Category Archives: Canton Asylum for Insane Indians

Canton Asylum for Insane Indians in South Dakota was also known as Hiawatha. It opened in December 1902 and closed in 1934 after charges of neglect and abuse were validated. Dr. Harry Reid Hummer and Oscar Sherman Gifford were its only two superintendents. Its only patients were Native Americans, typically called Indians. It was the only federal insane asylum created solely for an ethnic group and served only Indians.

Policies and Procedures

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Full Men's Ward, Fergus Falls State Hospital, 1900

Full Men’s Ward, Fergus Falls State Hospital, 1900

No asylums had an overabundance of staff, and asylum administrators walked a fine line between doing what was necessary and convenient for their personnel, and what was best for patients. A 1906 article in The American Journal of Insanity discussed the pros and cons of hiring night nurses and unlocking patients’ doors at night. The superintendent of the Missouri State Hospital No. 2 wrote that after doing away with the system of night watches–who passed through the halls and wards once an hour–and going instead to a full staff of night nurses, the incidence of suicide immediately dropped. Patients were also much more comfortable and quiet.

“The idea of locking one, two …seven or eight patients in a room or dormitory, expecting patients to remain quiet, to sleep well, and to get well, is not only absurd,but is inhuman,” Dr. C. R. Woodson wrote. “The morbidly suspicious should certainly not be blamed for imagining that there was danger when locked up in a remote room of an institution with those who may or will domineer over them.”

Woodson went on to say that even violent patients responded well to the unlocked door policy. “The fact that a patient can get up and go to the toilet-room when he wants to, get a drink of water, or even get up and look down the hall, is a source of satisfaction; it makes him less rebellious, less obstinate, and less violent.”

Woodson was doubtlessly correct, and it is strange that it would have taken practitioners in the field so long to circle back to Philippe Pinel’s discovery in the early 1830s that removing chains from the madman did much to subdue his violence.

Restraints for Patients, courtesy National Library of Medicine

Restraints for Patients, courtesy National Library of Medicine

Nursing Students at Minnesota's Third Hospital for the Insane, 1900s

Nursing Students at Minnesota’s Third Hospital for the Insane, 1900s

Motherhood and Mania

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Puerperal Mania in Four Stages, 1858

Puerperal Mania in Four Stages, 1858

The “baby blues” or its more severe form, postpartum depression, afflicted women well before the modern era. Asylum notes indicate many cases of melancholy in new mothers, as well as other types of difficulties in adjusting to a birth. In 1830 British physician Robert Gooch noted: “Nervous irritation is very common after delivery, more especially among fashionable ladies, and this may exist in any degree between mere peevishness and downright madness.”

Some new mothers may have been depressed, some simply exhausted in an era where families were large and housework involved a great deal of manual labor, while others may have been resentful of the demands motherhood placed on them and the lack of control they had in determining whether or not to have more children. Doctors and midwives alike noted the special mental state, called “puerperal insanity” that women could fall into after labor. Many believed that the stress of labor and confinement caused some mothers to kill their babies.

By 1858, puerperal insanity sometimes made up 25% of  female admissions to British asylums. Surprisingly for the era, treatment was not the usual regimen of bleeding, blistering, and purging, but instead incorporated gentle common sense–plenty of rest and quiet, patience and understanding, and a good diet. Particularly for poor women, a stay in an asylum could have meant the only bit of uninterrupted rest they would ever have from the demands of a large family; some women seem to have appreciated their stays very much.

A Woman With Typical Large Family

A Woman With Typical Large Family

 

Puerperal Mania, 1890 Death Record from Michigan

Puerperal Mania, 1890 Death Record from Michigan

 

 

Matters of Size

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Bryan Hall, a Patient at St. Elizabeths Admitted in 1874 and Spent at Least 47 Years There

Bryan Hall, a Patient at the Government Hospital for the Insane, Admitted in 1874 and Spent at Least 47 Years There

In 1903, the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians‘ first year of operation, the American Medico-Psychological Association (the main U.S. organization for psychologists) met in Washington, DC.

During opening remarks, visitors were reminded of the city’s many interesting sights and activities available to them, including a association-sponsored general smoker in the Willard Hotel (a smoker was an informal meeting or a recruiting meeting used by men’s organizations) and a luncheon at the Government Hospital for the Insane (later known as St. Elizabeths). Continue reading →

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

 

Spring Planting

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Girdled Trees

Girdled Trees

Native American tribes pursued different lifestyles depending on where they lived. Though most did not farm in the European sense of having large, established plots owned by one owner/family group, farming was a well-developed practice in many areas. Native Americans typically moved their farming operations every few years, allowing their agricultural land to regenerate after intense use. New plots had to be prepared from either virgin wilderness or substantially overgrown land, so preparation was started far in advance of any actual shift to a new field.

Men first girdled trees by chopping bark all around the trees’ bases; the trees eventually rotted and fell or dried out and stood in place. Men returned to the area at least a year later–perhaps more–and gathered all the brush and fallen wood. They piled this material along with chopped saplings around the trees which had dried in place, and set fire to it. Though the method sounds wasteful today, it actually fertilized the earth with rotted wood and ash. The method also saved a great deal of labor, since girdling and burning trees was much easier than chopping them down and hauling them away.

The communal culture of most tribes usually carried over to farming, so these large fields would have provided food for everyone. Family groups may have also worked smaller plots for personal use.

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

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

Native American Woman Using a Scapula Hoe in Kansas, circa 1930s, courtesy Illinois State Museum

Native American Woman Using a Scapula Hoe in Kansas, circa 1930s, courtesy Illinois State Museum

Native American Participation in the Civil War

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Scouts for the National Army in the West by Henry Lovie, Dec 6, 1862 in Frank Leslie's Illustrated

Scouts for the National Army in the West by Henry Lovie, Dec 6, 1862 in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated

Nearly 8,000 Native Americans joined the Confederate army to serve during the Civil War. The Confederacy actively pursued Native Americans to join its cause against the Union, and signed several treaties with members of the Five Civilized Tribes. Native Americans also chose to support the Union and joined its army as well, but they were not recruited with the same focus and enthusiasm.

Union leadership relocated the country’s current soldiers serving in Indian Territory to what they considered more critical areas, leaving this vast expanse of land wide open for skirmishes. The Union’s abandoned forts were immediately appropriated by the Confederacy, which was also anxious to use the Territory as a buffer zone for Texas and Arkansas, a possible link to the western part of the U.S., and a resource to mitigate the consequences of a possible Union blockade.

Though Indian Territory did not suffer combat on the magnitude and frequency of Confederate states like Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, several important clashes occurred:

* Battle of Round Mountain

* Battle of Pea Ridge

*Battle of Honey Springs (the largest in Indian Territory). This battle occurred in July, 1863 and resulted in a decisive Union victory which gave it control of Indian Territory.

Cavalry Charge During the Battle of Honey Springs

Cavalry Charge During the Battle of Honey Springs

Swearing In Native American Civil War Recruits, courtesy Wisconsin Historical Society

Swearing In Native American Civil War Recruits, courtesy Wisconsin Historical Society

 

Battle of Pea Ridge

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Map of Battle of Pea Ridge

Map of Battle of Pea Ridge

Knowing that Native Americans were bound to have little loyalty to the United States, the Confederacy wanted to enlist their aid during the Civil War (see last post). In 1861, Brigadier General Albert Pike was assigned to the Department of Indian Territory and charged with recruiting and leading Native Americans disaffected with the current Union government. Pike believed that his Indian recruits would serve best while remaining in Indian Territory, but his superiors ordered him to bring 2,500 men into Arkansas. Pike brought a force of about 800 or 900 men and subsequently engaged in the Battle of Pea Ridge (March 6-8, 1862). Very little went well for him in this clash, and the action may have served to show Confederate leaders that attorneys without military experience do not make good generals.

Pike and the Cherokee troops surprised a two-company column of Iowans and successfully routed them early in the battle. The Confederate soldiers celebrated jubilantly, throwing the area into confusion. During the confusion and emotional turmoil of the battle’s aftermath, Cherokee troops scalped at least eight Union soldiers. Later, Generals Benjamin McCulloch and James McIntosh were killed during the battle. Colonel Louis Hébert brought a large force of about 2,000 men to the battle, but got lost in the woods in a poorly executed drive against outnumbered Union forces. Because of poor leadership, General Pike did little to keep the Rebel force moving toward victory. The battle was decisively lost to the Union, and this loss contributed to Missouri being secured for the Union. Pike resigned his commission in 1862 and was indicted in Federal court for inciting war atrocities.

(The Battle of Pea Ridge was also called the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern.)

Last Hour of the Battle of Pea Ridge

Last Hour of the Battle of Pea Ridge

Battle of Pea Ridge

Battle of Pea Ridge

The Enemy of My Enemy

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Cherokee Confederates Reunion in New Orleans, 1903

Cherokee Confederates Reunion in New Orleans, 1903

Native Americans resisted white encroachment on their lands and cultures in a variety of ways (see last two posts). They refused to cooperate with these intruders, refused to send their children to their schools to learn new ways, and held on to their traditions by many strategies. One other significant way Native Americans resisted settlers was to join forces with their enemies. This occurred during the Seven Years War (1754-63) when Britain and France fought over New World territory with the help of native peoples on both sides.

By the time the American Civil War began, Native Americans had had experience with the treachery and false promises of the federal government. Officials in the Confederacy approached various native peoples to remind them of this, offering them better opportunities under Confederate rule for their help in fighting Union forces. The Confederacy created a Bureau of Indian Affairs in March, 1861 and appointed David L. Hubbard as its commissioner. In 1861, the new country’s leaders commissioned attorney Albert Pike as a brigadier general and assigned him to the Department of Indian Territory. There, he was to raise regiments among the Indians and command them in battle. My next post will discuss Native Americans and the Confederacy further.

Fort Davis, Built by Order of General Pike, courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society

Fort Davis, Built by Order of General Pike, courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society

General Albert Pike

General Albert Pike

Other Forms of Resistance

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Students in American Clothing at Carlisle, 1879

Students in American Clothing at Carlisle, 1879

Parents who did not want to send their children to boarding school could not always fight back, but many parents tried to instill the traditional ways and values of their culture into their children despite the federal government. When children returned to their reservations, they could still attend dances and ceremonies, speak their native language (if they still remembered it), wear traditional clothing, hear the old stories, etc. Some, of course, rejected the old ways, but many were willing to incorporate them into the new knowledge and way of life they had seen off-reservation.

Elders in some tribes did all that they could to keep tradition intact. Around the turn of the twentieth century, the Taos Pueblo required men to wear their hair in braids and wear traditional clothing. If they wore “American” pants, they had to cut the seat out and wear a blanket around the middle; this outfit resembled deerskin leggings and the breech clout. Purchased shoes had to have the heels cut off to resemble moccasins.

Children who refused to grow their hair long once they returned from school or who wore “American” clothes, could be fined one to five dollars. If they refused to participate in dances they were given the alternative of a ten-dollar fine or a dollar-a-stroke whipping in the plaza.*

*These details are taken from Masked Gods: Navaho and Pueblo Ceremonialism by Frank Waters.

Colville Indian Family on Reservation, circa 1900 - 1910, courtesy Library of Congress

Colville Indian Family on Reservation, circa 1900 – 1910, courtesy Library of Congress

Taos Pueblo, circa 1900 - 1910

Taos Pueblo, circa 1900 – 1910