alienists began to realize that for them to understand and help patients, they had to understand what they had been like before they became insane.

Most patient records are missing from the existing files on the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians. Medical files seemed to have been fairly up-to-date when the asylum first opened, since the asylum’s assistant superintendent, Dr. John Turner, could ascertain the date of a patient’s pregnancy by the menstrual records he kept. When Dr. Harry Hummer took over as superintendent, one report mentioned that his record-keeping was modeled after that of St. Elizabeths, where he had been a physician. However, the doctor was criticized in later reports for poor record-keeping. The reports on patients that he sent to relatives varied little from month to month, and Hummer put a stop to even this slight gesture after a number of years.

When patients were transferred to St. Elizabeths after the Canton Asylum closed, staff reviewed what was known about them and then wrote their own assessments after a short period of observation. Sometimes these short notes are the only ones available, and they at least give a glimpse as to why a patient came to the asylum.

In my next couple of posts, I will share a few of these patients notes.

Psychoanalysis Is News, courtesy National Archives

Psychoanalysis Is News, courtesy National Archives

Group of Prominent German Alienists

Group of Prominent German Alienists

Make it Pretty

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Exhibition of Fancy Work, 1908, courtesy Willard

Exhibition of Fancy Work, 1908, courtesy inmatesofwillard.com

Occupational therapy was an important part of patient care in nearly all asylums. Patients were encouraged to do skilled work that got their minds off their problems/issues and produced a tangible object in which they could take pride. Genteel ladies might do fancy sewing while men engaged in woodwork, even in an elite asylum such as the McLean Asylum for the Insane in Massachusetts.

Indian patients at the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians were also encouraged to do crafts like beadwork and basket weaving if they so desired, to help pass time. (Peter Thompson Good Boy spent time “beading” at St. Elizabeths during his stay there beginning in 1913.) Occasionally, patients like Lizzie Vipont earned a little bit of money with their beadwork by selling items to visitors. Necklaces and handbags seemed to be most popular–or at least are mentioned most often. One report mentions that men whittled wooden objects, but went on to say that women were the primarily crafters. The asylum’s second superintendent, Dr. Harry Hummer, also allowed these kinds of occupations, but apparently stopped encouraging it so that the practice fell by the wayside.

This photo appeared in USA Today. Artifacts left over from the Hiawatha Insane Asylum for Indians in Canton, S.D. are displayed at the Canton Public Library on April 23, 2013. Photo: Elisha Page, Sioux Falls, S.D. Argus Leader

This photo appeared in USA Today. Artifacts left over from the Hiawatha Insane Asylum for Indians in Canton, S.D. are displayed at the Canton Public Library on April 23, 2013. Photo: Elisha Page, Sioux Falls, S.D. Argus Leader

 

Occupational Therapy, Toy Making in WWI-Era Psychiatric Hospital, courtesy Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine

Occupational Therapy, Toy Making in WWI-Era Psychiatric Hospital, courtesy Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine

Precedent for Asylum Care

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Smallpox Prevention Poster Distributed by the Minnesota Department of Health, circa 1924

Smallpox Prevention Poster Distributed by the Minnesota Department of Health, circa 1924

In its treaties, the federal government routinely promised many material goods to Native Americans, as well as less tangible goods such as health care and education. Much of the government’s early health care consisted more of record-keeping than anything else: what illnesses were striking Indians in what regions, how many had died, and from what causes? Often, the precipitating factor for providing even minimal health care stemmed from concern for whites: when epidemics (like smallpox) among Indians threatened to spill over into white settlements, federal doctors often gave vaccines and provided what preventative care was available to native populations. Civilian physicians and missionaries sometimes took up the slack, but health care was primarily a federal obligation.

Though that medical care was inadequate in the extreme, the moral obligation to provide it was clear. In 1831, the Supreme Court had described the federal government’s responsibility to Indians when Chief Justice John Marshall wrote: “Their (Native American) relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian.”

Though many argued over it at the time, the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians did not represent anything outside the bounds of what the government might have been expected to provide. Clearly, provision for mental health fell under a guardian/ward relationship just as physical care did. The problem lay in whether or not a separate facility only for Indians was the answer. For the patients who traveled hundreds of miles to the asylum when they might otherwise have been admitted to a closer state hospital, the answer would probably be a resounding “No!”

Medicine Man Outside His Tepee, 19th Century, courtesy National Institutes of Health

Medicine Man Outside His Tepee, 19th Century, courtesy National Institutes of Health

 

Medicine Lodge on the White Earth Reservation, Date Unknown

Medicine Lodge on the White Earth Reservation, Date Unknown

Appropriate Care

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Native American Known as Shields Who Served as a Healer or Medicine Man, Crow Creek Reservation, courtesy Blue Cloud Abbey Native American Photograph Collection

Native American Known as Shields Who Served as a Healer or Medicine Man, Crow Creek Reservation, courtesy Blue Cloud Abbey Native American Photograph Collection

Though some patients may have considered their stay at an asylum as a period of respite from the cares of the world, most patients just wanted out. Some understood that they needed help and could agree with the commitment decision, but even these patients wanted to get well and go home. Native American patients would have had these same feelings, but their stay in a facility like the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians probably helped them less than asylums helped Anglo patients. Unless their mental symptoms resulted from physical  ailments–which would benefit from nutritious food, rest, and mild medications–asylum medicine was so different from Native American practices that it was not likely to help them.

Both native peoples and newcomers relied on herbs and nature-based tonics to help them get well, but except for certain very well-known ingredients, the herbal preparations of either group could be hit or miss when it came to curing ailments. However, Native Americans derived a great deal of benefit from their culture’s method of treatment as well as from any herbal concoction they might take in conjunction with it. Native peoples were community oriented, and relied heavily on ceremonies, chants, music, dancing, and so on that required many participants. This sort of community medicine varied greatly from the much more private doctor/patient practice of Europeans. When Native Americans went to a non-native hospital (or asylum), they had to step out of their culture and away from all the comfort, security, and faith that it held. Without their customary practices in place, particularly with mental issues, there would be little hope of gaining a cure.

Sand Painting in Sacred Kiva, circa 1890 to 1900

Sand Painting in Sacred Kiva, circa 1890 to 1900

 

A Navajo Man in Ceremonail Dress, Including Mask and Body Paint, 1904, Edward S. Curtis

A Navajo Man in Ceremonial Dress, Including Mask and Body Paint, 1904, Edward S. Curtis

 

No Discounts on Ration Day

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Receiving Rations at San Carlos Agency, AZ, circa 1892, courtesy National Park Service

Receiving Rations at San Carlos Agency, AZ, circa 1892, courtesy National Park Service

Annuity payments could be a time of festivity (see last post) even though merchants and alcohol traders were often on hand with bad deals for Native Americans with spending money. Ration disbursements, though also eagerly anticipated, could be an opportunity for outright fraud at the hands of the people trusted to make them. Continue reading →

Payments on Reservations

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Waiting for Rations, circa 1905, couresty Wannamker Collection, Mathers Museum Indiana University

Waiting for Rations, circa 1905, courtesy Wanamaker Collection, Mathers Museum Indiana University

Treaties between the U.S. government and Native Americans almost always stipulated annual payments of money and/or goods to tribes which had signed the treaties. On most reservations, one day was set aside for these annuity payments, and that specific day became known as “payment day” for money annuities and “ration day” for annuities paid in goods. Payment Day could become quite an event. Almost every Indian on a reservation came to the payment place, usually the Indian agency. The agency consisted of an office building, employee housing, storage, barns, etc.; it was also (usually) under military protection and so included troop quarters and military storage buildings.

Knowing that Indians would have money on Payment Day, traders in all sorts of goods flocked to the agency and displayed their merchandise. Sometimes as many as 100 traders showed up, and their wares were geared toward merchandise they knew their customers wanted. Grains, cooking pots and pans, washtubs, coffee mills, calico and muslin, blankets, saddles, bridles, jewelry, and so on were offered, and the exchange sometimes became a festive, two-to-four day event. Unfortunately, rum and whiskey peddlers set up their stations close by as well, and many Indians fell prey to intoxicants that perhaps led them to spending extravagances.

Mille Lacs Trading Post, circa 1920, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

Mille Lacs Trading Post, circa 1920, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

Issuing Flour to Ojibway Woman, White Earth Reservation

Issuing Flour to Ojibway Woman, White Earth Reservation

Reservation Food

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Sioux Women Receiving Rations, courtesy Denver Public Library, Colorado Historical Society, and Denver Art Museum

Sioux Women Receiving Rations, courtesy Denver Public Library, Colorado Historical Society, and Denver Art Museum

Native Americans ate what was on hand in the regions where they lived. (See last post.) Once they were forced onto reservations, their freedom to secure food was severely reined in. The government began to issue rations, partly in recognition that much of  reservation land was too poor to support the people who lived on it. Food was also a powerful weapon to hold over Indian heads; if they wanted to eat, they needed to comply with the new rules and ways of life the government wanted to introduce.

Rations typically included flour, tea, coffee, salt, beans, and other staples, as well as dry goods like blankets. Beef replaced buffalo as a meat source, and Native Americans learned to cook new foods which were drastically different and of inferior nutritive value to their traditional foods. Poor nutrition inevitably led to poorer health and a worsened quality of life. These forced changes undoubtedly left many psychological scars on the adults who saw their entire way of life change.

Modoc Men Slaughtering Cattle (includes Indian Agent Col D.B. Dyre) around 1870-80, courtesy Library of Congress

Modoc Men Slaughtering Cattle (includes Indian Agent Col D.B. Dyre) around 1870-80, courtesy Library of Congress

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Changes in Native American Diet

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Qahatika Indian Women Resting in a Harvest Field, courtesy www.firstpeople.us

Qahatika Indian Women Resting in a Harvest Field, courtesy www.firstpeople.us

Traditional Native American diets depended upon the foods available regionally, with some tribes depending primarily on hunting and others on agriculture. Most foods were minimally processed and fresh, though dried foods certainly played a part in winter provisions. Besides game and fish, Native Americans ate maize (an early type of corn), beans, squash of all kinds, wild rice, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes, cacti, and chilies among other richly nutritious items. Eggs, honey, and many nut varieties rounded out this ancient diet.

Native American diets were extremely low-glycemic  (the glycemic index of a food is a measure of how fast its energy is absorbed into the bloodstream) and high fiber. Karl Reinhard, a professor of forensic sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says that ancient foods may have been 20-30 times more fibrous than today’s. Native Americans may have actually consumed 200 to 400 grams of fiber a day–an extreme deviation from today’s recommendation of 25 grams of fiber for women and 38 for men and just about impossible to replicate using today’s modified food. Once Native Americans lost their ability to eat traditional foods, they quickly became susceptible to disease and ill health, particularly from diabetes.

Native American Woman Preparing Food on a Stone Slab, circa 1923, Edward S. Curtis

Native American Woman Preparing Food on a Stone Slab, circa 1923, Edward S. Curtis

Smoking Fish for Preservation

Smoking Fish for Preservation

More Food Changes

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Issuing Flour to Ojibway Woman, White Earth Reservation, 1896, courtesy University of Minnesota, Duluth

Issuing Flour to Ojibway Woman, White Earth Reservation, 1896, courtesy University of Minnesota, Duluth

As Native Americans were forced onto reservations, they were also forced to abandon their healthy diets of fresh meat and produce in favor of canned goods and poor-quality staples. Their experience has ultimately been echoed throughout the country as people nearly everywhere have drifted away from home-grown food in proper quantities and introduced processed and/or GM (genetically modified) food into into their diets.

Corn has been hybridized so much that it is no longer the same product that Native Americans and European immigrants ate; modern genetic modifications have made this food a poor nutritional choice. A study from the Permaculture Research Institute on non-GM corn and Roundup-Ready corn, found that the GM corn contained glyphosate and formaldehyde at toxic levels. This corn was also seriously deficient in nutrients: non-GM corn had over 6,000 ppm (parts per million) of calcium, while the GM corn had 14; other nutrient levels were similarly affected.

Native Americans and other concerned consumers are trying to introduce non-GM corn back into the food system. Heirloom varieties like White Flint Hominy (also known as Seneca Hominy or Ha-Go-Wa) are hundreds of years old; Ha-Go-Wa was recently harvested by tribal seed savers associated with the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Many heirloom varieties produce colorful, intensely flavorful corn–just not as abundantly as the hybridized type which replaced it.

Hopi Indian Farming

Hopi Indian Farming

Indian Woman Working in Cornfield, 1906, Edward S. Curtis

Indian Woman Working in Cornfield, 1906, Edward S. Curtis